The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

The first thing I want to say is this: I've been playing Elder Scrolls games since Arena back in the day (and many, many other RPGs), hours and hours and hours playing them - but Morrowind is the only Elder Scrolls game I actually was drawn into enough to play right through to completion. I've spent an awful lot of time exploring and adventuring in the fantasy lives of the other games, even the Elder Scrolls MMO, but Morrowind is still my idea of the best in the series. I'm not even really sure why I like it so much. There's just this sense of 'atmosphere' that it has that nothing else has matched. With all the plugins enabled that come with the GOTY edition, the coast sound fix plugin really adds life to walking about the landscape. You have to remember when running the launcher for the first time, to select the plugin / data button, so you can activate the official addon files. When I stand in the starting village, by the water, and just listen to the sounds - the wind, the music, the insects, the distant calls of mysterious creatures, there is a sense of atmosphere that I haven't found in any other computer game. I bought the GOG version so I don't have to install and run off discs anymore, and in a break from the Elder Scrolls MMO, I've been playing Morrowind again lately, and it has lost none of its charm. Though I am running it now with the Morrowind Graphics Extender, which allows you to see distant terrain like in Oblivion and Skyrim, adds incredible realism to the water, and adds better shadows than any RPG I've played - if I equip my sword, the rising sun will cast leaf shadows over the blade. The graphics extender casts shadows from and onto everything, making it look really impressive, and everything - people, trees, buildings, rocks, sky, grass, all reflect into the new water. The extender also lets you run the game at 1920 x 1080 or other widescreen resolutions if you use the extender program.

I couldn't get into Morrowind for a long time, and I expect it will take a while for anyone buying it at this point to do the same. This game really does define the Elder Scrolls series, though, and its place in fantasy. Everything in the game is built around the societies of the native Dunmer and their Great Houses/Temple, the Imperials and their Empire, and everything in between. It's easy to pick up a book or talk to an NPC and start learning about it all immediately. The main quest is the high-point, putting you in the middle of all that conflict. Exploring Vvardenfell and all of the other landmasses added by expansions and mods is probably my favorite thing to do, especially interiors which are often quite expansive. The leveling feels right and the loot feels more rewarding than any of the other games. There is an incredible variety of weapons, including spears which haven't shown up in the series since, a respectable set of skills, and an expansive magic system with all sorts of effects like levitation, swift swim, and slow fall that didn't make it past this game. The combat is often critiqued, and while it's certainly not appropriate for an action RPG like Skyrim, it's not an endless series of misses like people say if you pick a relevant race and class, and most of all raise your skills and level up. Probably most important though are the mods. The modding community apparently gets bigger each year and is actually bigger than Oblivion's now. Patch for Purists is the equivalent of the unofficial patch and Morrowind Code Patch or OpenMW will fix nearly all engine-related bugs. The more recent MWSE is making all sorts of mods possible like UI overhauls, sheathed weapons, poison crafting, and even a quick loot menu similar to Fallout 4's. Tamriel Rebuilt and the Project Tamriel mods, Skyrim: Home of the Nords and Province: Cyrodiil, continue to fill in the game world with the mainland of Morrowind, and eventually the entire province of Skyrim and Cyrodiil.

Live Another Life.... That is how the box advertised this game. That was some 20 years ago by now. I never forgot my first journey into the rich, immersive, and extremely well made world of Morrowind, and I assure you, future buyer, neither will you. From the shores of the starting town to the edges, mountains and ash valleys- Morrowind is filled with story and lore- but above all choices!!! Yes, choices, and with 0 hand holding. No, no one will mark things for you on a map...and you have no magic compass to guide you either. No, you will have to discover everything, by actually playing the game. This game, future buyer, gives you the freedom to do what you want, be what you want, and best of all, have fun while at it! So much fun that, by the time I visited one of the main story NPCs back in 2002, I had already played over 80 hours, made several "alts" and still had soooo much to do! My first character was a mage, then a warrior then....eventually i made my own classes! Yes, future buyer- the game allows YOU to be ANYTHING you want! And guess what? My first mage, had his OWN spells. Yes- the game allows you to make your OWN spells, enchantments etc. This way, your character, your spells, weapons and armor are yours. Live another life indeed. I spent over 1000 hours playing Morrowind- before getting into mods. Before the expansions came out. I could write multiple essays, books etc and still have more to say about this game. But it is better if you, future buyers, get to experience this masterpiece on your own. So, go ahead, buy this game, cancel all plans, and live another life in Tamriel.

*Before jumping into it, Morrowind is a game that either needs a bit of modding or using OpenMW, a modern-engine for the game, to run smoothly on modern hardware; however you still might find the game a little finicky and laggy (ymmv though, depends on your hardware). Morrowind is a game that falls in this strange transitional period for Bethesda, whilst not as open as say Daggerfall or Arena or as action-centric as Skyrim and ESO, Morrowind attempts to take the best of "classic" Elder Scrolls and "modern" Elder Scrolls to a very mixed success. Combat is.... a bit hard if you are familiar with Skyrim but not too far from Daggerfall, at first you will miss a whole lot till you level your skills and will need to learn how to access all your move-set (slashes, stabbing, etc... are still around) but this is made up for by an extremely broken (in a good way) magic system where you can create your own spells and substantially buff yourself in the process. On the other hand, world-building in Morrowind trumps Daggerfall and Arena whilst setting a clear precedent that Skyrim and following games attempt to capture; what stands out is the interactions between factions and NPCs, for instance suppose you join the mage's guild, one of the three houses might see you as lesser or greater based on your existing factions, even your starting race will play a role in opinions others hold of you and how much you might need to bribe for information. Beyond these world interactions, Morrowind's world itself is built around the principle of "no unused space" with every area either being involved in a quest, capable of giving you unique gear, or building towards the lore with dungeons being (to my knowledge) semi-handcrafted and not entirely randomly generated. Should you play Morrowind today? Totally, though you'll find it won't play the same as newer Elder Scrolls games such as Oblivion or Skyrim nor quite like Daggerfall or Arena; however, Morrowind's world is well-crafted and a joy.

Worldbuilding in Morrowind is unparalleled. I find myself coming back to this game from time to time and favourably it comparing to tens of other games, old and new. The intricate web of relationships between the climate, natural resources, native customs, politics, trade, religions, historical conflicts, human (humanoid) passions and forgotten mysteries is something you can only find in "Lord of the Rings" or "A Song of Ice and Fire". While the combat system for melee/ranged is a bit dated, the spellcasting system is top tier. You can make your own spells out of close to a hundred base effects. Alchemy and enchanting are cool too. GOG release is very nice as well, with all official add-ins. I can honestly give 5 star reviews to 4-5 games out of 200. Morrowind is the best in its class, surpassing every other installment in the TES series.