RPG Game I Haven't Played...Shoud I?

[Grandpa]

I've only been pc gaming, really, for about 5 years now, and have come to prefer RPGs. Before that, I was a console palyer. Now I'm exclusively a pc gamer, and am finding I've missed some of the best titles of the past 10-12 years.

 

I tend to get wrapped up in one game, and fail to hit all the games as they come out, or soon there after. However, when there is nothing new worth playing, thats when I have back tracked and gotten games like BG.

 

One such game that has been calling me, but I have yet to acquire, is Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. (I'd also like to hear your opinions of the first two Elder Scrolls titles.)

 

I trust that most of the people here are RPG fans to a degree. Is this game worth the time and money at this point? I've played just about every other fantasy RPG I can think of. I keep meaning to get Morrowind, but then somethig like KoTOR comes out, and I get wrapped up in it instead.

 

Is all the hype surrounding Elder Scrolls legit? Would it be worth it to get it?

[Phosphor]

This could have gone in General Gaming.

 

I've tried repeatedly to get into Morrowind, but have not had much success. To me, it kind of feels like a multi-player game but without anyone else around. It's a very empty-feeling world.

However, the game world is very unique and the developers went to great lengths to give background, details and whatnot, but all of that is in NPC dialogues that are all basically the same. You spend a lot of time traveling, which is very lonely given the first- (or third-)person perspective. You've got the immersion of that view, but immersion in isolation.

You do have the freedom to make any kind of character you want, which is nice. Character creation, like the game itself, is very open-ended.

 

But like I said, I haven't played very much.

[Judge Hades]

It is a very open ended well detailed world. It is also quite empty and the NPCs are like card board cutouts. If you are bored and need something to play you can do worse, like Might and Magic 9. Also it does have a good size modding community. You can get the Game of the Year Edition, which has both expansions, for about $30 to 40 USD now so it might be worth the buy to you. Of course if you tend to like being spoon fed then it is not the game for you. It is basically the bipolar opposite of KotOR.

[Quasar]

It's a very good game IMO... But it does get very tedious trudging everywhere. That said, there are a few mods you can use to give you transport, as well as lots of other amazingly cool stuff... It gets a bit repetitive, but there's a wealth of stuff to do and you can do *anything* you like. Kotor is very very linear... Morrowind just gives you an island and says "Do what you like".

That said, the story is quite engaging if you follow it. Note "if".

[Judge Hades]

That is also if you can follow it. You can easily get lost.

[EnderAndrew]

Morrowind is not the greatest RPG in the universe.

 

It does have a huge world to explore, is very open-ended in character construction and gameplay. The voice acting is alright, and the music is decent. The graphics seem a little dated, but are not bad. There are fan made plugins that update textures and faces.

 

I think it's worth giving a shot.

[mkreku]

Morrowind was a very ambitious project that failed to deliver what it intended to. Dialogues, for instance, are severely flawed. You walk up to a NPC, click on it and are presented with a list of options of things to ask about. Thing is, that list is (most often) the same whether you talk to a city guard, an old woman, a small child etc. so it grows old very quick. Also, the game lacks any physics whatsoever. The world is HUGE and detailed, but you cannot actually affect anything in the world, except character models. Another annoying thing is that the game has to load everytime you enter a cave/house/tomb/whatever. It wouldn't be so bad (well, to me it's an immersion disruptor) if it didn't lead to every cave in the entire game being doored. Imagine how stupid it looks when you walk into a cave and you have to open a door to get in. Even if the cave is underwater.. Other annoying things include constant fighting (damn birds), way too easily abused gameplay and the lack of FMV's or scripted events (ok, a few scripted events).

 

On the good side: The world is extremely open ended and bigger than any game you'll ever play (unless you decide to play its predecessor, Daggerfall). There are LOTS of quests (albeit most fairly simple ones), lots of places to explore, lots of people to meet, lots of monsters to fight , lots of "phat l00t" to collect. And, personally, I thought the expansions were way better than the OC.

 

If you can get it cheap with the expansions already added, then I'd say go for it. If you just buy the original game, I'd say pass.

[Volourn]

ES sries including MW = most overrated game series ever. Only EOTB comes close..

[EnderAndrew]

The Might and Magic series is the most overrated RPG series of all time.

 

The Elder Scrolls games are good.

[Weiser_Cain]

If you do get morrowind this is a must-have mod.

http://home.wnm.net/~bgriff/MW_Home.html

[Phosphor]

I have Morrowind, without any of the expansions, and have (as mentioned above) tried to get into the game repeatedly without success.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a decent, yet interesting, character for a newcomer to the game?

[taks]

yes, the 'uninstaller'... excellent MW character, IMO. just when it seems like the tedium of the game is getting to you WHAM! 2GB of extra HD space and a ton of extra free time.

 

taks

[Diogo Ribeiro]

If you are interested in the Elder Scrolls, i'd suggest playing the second chapter - Daggerfall - first. It's the best of the series as far as i'm concerned, with Morrowind and Arena following it.

 

The series is primarily designed to allow the player to be immersed in a gameworld, though much of that did not succeed in Morrowind. You do get a large world to explore, and many character creation possibilities, along with several quests and factions. The main problem is that it gets overly repetitive soon, and the character system is easily abusable (the skill-based system has it so skills increase the more you use them - need i say more?). The majority of NPCs have the same dialogue structure (understandable, if you realize that creating custom dialogue for every single NPC would be a daunting task; but still a detriment to the experience, nonetheless). Most quests revolve around killing or fetching (though to be honest, sometimes you do get some variety, like quests which involve fetching and killing). Combat is overly simplified as well.

 

I recommend the game to people willing to spend hours exploring and gawking at landscapes and surrounding wildlife, but don't expect the initial awe to hold much longer. The winning ticket for Morrowind is that it is moddable. If you're one of those people that doesn't mind downloading free content to make up for the money you spent on an uninspired product, or doing the developers' work yourself, you might like it more.

[Maria Caliban]

Odd how people are calling the game overrated yet everyone so far has had something negative to post about it.

 

As an RPG player, Morrowind was my first love. It rejected everything I hated about DnD systems and their rip-offs and presented me with a world that didn't feel like a game.

[EnderAndrew]

I think Morrowind definately has it's strengths.

 

It reminds me of Ultima 9. They were trying to hard to make the greatest RPG of all time, and went for too many features. Then the actual plot and gameplay suffered.

 

I never beat Morrowind, but I intend to. I still experiment from time to time with variations of plug-ins. Many are not compatible with the expansions, even when they claim to be. And many are not compatible with each other.

 

I'd love to see a good collection of plug-ins blended together that work together.

[taks]

Odd how people are calling the game overrated yet everyone so far has had something negative to post about it.

uh, that's what overrated is... i.e. the press loved it, gave it rave reviews and everyone that plays it thinks it's substandard or has some very negative comments to add to the fray.

 

taks

[Volourn]

Not to mention the fact that people keep buying this series (afterall, it's on like the 4or 5th game) so that's a sure sign it's overrated. Let it die already... please.

[EnderAndrew]

Elder Scrolls is on it's third game. Each was considerably different from it's predecesors.

 

Final Fantasy has thirteen main games, four gameboy games, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. They have one movie finished, and one more in the works.

 

Yet overall, I still enjoy that series.

[mkreku]

Not to mention the fact that people keep buying this series (afterall, it's on like the 4or 5th game) so that's a sure sign it's overrated. Let it die already... please.

So who is holding the gun to your head, forcing you to play the Elder Scrolls-games?

[Volourn]

No one is which is why i don't. LOL The only one Ia ctually bought was MW for like $30. The others my brother had. I, unfortunately, actually believed Internet Geeks would tell me the truth when they said MW fixed the stuff I hated abouit the others. Man, oh, man they lie as usual.

 

Ender, it has least 4 games. DF, MW, and 2 others.

 

I don't mind the FF series because most of them (except 2,5 & Tatics) are actually fun. B)

[mkreku]

Ender, it has least 4 games. DF, MW, and 2 others.

No, there are only three games in the Elder Scrolls-series.

 

The Elder Scrolls: Arena

The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind (plus expansions)

 

Then there are two spin-offs of the Elder Scrolls universe.

 

The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (action/fighting game)

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire (action game with multiplayer deathmatches)

[Volourn]

They count as part of the series as far as I'm concenred. I mean, Elder scrolls says it all. You lose, try again.

 

As long as the ES series have flat and bring characters who speak like robots in their dialogue, non existent stories, bugs up the wazoo, unbalanced combat that is just too easy as well as being boring, the ability to "train' by jumping up in one spot, 800 caves that look the same, 1st person view or 3rd person pseudo view that sucks; the games will continue to be awful.

 

Don't ya feet ES fanchildren. The games do get something right - you can go most anywhere you want and do pretty much everything. It's just too bad it's soooooo boring. And, the character creation system is ok.

 

See, i'm not all negative.

 

 

P.S. Yes, yes. As a reminder, the above is my opinion so stop whining about iut. Afterall, that's what the thread asks for.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Final Fantasy has thirteen main games, four gameboy games, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Two of the Gameboy titles are not Final Fantasy titles at all. One is a Sa~Ga title, and other is the first Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana) game. They were just renamed to Final Fantasy.

[EnderAndrew]

Final Fantasy has thirteen main games, four gameboy games, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Two of the Gameboy titles are not Final Fantasy titles at all. One is a Sa~Ga title, and other is the first Seiken Densetsu (Secret of Mana) game. They were just renamed to Final Fantasy.

True, but they were released as Final Fantasy titles.

 

There are two Ultima gameboy titles too that aren't really remotely Ultima games.

[mkreku]

They count as part of the series as far as I'm concenred. I mean, Elder scrolls says it all. You lose, try again.

Ok, I will try again. Explain this then:

 

The Elder Scrolls: Arena was released in 1993.

The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall was released in 1996.

 

Now the tricky part.. (I know math is beyond you, but try to understand)

 

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire was released in 1997.

The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard was released in 1998.

 

If they're all "part of the series" (as you claim) then those two parts should be part 3 and 4 respectively, right?

 

The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind was released in 2002.

 

Click on the provided link and see what it says on the cover. Oh, right it's in roman numerals. Here, I'll translate: III actually means 3!

 

So, according to you, how would you enumerate Redguard and Battlespire? And do you even know what a spin-off is?