Older games hold up?

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fledeye

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I'm currently on maternity leave and have been playing through Skyrim for the nth time.

I got into Elder Scrolls when I met my husband and he had Oblivion on 360. I played Oblivion and Skyrim several times and then the 360 died, so he bought them for me on PC. I have done everything in both games several times and I'm getting a bit bored. I'm not a MMO person and our internet isn't the greatest, so I'm not really interested in Elder Scrolls Online, however, I've never played Arena, Daggerfall or Morrowind. And for now I have a lot of time on my hands until the baby comes so I've been wondering about whether they are still playable and if it would be worth getting them and having more of Tamriel to immerse myself in for the next couple of months.

Any and all suggestions gratefully received.

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Danteveli

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Morrowind should be playable with all the graphics mods that were released on PC. Its my favorite of the bunch so I may be biased towards the rest but Daggerfall and Arena would be nightmare to play in 2017 without nostalgia factor. They feel just too janky.

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viking_funeral

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Morrowind has a learning curve.

One of the biggest changes from Morrowind to Oblivion was that connecting with your weapon was a guaranteed hit. In Morrowind you can swing your sword at a mudcrab all day and just get 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' if your stats were too low. Given that your stats also grew based on use, that means that the early grinding levels could be particularly frustrating.

Then there's those damn flying mini-pterodactyls, Cliff Racers. Impossible to hit those damn things, even with good stats. They just stood there and pecked at your skull.

That said, the world of Morrowind is amazing. It is probably the most detailed and fleshed out world that Bethesda has ever done, and it's so damn unique. It was worth putting up with the jank — especially as it was a one of a kind game at the time — to experience that world. However, even for people playing the game at the time, it was a big hurdle. So I don't know how much newer gamers that don't appreciate games from that era can really enjoy the game.

Morrowind should be pretty cheap to pick up, so I recommend just giving it a try. There's a plethora of great mod packages that will make it shinier, prettier, and smoother. Just hold your expectations in check regarding the gameplay and you should be fine.

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ArtisanBreads

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#4  Edited By ArtisanBreads

I think you'll have a hard time going back. The combat has gotten so much better. Morrowind is worth trying if you really want because I'm sure it's cheap but I don't think you're going to love it. Going back further than that I can't see.

One of the biggest changes from Morrowind to Oblivion was that connecting with your weapon was a guaranteed hit. In Morrowind you can swing your sword at a mudcrab all day and just get 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' 'miss,' if your stats were too low. Given that your stats also grew based on use, that means that the early grinding levels could be particularly frustrating.

Yeah, if you do go back feel free to cheat your way to a decent character who can hit anything at the start. This made me finally be able to get into the game.

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LawGamer

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Arena and Daggerfall are probably not worth it. They marry a lot of obscure stat stuff with some really bad controls. I don't know that I've made it out of the first dungeon in Daggerfall. That said, I think those games are currently free on the Bethesda website, or at least they were. I know GoG sold them for cheap at one point too.

As far as Morrowind goes - if your're willing to put up with some older game design, then I say go for it. It's still my favorite Elder Scrolls game if only because it is the only one to actually feel like a fantasy world. Oblivion was very European and Skyrim was Vikings all the time, but Morrowind felt truly alien. Just be ready to put up with some jank. I'd also highly recommend a notebook since the questlog more or less sucks and there aren't any quest markers (this was back in the day when you needed to actually read the quest text). If you get it with the two expansions, there's easily a hundred hours of gameplay there.

If you aren't adverse to using the console commands in the game, you can also simulate fast travel. I think you can find how to do it on the Elder Scrolls wiki.

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Zelyre

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While I loved Arena and Daggerfall, they were products of their time (Kind of like Oblivion. A lot of jank, not really good, but felt very different and refreshing at the time.) I believe they're both free on Bethesda's website, but I'd just suggestion looking up the video where Dave Snyder and Vinny play Daggerfall - you'll get your fill of the game there. It's one of the Random PC Game series from way back when. There was cool stuff in Daggerfall, like making your own items and spells, but you could really break the game that way.

Morrowind can still hold up. The combat is stat based, so mentally prepare yourself for behind the scenes dice rolling. I'd probably install all the graphic mods for it, then cheat by upping stats, and then play.

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ArbitraryWater

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I legitimately think Daggerfall is worth looking at as a historical curiosity, mostly in the sense that it's a janky, ambitious mess even by the standards of a series and a developer known for janky, ambitious games. If you want some fun "what were they thinking?" moments it's good for that.

But otherwise? Play Morrowind with the requisite mods that make it prettier, I guess. I've never quite managed to crack that game in my many attempts at it, but if you go in with the understanding that it's a PC RPG for people who played RPGs on PC in 2002 then I think you'll do alright for yourself.

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Maluvin

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Completely agree with most of the comments on Morrowind. It's still the most memorable setting I've explored in that setting but there is a lot to its design that can make it a tall hurdle to clear.

People have already mentioned the melee combat behind the scenes dice rolling. The magic system has similar issues although it's somewhat offset by all of the magic and enchantment customization you can do eventually. Eventually it all works out but you're going to have some training casting to do.

Then there's the conversation system: on the on hand there's a lot of good stuff to read but there's also an incredible amount of filler given you can talk to just about everyone and the way you select terms out of menu for conversations means you have to "collect words" to advance conversation options. That feels like a dated design at this point.

Inventory is a mixed bag depending on how you feel about micromanagement. On the one hand you can really mix and match your armor pieces (and, again, huge enchantment flexibility) and I really enjoyed that but that's not for everyone and I know some people just want to put on a complete suit.

Unmodded the character models are definitely dated. Even with mods you're going to see the stiffness of the underlying animation.

Very specific and limited fast travel options. I actually consider this to be a good thing because it forces a different sort of travel and exploration that I find immersive but lots of people like instant fast travel and that's a convenience that's hard to go without for a lot of people.

If you can get past these types of things you're in for an amazing adventure.

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xanadu

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#9  Edited By xanadu

Morrowind alone has issues going back to if you haven't played it before. You would definitely want to play it heavily modded and using the console for fast travel isn't a bad idea either.

I played morrowind for the first time a year or two ago. The main story was really interesting but the older mechanics made it a bit of a chore to get through.

Edit: has op or anyone else in thread played that skyrim mod expansion someone made as an application to work for Bethesda? Don't remember the name but I know the modder made a new land mass with quests and voice acting. Maybe that's a better route than playing an older ES?

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Ozzie

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Morrowind, for me, was the one I always go back to. Put a few mods for graphics (i never do but ppl love to do it), use the console to make combat easy by making everything 100 and go out into the world. It might be cheating but I just can't stand the combat and there's still so much to do explore and do; so it's not like you're cheating yourself out of an experience.

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fledeye

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Thanks eveyone. I was thinking Morrowind was probably the way to go, but I didnt want to miss out on the story in the other two if they were still playable.

Combat tends to stress me out a bit and I'm an archery coach in real life so I tend to play games that I can stealth my way through and shoot everyone with a nice bow (better internet and the addition of long bows in Battlegrounds and I'd be queen of the chicken dinner) So I'm a little worried about the combat in Morrowind if it's jenky. Does it lend its self to that kind of approach or is it a hack and slash?

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Maluvin

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I played a nightblade on my first playthrough and definitely stealthed and bowed my way through quite a bit. Totally viable.

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ArtisanBreads

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#13  Edited By ArtisanBreads

@fledeye: it's definitely viable, I just recommend maybe cheating your way to a decent starting character so it isn't annoying to start.

Even though it wasn't great in Skyrim, the stealth did get better as it went along so prepare for something pretty primitive.

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Hayt

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#14  Edited By Hayt

Morrowind is easily the best game if you stay long enough to get used tp it. It is probably my favourite game of all time though so I'm biased.

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Junkerman

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Morrowind is an incredible game with some very obtuse systems. Once you get moving you'll end up having a blast. The dialog system really through me for a loop when I was young, but after a while its actually pretty darn great. Get some simple quality of life mods fired up - I'd advise against some of the massive graphical overhauls before playing it once through on its own as they can change a lot of the scenery for the worse in my opinion. It can definitely look gorgeous but a lot of what sells Morrowind is its truly amazing atmosphere, and I'd hate to see that ruined for a newcomer because someone whose played through it nine times decided that Balmora should have giant deciduous trees all over.

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fatalbanana

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You could just hold off until Skywind is done. Having the entirety of Morrowind in the Skyrim engine sounds like best way to play it.

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soimadeanaccount

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@xanadu: Falskaar? I actually never played through the mod, hell I never really made it through Skyrim.

As for OP's question. I can only speak for Morrowind. Lots of people love it, lots of the things people cling onto about Morrowind are completely opposite to what "modern" games offer and likewise these same "features" could very well be the source of many frustrations and busy work. It is a very sharp double edged sword.

Quest marker doesn't exist in Morrowind, fast travel is limited, and if you really want to optimize your character you will be traveling a lot. IMO Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim never really got too good of a grip on their leveling system, the learn by doing concept is great, but attribute is the problem much to people's dismay with its removal in Skyrim, if you start with low endurance you are automatically at a handicap, if you don't level endurance first you are essentially shafting yourself. Not to mention the cumbersome +5 to +10 attribute per level. The "miss" chance in Morrowind could be frustrating at times but it is based off your character's skill, in latter series especially with range combat it starts to feel like it depends on how good your 360-no-scope-skillz is.

The world in Morrowind is great, a few of its cities are quite big with multiple layers. Exploring it however isn't as easy as Oblivion and Skyrim. This is before the level list system so areas don't level with your character. There are areas in Morrowind that you simply don't want to go to unless at higher levels. Some people like that, some don't.