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[Crayon]

Because you walked so slow.

 

[PuppetMaster]

Pixel shaded water.

I upgraded to a Geforce3 just to see the water in MW in all it's glory when it came out.

 

[Futaleufu]

Complete freedom to make your own spells and break the game

 

[01011001]

despite being a downsizing in pure square mileage from Daggerfall.

wasn't Daggerfall the size of the fucking UK with tens of thousands of towns? that was ridiculous so no wonder they downscaled

 

[DryvBy]

Freedom of choice. You have missions where you smuggle drugs inside other living beings and it's up to you how to extract that sweet smooka out of their corpses.

Of any game that need a proper remake, it's this. And Deus Ex. And Thief 1 & 2.

 

[Kamina]

Morrowind is a true RPG, mechanic wise, choice wise, storywise.
Skyrim and Oblivion are RPGs too, but the emphasis is on accessibility for more audiences and action, especially with the former.

 

[e0n]

The combat, dialogue, inventory micromanagement in Morrowind is godawful. I feel like people just love to promote "hardcore rpg mechanics", but haven't even played this game in its actual un-modded form.

 

[Zannegan]

There was a lot more freedom in how you approached problems, and the game's systems interacted in interesting ways. Morrowind may be dated, but it still allows for so much more creative play than its sequels that it isn't even funny.

Skyrim still retains a lot of what made Morrowind fun, but in a streamlined, sanitized form. I sometimes imagine what could have been if they'd been more focused on building up their spellcasting, enchanting/potions, AI, and physics systems in Oblivion and Skyrim instead of dumbing them down to better push players through their planned (boring) narrative arcs. It's not like the games could get much more buggy or broken.

 

[ahtlas7]

It was great fun on my Xbox, until I killed a guard, who had become stuck in the environment, then took his armor. Afterward, every time I entered a city I’d instantly agro the guards who would instakill me. That game remembers everything. Even later, playing again on PC, guards would side eye me like they knew somewhere at some point in time I had wronged one of their brothers.

Also, it has striders! How many hours I spent walking around looking at those floating fleas.

 

[Rickyiez]

First game with Pixel Shaded water?

 

[fatmarco]

It has some major flaws in comparison to its successors, like the diary is atrocious to use and manage your quests even if I do appreciate the idea of reading more detailed updates on your quests.

But aside from things like that, like others have said, the game world feels truly otherworldly, extremely alien, and its lore is great, the way you gather information about the world is great through conversation, books etc.

But fundamentally, the journey from barely being able to defeat a mudcrab to becoming a living god through your own personal choices, your own decisions, own volition, is one of the best memories I experienced in gaming. You actually feel substantial progress with each weapon, piece of armour or magical ability you gain.

Then again, my enjoyment did rely on me getting past the early game with a lot of Mudcrab merchant exploitation, so it's not perfect hahaha.

 

[DragoonKain]

I played that game for like 300+ hours and never beat it. I accidentally broke the game by killing someone needed for the main story.

The DLC was awesome for it too. So much content.

Remember the constant effect? Enchanting constant effect levitation to an accessory was so awesome you could fly around like a god. Eventually mine became unplayable. It would crash every few steps. I think because of memory overload, dropping too many items in the environment.

Or maybe it had something to do with making my character move super fast with OP enhancing tricks.

 

[hussar16]

It's well thought out fantasy world tht works and is believable. That's the main thing then everything else fits to

 

[hussar16]

It has some major flaws in comparison to its successors, like the diary is atrocious to use and manage your quests even if I do appreciate the idea of reading more detailed updates on your quests.

But aside from things like that, like others have said, the game world feels truly otherworldly, extremely alien, and its lore is great, the way you gather information about the world is great through conversation, books etc.

But fundamentally, the journey from barely being able to defeat a mudcrab to becoming a living god through your own personal choices, your own decisions, own volition, is one of the best memories I experienced in gaming. You actually feel substantial progress with each weapon, piece of armour or magical ability you gain.

Then again, my enjoyment did rely on me getting past the early game with a lot of Mudcrab merchant exploitation, so it's not perfect hahaha.

Not many games make you feel like morrowing getting off that filter ship onto some weird alien swamp land where your talking to roman like troops .it was an adventure for sure

 

[Cyberpunkd]

No. Honest opinion.

I played a lot of Morrowind on Xbox and PC, but Oblivion surpassed it and Skyrim was better than both combined.

Oblivion was crap.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Cliff Racers.

Hundreds of them....

 

[niilokin]

The faction system was so good, felt like you achieved something when you got new rank. The story and lore is really juicy stuff. So much depth and possibilities in that game and alot of secrets. I think vanilla WoW is perhaps only other game where I've felt similar feelings of accomplishiment...

 

[AV]

Was mind blowing at the time but it's aged like milk. Graphically, mechanically and honestly, the plot isn't particularly great either.

Certain people will tell you you have to be a super intelligent gamer to even play Morrowind. What that means is, open a journal and read things like "third house down after the left turn". It's really not that wild.

 

[buenoblue]

Just look at the games that were around at the time. If you weren't there it's hard to imagine.

 

[crackajack]

Oblivion is just a dumbed down version of Morrowind, and Skyrim is a dumbed down version of Oblivion. (And I'm sure people will tell me Morrowind is a dumbed down version of Daggerfall).

I wonder how many master degrees you had to have to even be able to buy Arena in a shop, when every TES is just a dumbed down version of the previous game.

Fans are weird most of the times. When something pioneers something it is put on a pedestal while actually it is more often than not actually shit compared to newer games.

Morrowind was sort of fine, even if I disliked it back then already, I can see what one can appreciate about it, but like all open world crap it is a world filled with distractions and the plot gets burried under it. Instead of having an awesome adventure you do just treadmill stuff on every corner and the world design was already too big and Gothic with its much smaller map was miles better in offering an actually interesting little world instead of huge emptiness. Thanks to TES and GTA's success we have today all those games with huge maps and quest markers every squaremeter with writing that just can't deliver interesting stuff for all that crap, and barely manages to make a main story not laughably bad.

 

[Holammer]

It sticks with you because of the now iconic music.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Morrowind: nerds

Skyrim: mass market appeal

 

[balls of snow]

It did the breath of the wild thing before zelda did it.

 

[killatopak]

Rose tinted goggles.

Like Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls has gotten bigger and better with every mainline game. Skyrim is the peak of the series, but I'm sure it'll be outdone by ESVI.

Considering how good Skyrim is, I'm expecting ESVI to be one for the ages.

 

[Surfheart]

I upgraded to a Geforce3 just to see the water in MW in all it's glory when it came out.

Same, it was a real showcase.

 

[Humdinger]

Skyrim sold the most of all the elder scrolls games but whenever there is talk about the best elder scrolls morrowind is the winner

ive been gaming for over 20 years but i never played morrowind , can you tell me why is it considered the best ?

Is it the game mechanics ? story ? it cant be graphics because it looks like crap

I'm late to the thread, but since I recently began another playthrough of Morrowind, I thought I might chime in.

I think it boils down to the following:

1. Morrowind has heavy RPG elements that were greatly attenuated in the later games. From an RPG perspective, Oblivion and Skyrim are quite dumbed-down compared to Morrowind.

2. Morrowind feels like an alien place. There is a mysterious, mystical element to the world that largely disappeared in later ES games. Oblivion and Skyrim had mostly familiar settings (Greco-Roman, medieval). Morrowind's world feels more alien and strange.

3. Morrowind has a much more varied environment. Oblivion and Skyrim's worlds were fairly uniform, whereas Morrowind has 9 different biomes that varied quite a bit.

4. No levelling of enemies. If you wandered too far into the wilderness without leveling up, you would get your ass kicked. Oblivion's enemies were completely levelled (excessively so, I thought). Skyrim did a better job of auto-levelling enemies. Still, the experience of combat in an unlevelled world is different. The enemies are who and what they are; they don't get stronger or weaker depending on how you change.

5. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack. I can hear it in my head right now.

6. Morrowind's world was a mixture of many different cultures. Dunmer, Telvanni, Imperial, Khajit, all the different houses... And the cultures in Morrowind clashed. By comparison, Oblivion and Skyrim felt more homogenous.


Those are the things that come to my mind, anyhow.

 

[Loope]

I'm late to the thread, but since I recently began another playthrough of Morrowind, I thought I might chime in.

I think it boils down to the following:

1. Morrowind has heavy RPG elements that were greatly attenuated in the later games. From an RPG perspective, Oblivion and Skyrim are quite dumbed-down compared to Morrowind.

2. Morrowind feels like an alien place. There is a mysterious, mystical element to the world that largely disappeared in later ES games. Oblivion and Skyrim had mostly familiar settings (Greco-Roman, medieval). Morrowind's world feels more alien and strange.

3. Morrowind has a much more varied environment. Oblivion and Skyrim's worlds were fairly uniform, whereas Morrowind has 9 different biomes that varied quite a bit.

4. No levelling of enemies. If you wandered too far into the wilderness without leveling up, you would get your ass kicked. Oblivion's enemies were completely levelled (excessively so, I thought). Skyrim did a better job of auto-levelling enemies. Still, the experience of combat in an unlevelled world is different. The enemies are who and what they are; they don't get stronger or weaker depending on how you change.

5. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack. I can hear it in my head right now.

6. Morrowind's world was a mixture of many different cultures. Dunmer, Telvanni, Imperial, Khajit, all the different houses... And the cultures in Morrowind clashed. By comparison, Oblivion and Skyrim felt more homogenous.


Those are the things that come to my mind, anyhow.

Excellent reply. It is an amazing game, it looks so good, all the places feel different, the dungeons (albeit using the same textures) feel unique because of different enemies etc.

It grabbed me when i arrived to Balmora, after travelling on foot and it started to rain, it was just mindblowing.

 

[Humdinger]

... having the freedom to go exploring, with the certainty that whatever you find, it will be thanks to your own means and not because an indicator on the map told you that there was an unchecked question mark there. It's something that was sadly lost with Bethesda's later games. I still enjoy them, but it's just not the same.

And that too. Forgot about that.

 

[IDKFA]

loot variety, level scaling, and most importantly quests (because they werent procedural) were better in those older games. I gave you specifics, not rose tinted goggles

Just vecause you arent detail oriented enough to notice these things falter over time, doesnt mean everyone else is. Your brain just sees better graphics and updated combat mechanics and think the game is better. That lack of eye for detail hurts gaming. Because you cant ask for what you dont notice is gone...

You're banned, but I'm still going to reply to this.

Skyrim is bigger, has better combat, better quests, better map and dragons! It destroys Morrowind and Oblivion.

Final Fantasy XVI is another series that has gotten better with every mainline game. Nobody can say that the incredible XV is better than XVI. Saying IX is better than XVI or even XV is a case of rose tinted glasses. It's nostalgia clouding your judgement.

 

[Mercador]

It's BotW but 15 years BEFORE the release of BotW.

 

[bender]

It is a world that wasn't afraid to let you get lost. It had limited fast travel that supported the lore in the game. The was no way point system so quests were written to help you get to your destination. The systems in the game weren't dumbed down as was the case in subsequent TES titles and with alchemy, you could break the game and have near superhero powers.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

Skyrim is bigger, has better combat, better quests, better map and dragons! It destroys Morrowind and Oblivion.

in morrowind, i felt alone and the world was 10,000x bigger than me, and i really had to scrape by. it was unforgiving, but you'd stumble upon some amazing places/caves/ruins.

in skyrim, i felt like i was on a disneyland boat ride fighting bad guys with a foam sword while everyone was clapping, and every place felt the same.

 

[Tarnpanzer]

Currently 80h into Morrowind, first playthrough.

To be fair, most of the dungeons are quite repetitive, also 90% of the quests are simple fetch/kill quests. Most of them don´t even have an exiting story to tell to "sugarcoat" them.

 

[kiphalfton]

Because it was made with PC in mind. The fact it came out on Xbox was a miracle.

Versus ESIV and ESV, which was made with consoles in mind first and foremost, and then PC was an afterthoughtm

 

[Krappadizzle]

I'm late to the thread, but since I recently began another playthrough of Morrowind, I thought I might chime in.

I think it boils down to the following:

1. Morrowind has heavy RPG elements that were greatly attenuated in the later games. From an RPG perspective, Oblivion and Skyrim are quite dumbed-down compared to Morrowind.

2. Morrowind feels like an alien place. There is a mysterious, mystical element to the world that largely disappeared in later ES games. Oblivion and Skyrim had mostly familiar settings (Greco-Roman, medieval). Morrowind's world feels more alien and strange.

3. Morrowind has a much more varied environment. Oblivion and Skyrim's worlds were fairly uniform, whereas Morrowind has 9 different biomes that varied quite a bit.

4. No levelling of enemies. If you wandered too far into the wilderness without leveling up, you would get your ass kicked. Oblivion's enemies were completely levelled (excessively so, I thought). Skyrim did a better job of auto-levelling enemies. Still, the experience of combat in an unlevelled world is different. The enemies are who and what they are; they don't get stronger or weaker depending on how you change.

5. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack. I can hear it in my head right now.

6. Morrowind's world was a mixture of many different cultures. Dunmer, Telvanni, Imperial, Khajit, all the different houses... And the cultures in Morrowind clashed. By comparison, Oblivion and Skyrim felt more homogenous.


Those are the things that come to my mind, anyhow.

7. Balance wasn't a thing that BGS overtly cared about in Morrowind and you could break your game if you knew how in the best ways possible. Creating spells/items/effects in Morrowind could easily imbalance the game and it was fun as hell to mess with.

8. Jeremy Soule's soundtrack. I can hear it in my head right now. (for reiteration purposes.)

 

[MasterCornholio]

For me this is what I love about Morrowind.

Game: Here's a quest and you have to find this thing.

Me: OK where is this thing?

Game: Here's directions in text form.

Me: Holy shit no compass so I have to pay attention to the directions?

Game: YES

Yeah the elimination of a compass really makes exploration a lot more meaningful to me. Many times I get lost and get distracted with other things I discover. Then when I'm hours into doing other stuff I finally remember what I was trying to do in the first place. I really don't get this in modern games which is why I like Morrowind a lot.

 

[Mr Wonderstuff]

Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind.

 

[JimmyRustler]

You're banned, but I'm still going to reply to this.

Skyrim is bigger, has better combat, better quests, better map and dragons! It destroys Morrowind and Oblivion.

Final Fantasy XVI is another series that has gotten better with every mainline game. Nobody can say that the incredible XV is better than XVI. Saying IX is better than XVI or even XV is a case of rose tinted glasses. It's nostalgia clouding your judgement.

Ridiculous. I haven’t played Morrowind but to say that Skyrim had better quests than Oblivion must be a joke. I mean, I love Skyrim and all but the quests in Oblivion were marvellous. Really hope those Remake rumours are true.

 

[demented waffle]

The fast travel system was by far the best. It made you learn about the world. Most immersive by far. It did have its faults tho.

 

[IDKFA]

in morrowind, i felt alone and the world was 10,000x bigger than me, and i really had to scrape by. it was unforgiving, but you'd stumble upon some amazing places/caves/ruins.

in skyrim, i felt like i was on a disneyland boat ride fighting bad guys with a foam sword while everyone was clapping, and every place felt the same.

We all like different things. For me, Morrowind feels so dated compared to Skyrim. It's an archaic relic that has been replaced by a bigger and better version. Also, Skyrim has dragons fighting giants. That alone wins the debate.

Ridiculous. I haven’t played Morrowind but to say that Skyrim had better quests than Oblivion must be a joke. I mean, I love Skyrim and all but the quests in Oblivion were marvellous. Really hope those Remake rumours are true.

The Dark Brotherhood was better in Oblivion, but that's it. Everything else, main story, side quests, expansions such as Dawn Guard, were all better in Skyrim. I'll die on that hill.

 

[killatopak]

It's nostalgia clouding your judgement.

Never.

 

[Singular7]

dude had his degree in theology, too. blessed stuff

Interesting -- that explains the Nerevarene (Morrowind's Messiah) - Nazarene (Jesus from Nazareth) connection, and how the story parallels the Bible in a lot of ways.

I used to do mushrooms and read the Bible, definitely expands the mind out into realms similar to Vvardenfell

 

[Braag]

It was quite amazing back then. Now, it's janky and clunky af by today's standards.

 

[Brock2621]

Skyrim sold the most of all the elder scrolls games but whenever there is talk about the best elder scrolls morrowind is the winner

ive been gaming for over 20 years but i never played morrowind , can you tell me why is it considered the best ?

Is it the game mechanics ? story ? it cant be graphics because it looks like crap

It was absolutely unbelievable at it's time.

 

[demented waffle]

It was quite amazing back then. Now, it's janky and clunky af by today's standards.

Definitely need mods for graphics and other stuff. I'll put the magic regen in and rich merchants, but leave the dice roll for hits. The hit dice made more use out of your skills and agility. It obviously wouldn't fly today.

 

[intbal]

the eye of the needle lies in the teeth of the wind

There ya go. Now go find it.
That's why Morrowind was great.

 

[Redefine07]

Imo Gothic1/2 where much better.

 

[amigastar]

Imo Gothic1/2 where much better.

Ah yes, Gothic 1/2 are classics to people with taste.

 

[Hudo]

For me it's special because the systems allow to be abused and broken. And that's fucking fun. The canonical example of jumping all the time to push your athletics skill so that you can later (with the help of some potions) can do one jump from one end of Vvardenfell to the other is just one of the many things.
The writing with all the metaphysics shit around Vivec was at least interesting and above and beyond the plots that Bethesda are shittting out now. Back then, Bethesda didn't treat their players like retards. The world was interesting to explore because it was so alien. Morrowind also introduced the main theme of Elder Scrolls and had a cool OST in general. Yeah, the combat system is... crap, at least in the beginning, because it's a bit of a mismatch between the "action-focused" first-person perspective and classic dice-roll combat. But as soon as you train your attributes, that gets better over time. But it's still the game's biggest weak point.

 

[Sleepwalker]

it's not.