I was looking at some Skyrim trailers and since I just finished Fallout 3 a couple of months ago and I want something similar gameplay wise... I want to know are the Elder Scroll games similar to Fallout 3 in any way? Do I have to start from Arena in order to get acquainted with the mythology and story of the world? Which ones do you guys recommend? Arena? Daggerfall? Morrowind? Oblivion?

You should just wait for Skyrim.

Morrowind might put you off because it's a lot different.

It's just Fallout with swords.

You'll be fine starting with Skyrim. I'd recommend New Vegas if you want something to play now.

For history, I would start with Morrowind, then Oblivion, in that order, because I find that it's hard to go back to Morrowind after playing Oblivion.

But those games are kind of old, so you might be better off just waiting for Skyrim. I'm sure there will be books that will explain most of the lore in the world to you, so you don't have to play the old games.

Morrowind will spoil you,

Oblivion will get you used to the graphical style,

Waiting for Skyrim and then going back in time should provide the best experience.

If you want to start somewhere, start with Morrowind. Thats where the series really got great in my opinion. But due to its being around a decade old and its combat being poor, you may or may not like it. Or if you'd rather not, then I would reccomend trying oblivion if for no other reason then that it was a great game.

Morrowind will spoil you,

Oblivion will get you used to the graphical style,

Waiting for Skyrim and then going back in time should provide the best experience.

Morrowind is worth playing if you can deal with some dated gameplay.

@vdortizo said:

I was looking at some Skyrim trailers and since I just finished Fallout 3 a couple of months ago and I want something similar gameplay wise... I want to know are the Elder Scroll games similar to Fallout 3 in any way? Do I have to start from Arena in order to get acquainted with the mythology and story of the world? Which ones do you guys recommend? Arena? Daggerfall? Morrowind? Oblivion?

If you want something similar to Fallout 3, you should play Fallout: New Vegas. If you're on the PC. If you're playing on console, I have some input on that...

Morrowind's fine and Oblivion is genuinely great if you look past a few things.

Wait for Skyrim. But don't play New Vegas...

Shame on you! As a punishment you are now going to play every Elder Scrolls game!

A lot of people say Elder Scrolls is just Fallout with swords but that's kind of wrong. Well they are right when it comes to the combat but you should try and learn a little about the leveling system because it's completely different and your easily able to screw yourself if you don't know exactly what skills you like, at least in Daggerfall, Morrowind, and Oblivon, not sure about Skyrim.

Edit: In terms of learning lore give the elders scrolls wiki a try.

So no love for arena of daggerfall?? I don't care if the games are old. Are they any good?

I remember Daggerfall being pretty brutal when you first start, but it was insane how big the world was.

You've played Fallout 3, so you've played an Elder Scrolls game.

Scrolls has not been released yet....

Try playing Minecraft in the meantime...

just play new vegas

@Jimbo:

You mean Fallout 3 is just Oblivion with guns? Which it isn't.

@JudgeDread said:

Scrolls has not been released yet....

Try playing Minecraft in the meantime...

Well played!

As for Oblivion...

@Jimbo said:

It's just Fallout with swords.

Which is not a bad thing, Oblivion is a ton of fun and feels very fleshed out, but if you played Fallout 3 or New vegas you'll be getting a similar experience.

Thus far TES was mostly paper awesome, as in being more awesome on paper than actively playing it, in terms of pure fun. The Bethesda dev team is obviously getting better at making their games more fun, rather than just an appealing idea; I dug Fallout 3 & New Vegas way more than Morrowind and Oblivion. With Skyrim, they strife hard for a more visceral and fun combat experience. Looking forward to playing it. If only they'd have gone with a lock-on system, that'd be a major cornerstone for a more fluid and physical and varied adn deep FPS melee combat system.

Just play Skyrim. If you want to dig deep into the lore, you could always read about it online.

@TEHMAXXORZ said:

@Jimbo:

You mean Fallout 3 is just Oblivion with guns? Which it isn't.

Did you just contradict me and then disagree with yourself? That's brilliant, we should do this again some time.

@Jimbo: No, I corrected you and then disagreed with you.

@vdortizo: Start with Oblivion, play until Skyrim. World is filled with all sorts of fantasy lore if you're interested (personally, I never felt that it was interesting enough to investigate, but I'm sure many will disagree).

And yes, Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns and VATS. Biggest difference is the tone. Oblivion is more whimsical and fun-loving; Fallout 3 feels more tense and atmospheric. Oblivion is about doing whatever you want; Fallout 3 is more about surviving with what you're got. If that makes any sense.

I'd say that Oblivion has more freedom to both your gameplay experience, and your ability to move around the environment and do whatever quests you like.

Hmmm... I guess I could start from the beginning (a history lesson wouldn't hurt)... are Arena and Daggerfall playable on newer PCs?? Or to Morrowind I go??