There are lots of addons for Skyrim out there, but very few can claim to be as expansive, well-developed, and nostalgic as the Beyond Skyrim project. The project seeks to fully flesh out the rest of Tamriel in the Skyrim engine, a landmass at least five times the size of Skyrim itself. So far Beyond Skyrim Bruma is the only area available, and it's an impressive glimpse into the project's potential.
Bruma is a city in northern Cyrodiil featured in Oblivion, and was one of the only Nord-centric places a player could visit before Skyrim. Beyond Skyrim Bruma does a lot more than just add a new city south of the border: it's more like the majority of northern Cyrodiil. Bruma simply serves as the hub for a variety of immersive quests, dangerous dungeons, and other Cyrodiilic content.
How To Install Beyond Skyrim Bruma
Beyond Skyrim Bruma is a massive overhaul of Skyrim, but installing this DLC-sized mod is actually pretty simple. There are two methods a player can install Beyond Skyrim Bruma, either with a mod manager like the Nexus Vortex or manually by unzipping each file directly to the Skyrim folder.
- Nexus Vortex: Download the Vortex app for your computer, download and install each archive through the app by following prompts, then ensure it is activated before launching Skyrim
- Manually: Download each of the archives, extract the contents of each to your Data folder (usually in Steam/Steamapps/Common/Skyrim). Enable each "esm" file in the launch menu, and change the load order so "assets" loads first, then "heartland", and finally the "DLC patch".
As with installing all third-party mods for Skyrim be sure to read the included readme files, as the instructions for installation may change depending on your system or configuration. Unfortunately, Beyond Skyrim Bruma is not available through Bethesda's modding platform, and thus cannot be played on consoles.
Existing Characters Can Travel Across The Border to Bruma
One of the best moments in Beyond Skyrim Bruma is when a player visits what should be the impassable southern border between Skyrim and Cyrodiil. With Beyond Skyrim Bruma installed, players can go past the Jerall mountains and enter the northern part of Cyrodiil without a loading screen. This is the moment when the scope of this project really sinks in.
A fresh save isn't necessary to experience Beyond Skyrim Bruma, either, as existing characters can travel across the border just as well as new ones. Just be sure to make a manual save before entering Cyrodiil so that your character isn't lost if you decide to uninstall the mod.
The Explorable Area Is Larger Than Solstheim
One of the biggest boasts of Beyond Skyrim Bruma is that the explorable area is much larger than official Skyrim DLC, rivaling Solstheim for the sheer amount of content. The name suggests that the addon only includes the Nordic-Cyrodiilic city, but players are in fact able to explore Ayleid ruins, the northern wilderness of the heartland, and a variety of other striking locations.
There are lots of secrets and hidden references tucked into the hills of northern Cyrodiil, mostly consisting of Oblivion callbacks or other Elder Scrolls references. It's not an addon to install and forget about, Beyond Skyrim Bruma is a mod that demands the player's attention and offers an immersive and expansive adventure that can take a long time to fully experience.
Oblivion-Inspired Gear Is Brought To Skyrim
An addon that introduces a vast area of the Imperial heartland to Skyrim would not be complete without a variety of new equipment and items for players to find. Beyond Skyrim Bruma includes a swathe of Oblivion-inspired weapons and armor as well as gear that befits the people of Cyrodiil. You'll see a lot more Cyrodiilic linens than Nordic fur in these warmer parts.
Among these new items are swords directly inspired by the designs in the fourth Elder Scrolls game, old armor styles that have been updated and brought to Skyrim, and dozens (if not hundreds) of alchemical ingredients, cosmetics, and other miscellaneous items that make Beyond Skyrim Bruma feel fully realized, and at parts, as nostalgic as Oblivion itself.
Dozens of New Quests and Dungeons
The main gameplay loop of Skyrim and other Elder Scrolls games involves a heavy amount of questing and dungeon delving. Beyond Skyrim Bruma offers a nearly countless number of quests from simple hunting missions to elaborate stories of political intrigue. Most of these quests show players what Bruma has become in the 200 years since the Oblivion Crisis.
There are dozens of new dungeons, points of interest, and explorable ruins included in this expansive mod, too. Ayleid Ruins are one of the most recognizable sights in Oblivion, known for their Welkynd Stones, shimmering blue lights, and ornate architecture – without installing Anniversary Edition, this is the only way to experience an Ayleid Ruin.
It Features Hours Of Original Dialogue And Music
Arguably the most immersion-building (but costly) features of Beyond Skyrim Bruma are its fully-voiced quests, dialogue, and NPCs. Amateur voice actors and industry professionals with credits in games like Dragon Age contributed to Beyond Skyrim Bruma to create more than 24,000 individually voiced lines.
It's an impressive feat for a free project to produce so many hours of recording, and Beyond Skyrim Bruma goes the extra mile to avoid repetitive dialogue and create believable conversations – despite being based on Oblivion. The soundtrack to the addon is unbelievably good, too, befitting an Elder Scrolls game as well as Jeremy Soule's soundtrack itself.
Some Compatability Patches Are Available
While it may seem like Beyond Skyrim Bruma is just too large to be compatible with any other addons, the creators have put significant effort into making it work alongside other popular mods. Mods like Alternate Start, Ordinator Perks, Item Sorting, and USLEEP all have an associated compatibility patch that can be downloaded on the Nexus page.
Included in this listing on the Nexus page are some small-scale addons for Beyond Skyrim Bruma itself. These include a new Player Home, more detailed signs in Bruma, and a patch for convenient horses. Be sure to check this listing for necessary patches as well as these small optional inclusions.
Skyrim Special Edition is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S
