The Elder Scrolls: Arena

Once you get the mod, it's a perfectly fine game.

This is still worth playing, but I didn't feel the need to finish it. I stopped after finding 2 staff pieces (I also completed 5-6 palace quests). PS: If anyone is having difficulties, I suggest Redguard/Nord as Knight/Ranger (the only classes that can wear plate armor). Enchanted gear can replace the lack of spellcasting.

This was the second Elder Scrolls title I played since Morrowind. Can only imagine how must it felt back in 1994, but even now I was very impressed by the vastness of the world and ability to explore it. The first good impression started to fade, when I understood that the main quest followed the same repetitive scheme. The progression felt tedious because of this. General clunkiness of some of the game aspects didn't help either. Game was quite tough in the beginning - no guidance, you're on your own; but that was actually a fun part - learning how to survive in the Arena's hostile world. Later it gets much easier, as you become more experienced and prepared: generous amount of potions, good custom spells portfolio and patience. Despite some frustrating experiences with it, I quite liked the Arena's world, it's atmosphere, dungeons and enjoyed the ending. Took me around 35 hours in total to complete the game. Now I'm looking forward what the next Elder Scrolls chapter might bring.

I first played Arena when it was new. I loved it then, I love it now. The graphics are old, but the music, ambiance, and immersion are timeless. The story is timeless. The dynamic questing is timeless. Take your time to read all the flavour text, from a Thief talking about being a Thief to enter a Mages Guild on a winter's day, to emerging from the Imperial Dungeon just in time to reap the benefits of Tales and Tallows with half-price discounts at the Mages Guild. From the FedEx delivery quests in town, to the escort quests (I don't know how you did it, hero, Mithryen's sister annoys me greatly), to the retrieval quests (don't fear, your master will never know you loaned out his book), to the MDK quests (thank you for slaying the dread vampire), to the bounty hunter quests, you will build a reputation for yourself. Ask about the rumours to discover the whereabouts of grand artifacts and local work. And heed your dreams to find the pieces of the Staff of Chaos and save the Empire from the evil machinations of Jagar Tharn!

The clunky interface makes it pretty tough to enjoy. There is some fun solo dungeon crawling to be had if you're patient enough to get there. The bones of a lot of their later ideas are here. Cool to see the first iteration of a legendary series and how far things have come