The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

A true masterpiece. Real shame Bethesda never came close to making game like this again.

The most charming and nostalgic of the Elder Scrolls games. This is a real RPG where you have to use your head with no quest markers or "points of interest". A real old-school RPG with awesome senses of exploration and quite deep roleplaying opportunities. Morrowind is such a cool setting in Elder Scrolls as well. Overall, a brilliant game from the golden era...before horse armor (ironically from Bethesda).

If you wish to pick any of the older Elder Scrolls games, take Morrowind. Let's start with the obvious: Ignore the screenshots above. Get some of the free graphics and sound mods - it will change everything. Morrowind is one of the games that aged well, for it never tried to copy the looks of real world or even classic fantasy creatures and places to begin with. Instead, each and all in this game is bizarre enough to be its own thing - which helps immersion to this very day. It is also not your classic fantasy story, but one of the most "outlandish" games available. One where you don't know what to expect - a story that actually makes you feel like you entered a strange foreign place that begs to be explored. Not much more to say, except that (obviously) it is still a Bethesda game, which means there are some filler quests - as usual - and you just HAVE to try some of the sheer endless list of mods to tweak (and fix) the game to your liking as this is a huge part of what made this game entertaining in the first place. And tons of content that will expand the game way beyond double or even triple the 80 hours advertised above. All in all, the game is still good value for its price.

Morrowind is an old school RPG that doesn't do any hand-holding for you. I recommend playing with mods. OpenMW, MGE XE and the webpage 'Morrowind Today' can be a good starting point. There are no experience points. Levelling up is based on skill point increases. Combat is wonky, but there are many other interesting systems in the game, such as spellcrafting, alchemy, enchanting and travel systems, that make up for it. Audio is excellent, while the story is okayish. Thanks to all modders for continually improving on the game!

After playing through Morrowind with OpenMW to completion, I can safely say that this is a fantastic experience. Despite the technical shortcomings of the vanilla game, Morrowind remains an exceptional case study in RPG greatness. Morrowind's gameplay serves as the foundation for the modern RPG. Everything is optional, everything is accessible, and everything is worthwhile. While the mechanics of the game can be quite exploitable, its world is certainly deserving to be immersed within, even for an over-powered player. Any role-player can live in the world of Vvardenfell as a warrior, mage, or thief-based character with great freedom. Despite having the statistics-based combat mechanics of old, Morrowind's gameplay is satisfying. The main quests remain interesting, all of the faction questlines are rewarding, and even many miscellaneous ventures are enjoyable. The graphics are dated, but can easily be enhanced with OpenMW's technical flair or overhaul mods. The particular aesthetics of Morrowind are some of the most interesting and unique of the franchise. However, the UI can be cumbersome, unhelpful, and even harmful to the eyes after extensive play without modification. Music in Morrowind is angelic, perhaps excessively so. I would argue that the soundtrack's Howard Shore-inspired medieval themes clash with Vvardenfell's Middle-Eastern style visuals. Also, there is a short run time for the soundtrack, leading to many loops of the same tracks throughout continued play. The story of Morrowind is a rather complicated and enthralling one. The main quests of the base game and DLCs are thematically very deep. Exploring the side activities leads to a plethora of interesting subplots, fun characters, engrossing literature, and cool items to find. The final technical state that Bethesda Softworks has left this game in is tragic, forcing me to fully recommend OpenMW for play today. Regardless, this game is remarkable and demands play by anyone who enjoys RPGs.