The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

I first played Morrowind on the original Xbox. Loved it. The world was more immersive than any I'd experienced in gaming at that point, and offered far more freedom than the JRPGs that I'd played before or since (sorry, Final Fantasy fans). Having been a console gamer (until 2007), Morrowind was the first western RPG I'd played. Fast forward to KotOR, KotOR 2, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Divinity II: Developer's Cut, Skyrim... I'm hard-pressed to bother with RPGs that don't focus on action, an open-world, and CHOICE. Even RPGs with linear stories, like the Torchlight series, must allow me CHOICE in how I upgrade my character and exploration of an open environment if they want my hard-earned money. Morrowind's open-world and customization not only set the stage for Oblivion, Skyrim, and the Fallout games, it was also the beginning of my no longer settling for linear RPGs with locked-in character leveling.

Morrowind has its problems, but its still a great game. The storyline is pretty good and some of the plot elements are funny. I love the world as well and the gameplay. This game is MUCH better than TES IV oblivion. Not better than TES V Skyrim, but oblivion? Yes. If you enjoy classic Role Playing experiences, try this game. Plus, its DRM free, which is rare for bethesda. Maybe soon we can get a non DRM Fallout 3?

During the tutorial, you can pretty much do anything: steal and kill without consequences. BTW: killing... That's not as easy as it might sound: although you see a visual representation of your character swinging a sword, it depends on the virtual dice roll in the background if you can actually hit a sleeping, stationary target you're standing right next to. You can abuse the hell out of Enchantment system and become an immortal, omnipotent god that can 1-hit any enemy. Handling: your character's speed depends on your stats - you'll be slow at the start of the game. Menu systems are utterly useless. Journal is also useless, you'd better make notes for yourself. Sounds: NO voices for characters. You'll be doing a lot of 'talking' (it's an RPG, after all), but with the characters being voiceless, it's a lot (A LOT) of reading. Most of the info you gain from dialogues is useless, but even completing the main quest will be about a 100-page worth of 'dialogues'. Graphics: Water and Sky textures are acceptable, character models are terrible. Quests: The backbone of RPGs. Quests in a normal RPG: go get the Divine Something of Someone's Ghost - Here's a map marker, GPS coordinates, and when you're there, look for a door with a big red X. Quests in Morrowind: Go eastwards for about a day until you see some weird-looking rocks, then take a left turn (seriously). This is the reason i gave 3 stars - i actually like it. Except how you can't finish even a simple quest without magic: Found the cave? Ok, the item you need is in a place that you can only access by flying there, hope you bought a Levitation scroll or two. Oh, you forgot? Too bad, you have to walk back to Balmora (because that sloppy excuse for a fast travel system is not even worth mentioning)...

This game suffers from Rose coloured nostalgia glasses from most reviewers. When people tell you it is the "most this" or the "best that," you know they couldn't be objective if their life depended on it. This game has a lot to offer but it isn't like god desented from the heavens and annointed this game the best that ever was or ever will be. One thing that the nostalga hype machine seems to forget is that when morrowind was released a significant number of "fanbois" HATED it. yes the darling of the Bethesda ball was hated by "hardcore" bethesda fans and "true" lovers of the series. Why because at the time Morrowwind was released we saw the great gameplay vs graphics debate in pc gaming. As if you couldn't have both good graphics and good game play. The haters felt that bethesda sold out to the "graphics crowd" and it hurt game development because the "dungeons" in morrowind were tiny compared to the HUGE ones seen in daggerfell. This was cited as proof graphics were ruining gameplay. Also at the time morrowind was hated for its combat and character generation because they changed things from what made the series great in the first two games. I'm not saying this is a bad game but be wary of the retro hype. It has major flaws, it is starting to show it's age and it isn't whole magnatuides better in the story elements. i know multiple people who have played the last three in the series that don't think it is the best story. It is harder to fine people who have played all 5/6 games. I can't judge because i still haven't finished skyrim's main questline, and that isn't because I quit, i just get side tracked all the time. Of the first 4 games' main quest, I like oblivion best. If you like the series then you will most likely enjoy this game but be aware that it is buggy, suffers from being old technology, it looks its age and has clunky rpg mechanics that have since been refined. Also watch out for how people taks these cons and try to say they are features.

To all the imperials, there is gold in Black Marsh. Beautiful gold and many a great things. Black Marsh has it all.