It took a Skyrim veteran 11 years to figure out there’s a third-person zoom feature in Bethesda’s modern classic.
Earlier this week, the below post appeared on the subreddit dedicated to all things Skyrim. The author of the post revealed that they first played Skyrim when it launched in 2011, but only now have they found out, in the year of our lord 2023, that you can zoom out when playing Bethesda’s game in third-person mode.
How is this accomplished, you ask? On PC it’s a simple case of using the mouse wheel, but on the controller it’s still relatively simple, though it’s certainly easy to miss. By holding down the right analog stick on your controller, you can use the left analog stick to change your character’s zoom distance while playing Skyrim in third person, giving you a new perspective on your immediate surroundings.
It’s actually a really good method to identify hidden bodies to loot when they’re in the tall grass, notes a commenter in response to the subreddit post. Simply zoom out from your character in a bird’s eye view and you’ll be able to see the ground around your character much easier.
“Never too old to be a jerk,” writes one unsympathetic user in response to the discovery. “I recently discovered Aarvak for the first time and my friends laughed at me because I had missed all these years,” they continue. Another commenter admitted that he only recently realized the Proudspire Manor area had a courtyard.
In fact, it’s also a feature of Fallout 76, Bethesda’s slightly newer game. You can zoom out of your character in the MMO using the exact same button combination, and again it offers all the benefits noted here with Skyrim.
Hey, you’re never too old to admit that you completely missed an obvious feature in a game. If it makes you feel better to have something that crosses your mind after years of playing, an old 11-year-old was discovered by a Final Fantasy 14 veteran after 6500 hours, shocking the gaming community.
Take a look at our new games 2023 guide if you’re looking for something new to dig into in the weeks and months ahead.