The third entry in Bethesda's series of expansive first-person role-playing games. Arriving on the island of Vvardenfell as a prisoner, the player character is caught up in an ancient prophecy, as well as a power struggle between factions, races, and gods incarnate.
So I just listened to the 10-19-2010 Bombcast and wanted to help Vinny out :
1. More unique world - Morrowind had a unique flora and fauna, weather, architecture. Oblivion was much more a generic fantasy RPG with uninspired standard buildings and locations. (some would argue that yes this is due to the localtion games take place in, but there are ways to make it more interesting if they wanted to put effort into it)
2. Much deeper faction interaction and balances and politics in Morrowind. Oblivion was bare bones compared to that with fewer blander factions that did not interact with each other and you could easily be a guild master of them all with no repercussions, not to mention a warrior with almost no magic ability easily becoming a GM of the mages.
3. Oblivion had less interesting spells a lot of the cool stuff like levitation and many more got stripped out.
4. Dynamic monster leveling in Oblivion was much more intrusive and punishing then in Morrowind, to the point that encouraged you to game the system and not level at all.
5. Main story was better written and was more interesting and engaging then the big bad evil demons omg you haf to close the gates of Oblivion.
6. A large a mount of well fleshed out side quest with a more solid story and purpose behind them in general then in Oblivion.
7. Like already mentioned on podcast the extreme amount of copy paste used in dungeons in Oblivion got boring fast. While Morrowind had that too it was to a much smaller degree.
8, Compounding the problem above is that lot of places in Oblivion are just there to go to and kill stuff, whereas in Morrowind almost all of them (if not all) had some quest or other purpose.
I played 2 hours of Morrowind and utterly hated it, whilst i must've put over 100 hours into oblivion. I think the thing that irked me with Morrowind was that the environment didnt appear to contain any colours other than brown (meanwhile oblivion is one of the most colourful games ive ever played).
I tried to like Morrowind, really. But the combat just isn't fun. I like the real-time combat, helps immersion a lot. I know there are mods for this but it's imbalanced ><
The reason I liked Oblivion more (i played morrowind first), was it was immersive. With tons of mods, Cyrodil can be unique and beautiful and complex too. I wish I could feel the same way about Morrowind too. Because that theme, MAN, keeps me coming back just to listen to the title song (and then quit cuz i don't quite feel like playing it)
I think I was too young to appreciate Morrowind when it came out. My brother had it and I played it for maybe an hour and was just overwhelmed by the openness and lack of direction. I put 100+ hours into Oblivion though, and it remains my favorite singleplayer game.
I loved getting to build your own fortress when you ascended high enough within one of the great houses. I was pretty bummed when I found out that wasn't in Oblivion. Plus in MW by the end you really felt like a demigod, but Oblivion's world leveling prevented that to a degree.
That, and the game world really wasn't as unique as once believed. The landscapes were flat and sparse, and many of the cities were monotonous, take the capital Vivec for example, a big shell of a building, with empty corridors and rooms.
That, and the game world really wasn't as unique as once believed. The landscapes were flat and sparse, and many of the cities were monotonous, take the capital Vivec for example, a big shell of a building, with empty corridors and rooms.
"
yes, exactly what I was trying to say. Sometimes morrowind fans flame a lil bit too much on oblivion.
Agreed. I was actually surprised to hear Ryan suggest that Oblivion was the better game, since everyone I know as well as most of the people from these forums seem to agree with me that Morrowind is better.
Morrowind is a billion times better then Oblivion, by far, and in a lot of ways.
-traveling is far more engaging since you have to plan your route carefully, there is fast travel, but it's a more "realistic" one, you can take boats or striders (huge bug like things that you ride) but obviously boats only take you to coastal villages/cities and striders are only available on big cities, no go anywhere anytime BS.
-no compass, you gotta really make use of landmarks to get your bearings, when someone gives you a quest they say something like "it's northwest from this place", so you don't just follow a stupid point on a radar, you literally have to find it.
-And of course the BIGGEST thing of all, leveling up actually means something in morrowind, there are places you just can't go unless you are stronger, as opposed to Oblivion where you can pretty much finish the game at lvl1 because ALL monsters always level up with you, so no matter how strong you are the enemy will always be as strong or stronger. the biggest fuck up bethesda could possibly make.
there are possibly a lot more that I can't think of now.
It was all due to they trying to make the Oblivion more casual ugh.. and that always destroys any good franchise, of course you can fix all of oblivion's BS with mods, but comparing the vanilla experiences (which is all consoles can run) morrowind wins hands down, the only thing oblivion has going for it is the combat.
@FourWude: I guess you were doing something wrong with the combat then. As for cities Morrowind had much much more variety in city design then Oblivion, in Oblivion you had like what 3 types: capital, generic medieval town, generic medieval town with Nordic feel. And capital city in Oblivion was like 100% copy pasta of itself in a loop.
@themangalist said:
" I tried to like Morrowind, really. But the combat just isn't fun. I like the real-time combat, helps immersion a lot. I know there are mods for this but it's imbalanced >< The reason I liked Oblivion more (i played morrowind first), was it was immersive. With tons of mods, Cyrodil can be unique and beautiful and complex too. I wish I could feel the same way about Morrowind too. Because that theme, MAN, keeps me coming back just to listen to the title song (and then quit cuz i don't quite feel like playing it) "
Both games have spectacular mods, they do not excuse the main content since most people never bother with them for one or play on consoles.
Both games were good, Oblivion had some improvements on the mechanics, but for me Morrowind had a vastly more interesting world and story than oblivion.
Morrowind was bigger in scale there was alot more hidden things to find and that gave you a reason to go out and explore rather than sticking to the main path.
The thing I didn't like about Morrowind was alot of the names sounded the same and had me searching for longer than I would of liked. Going to Ashu-Ahhe to find someone with a similar name about something iv'e no idea about left me more than a little confused.
Oblivion had more of a magical feel to it, hopfully that didn't make me sound like a fairy, but I think I'm correct in saying that it was alot easy to play through when everything looked the part, o and I like shiny.
What I didn't like about oblivion was the way enemies leveled up with you, if i'm going to invest hours of my time into a game I want to feel like iv'e achieved something, and the magnetic difficulty bar just didn't do it for me.
Morrowind had a story that fitted an open world game, while Oblivion you were running around goofing off despite the end of the world being nigh. Hell, your handler would give you quests where you were suppose to just wander the countryside adventuring. Morrowind's story was also a lot more unique than the save-the-world Oblivion one. It starts off slow, with really no plot going on, and then gets going, eventually picking up speed.
Here are a few examples as to why I prefer Morrowind to Oblivion (Hyperbole, of course)
Blades - Morrowind: Spies for the Emperor. Oblivion: Bodyguard fuckups.
Combat - Morrowind: Dice roll hit-and-miss. Attributes are important here. Oblivion: Hack & slash. Blades behave like blunt weapons.
Definite Danger Zone - Morrowind: Red Mountain, in the middle of Vvardenfell. Oblivion: Uh....
Fauna - Morrowind: Silt striders, Guars, Scribs and Cliff Racers. Oblivion: Trolls, Goblins, Imps and Ogres.
MQ Protagonist - Morrowind: Cliché but still viable. You are a reincarnation, and the Chose One. Oblivion: Just dumb. You are a messenger boy, and the dude you're supposed to protect steal your thunder.
Politics - Morrowind: Grey like a dunmer. There's no definite good or evil. Oblivion: Black/white. Necromancers are evil because Necromancers=Evil.
Provinces - Morrowind: Vvardenfell. Wild and untamed. Mysterious and alien. Oblivion: Cyrodiil. It is a forest. And some mountains I guess.
Voice Acting - Morrowind: Annoyingly Repetitive. Oblivion: Less voice actors. Still annoyingly repititive.
@Ignor: You're absolutely right! Oblivion isn't challenging at all. Roaming around Morrowind, knowing that death could be around any corner, thrilling to say the least^^
" Morrowind had a story that fitted an open world game, while Oblivion you were running around goofing off despite the end of the world being nigh. Hell, your handler would give you quests where you were suppose to just wander the countryside adventuring. Morrowind's story was also a lot more unique than the save-the-world Oblivion one. It starts off slow, with really no plot going on, and then gets going, eventually picking up speed. "
Yeah, I love that in Morrowind when you meet your main quest giver in Balmora he gives you some money (200? I don't remember) and asks you to just explore the land and maybe join a guild.
The thing that bothered me most about Oblivion though was how small everything was. I remember hearing of the Imperial City in Morrowind and how big and spectacular it was, but when I saw it in Oblivion it was so goddamn tiny, seriously there were like a hundred people living there. The rest of the world was pretty much equally disappointing.
" @Ignor: You're absolutely right! Oblivion isn't challenging at all. Roaming around Morrowind, knowing that death could be around any corner, thrilling to say the least^^ "
Yeah! Entering a tomb for the first time and sneak up on a bandit, only to realize that the creature you're up against is a vampire.
@TheSeductiveMoose: Yes. You could sell them :) Alternatively, they could be used to reach certain rooms in the Telvanni towers (indoor use, of course).
@TheSeductiveMoose: If you have a spell/item for levitation or slow falling to counter it, I know it's used often for speed runs........Now that I think about it, I always felt sorry for that guy :I
" @TheSeductiveMoose: If you have a spell/item for levitation or slow falling to counter it, I know it's used often for speed runs........Now that I think about it, I always felt sorry for that guy :I "
Yeah me too. But then I got that awesome hat and that awesome robe and completely forgot about him.
I grew up on games like Dungeon Siege and Neverwinter Nights, but for some reason Morrowind always evaded me. I love Oblivion and Fallout, and I've owned Morrowind on Steam forever. Should I play it? Does it hold up well enough in 2010?
I think it has to do with what you played first. I played Oblivion first and I LOVED it, I got Morrowind a couple of years ago and I keep trying to come back to it but I'm not really motivated to play it as I was Oblivion. Whereas Oblivion was the first game I got after I got my 360 and it is still one of my favourite games that I'm still playing. I don't know what it is but I can't get into Morrowind as easily. I guess I'll keep trying.
" Morrowind is a billion times better then Oblivion, by far, and in a lot of ways. -traveling is far more engaging since you have to plan your route carefully, there is fast travel, but it's a more "realistic" one, you can take boats or striders (huge bug like things that you ride) but obviously boats only take you to coastal villages/cities and striders are only available on big cities, no go anywhere anytime BS. -no compass, you gotta really make use of landmarks to get your bearings, when someone gives you a quest they say something like "it's northwest from this place", so you don't just follow a stupid point on a radar, you literally have to find it. "
If you're a fucking travel masochist, there are mods for that in Oblivion. I just don't see why these annoying quirks are considered features at all, seeing as you could just forfeit the fast travel and ride a horse everywhere in Oblivion if you really wanted to.
For a lot of people, Oblivion was "my first PC style RPG" so even though it did a lot of shit PC games were doing for years, and not as well as other games, its still a milestone for console games who were missing out for the last decade or so. Bt yeah, more "love and care" so to speak clearly went into Morrowind. Its a difference as clearcut as DA compared to DA2. On the other hand, complaining about fast travel for taking away immersion? That's the rambling of a crazy person. Oblivion wasn't devoid of good ideas.
" Morrowind is a billion times better then Oblivion, by far, and in a lot of ways. -traveling is far more engaging since you have to plan your route carefully, there is fast travel, but it's a more "realistic" one, you can take boats or striders (huge bug like things that you ride) but obviously boats only take you to coastal villages/cities and striders are only available on big cities, no go anywhere anytime BS. -no compass, you gotta really make use of landmarks to get your bearings, when someone gives you a quest they say something like "it's northwest from this place", so you don't just follow a stupid point on a radar, you literally have to find it. "
If you're a fucking travel masochist, there are mods for that in Oblivion. I just don't see why these annoying quirks are considered features at all, seeing as you could just forfeit the fast travel and ride a horse everywhere in Oblivion if you really wanted to. "
There was still fast travel in Morrowind, but only by way of boats and silt striders. You had to pay to use them and only in specific locations, you couldn't just warp all over the map from any location.
Although they were optional in Oblivion, there was no reason not to use them. Even though the world size was bigger in Oblivion it felt far smaller. And again, you always had a compass to point out everywhere you needed to be, even for mystery quests where the journal entries emplied you'd have to do all the hard work yourself.. You actually didn't, and this was extremely detrimental to the game. Like was said.. having to use landmarks to find your bearings and actively explore by yourself made it a much more rewarding and involved game. I enjoyed Oblivion, for the most part. But I'll never understand people who claim to have sunk hundredds of hours into them - yet can't get into Morrowind, just because the graphics aren't quite as good.
I'm looking forward to Skyrim a lot (the announcement is apparently incoming) but I seriously pray it's more Morrowind and less Oblivion.
" Morrowind is a billion times better then Oblivion, by far, and in a lot of ways. -traveling is far more engaging since you have to plan your route carefully, there is fast travel, but it's a more "realistic" one, you can take boats or striders (huge bug like things that you ride) but obviously boats only take you to coastal villages/cities and striders are only available on big cities, no go anywhere anytime BS. -no compass, you gotta really make use of landmarks to get your bearings, when someone gives you a quest they say something like "it's northwest from this place", so you don't just follow a stupid point on a radar, you literally have to find it. "
If you're a fucking travel masochist, there are mods for that in Oblivion. I just don't see why these annoying quirks are considered features at all, seeing as you could just forfeit the fast travel and ride a horse everywhere in Oblivion if you really wanted to. "
Like I said, I'm evaluating both VANILLA experiences, of course you can fix all Oblivion BS with mods, but that's on the PC only.
Also as has been noted the elder scrolls series had always a very strong focus on exploration, and traveling on Oblivion isn't nearly as rewarding as in Morrowind, mainly because everything looks he same, in Morrowind you had marshes, forests, deserts and even a freaking volcano, I guess the devs figured since it had been casualized to point of traveling being useless they'd just not focus on making the landscape as diverse.
Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see a elder scrolls as good as morrowind, it'll all be streamlined to hell from now on, all for the casuals... and before we know it the main story will be like 4 hours to complete and everyone will be ok with it...
" I think it has to do with what you played first. "
This man speaks the truth. Which game you played first will often color your impressions of the next game you play in a series or just between two similar games.
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