The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

The best entry in the Elder Scrolls series. Make sure you will look up how to build a character for beginners. I keep coming back to this game due to the excellent modding community. Land expansions like Tamriel Rebuilt and Skyrim Home of The Nords are highly recommended. OpenMW is an open source engine that comes along with gamepad, modern resolution support and better stability.

Morrowind is a fantastic RPG. Multiple playstyles are viable. You are able to become super powerful. They really managed to strike a nice balance in the story where you might be the chosen one but you will have to prove it. Great mod support and now with OpenMW, many stability bugs and engine limitations will be fixed.

If you're a fan of ambiguity in storytelling, this game has it all. Everybody in the game is his or her own unreliable narrator. Nobody is ever going to give you the straight story, and even if they're being real with you, they don't have all the facts. Or maybe the facts are a lie. Or maybe they've been passed down from generation to generation for so long, everybody has their own spin. Or maybe the whole damn thing is up for interpretation. Or maybe nobody knows, or cares. Or maybe you're just being taken for a ride from start to finish by forces you can't understand. Even the big bad of the entire game is justified from his own point of view. Everybody in the game has their own reasons, and I really like that. The plot of dubious prophecy and political court intrigue (and there's multiple courts to be a part of) keeps me playing. The storytelling is one thing, but the actual mechanics of the game are another. I don't find early and mid game combat fun. You'll be whiffing at your opponents for no good reason for hours. But then you claw your way to a little bit of power, a little bit of wealth, a little bit of charm, a little bit of crafting skill. You keep struggling, you keep fighting. And then, you get it. It's yours, more and more. Suddenly, you're Hulk jumping across the wasteland, slicing things up indiscriminately with your katana forged by demons, and shooting out Kamehamehas at immortal vampires. Whether the prophecy is true, false, half-truth, complete disinfo, wholesale propaganda, high heresy, it doesn't matter. For all intents and purposes, you ARE The Nerevarine. I love Morrowind. I'm giving this game a 4/5 because certain aspects of the game have aged very poorly, and it is incredibly off putting to people accustomed to modern gaming and modern graphics, but, I'll never forget the story. Never let your guard down. Trust no one. Everybody's out to get you in this game. Except Jiub. Jiub's legit. Enjoy your stay in Vvardenfell.

Man, there was a huge learning curve the first time I played this game. I never recommend it as a place to start for new gamers. But it's still one of my favourite games of all time, up there with BG 2 SOA and Deus Ex GOTY, and I play it at least once ever couple of years. The graphics are dated but the story, the sheer volume of quest, faction and chracter choices, and the fantastic world to explore are second to none.

Hands down, the best Elder Scrolls experience. The world building, the story, the immersion, its all creative. Its all imaginative. This is the furthest you can go from cliché high fantasy attempts at Medieval Euroupe with Ancient Roman Empire that was in Oblivion. Or pseduo-medieval Scandinavian Skyrim. If anything, the aesthethic of this game reminds me just a little bit of Frank Herberts Dune (sure, you can also think of the David Lynch movie). But the writing is the best Bethesda have ever developed. There are mods that bring this game graphics up to speed (look up Morrowind Graphics and Sound Overhaul) and really after using those there are no more excuses as to why not to pick this one up.