Yes, it is dark and depressing. Skyrim's foundations are by and large a frozen wasteland, obviously habitable but not exactly temperate. Which suits me right down to the ground. I'm not going to complain about Oblivion's landscape, because Cyrodil is a lush part of Tamriel with nice warm summers, but i did find myself missing Morrowind's feeling of exploring an unknown, dangerous part of the world. Skyrim has brought this feeling back quite nicely.