The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

I was recently inspired to revisit this game after seeing Warlockracy's videos about Tamriel Rebuilt and although the beginning can be a bit rough (a low HP pool and frequent missing is a great recipe for frustration), I have to say that this game holds up remarkably well even some nineteen years and two sequels after its release. The gameplay itself is nothing to write home about, consisting mostly of clicking to swing your weapon or cast your spell and hoping that the dice rolls for hitting and how much damage you do are in your favor, but the game more than makes up for it with its setting. The island of Vvardenfell is quite unlike any other, with no generic fantasy countryside to be seen anywhere. Instead you're greeted with swamplands full of rundown little fishing villages, volcanic ash deserts where people live in houses resembling giant insect shells, rocky islets where wizard towers made from giant fungi and roots stand tall and a savanna populated by nomadic tribals, not to mention the central volcano of Red Mountain with its ash creatures and the floating city of Vivec which houses one of the living gods of the indigenous dunmer people. The island is positively bursting at the seams with character and just begging to be explored, studied and made home. I honestly can't recommend it enough for anyone looking for a strange, alien world to disappear into for a while.

It is a massive game. It amazes me how much content there is. I spent about 40 hours on my last playthrough, and I didn't even complete all the factions or explore most of the map! Yes, the game is old. Yes, the graphics and some mechanics are dated. It is, however, a hidden gem. It offers a massive island which you can freely explore. There are many quests to complete and dungeons to loot. You can customise your character by choosing its race, apperance, skills and more. There are quite a few factions to join, some of which are in conflict so you have to make a choice. The world is filled with interesting, weird or completely bizzare things and characters. All this combined makes a truly wonderful and immersive role playing game. Pros: - Massive world - Different joinable factions (and some unjoinable too) - Many quests - Many skills - Character customisation - Interesting and well written lore - A lot of things and places to discover - Interesting enemies - Complex magic - Intersting expansions - Mod support Cons: - Cliff racers - Combat is dated and takes getting used to - Very little voice over and a lot of reading - Directions can be very vague, unclear and frustrating at times - A lot of walking - Dated graphics - A lot of things that can be exploited - Lots of clicking (alchemy and picking ingredients)

I have yet to buy the game on GOG but I own a physical copy and I have it on Steam. I can tell you right now that Morrowind is absolutely stellar. I consider it to be the greatest sandbox RPG ever made and even though I love the entire series (and Oblivion is my favorite in the series overall), no game has really matched this one's balance of limitless freedom and fantastic story/world building. Sure, Daggerfall had a sandbox world that's larger than the UK but what it lacked was world detail and deep storytelling. Morrowind has a drastically smaller game world but as a result, it's impeccably detailed and the story is perfectly woven with its world. Morrowind is my ideal realization of what a roleplaying game should be about. It's a game that does all that it can to accentuate the fact that you, as the player, are living another life in another world. You're not just playing through an adventure, you're CREATING an adventure... but don't make the mistake of thinking there isn't story, because this game has one of the most complex RPG stories ever made, involving deep series lore, political squabbles, prophecies being fulfilled in unexpected ways and so forth. I can't think of another RPG that makes it quite as rewarding to get to the end of the main quest as Morrowind. You start off as an incredibly weak outlander and eventually end up becoming a veritable godlike legend that leaps across the game world ruining every enemy in your path... and it's all by your own merit, all because of your adventure, rather than just some relatively arbitrary main quest that bumps your power unrealistically. Sure, the game has its quirks, no one can question that. However, the amount of freedom that the game allows, combined with a ridiculously detailed world and truly epic storylines really does make the flaws seem trivial by comparison. If you like RPGs, Morrowind is a must... and even if you can't get past those quirks, mods exist to whittle them down. Grab it now!

The opening music still gives me goosebumps to this day. This game is an absolute labor of love and an inspiration to all game developers. First, the world of Morrowind puts unique spins on the usual medieval RPG tropes. The land feels lush and almost alien, with massive mushrooms and bizarre creatures dotting the landscape. The lore and history of the world is deep, with a plethora of government bodies, religious sects, and cultures to discover. Exploring Morrowind is totally engrossing, and the story is quite creative. Second, you have unparalleled freedom. You're set loose to your own devices after the first few minutes. It can be overwhelming for some players, but I find the lack of "go to this marker right now" to be liberating. Indeed, there are no markers or waypoints to tell you where you "need" to go. It is completely up to you to pursue what you find the most compelling, for better or worse. That extent of player agency lends itself to some unique world-building. Characters give you real directions to places, and it is up to you to follow them... or not. Often you will be distracted by caves and other places to explore along the way. Most important details will be tracked in the journal, but it may be difficult to find old entries if you strayed for too long. The lack of way markers may make it frustrating at times to find items or people of interest. The skills system is vast and perhaps overwhelming. Unlike most RPGs, in Elder Scrolls your strength is not just based on a single level; your proficiency in each skill is independently tracked and leveled. Unfortunately, this means if you start the game with poor combat skills then fighting becomes tedious. You will find yourself "missing" enemies often, which is unintuitive and not an issue in later Elder Scrolls games. Most playstyles are viable, and your playstyle affects which factions you can join. Eg. You must be a decent mage to excel in the mage's guild. Must try at least once.

So much freedom in this good old open world rpg! You can make your own weapons, your own spells, wear different gloves on each hand with crazy enchantments on each of them! You could learn the levitation spell or find some crazy jumping scrolls (wink, wink) and make your way straight to the freaking main antagonist 10 minutes into the game and get your ass handed to you! Or you could be a potion seller, sign up with the local church and make an exhausting pilgrimage through the whole huge world, making offerings to the gods and trying to survive the journey. Or you could be a common thief. Or you could work for one of honorable Houses, or maybe become an assassin and get paid for killing people, or maybe get in the imperial legion and uphold the law or something. Or you could spend a few hours reading some awesome books(!!!) you will find in the game! I could go on for 10 more pages but no one's going to read that much. Also there are so many awesome mods for this game they alone are worth the asking price. So if you don't mind the visuals definitely try it out.