As far as richly populated and painstakingly created worlds go, it’s tough to top Elder Srolls 5: Skyrim. Developer Bethesda took every criticism to heart from their previous Elder Scrolls effort, Oblivion, and pushed themselves further than any gamer was expecting, putting so much "stuff" into the game it's hard to even keep track of every part.

With so much to do in the world of Skyrim, very rarely do gamers take the chance to sit back and watch the world simply exist. Thankfully, one gamer has taken the time to deliver just that: a timelapse of some of Skyrim’s varied locales.

Requiring some 40 hours worth of recording, and 80 GB of data, this Skyrim timelapse is nothing short of impressive. Showcasing everything from the beautifully rendered skylines to the extremely realistic water, if this timelapse doesn’t convince those on the fence to check out Skyrim I don’t know what will.

What’s even more interesting to note about the Skyrim time-lapse is the prevelance of dragons populating the various skylines. Bethesda had made a claim that there would be an infinite amount of dragons contained within the world of Skyrim, and clearly there’s enough to make their presence known in nearly every shot.

See for yourself in the video below:

httpv://youtu.be/pIQLZsB5nfU

Though this time-lapse is entrancing, it’s best not to forget all of the tremendous gameplay opportunities Skyrim provides. The world is certainly a very important part of the Elder Scrolls formula, but it only makes up the base from which an enthralling story and varied characters can grow.

The sheer amount of content packed into Skyrim, from the game’s many guilds to its dungeons, would make any gamer unsure of where to begin, but to forgo chipping away at one’s quest count, and devote 40 hours to making a time-lapse of the world -- now that’s dedication.

Skyrim comes highly recommended by us at Game Rant, and this time-lapse makes us anxious to go back there.

What do you think of this Skyrim timelapse? What has been your favorite locale, so far, in Skyrim?

Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Source: YouTube