The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Enderal Forgotten Stories

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Enderal Forgotten Stories is the search name for a standalone-feeling, first-person dark-fantasy action RPG built as a total conversion of Skyrim. On current storefronts, the classic edition is listed as Enderal: Forgotten Stories, while the Skyrim Special Edition version is listed as Enderal: Forgotten Stories (Special Edition). Both are free, but each requires the matching legal Skyrim base game.

A New World Built Around Story

Enderal is not set in Tamriel and does not continue Skyrim's Dragonborn storyline. SureAI created a separate continent, history, mythology, cast, and conflict inside the Creation Engine. The result is a hand-crafted open world that moves through forests, mountains, jungles, heathlands, deserts, ruins, settlements, and underground spaces rather than reusing Skyrim's map or lore.

The main campaign is built around a dark psychological narrative with philosophical themes, political tensions, and characters who have their own motives. Dialogue and relationships receive more attention than in a typical sandbox mod, so the game often expects you to listen, read, and follow the consequences of conversations instead of simply clearing the next marked location.

Its pacing is more deliberate than Skyrim's. Enderal gives the player room to explore, but its central plot has a stronger dramatic structure and a more focused cast. Side quests can also introduce difficult subjects, moral pressure, and story developments that are not designed as disposable errands.

Combat, Exploration, and Survival

Moment-to-moment play uses Skyrim-style first-person combat with melee weapons, bows, spells, stealth, blocking, and consumable abilities. Enderal changes the surrounding progression and balance, however, creating more challenging combat where equipment, preparation, positioning, and character planning matter more than simply raising skills through repeated use.

The game uses experience points for character levels rather than Skyrim's use-based advancement. Leveling grants learning and memory resources that support different parts of a build. Combat skills are improved through learning books and skill points, while crafting-related abilities use their own workmanship progression.

Exploration is tied to a light survival system. Rest, food, drink, fatigue, and other environmental considerations can affect how safely you travel and fight, depending on the selected settings and game version. The system is not a separate survival sandbox; it is an added layer that makes long expeditions and dungeon preparation more meaningful.

There is no multiplayer campaign, co-op mode, or competitive mode. Enderal is designed entirely as a single-player RPG, with replay value coming from alternate builds, different quest decisions, exploration routes, faction content, and the possibility of approaching the story with a different class combination.

Classes, Memories, and Character Builds

Enderal replaces Skyrim's broad skill freedom with a more structured build system. The three primary paths are Rogue, Warrior, and Mage, each divided into disciplines such as Infiltrator, Vagrant, Vandal, Keeper, Elementalist, Thaumaturge, and Sinistrope. Investing in two disciplines can also unlock an affinity class with additional bonuses and effects.

Character development is split between conventional skills and Memory Trees. Memory Points unlock talents and passive abilities, while Learning Points improve combat skills through books. Talents behave more like powerful activated abilities than ordinary spells, giving a build distinctive tools instead of only larger numerical bonuses.

Forgotten Stories adds two crafting-focused classes to the structure. The Lycanthrope uses alchemy to support werewolf transformation and related abilities, while the Phasmalist uses enchanting to create and summon spirit companions from captured souls. These paths are compatible with the main Rogue, Warrior, and Mage disciplines rather than replacing them outright.

Crafting, alchemy, enchanting, spell use, and equipment choices all feed into the build system. Players who enjoy experimenting with hybrid characters will find more room for specialization than the storefront name suggests, while players expecting Skyrim's effortless skill-by-doing progression may need to adjust their habits.

What Forgotten Stories Includes

The current combined editions include the original Enderal campaign together with the Forgotten Stories content package. It adds the Lycanthrope and Phasmalist classes, reworked crafting and spells, additional side quests, and two non-linear guild questlines.

The added guild content expands Enderal's social and faction play through the Golden Sickle, a merchants guild, and the Rhalâta, an enigmatic cult associated with the Undercity. These questlines are not simple combat errands; they add more character interaction, faction progression, and reasons to spend time away from the main story.

The game also includes a housing system that lets the player design and furnish personal living spaces. This is a smaller feature than the campaign and class systems, but it gives exploration rewards and gathered materials another purpose beyond selling or crafting equipment.

There is no paid gameplay season pass or multiplayer monetization model. The game itself is distributed free on the supported storefronts, while optional soundtrack and related bonus products may be listed separately. The important purchase requirement is the underlying Skyrim edition, not an Enderal gameplay expansion.

Who Should Play Enderal?

Enderal is a strong fit for players who want story-driven open-world RPGs, difficult fantasy combat, authored environments, extensive dialogue, and a progression system that rewards deliberate build planning. It is especially suitable for Skyrim players who have already exhausted the familiar setting and want a new world using a recognizable first-person RPG foundation.

It also suits players who prefer a focused dramatic campaign to an endlessly expandable sandbox. The world offers exploration and optional content, but the writing, character arcs, and central mystery are more important than collecting every generic location on the map.

Players looking for a casual power fantasy, unrestricted mod stacking, or a cooperative adventure should look elsewhere. Enderal has its own launcher, files, balance, and progression rules, and broad Skyrim mod compatibility should not be assumed. Its mature themes, violence, gore, and strong language are also central to the tone.

For a harsher faction-based fantasy RPG with older-school progression, classic open-world action RPGs like Gothic provide a useful comparison. Enderal is more cinematic and dialogue-heavy, but both games expect the player to learn the world rather than rely entirely on level scaling and constant guidance.

PC Editions, Launcher, and Language Support

The classic Steam listing, Enderal: Forgotten Stories, is the version associated with the original Skyrim release. The separate Special Edition listing uses Skyrim SE's 64-bit foundation and adds updated rendering, lighting, stability improvements, and fixes associated with the Special Edition platform. Save files and mod setups should be treated as edition-specific.

Both Steam editions install as their own Enderal game rather than replacing the normal Skyrim installation. The Enderal launcher handles configuration and startup, and the Steam version includes platform features such as Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, and Steam Workshop. The Workshop is intended for Enderal-specific modifications, not as a guarantee that ordinary Skyrim mod lists will work unchanged.

Controller support is available through the launcher and in-game settings, although the custom Hero menu and some configuration tasks can still be more convenient with a keyboard and mouse. Players using a gamepad should enable it in the launcher as well as in the game settings before judging compatibility.

The Special Edition storefront lists English and German with full audio, while French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Polish, and Hungarian are supported with interface and subtitle localization. The official voice work is therefore concentrated in English and German, with the other listed languages primarily providing text support.

GOG also lists Enderal: Forgotten Stories as a free, DRM-free Windows game and requires ownership of Skyrim Special Edition on that platform. It does not require GOG Galaxy to play, making the GOG edition the clearest option for players who specifically want offline installers and no client-based DRM.

Comparable PC RPGs

Enderal's closest reference point is Skyrim itself, but the two games serve different purposes. Skyrim is a broad sandbox built around flexible exploration and a large mod ecosystem; Enderal is a total conversion with a separate setting, authored campaign, stricter progression, and a more concentrated narrative.

Players who want survival pressure and demanding preparation may also consider fantasy survival RPGs such as Outward. Outward places more emphasis on co-op, travel logistics, and survival simulation, while Enderal puts its strongest weight on story, characters, faction quests, and build-based combat.

For a newer first-person fantasy RPG with a bleak atmosphere and open-world exploration, dark first-person adventures like Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon are another reasonable comparison. The settings and systems differ, but both target players who want an oppressive fantasy world, exploration beyond the main path, and combat that is less carefree than a conventional power fantasy.

Enderal remains distinct because its identity comes from the combination of a total-conversion structure, a psychological story, a custom class system, and the unusual fact that a free mod can function like a full standalone campaign once the required Skyrim base game is owned.

Enderal: Forgotten Stories FAQ

What is the current name of The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Enderal Forgotten Stories?

The current storefront names are Enderal: Forgotten Stories for the classic Skyrim version and Enderal: Forgotten Stories (Special Edition) for the Skyrim SE version. The longer Skyrim-prefixed wording is a common search term, not the primary current product title.

Is Enderal: Forgotten Stories free on PC?

Yes. Enderal is free on Steam and GOG, but it requires ownership of the matching legal Skyrim base game. The classic edition requires classic Skyrim, while the Special Edition requires Skyrim Special Edition. Official Skyrim DLC packs are not required.

Is Forgotten Stories a separate game or only DLC?

It began as additional content for Enderal, but the current storefront products package the Enderal campaign and Forgotten Stories content together. The combined game includes the extra classes, guild questlines, side quests, crafting changes, spell revisions, and related improvements.

Does Enderal have multiplayer or co-op?

No. Enderal is a single-player experience with no official multiplayer, online co-op, split-screen, or competitive mode.

Can Enderal be played with a controller?

Yes, gamepad support can be enabled in the launcher and in-game settings. Keyboard and mouse remain useful for the custom Hero menu and certain configuration screens, so controller support is best described as available rather than identical to a modern console-first interface.

What languages does Enderal support?

The Special Edition provides full English and German audio. It also supports interface and subtitles in French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Polish, and Hungarian. The GOG and classic listings may present language details differently, so check the edition before installing additional localization files.

Does Enderal use Skyrim's normal leveling system?

No. Enderal uses experience points for levels, Learning Points for combat skills, and Memory Points for class talents. Skills do not increase simply because you repeatedly use them, making build planning and the discovery of learning books important parts of progression.