Here’s 20 minutes of Skyrim footage

Apparently, Bethesda is in a good mood today; such a good mood that they were kind enough to release nigh 20 minutes worth of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the unworthy masses.

It’s not entirely new footage as what’s shown is the same demo Bethesda has been showing off since back at E3, but there’s plenty of new bits sprinkled in to make the whole thing worth watching all over again – if you even needed a reason.

The videos, narrated by Todd Howard, show off a number of the game’s new mechanics and improvements, including dual wielding weapons and magic, the new skill system, highly improved animations and, my personal favorite, the ability to talk to NPCs without having to zoom in uncomfortably close to their face.

We also get a look at the game’s inventory and map interface for the first time and, along with them, the game’s sleek new UI. Just about everything you see in the video, from the new interface to the many enhancements made to combat and NPC interaction, is a step above and beyond anything we’ve seen before in the Elder Scrolls series.

Rather than listening to me gush about the game, why not gush yourself while watching 20 minutes of Skyrim footage? You can check them all out directly below.

Skyrim is due out on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 11 worldwide.