The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

In 50 years time, Morrowind and Daggerfall will be the 2 games that stand out from the Elder Scrolls series. The lore took tired Eurocentric high fantasy cliches and created an entirely new cosmology, but one that is still close enough so we can recognise pieces from our own history or current events. You could actually forego all the battles and quests and just spend 100s of hours reading all the lore books in Vivec City or talking to the NPCs. The world isn't built for you, so it feels real. Are you the chosen one or not? You decide. Ignore the main quest and use the game as your playground if you like or become the Nerevarine. But NPCs won't treat you like the chosen one and humour your superiority complex like in Oblivion,Skyrim. You have to actually prove that you're worthy. There's also hardly any moral guideline here. Do you want to free slaves or support slavery? Do you want to become a vampire and sneak around at night, drinking blood? Are you pro-Tamrielic Empire or sympathising with Dunmer separatists? Both the world and NPCs will react realistically to your actions. No simple good/evil fairy tale stuff. The world as such is also very beautiful. Unlike Oblivion and Skyrim that abandoned a lot of established lore and are in many ways pandering to fans of classic boring Euro-Middle-Age fantasy, the island of Vvardenfell has an amazingly varied topography, flora and fauna. Monsters look weird. The various Dunmer houses have different architecture, culture, different levels of acceptance of you as an outsider. The game is a classic CRPG through and through, but modern enough so that you can build a character that's basically easy mode. While the graphics are definitely dated now, they were cutting edge when they came out and can be souped up with various mods. The battles are sadly less dynamic than Oblivion, Skyrim, but there's no unrealistic level scaling as in those. There's very few games that I love going back to. This is one of them.

I could write forever about why Morrowind is so good. But I'll stick to what elevates it above later Elder Scrolls in my opinion. Morrowind is the best Elder Scrolls game primarily because of its setting. This is because the setting is not only very engaging, but also, more or less, the main character. Every single quest, from the Mage Guild new guy chores of collecting some flowers, to the epic intrigues of the main quest, revolve around the land, peoples, history, conflicts, and secrets of Morrowind. And the land, peoples, history, conflicts, and secrets of Morrowind are bloody interesting. There is a very real sense of place, and of culture. The appeal of Morrowind lies not merely in levelling up and crushing the many beasts and bandits of Morrowind; it lies for a huge part in playing the anthropologist, the historian, the religious scholar -- all roles you will have to play over the course of the main quest. Morrowind was when The Elder Scrolls was, in terms of setting and lore, at its most strange, creative, and fascinating - to the point that while dedicated modders remake Morrowind to Skyrim's engine, the largest mod project for Morrowind seeks to create... more of Morrowind. Morrowind is truly something special. In terms of game mechanics, how you explore and fight across this strange land, the game may show its age (depending on your taste); but in terms of that strange land itself, Morrowind is evergreen.

This will wind up as a story, no matter how I try to format it. A very long time ago, at the beginning of high school, I tried this game for the first time. I had previously played a whole lot of Fable 1 (not The Lost Chapters), and so I had my expectations when my dad told me "it's like Fable but *better*". Now, at the time, he was wrong. I completed the tutorial, ran in the direction that did not allow me to find the magical falling man with the continent-hopping scrolls. I walked the coastline, actually enjoying the atmosphere for a while, until through the fog, an island appeared over the water. Well, my dad said I could go anywhere I could see. So I tried. I was almost immediately eaten by slaughterfish. I put the game down for two years after that. It didn't click with me at the time. So, two years into high school, I've made friends with fellow nerds. One of which starts hanging out with me now and then, and one day he sees my dad playing Morrowind on the Xbox. His eyes light up, and he starts asking my dad what all he's actually done in the game, before going on about how he accidentally found half a set of Daedric armor, with a dai-katana as well, and found out about a glitch to permanently control low level NPCs. It was magical. I began to understand that I never gave Morrowind a real chance. So, I dove in again. For several years, I explored this game across two, maybe three characters. The atmosphere was bar none for games I had played, and even on a small CRT, with a near-powerpoint framerate, this game set a standard for story and exploration driven games that I rarely see now, but more importantly, cannot ever have the time to enjoy like this one ever again. The game itself is a 4/5, what with *the bethesda moments* creeping in, but the experience with the game in my life gives an improper fraction for a score. Something about 45/21.

I can excuse many flaws in this game, for the experience is really good. An actual RPG, where you can actually play the role you choose. So much freedom, to mess up, to learn, to get things right. It's possible to role play, or not even care about that. It's possible to min-max, but there's no need for that. There's a variety of factions, for a variety of playstyles. The first time I actually play this game, I played it more as an action adventure game. Although that's not really the point of the game, it is possible. I didn't know english at the time so, it was not very possible for me to actually role play. I didn't understand most things that were written. And that is one of the flaws of the game: there's a lot of reading to be done. Everything has to be read. It's a minor flaw, but it has to be pointed out, because there may be issues with those who cannot read. Still, it is possible to play the game, as I already pointed out. Dark Brotherhood assassins out to get you as soon as you're out of the tutorial is also a flaw. Funny thing: I manage to kill some of these guys without them using their dart. And once, that dart actually hit me, and I died. Throwing weapons are great Enchanting is impossible on your own, unless you fortify you inteligence A LOT. But, this is a implementation problem. It could have been fixed. As many other problems the game has, like pickpocketing being impossible, for example. And it is still possible to enchant by paying for enchantments, so that's just a minor problem in the end. It actually gives the player a use for their earned gold, so I'm fine with this. Unfortunately Bethesda didn't had time to spare to fix some of these issues that could make this game better than it is. Still, it's a great experience, and that's what really matter for a game to be considered a 10/10 for me.

Like every major title in the Elder Scrolls series, Morrowind is a diamond in the rough. For every strength (world building, exploration, character development, freedom, immersion) there are jarring weaknesses (combat, NPC dialogue and characterization, and of course bugs-galore). Still, these weaknesses don't altogether overshadow what is arguably the most atmospheric game in the TES series, thanks to its wonderfully detailed and idiosyncratic game world (Vvardenfell is easily one of gaming's strangest and most fantastical settings) and wonderfully flexible character building system. Plus, with mods you can fix many of Morrowind's obtuse design elements (Cliffracers!), and even make the game look comparable to and in some ways even better than Oblivion, its successor. In short: *A Must Buy for RPG fans. *Install Morrowind Overhaul 3.0 for graphical goodness. *Enjoy!