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There’s nothing in Bethesda’s 12-year-old RPG that the best Skyrim mods haven’t polished up, but now an ambitious new project aims to modernize what you see more often than almost everything else while you play. That said, this mod can bring The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim the feel of a brand new game.
First person character animation is something you see almost all the time and is crucial to the gameplay. Your initial reaction may be to dismiss their importance, but by doing so you are actually proving yourself right; because the wave of your character’s hands is literally your main interaction with the world and the inhabitants of Skyrim.
Tree Comprehensive First Person Animation Overhaul for Skyrim, or CFPAO for short, is owned by PolarRobotFrog, which claims the project includes “thousands of first-person animations” replacing vanilla ones.
This mod replaces almost all of the vanilla first person animations, and even adds some unique ones depending on which weapon or school of magic you’re using.
That is, whether you prefer a sword and shield, a two-handed axe, or any magic from the various schools of Restoration, Destruction, Sorcery, Alteration and Illusion, CFPAO will polish your experience for a modern look. There are even new animations for Khajiit characters who love to use their unarmed combat abilities.
PolarRobotFrog notes that there are a few key exceptions. For example, he didn’t change the sneak animations because, according to him, “it was super buggy and I have no idea why it didn’t work,” so there’s no change yet. He also left the block and shield animations, as “I couldn’t figure out how to animate the shield any other way than in vanilla”.
Luckily, he listed all the known issues and his current plans for the project. He also recommends some other mods as a good addition to CFPAO, such as Ersh’s Precision mod for more accurate melee collision detection and dTry’s Skyrim Valhalla combat overhaul, which aims to modernize the feel of melee combat in line with the latest games. such as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and God of War.
It might not be as dramatic a difference as turning a Dark Brotherhood quest into a Hitman sim, but CFPAO seems like one of those mods that could be a welcome addition to anyone who wants the ultimate Skyrim experience, no matter what you have. other gaming preferences.
