The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

Morrowind represents the middle of the Elder Scrolls universe in multiple ways. It was the third game in the main series, it’s probably the third-best looking entry, and it’s the third time in a row you start the game captured by someone, even though you’re supposed to be the “Chosen One.” (Seriously, will there ever be a game in this series where you DON’T get captured and locked up before the game even begins?!) While unmodded versions of this game haven’t aged well, when it was first released it marked probably the biggest leap in technological ability ever seen in the series. It was also the first Elder Scrolls game available for a game console. Bethesda evolved from Daggerfall’s “paper doll” characters to the more refined character models here in Morrowind (even though they move like marionettes). Plus, the game map isn’t insanely large. However, that wasn’t always the plan. Originally, the game was supposed to include the entire province of Morrowind, but technical limitations forced developers to scale down to include only the island of Vvardenfell. Which is why Ebonheart is in such an odd location. Gameplay-wise, it’s cool to just be able to wander around the island, but the map HUD is unusable at best. The game also uses the “dice roll” attack system, so you can hack at an enemy for 10 minutes straight but only actually hit them twice. Even if you set the game to always use the best attack, it doesn’t mean every hit will land. Also, there are parts of the main quest near the end where you have to do pretty much the same thing over and over again, just for different groups. It gets pretty mind numbing. There are ways to improve your experience, though. You can mod it to look better, make cities larger, and even travel to the mainland. Using the OpenMW engine can help, too. But even these enhancements can only improve the game so much.

Word... I bought this game on disc quite a few years back & could never totally get into it, due to the many issues, such as horrible combat, lack luster drab boring atmosphere and graphics, boring ugly NPCs and many game breaking bugs. Its always amazed me to read all of the slobbering positive game reviews about Morrowind being so great...a Masterpiece, yeah right! Anyway I was bored the other night and started thinking about whether or not Morrowind could be fixed, so I began checking out all of the Morrowind MODs, both on Nexus and ModDB and thought, "gee I wonder if these would actually fix some or most of the issues that made this game less than enjoyable?" Short answer is yes they helped a lot. The community bug patch, Morrowind rebirth, better bodies, better faces, better dialog, better textures, better hit boxes during combat...a worm no longer kills you...and you can actually hit them on the first try WOW! All of these improvements went a long ways toward making the game more fun and and enjoyable for me to play. But, even so, despite what others may say, in my opinion anyway, it's still nowhere near the best or most enjoyable game ever created. Wait until it's on sale for around 5 bucks or less and then you won't be kicking yourself too hard for wasting 15 bucks just to try it out for yourself. Also sales are nice if you just want a digital copy of the game.

One of the best games I've ever played and I've played all the Elder Scroll's games. Yes, Oblivion had better graphics, as well as Skyrim; however, Morrowind was the best imagined of the three and yes, you can get the Morrowind Overhaul 3.0 and apply it to the version sold here on GOG (I did it). Get the patch, apply it, spend several hours of your live playing it.

Hard to find enough superlatives to do this game justice...countless hours spent in this world and still finding new things to do. This is possibly the deepest and most interesting sandbox RPG ever coded so make sure to enjoy it with the MSGO 3.0 mod installed N'wah!

Fantastic game but massively overrated. This game has a very dedicated community fueled purely by nostalgia, and they'll have you going in believing that Morrowind is the best TES game and one of the best RPGs ever made....and it really isn't. The community also seems to have some kind of inferiority complex considering every positive review just HAS to bring up Oblivion and Skyrim as if they've got a point to prove, even though if a game really is the best you shouldn't have to compare it to anything. As for the game itself... The gameplay is a weird and janky. It's CRPG style dice roll combat, but you have free movement and it's in a first person perspective so it feels off. There's also no animations for enemies blocking or dodging attacks, so if an attack misses it just goes right through. Quest design, dungeon design and world design are horrendous compared to later titles. Dungeons especially as they are generally only a single room connected to a single hallway. Most of the quests are either a boring fetch quest or a boring escort quest. The game also really hasn't aged well graphics wise, even with mods like OpenMW. However, there is a lot of good: The setting is one of the most unique in gaming history. The story is fantastic and the lore is some of the most interesting to ever exist in an RPG. The gameplay systems, while janky and odd, allow for a lot of customization and crazy things. You've probably seen videos of people jumping from one end of the map to the other. Or one shotting god-like characters such as Vivec. In conclusion, if you've never played this before just go in knowing what to expect. Don't expecting the best game ever made, because this is not it. Don't go in expecting the amazing quests of Oblivion or the top tier world design of Skyrim. This game is almost 20 years old and it really shows. Install OpenMW, read up on how the combat systems work, and then go in expecting a dated, but still solid CRPG experience