What game mods are actually worth downloading?

I feel like every day I find a new mod but nothing feels genuinely life-changing anymore. Any recommendations for Skyrim, Fallout, or anything else that completely transforms the gameplay rather than just adding texture packs and rebalanced stats? The kind of thing that makes you think about the game differently.

honestly i'd narrow it down to three categories because half of all mod lists on nexus are just texture swaps and lighting overhauls that bloat your load order for 5% visual difference

first: total conversion mods. skyrim with fallout f40 or witcher-style mods like the witcher 3 overhaul packs — stuff that actually changes what you're playing rather than redoing it in a slightly sharper resolution. second: script extenders and framework mods (SKSE, F4SE). these are non-negotiable because they unlock the entire modding ecosystem but nobody talks about them until things break

third — this is the one people forget — quality of life fixes that remove dated mechanics without adding anything

For Skyrim -- SkyUI + MCM, Ordinator (rework overhaul that fixes quest design), and Apocalypto for lighting/weather. For Cyberpunk -- Phantom Liberty's base game is good but I add Anomaly or the cyberware

Honestly depends on what you're looking for but if you want something that fundamentally changes how a game feels I always point people to Immersive Bars in Fallout 4 and Survival Mode mods — they kind of reframe everything without breaking the base game. For Skyrim I'm still running SKSE with about 150 load order items because it makes the world feel lived-in rather than just a checklist, but if you want lightweight stuff I'd just do ENB lighting and maybe an armor overhaul mod. Whatever your rig can handle — some of these high-fidelity texture packs will murder a mid-range card in about ten minutes.