The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind GOTY Edition

Morrowind has to be my favorite RPG of all time, and I've probably got 5,000 to 10,000 hours into it over more than a decade of playing. The real star of this game isn't one of the heroes or villains, it's the world itself, and the deep and involved culture that Bethesda managed to create. There are better "video games" out there, but I have never found another "world" that comes close to matching what Morrowind offers. Despite the dated graphics (mods can do wonders to replace the graphical "textures", but the underlying animations are still clunky), the 24/7 standing or pacing back and forth by the NPCs, the primarily text-based dialog (with a few spoken greetings and taunts), and the "all or nothing" die-roll based hit or miss combat system, it's still a fantastic piece of work. Depending on your tastes for RPG elements versus "First Person Slasher" mechanics, you'll either love or hate it; there are few people who find it "so-so". Be aware that it takes a while to get past the initial 3-6 level "grind" to see what the game really offers. The deeper you dig, the more it seems there is to uncover, and what you THINK you know often proves to be only one heavily biased side of the story. The game frequently leaves room for different interpretations and perspectives for role-play. I have yet to tap this game out and see everything after more than a decade. The mods available for this game have to be seen to be believed: there are literally thousands, and many of them are of professional quality. Examples range from expanding the game world from the small island of Vvardenfell to cover almost the entire Morrowind province piece by piece (and still in progress), adding more NPCs and expanded dialog, introducing new races and factions, adding huge numbers of additional items such as clothing, weapons, armor, and alchemical ingredients, providing the ability to gather materials to craft weapons, armor, household items, edible food, and furniture, introducing hunger and thirst requirements, adding new magical effects and options, and generally altering the game do practically anything you want it to do. If you loved Oblivion and Skyrim for their combat, perhaps you should skip Morrowind, but if the open world and involved background lore was what drew you in, this may be just what you're looking for.

And here it is on gog, my favourite game of all times. I played it, when it came out. Morrowind has the best athmosphere i ever experiencend in a game. So many memorable moments, e.g. my first house i aquired in Balmora. There were many other houses, but the first, this small balmora house was my castle.

I personally love every single elderscrolls game but this is the one that got me started! The graphics aren't much to talk about but the game itself is massive! You can do pretty much anything you want too, character development really started here I think. Starting out the game is tough because you're weaker than a rat but as you lvl up and get weapons and armour. The things you can do with magic is the most freeing in all the games, as long as you have enough gold, you can make any spell, even fly across the map. It's a must if you like RPGs :)

This game in a sense reminds how I have aged. I remember in the late 90s reading about this game in magazines, scouring the internet for all the most up to date details before release, waiting long and hard till it finally came out, on which day I bought it immediately. I finished it years later, thanks in no small part the great mods that were released that enriched the game experience. Since then, Oblivion and Skyrim have come and I have enjoyed, yet 17 years later I have nonetheless decided not only buy the game again and have enjoyed it even more than I did back then... Why? Nostalgia is the least of it. There is an immense amount of replay value in and of itself. An unparalleled amount of freedome exploring the world and discovering parts of the world and details of the plot that you missed the first time. HOWEVER, the modding community in all these 17 years has remained active and have expanded the game into something that was originally promised... Tamriel rebuilt is adding and has already added large parts of the mainland outside of the island of Vvardenfell with amazingly detailed new cities, new quests that tie into the pre-existing guilds. A talented modder (abot) has added rideable guars (mounts, which was originally promised before release), transportation that you can actually experience rather than simply fast travel with (silt riders, gondolas, boats). Indybank adds a banking system to place your gold in and buy houses with.... and there's so much more... the Telvanni mods to increase the House experience... Playing Skyrim now isn't just like playing a game, it's ultimately like taking a holiday in a different world in ways that even Skyrim has not been able to match. If you love timeless RPGs that grow younger with time, Morrowind has to be experienced.

This is worldbuilding, storytelling, immersion and exploration mastered... but not without severe caveats that you'll have to either suffer with or mod out. What begins as a simple journey of you being some apparent random prisoner has you ending with killing a self-proclaimed God and ALL of the emotions in between. The story unfolds nicely at a good pace, the music and world ooze with immersion and invitation and exploration both on the overworld and in dungeons is very rewarding. Good loot, hidden items, locked containers, secret passages... you name it! Every NPC can be talked to, though most of them are pretty much walking encyclopedias, it makes coming across the unique dialogue and lines all the more worth it. Aaaand that brings me to the downsides... some of which are subjective, however. The graphics are obviously outdated, the animations for characters are stock-like, sound effects are basic, not much voice acting and the combat... the combat is the "love it or hate it" side of the game. It performs identically to tabletop where damage and hit chance is determined by dice rolls, so you'll be swinging your hammer at point blank range and hoping that some of those swings eventually hit. Of course, the more proficient you are with said weapon, the higher the hit chance. If you can put up with slow, old school gameplay that doesn't have a cinematic or modern feel to it then you're in for a good story time with great and interesting lore to boot. I also love this game for its player customisation in that you can equip individual gloves and pauldrons for left and right, as well as wear robes over armour over clothes. Not many games allow this so take it for granted.