The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

If you want to play this game, it is probably worth it to check out the engine reimplementation: openmw.org It also runs on Linux and OS X!

I can't say much about the game that hasn't already been said in countless other reviews, so I'll relate how my experience with the game went. I have vague memories of starting the game, wandering around Seyda Neen, and not really understanding what a "silt strider" is, so I decided to walk to Balmora. I was very nervous and spent a lot of time deciding whether to peek inside Adanumuran or not. The caldera gave me creepy vibes and I sped through it as best I could, and then.... Then I reached Balmora and thought it was super impressive, and spent a lot of time wandering around and getting to know the NPCs. I also have memories of going to Vivec city for the first time and being overwhelmed by its size and layout, wandering like a tourist and trying to figure out how the city was interconnected. When I first got the game, in the mid-2000s, I still had access only to the family PC, and my time on it was limited. To make the most of my time, I got into the Construction Set pretty early in my playthrough and created a simple home for myself, with a bunch of storage, and set the entrance to be a ghostly door outside of Clagius Clanier's shop, since that was near to the entrance of the Mages Guild. Some of my other notable memories are building up Raven Rock on Solstheim (I loved that quest chain) and finally walking up to Ghostgate. All of these memories are dear to me, but they make me worried, because I doubt I will have the same experience if I tried to play the game again after all these years (and many other games played). So, for now, I keep my existing memories close, and keep the installation of the game ready, for some day, I shall return again.... to Morrowind.

I've got this on CD (I think I have it twice on CD) and I only recently (3 days ago) purchased it on another online game delivery service. If I knew this was coming to GOG I'd a baked a cake, no sorry, I would have bought it here. This is in my mind the greatest of the Elder Scrolls games. It is a fantasy RPG in a world that just feels unique. No wizards with pointy hats and generic fantasy tropes here. It is also a game that I keep on coming back to time and time again. The modding community is fantastic and it is amazing how good this can look now with the right mods in place. Give it a go, you won't regret it.

A lot of this game is janky and dated (it looked dated when it released...), and there is an entire spectrum of opinions on whether this game is laughably bad or the best RPG ever made. I say, if you are an RPG or fantasy fan, you MUST try this game. I love it and I could spend hundreds of hours exploring the single island in this game. You honestly might dislike it, but I think the game is worth the price for the amount of effort that went into it. Future Elder Scrolls games simplified things, and we might never see a game comparable to Morrowind ever again.

Yes, it's old. Graphics are dated, you have to read a lot, gameplay is antiquated(I personally don't mind it), and there's balance issues - to name some of the bigger issues people have with it. However, no game before or after offers the depth of gameplay and immerson that Morrowind does. No game has matched the mysterious, eerie tone that this game exudes. From giant mushrooms that people live in, to a city made of of ziggurats emerging from the see - each one a town of its own, this game is amazing. Not to sound like a Todd Howard broken record, but this is truly a game where you can go where you want and do what you want. If you can get over the antiquated veneer of this game, it's an absolute gem of gems.