Compared to Oblivion and Skyrim where I'm told it's the "end of the world" but all it means is a gate opening up where most are far away from civilization or dragons are around but it's just one in the sky sometimes, Morrowind really did it better in not rushing people. Only Daggerfall in narrative urgency worked but that's more from a note telling you "Be here before a month passes or else you're locked out of the main quest."
I played through Morrowind once, before Skyrim came out and I wanted to play the earlier titles first. It left an impression, because to this day, whenever I discover that a game I'm playing doesn't let me do something I always think "In Morrowind you can do that."
Morrowind is a great sandbox but not a great _game_ (mechanically speaking) because it has so many broken and easily exploitable features built into it; enchanting every piece of clothing, armor, and equipment is so broken that you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone to defend it, yet that gets a pass. Custom enchanted equipment is often much better than many legendary weapons found in the game. This is why IMHO Skyrim is a better _game_ rather than sandbox; its limitations are intentional and deliberate to make sure magic and enchanting aren't as easily exploited (there are still exploits but they require finagling), and - more importantly - it means that legendary weapons, armor, and items that are found or given as quest rewards retain value and utility instead of being overshadowed by a cheesed-out item you can make on an enchanting table or spellmaker.
@@therexbellator You had me in the first half. Morrowind is indeed extremely exploitable (although I think it's the point really, gaming used to be all about self-imposed limits). How objectively good that is in long run is...debatable. All in all, though, this is a very valid argument. The part about Skyrim, however... is plain wrong. Backwards, really. Alchemy/ehcnatment loop is literally the same as it was in MW and is actually easier to do in absence of failed craft rolls and faster progression, no finagling involved. Whereas Legendary items are just...disappointing on the average and gimmicky at their absolute best. They're overshadowed even by regular level-scaled gear a lot of the times, how bad is that? Speaking of cheese...Morrowind only had enchanting and alchemy - both of which required some know-how to truly break the game. Unmodded MW enchanting in particular has EXTREMELY prohibitive strength-to-success ratio and cost, you need upwards of 300 enchanting to even attempt to make a viable constant effect item (or, like, 55k gold). And even then, all you can do with it, is broken potions and enchantment-capacity limited gear - which need to be deliberately cheesed in a very specific and unintuitive way to achieve this result. Which Skyrim also allows, and the idea is far easier to come up with and implement, but you can actually sharpen your weapons to a ridiculous degree on top of that. The point is, going by your own metric, Skyrim is a worse game. The magic is a whole other story, but again - breaking anything with MW magic requires quite a bit of thinking and mischievous intent, whereas Skyrim magic is just...garbage, unfortunately, so there isn't even any space for cheesability comparison here. I can hardly call it being so pathetically weak and inflexible a better game design.
@@therexbellator Skyrim is just as exploitable as Morrowind, maybe even moreso. But, it's just one of those things that makes Elder Scrolls games what they are. You can usually mod some of the exploits out or you can simply choose not to use them. These games are based around everything you do making your character more powerful, which is difficult to balance because the more the devs balance the gameplay mechanics, the less freedom the player has to do what they want. So, a lot of the balance in these games is in your hands based on how you choose to play. You can choose to use exploits or overdo it on complimentary skills and make the game easy for yourself, or you can limit what you're able to do/use to make it more difficult. True for both Skyrim and Morrowind.
@@JonnyCrackers I don't know why you and the other guy are harping on this. Yeah Skyrim has its exploits but they are NOT by design, they are exploiting a bug in the coding for enchanting and restoration. My point with Morrowind is that even without exploiting bugs the game isn't built around balance. The fortify intelligence potion loop is pretty much intentional afaik. And having a dozen different pieces of clothing/apparel/armor that you can effectively enchant with stacking effects is just asking to break the game balance. The only thing that prevents it from being more broken is that Constant Effect enchantments are not easy to come by unless you farm Golden Saints for their souls and even then it's not impossible. They're both great games but Skyrim was clearly designed with some form of balance in mind, which is not to say Bethesda did it perfectly (before anyone tries to claim I'm saying that), but the _idea_ is there.
I have played Morrowind since launch pretty much. To me it is and will always will be the best in the series. It doesn't hold your hand in ways that the later games do. It also allows you the freedom to do anything you want. Including kill quest related characters. If you want to doom the world and fail the main quest then it is completely up to you. Most games do not give you that level of freedom nowadays.
Games back then and in the 90s had that freedom. Maybe we didn’t have the graphics back then but I literally can’t stand current video games. The only thing that’s truly blown my mind in the past 10-15 years is Skyrim
It is just... not even a competition in my mind, I went back to Oblivion and Morrowind and Morrowind is so much more of what I want it is almost sad. It has this level of awe and wonder that even as the rose tint fades is still just present. The game just feels good to play. Your actions feel like they have an impact. That message of slaying and important NPC is so... wonderful to get. The idea of you messing something up and just having the option to not give a damn is just... it is so good. The world is so alive, so there, so in the moment you feel good and bad decisions, you impact the world and it responds. Not Skyrim though Skyrim in comparison to Morrowind feels like it was made in 1995. It is such a massive leap backward it is shocking so few talk about it.
Ah, Morrowind. My all-time favorite game, hands down. Morrowind is the reason I wanted to get into game design. I strive to capture that magic and wonder about the world that Morrowind did for me for new players. It not only holds many fond memories, I still play it to this day.
@@loganross1861 I typically play Bosmer more than any other race, and I love the magic and stealth. I do play with a few mods - cleaner (less blurry) faces and body meshes, cleaner clothing textures, slowly recovering Mana so I don't have to sleep as much, and House mods so I have places to store my loot. (I love my loot.) Vivec and the Telvanni islands benefit greatly from the fog and the Ashlands benefit from the blight storms. I wouldn't ever do anything to change those effects.
@@TwilightRogue15 I have fondly memories of one of times when I visited Ald'ruhn: there was this huge blightstorm all around me and suddenly, I heard the sweet song of a silt strider. It was like returning home after a very tiresome and dangerous travel (what it indeed was. For my character, of course! 😉)
@@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290 Yes! The game really set an atmosphere for travel-sometimes it was a beautiful little jaunt through the Ascadian Isles, sometimes it was harrowing trying to find your way through the Ashlands, and sometimes you were wading through swamplands to find somewhere off the beaten path. You can really feel how your character feels!
@@TwilightRogue15 Meanwhile, all games made by Bethesda these days hold our hands telling to where we need to go instead of lefting the exploration to us. The worst part? Many kids today (I'm 55 years old) thing that doing such thing ruins the game making "unplayable and difficult". The kids these days are too lazy. 😮💨
I remember when I discovered that you could resist magic the blindness of the boots of blazing speed while still keeping the speed. Silt striders became instantly obsolete. Edit: boots of blinding speed, sorry.
I played TES games backwards. Started with Skyrim in 2012, then Oblivion, and I finally ended up playing Morrowind for the first time last year (2022). I did have to install some graphics/gameplay mods for my own sanity, since i doubt I wouldve been able to enjoy the experience otherwise, and I have no regrets. It allowed me to have one of the most fulfilling game experiences of my life. Unraveling the story of Nerevar, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal, discovering the lore of the Ashlanders, and fulfilling the prophecy, not because I WAS “the chosen one”, but because i DECIDED to be the chosen one - absolutely amazing. This game really does hold up, even 20+ years later. It had been a long time since a story in a video game left me in tears.
@@dmas7749 You can, in fact, achieve the same level of stability with the Morrowind Code Patch + MGEXE, which also gives you access to any mod you want...those dependent on MWSE/LUA are some of the best out there, and most do not have OpenMW equivalents.
The games leveling system is how RPGs should work. I still remember going into a cave as a level 3 and there was a level 6 mob, which beat me to a pulp, I had to flee, after I leveled up a few times, I went back, and I was able to defeat him. So basically you could feel how your character was getting stronger. You could even overlevel and kil the main boss with a few hits. Every NPC had a name, and was hand placed by the devs. No procedural generation. It was great, and you could see the work the devs put into the game.
Oblivion ruined it! Maxing out should take time and be difficult but it *should* mean that nothing can touch you anymore. I hated finding out that in Oblivion no matter your level or achievements, guards were still difficult.
"Ruined" is the exact word... No incentive to level up. After realizing, I restarted a playthrough where I just didn't level up (all you have to do is not sleep, though I think you have to sleep once at some point or something, because I ended up level 2), rushed the main storyline and it was just ridiculous. The valiant battle where humanity almost got destroyed at Bruma... by a bunch of stunted scamps. And then my level 2 ass slains the big boss just like that, with a non-special, non-unique, non-enchanted, run-of-the-mill sword. The most disappointed I've ever been about a game. But it sold millions...
@@Destroymaster100 Skyrim scaling not the same as Oblivion...at some point in Oblivion you start getting weaker and weaker because of the enemy scaling.
I wish they continued evolving morrowind's design instead they've dumbed down their games so much they barely resemble what is arguably bethesda's most in depth rpg.
Another reason I love Morrowind is that the setting is is a truly creative and alien fantasy world. In a genre like fantasy where you can truly create whatever kind of world you want, way too many fantasy worlds are just visual and cultural clones of medieval Europe, including most of what we see in the next two main elder scrolls games. No hate on Europe but I wish more fantasy settings had a more creative and original setting. Morrowind delivers on that front.
It's because most game designers have just played other games and grown up in Europe or America. Morrowind's creative impulse was Kirkbride who was obsessed with eastern mythology and bugs, so those perspectives made it into the game. Even The Witcher 3 felt like a breath of fresh air because it wasn't Western - it was Polish.
Morrowind and Dark Souls 1 are the only games I’ve ever played that really mad me learn how to get around the map. You feel like you actually live in the world.
I had the GOTY version of the game on OG Xbox. It came with a map and by lord I used that map! It was so handy and fun to use a map IRL to play a game. The load times got way too ridiculous on Xbox though. 10 minutes just to load your save file once you get past halfway through it. Would load up the game as a kid, go eat breakfast, come back and wait another minute or two haha. Totally worth it back then. No other game came as close the Morrowinds level of immersion, wonder and fantasy at the time.
@@Deusaga I had the map and an English dictionary in front of me at all times. My parents were against video games but I think that convinced them it's not a completely braindead activity.
@@victorkreig6089 No. Learning how to get around the map isn't a "shitty design choice". It's a feature. That is called exploration. If you are lazy and like having the game handing your hand and telling you where to go instead of simply trying to find the location to where you need to go by yourself, that is your problem. Me? One of the things I hated about Skyrim was how the game guided you by hand instead of letting you explore and get lost in the damn map and discover new places by yourself.
I think the biggest differentiator between morrowind and all games that follow from bethesda is that effort was actually put into the writing and storytelling. How theplayer interacts with good writing is up to them. In the later games your interaction with the story is the focus and the quality of the storytelling takes a back seat
I have to disagree. The main quest of any Bethesda game is easily the weakest point, in terms of quality. They're not always bad, of course, but they are easily outclassed by at least one other major questline in their game, but more often many. Hell, Fallout 3's main quest is outclassed by literally every other quest, and it's not even close. The focus is so far and away from the main quest of these games that it's easy to never progress it, in favour of the exceedingly better writing found elsewhere.
How to spot a Morrowanker: The post People who think morrowank is the height of writing in the elder scrolls just shows how much of an emotional neckbeard they are, you were a child or a teenager when you played morrowind for the first time full stop. The writing and storytelling in Oblivion was miles better to the point of almost being funny, the effort put into Daggerfall makes your statement an absolute joke, and the level of smart map design in Skyrim just shows how much bias you have. Grow up, it's not 2002 anymore
@PyroOfZen fair enough as I have never beaten a fallout main quest other than new Vegas. I do think the morrowind main quest was actually quite interesting and depending on how involved you are as a player actually enhances your understanding of the world, what truth means in tamriel, and allows you to appreciate the other details in the game more fully. Other than morrowind (never played daggerfall or anything earlier so cannot speak to that) I do agree that the main quest is just an optional power fantasy that actively detracts from immersion if you partake though, maybe with the exception of new Vegas but it's been a long time since I actually played the new Vegas questline at all.
@@victorkreig6089 you inject a lot of emotion into trying to tear down someone else's opinion for enjoying something. What made the oblivion main quest better in your opinion? I'd love to know. My memory of it was that I was given a lot of necessary tasks because I happened to be in a jail cell that was in the way. I remember thinking as a kid that if that is how the empire is run, it probably deserves to fail.
@@shetlandapache949 it does have the justification of the emperor having had a vision about you being the one ending up saving the world, which is why he trusts you. IIRC the guards really don't but they follow the emperor's orders. Of course the player does have the freedom of taking that as an old man's demented fever dream if they so desire because it's not actually very strong story writing anyway
getting lost in the map is such an essential part of an immersive RPG experience in my opinion. Missions feel like an adventure and not just an Amazon delivery. You wander, wonder what to do next, discover the unexpected. You really feel rewarded when you accomplish something because you feel that was entirely up to you. I miss that in modern games.
Try Gothic 1-2, you don't even go that far at the beginning like dungeons. ;D First you will just meet with anything from wildlife and will scare you to death. XD
small tips for anyone intending to play: Pay attention to the weapon skills you choose at character creation. Too many times I've seen people complain about missing a ton of attacks early on, only to find out they're using the starting dagger (which iirc is classified as short sword) but they only chose say, long sword and axe as their melee skills. Skills matter a lot in this game, so you really need to pay attention to the weapon you're using vs the skills you have With that said, you can still train and use other weapons outside of your chosen skills, it just won't contribute to your overall level and you may need to pay trainers because it can take a while to level those skills from scratch (this goes for all miscellaneous ((unchosen)) skills) Oh and stamina affects spell casting chance (and melee hit chance). Low stamina means spells will likely fail more often. Always make sure you have full or close to full stamina for combat (stamina potions are actually useful in this game). You could also just find a mod to change that if it's annoying, though
A masterpiece. My favourite game (and game soundtrack) of all time. Every time I visit this strange, elusive world it feels like coming home... But weirdly, I've never actually finished the main quest - I always get sidetracked from my destiny in the most beautiful way.
ive finished the story and dlc stories multiple times throughout the years but still come back to it constantly. we're talking at least 10-15 200 hour playthroughs
Morrowind is awesome because you can be pretty much anyone you want. You have to be the Nerevarine, if you progress. But if you'll be an evil assassin, a thief who cares for nobody, a lunatic barbarian or a resplendent knight is up to you and your choices. That's why it's so cool, in my opinion. I've played games since I was a child, starting in late 90's, and I play games to this day, but if I'd have to pick one game to be my all-time favourite, I would pick Morrowind.
@@drahomirmichalko I never got into Fallout before Fallout 4 came out, sadly. But I've read a lot on Fallout 1&2 lore and I must say it's definitely very well written and incredibly interesting. Games were just different back then. Nobody worried about "wokeness" or if the wider society thinks it's inappropriate or not. It's like we had our own secret society to enjoy these awesome games and companies made them because they wanted to, not because they were necessarily gonna be a cash cow for them.
That's true. Also, I'm not sure any other Bethesda game allows as much wild creativity with your character builds. Enchanting a set of armor to heal you automatically. Creating a spell that covers a 200 foot area. Being entirely invisible and untouchable.
Except morrowind is a bastardized joke of elder scrolls It stripped all the best parts out of Daggerfall( a superior game in every way) and didn't replace it with anything even close to similar or superior quality. It also retconned a truckload of the lore because Julian Lefay is a petty jerk
My most immersive experience for Morrowind was a relatively recent character. A Bosmer Ranger who reluctantly was trying to ingratiate themselves with Dunmer culture by under going the 7 trials needed to fully join the Temple. While questing they came across a stuck up traveler who also needed to complete their trial with in the next three in game days. It was the trial of Red Mountain, one that I needed and had been instructed to seek out last per my own safety. They would pay better the quicker the pilgrimage was completed and my Bosmer was of relative skill at the time to be confident with the trek. What followed was a steady but perilous decent to the heart of Morrowind, blight creatures and blight storms raged, supplies began to run low and resting was a detriment to the time sensitive demand. We made it in 2 days time though my character was talked down to for them sustaining a little injury along the way. What got me was the walk back, snipping blighted cliff racers encircling from the skies, using rocks to stealth from Nix Hounds and roaming Deadra then coming back into civilization half dead from the ordeal only to be attacked by Dagoth Cultist after resting at the local Inn. A threat that until now was always just outside my characters peripheral vison, a shape muffled in the distance by ash storms. I can not recommend enough to simply talk to everyone you meet and see where those meetings can take you. To abstain from Fast Travel as much as possible and to not allow your experience be watered down to go to X, kill X, turn in to X.
"Why would you rely on an army when the hero can just wipe the floor with them?" Persistently threatening the player's progress and success through attrition is a great way to raise the stakes.
-Start Game -Find Khajiit with soul trap spell -Create Spell --Intelligence = 100 --Area of 1 --Soul trap on self -Find any old book on a table -Point crosshairs at book -Cast spell over and over again, failing many times (dice roll), until you eventually cast it the first time (may take an hour). Once you successfully cast it you exponentially increase your ability to cast it again. Continue the failed/successful castings until you get it so high you can cast any spell in the game.
The thing I love about Morrowind is that I genuinely got lost in the game in the most spectacular way. Just wandering into a random town I've never been to to see endless amounts of areas to check and items to loot scratched all of my gaming iches.
I STILL remember the first time I played this when it launched. Such an amazing game! The water effects always blew my mind back in the day. I still think this is the best Elder Scrolls game ever made.
"Some players actually consider MGSO to be outdated." The _creator_ of MGSO has publicly said it's outdated and recommends that it no longer be used. If nothing else, the versions of the Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Graphics Extender, and Morrowind Script Extender packaged in MGSO are many versions behind the current versions.
Yes, but it's not hard to update those after installing MSGO; especially since the installer gives you a pretty good idea of what they do. I still recommend it for first-timers - along with the MGSO patch.
@@gavinmatthewlyall MGSO isn't just outdated, it has horrific bugs that people will then go on to attribute to the game itself. It literally completely breaks the game in several places.
@@delayed_control Yes, it is not salvageable. It took not only a plethora of community mods but also hours of tinkering with the construction set to fix the bugs in that pile of crap. And days to replace all the garbage mods to my liking as well as adding more modern graphics mods on top of it. That was years ago, these days i just try to stay close to vanilla morrowind look with a bunch of quest and gameplay mods.
Could anyone recommend an alternative please? I really don't want to have to spend ages researching mods and setting them up. I'm looking for one thing that I can just download, install and be done. Just basic graphics upgrade, view distance and better bodies is all I need. Cheers.
@@cursedmonkey1033 I've typed out several in depth comments/tutorials to help you out, and no matter what I say, youtube keeps fucking insta-deleting them. Let's keep it really vague and simple and see if this flies: OpenMW. View distance is in the settings. "I Heart Vanilla" and "Graphics Overhaul" lists Wabbajack to make it not tedious.
I still remember how my friend brought me Morrowind CDs after we played Gothic 2. We were really excited about it. Admittedly still the Gothic Trilogy is more for me, but Morrowind has a place right next to it.
@@idontfeelsogood2063 I didn't try Skyblivion yet, but doesn't look bad. About the Gothic Remake I have some concerns, but we'll see when it finally comes out.
I also played it since launch, and it’ll always hold a soft spot in my heart. I’ve always found it particularly satisfying how alien most of the animals are, which more recent titles, especially Skyrim, shy away from. They’re unlike any other fantasy out there, making it feel so special and satisfying.
Decided to pick it back up watching this. Joined the fighters guild, fought the first rat, had bad luck wth attcks, died realizing I never saved. 10/10
I think at least half of all complaints about Morrowind's combat would go away with one change. If, when your attack missed due to die rolls, some text appeared saying "miss," as in many other RPG's. As is, new players often find themselves unable to damage enemies and they do not know why. If the game just told you that your attack missed, then that would at least get you started saying, "Oooh my attack missed, I should find out why." The way it works now almost looks like a bug if you don't know what's going on.
YES! You have to view it more like DnD type game in that regard, where you have a 1 in 4 chance to hit or so, then it is totally enjoyable. It's not an action game, it just looks like one. I think in later entries to the franchise this gets less acceptable, but for MW I could totally live with it...
They play mage character with a longsword and wonder why their attacks do not connect. Idk go figure, even 10yo me wasn't that oblivious of why am i not killing my opponents.
Someone should make a mod where "Miss" damages the enemy with 1 HP. Or maybe mod that would make your attack more accurate the more you hold the button. Basically "Charging" precision.
You can try playing the game through OpenMW, an open source project that attempts to recreate morrowind in a different engine so that all the crippling engine bugs from the original game are not present (it still looks exactly like base morrowind as it does not have any of the assets of the game). It also provides some modern features like wide screen support. I'm not sure if there are any mod packs for openMW however, so you might have to download the mods one by one.
I am getting the same issue when they pronounce Hortator... I am pretty certain that is said in the game... But I could be wrong. Hard when the game is not fully voiced.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. I sleep to the soundtrack sometimes. I've played it at least four times. Thanks for the mod info. Downloading it now.
I've not played this game but actually I've installed it as I really wanted to go back and dive into it. I'm more hyped since you recommended the graphics mod. I also prefer the Morrowind class system, just like WoW ifyou're a mage, i wont expect to be wearing heavy plated armor and being the best archer, mage blacksmith and everything else.
In MW you can create custom class and pick your own major, minor, and misc skills & and 2 main attributes. So technically you can combine the skills to be sort of everything if you want to (say for example a thief that can cast alternation spell such as levitation, jump or slowfall or illusion spells). However, Morrowind allows you to level up all the skills in the end (but it takes time), so you can wear heavy armour and cast spells or shoot a bow.
Morrowind's story reminds me a lot of Herbert's Dune. It doesn't hold your hand, it asks you to read lore and experience the history in order to understand what is going on. No quest markers and no invincible NPCs. It is an adults RPG. Even then, the ultimate story conclusion is ambiguous and requires the player to decide who they are.
Love to see a Morrowind video. It's one of my favorite games. These days I play it using OpenMW and with Tamriel Rebuilt. Haven't tried Morrowind Rebirth yet, but I'm also unsure if it's compatible with Tamriel Rebuilt. Wonderful game & I wish the other Elder Scrolls titles were more like it.
TR is compatible with Rebirth in a way. But there's a catch. Rebirth changes a lot of the game world and mechanics (including, items, prices and even the forms of furniture). Whereas TR's main goal is to make a seamless content expansion to the vanilla game-world. So, the transition between Rebirth's Vvardenfell and TR's mainland will be drastic. In addition, you will most certainly find many floating items in people's houses due to the changed furniture. And the the difference between prices/enemy levels between Vvardenfell and the mainland will feel like you're playing two different games at the same time.
Hello, can you tell me more about OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt? What are these? I want to play this game again, I used to play many years ago, I am a noob, thanks :)
@@alexbeleiu258OpenMW is a new engine for the game with bug fixes and QoL improvements built in. Built in controller support Increased view distance Read dialogue topics that go dark like Skyrim Built in mod manager and profiles. It's a lot more stable do to being built from the ground up to replace the original Morrowind EXE Be warned any that uses the old MWSE will not work
That's an... interesting... way to pronounce Caius Cosades name. That said, you did do a great job of showing how fun the game can be, as well as why some things work the way that they do. I believe I'll have to get started on a fresh playthrough in the near future. On my original Xbox, of course.
Morrowind had an incredibly unique and alien universe. So much so, that I was spending most of my time exploring Vvardenfel and reading the lore rather than doing quests. This game really ignites the imagination.
How odd -- I am doing another run through for the first time in a few years and am about 6 hours in and then bam, this hits my recommended. Quality stuff mate. Subbed.
The only factions that are actually exclusive are the houses. You have to choose one of Hlaalu, Redoran, or Telvanni, but otherwise you can join all factions. It is true that joining the Mage's Guild will make the Telvanni like you less, but you can still join them and you can still become head of the house. It just becomes a little more difficult. Joining both the Fighter's Guild and the Thieves Guild can cause issues because their quests conflict in some areas, making it impossible to progress if you don't do them in a certain order. I mostly consider this a bug, though. Ideally the game would take this into account and change their quests accordingly. You do have to stick somewhat to your class because otherwise you can't level up, but since you can create a custom class and choose everything yourself, this is not really an issue when replaying the game. For a first playthrough, though... yeah, I would agree with this. Choose a class and stick to it.
Regarding Telvanni and Mages Guild, you are correct. Telvanni consider themselves superior Wizards in Morrowind and if you Join MG first Telvanni Mages will have lowered disposition towards you significantly.
When asked what my favorite video game is, I always respond simply, Morrowind. I bought Morrowind about a year after it came out. It's the only game that stayed with me long after I had turned my computer off. I took it with me, in my head, almost every damn where I went. So much so, that I routinely would find myself in class, writing up a character with a role-play progression and backstory. Should've been taking notes and paying attention to the lecture. It's a wonder I passed any of my classes at the time.
And dont forget the drums of the title soundtrack.. goosebumps. The story is so detailed and written with love, i loved my permanent levitation amulet, sourcery and so on. What a great game back then. My entry to gaming: Morrowind and Gothic 1
Morrowind was my first open world RPG I ever played and is still my favorite elder scrolls game to this day. The lack of handholding and actually having to figure out quests, where to go, find the person you supposed to contact. It was an amazing experience.
I don't really see how Morrowind is considered inaccessible, it's super cheap and while yeah, you WILL get slaughtered a few times off the jump until you learn the basic combat system and you WILL get lost for hours on end, any level of interest in the elder scrolls fictional universe and a pinch of persistence, or a huge love of exploration will get you through the early parts and once you've got some knowledge of the game, you'll usually fall in love with vaardenfell
Yeah boy if you want an inaccessible Elder Scrolls game, try Daggerfall or even worse, Arena. Those are from 1996 and 94 respectively, back when PC gaming was its own universe full of obtuse nonsense and the most confusing interfaces and controls you've ever experienced.
I've never heard anyone say Morrowind is a difficult game before...it is, in fact, extremely easy but it does subscribe to the old school RPG notion that you are nothing at the beginning of the game and you must slowly and carefully accumulate power if you are unfamiliar with the game. Once you get your main skill up a bit you stop missing all the time and it's a cakewalk. I've also never heard anyone say Morrowind has a hard class system before...probably because it doesn't. 🤪
The fact that you can speak down npc to the point it attacks you or speak up to the point like you more and give you better prices or more info or whatever is something. Disposition towards npc and vice versa made this game 100% more immersive then many new rpg. Npc literally react on your deed and actions, choices and so on. True is yeah many of those things are outdated but they are there and not scrapped and thrown away. Bethesda should upgrade not cut off for better immersion. Passing through the ranks of factions also feel more organic even so quests could be for nowadays standards somewhat simpler. Skills and stats really matters and leveling them up really scale your character. Oh and also for me personally the fact that you things deteriorate and you need to keep them in best condition possible to have best out of them is also good thing. Arrows has weight and when i go to wilderness i have to prioritize what to sell to merchants and what is good to keep and this gives me real sense of adventure in possible danger ahead i have to overcome in my limitations. All this give real sense of role playing and increase immersion not reduce.
Hey man as an old head who was there 3000 years ago when Morrowind came out, the graphics were always funny. We had Metal Gear Solid 2 then so we knew what graphical fidelity meant. My friends and I always got a chuckle out of the faces and the hairstyle choices. What always stood out was the unique design and how they implemented it. To me, Morrowind's graphics aren't dated, they're timeless.
One of the greatest things about Morrowind is the ability to kill anyone, even if it breaks the story. Gaining experience for everything you do was nice too. I used to spend hours at the beginning of every playthrough just running up and jumping off the tower in Seyda Neen to build my acrobatics and stamina.
I have so many memories of this game. Most of them fond... most of them. It was a good time with a good game, and I still consider it easily the best Bethesda had to offer.
I got morrowind overseas when i purchased an original xbox in 2004. Getting lost in that game got me through an incredibly shitty deployment. I've been a die-hard elderscrolls fan ever since. I've currently got a completionist playthrough going to try and finally get all achievements. Oblivion was my first game to ever 100%, including dlc. If you can get past the graphics by todays standards, morrowind is an incredible game. Thank you, Avarti, for giving it the attention it deserves. You've inspired me to go work on that achievement list now.
Morrowind is amazing, the amount of freedom and role-playing you're given is astonishing! I played the game for 3 months casually and I didn't even finished the campaign of the base game. Now, I took a break and started to play Daggerfall and honestly, I'm having a blast with that game too! 😀
I've never understood how people need graphic overhauls to play Morrowind, for a 2002 game it's fucking beautiful, I'd go so far to say that even with extremely low graphics settings and low render distance it looks better than Skyrim, and I'm not willing to go back on that statement
I actually got the game because I saw a screenshot of it in an early preview and the graphics blew me away. Some people seem to forget, but this was cutting edge stuff back then.
Its not so much the graphics that are a bother as the UI is, I really felt the need to get UI overhauls for this game to be enjoyable for me. I can see why a lot of people like this game, but Skyrim will remain my favorite.
I remember playing this on my crappy family PC back in 2004, and then being excited to doss through Science class in school to chat with mates about which dungeons we had explored and what we'd found/missed. Nostalgia, but the game still holds up.
I played Morrowind when I was at school 20 years ago. I still remember this game, I have a nostalgia about it, would love to play it again. It gives me beautiful emotions ) time flies 20 years ago. I can’t believe.
@@DarioSocciDaggerfall is best played on daggerfall unity, its the best rpg that its not even considered an rpg but rather a life simulator by how immersive it is in narrative and details.
I finally got back to Morrowind and completed the main quest last week which I have never done before because I made the mistake of overwriting a chararter's save file with a 2nd, much worse character twice in the past and didn't want to touch the game again. Oh boy am I happy that I actually did start it once more. I only used the unofficial patch to get some bugs patched and basically played the vanilla game. No graphics enhancements, no additional content except the dlcs. It was amazing and now that I played it for the main quest and got familiar with the game again I can totally see myself diving into a fresh character and explore each and every corner of Vardenfell. Probably with enhanced graphics this time. The mods look amazing.
As someone who appreciates compass markers, I don't think the term "hand-holding" is fair to describe reasonable gameplay conveniences that many require in order to enjoy a game. For example, I have maybe an hour, two or three times a week, to play games. I don't want to spend that time stumbling around lost. However, I can see how some would prefer that, so I wish modern games would give more in the way of options. In Skyrim, I have a mod that lets me control the compass readout. I've kept the mission quest markers, but deactivated enemy pips for added challenge.
The other replies here are a perfect illustration of how appropriate my nickname for Morrowind fans is. They're Morrowindbags, people who think that playing a certain video game in a certain way makes them superior to everyone else. Laugh and pass on; they're hopeless.
Feel that - the having responsibilities part. and to the windbags, Casual gamers didn't ruin all our games. Capitalism did; and that's not a political stance. The #1 goal is profit, so if a dev/pub can sell a game to 500% more people by casualizing it, they will. In fact, once it's known that they CAN do so, they have to - or investment evaporates.. 10,000 reskinned CODs was only a matter of time.. If you want a game that's specific to the stringent, niche requirements of a "hardcore" gamer, you're gonna have to do some networking and secure grassroots funding yourself.. Or hope for a small developer to attract some small investors that are willing to target a small market to make a small(ish) profit.
@@KP-uc1ez Great points. The more games cost to make, the larger the audience they have to appeal to. It's just dollars and sense. The best strategy is to make games that people can play the way they want.
Great video and awesome to see some Morrowind love in 2023, but I'm gonna be entirely frank here: those beautified faces are absolutely terrifying. Like, half of them look like plastic doll faces taken from failed supermodels, and the other half look like the creator just used Handsome Squidward as a template. Everything else about the graphics mod that was shown off looks great but those faces are hideously deep into the uncanny valley.
As an old man of 46, Morrowind was the very first Western RPG, and the first Elder Scrolls game, that I've ever played. Obviously, that makes ESIII hold a great deal of nostalgia--- but that said, I have had loads of fun playing Morrowind, lol... For me, the best part of playing Morrowindcis the actual lack of map markers... I have been list plenty of times, but even then, I just felt more immersed in the game-world!!
Back when you needed a notebook and a pencil to play the game. It really does ironically feel more immersive when you're taking the notes yourself because of how invested you can be. And, for anyone who doesn't want to leave the game, there are now mods to write notes in game. In my favorite one, you need an Inkwell, a Quill, and a sheet of Paper. Morrowind mods are some of the most immersive mods I have ever played in any game. It's a testament to how dedicated many fans are to keeping that spirit of the world alive. Morrowind is my favorite game for many reasons.
@@hutki_shira Subjectively incorrect? Sure. Everyone has different things that grab their attention or caters to their preferences better than other mods or other games bring them in more. Objectively? No. How Morrowind catches my attention and immerses me into the game cannot be disputed.
Morrowind was a game that gripped me for a long time in my teen years. I had a scratched disc for the xbox that would periodically corrupt save files because it would crash mid-save, and so I had to learn reeeeeal fast that I needed to double up my saves. Of course sometimes I forgot to, so I had made dozens of characters that reached certain points in the game, only for me to lose progress or the entire playthroughs, and it would leave me devastated because of all the hours I lost. Even then, I'd come back to it eventually, because I wanted to see what I hadn't. There's so much content and lore to sink your teeth in. It's a huge, weird, and wonderful world. I'd like to imagine that the characters I lost along the way were guys that simply weren't the "true" reincarnation of the Nerevarine, and where they were lost is where their journey ended. Maybe they gave up, maybe they died in a ditch. Morrowind is a dangerous place and not every story has a happy or even conclusive ending, but it's such a treat to get immersed in. Easily my favorite RPG.
I began playing Morrowind on Xbox this year, I love it! however, it is not only the beginners combat that's difficult to fully enjoy the game but the fact that I can't see more than few meters ahead. In Vivec, for instance, I can't see more than a half of each canton😔😅 everything's foggy🙈 Regardless, I ended up Fangirling whilst playing it😂 Love how you can just combine clothes and pieces of armour to create your own strange appearance and that you can use a candle holder as a light source or that you can lift those Bar-table-doors😍 Idk why but I find it awesome 😂
The fog was in essence an attempt at naturally reducing render distance, making the game run smoother. Completely outdated feature today, but it really added to the immersion and overall mood. I would recommend a mod that basically removes all that if you find it annoying, but Xbox... Also, if you do somehow find a way to do it on Xbox, the Island will feel a lot smaller.
This reminds me of the "open world loot" mod in Skyrim. It makes it to where the world doesn't scale with your level. That way it feels rewarding when you actually get through a challenging part.
You can become the head of all the factions, except the three Great Houses where you do need to pick one. I know, because I did it back in the day. The Thief-Fighter, and Telvanni-Mage conflicts can be handled if you know what you are doing. Without mods, the two temples don't care about each other mechanically.
Morrowind is when you had to THINK and the game didn't roll out a red carpet for you at the beginning. It made you explore. I wasn't so concerned about graphics back then. More armor slots. It is a cool game.
Even going back in 2023, I still find the old polygons and textures endearing. I never think of it as being dated. And yeah, back in ‘03 when I first played it, I was amazed at how realistic everything looked! The Toonami review of the game is what got me into it.
I've been playing this game since the mid 2000s, I the graphics are janky but I still love them, at the time when I first started playing they weren't seemingly as bad anyhow, but I got so into it that I don't really need mods for immersion, what amazes me the most about it is how I still find new things everytime I start playing again, I didn't even know about the mudcrab merchant until I had been playing almost 10 years! I also think Bloodmoon was possibly the best ad on to a game ever, the fact that it fit seamlessly into the game, but still added a whole new dimension to it was amazing, and you didn't want to set foot there until you were at least lvl 10 unless you were cheesing.
The world does scale somewhat i think. Some enemies dont spawn until you hit a certain level unless its a scripted encounter. Also the brotherhood assassins sxale to your level. There are very dangerous places though that should not be visited until the so called lategame like certain dwemer ruins and red mountain and generally north of red mountain where kogoruhn and the ashlanders live
This is a major shortcoming of both Oblivion and Skyrim. Playing those games, I never felt like there was anywhere I *couldn't* go due to the heavy scaling. The world of Morrowind actually feels dangerous. Some areas are just way too difficult in the early game, and that's a good thing. Conquering those areas later on gives you a feeling of progression.
@@elbschwartz Its weird that the ESO games went this route, because modern Bethesdas Fallouts went the other route, there are places on the map where you will be wrecked because simply high level enemies spawn there. New Vegas also went this route with its infamous deathclaw ridden valley on top of scaling enemies.
@@mrvex6695 Yes, it's actually the main reason I like Fallout more than Skyrim. In Fallout, I become more powerful and eventually almost impossible to take down by the average Joe and raider gang. In all the ESO games, the raiders just sit in one place doing nothing but somehow get all the same weapons, armor, spells, hit points, abilities that you got from travelling the whole world and closing out unique quests. It's so terribly immersion breaking for me to get to level 35 or 40 in Skyrim and then suddenly always running into level 40 vampires on the road all day, it's just too ridiculous.
It’s unfortunate that the graphics and older physics hold people back from playing this gem of a game. I got this for the og Xbox 4 years ago and played it on my 360 and was hooked immediately, it’s the most immersive and true rpg game of the last 3 elder scrolls games and with mods on pc it’s even better especially with the Tamriel rebuilt mod and Skyrim mod
Factions in Morrowind not having a "main quest" was one of my favourite parts of the game. It makes you feel like you're part of an interesting group with its own role in a fantasy world and by extension that your character is a part of a believable world with their own identity and role in it besides \just\ being a hero who shows up to solve everyone else's problems.
I'll say this, what makes Morrowind hard to get into is that even it's own manual doesn't explain it's mechanics very well. It took Lynel Schnub's Mechanics of Morrowind series for some aspects of the game to become widely known, and even that misses a few things, I've found. Otherwise you're really stumbling in the dark in a game that _can_ screw you over a bit. You're immediately wrong just over one minute in. Morrowind doesn't run on a class system beyond whether you choose Combat, Magic or Stealth as a specialization and that only reduces the points needed to level those skills by 20%. Otherwise starting classes just determine your starting stats and you can end up wherever the heck you want.
After seeing everyone talking about it years ago, I put in 115 hours on a heavily-modded playthrough without ever touching the main quest, and it was amazing.
when I bought this game years ago I had been playing games like Baldur's Gate, BG 2, Fallout, PS:T. I started this game and got bored very quickly with the levelling system and I put it in my bag of "Games to sell". However, I did start reading reviews of the game saying how brilliant is was and thought that this many people couldn't be wrong so I'll give it another shot. What a great idea that was. This game is brilliant. And I personally love the way you start out rubbish at fighting and spellcasting because it makes you work for your progress.
OpenMW is pretty great because you can set the view distance to whatever number of cells you want. I usually pick 2, to keep that mysterious fog in the distance, but also opening up the viewing range enough to see some neat things a little ways off
An all time classic game. Played it when it first came out and loved it. Played it through recently, unmodded, and once I had got used to the old graphics still eally enjoyed it.
Playing through other ES games, I think the thing that is under appreciated the most about Morrowind is the travel system. It is very well setup and keeps you invested.
This game was insanely good, my two bros still talk about this game till this day. Played it on OG Xbox, then i got it for PC.Insane upgrade of graphics with my pentium 4 on a CRT lol. Late game enchanted armor with crazy buffs made my character look so badass with a bubble shield on constantly. The newer elder scrolls need to bring back the buff/debuff icons on the HUD. Skyrim's UI and "talent tree" were a letdown, Oblivion was Ok i guess. They need to bring back the OG devs, doubt it will ever happen.
I just started playing Morrowind last week. I remember my friend in school playing it on his Xbox and I thought it was so cool. Years later I built my first pc the same year Skyrim came out so that was my go to. I'm just now getting around to it and I love it so far. I created my own class and made a Paladin type character. I majored in blunt weapons so I just run around with a big two handed hammer.
Morrowind is wanting for quiet a few quality of life concessions, but if you’ve played Daggerfall or, Divines preserve us, Arena, you will understand how far it actually came. Morrowind may be a bit janky mechanically, but it is entirely playable. Story-wise it has different priorities to its sequels. Skyrim wanted to be epic, but at the occasional cost of being unique; Oblivion wanted to be silly at the occasional cost of being immersive, and Morrowind wants to be avant-garde, at the occasional cost of being coherent.
I have about 4 files in Morrowind, but the only one I've actually beaten the main quest on I used console commands. I should really go back to one of the others and play through it more. Or maybe I should restart with a mage....
It's all about player agency: Morrowind has a lot of it. Starfield does not. In Morrowind, you are free to kill whoever you want, do things in whatever order you please, but there are consequences for your actions. In Starfield, everything is handled with kid gloves, and you can't kill any named NPC until the game says you can. There are no backpaths and no alternate ways to complete anything. You play the game as the devs intended or you don't play it at all, and that's an insulting game design, especially coming from Bethesda, champions of "do whatever you want however you want."
I like that the game can be quite unforgiving: I once ended an entire quest path because I had accidentally killed an npc that I later had to go and talk to. Months before said quest I had used my ring of fireballs on what I tought was a vampire in some underground crypt. When I checked the body I found no vampire dust- I had killed some random person. I went "whoops" and didn't think much of it. Months later (in real time) I have to go talk to some Ashlanders. They only wanna talk if I first go fetch one of them from a nearby location. And as I approach the place I start to get this strange feeling of Deja vu, like I have been there before, and when I opened the door I realised why. I had been there before and the one I had come to bring back... was the one I had killed so long ago.
The lack of narrative urgency really helps sell the world and encourage exploration. Love that about the game
Especially when the main quest-giver actually tells you to take breaks from the main quest.
I played 142 hours (I remember the count all these years later) before going to Balmora to meet with that Imperial contact and doing the main quest.
Me walking to Caius house in full glass armor and a ring that makes me levitate constantly
@@lamedrawings "Well Just one look at you, and anyone can see you are a experienced Adventurer, that can be your cover Identity" I Remember that lol
Compared to Oblivion and Skyrim where I'm told it's the "end of the world" but all it means is a gate opening up where most are far away from civilization or dragons are around but it's just one in the sky sometimes, Morrowind really did it better in not rushing people. Only Daggerfall in narrative urgency worked but that's more from a note telling you "Be here before a month passes or else you're locked out of the main quest."
I played through Morrowind once, before Skyrim came out and I wanted to play the earlier titles first. It left an impression, because to this day, whenever I discover that a game I'm playing doesn't let me do something I always think "In Morrowind you can do that."
Exactly!
Morrowind is a great sandbox but not a great _game_ (mechanically speaking) because it has so many broken and easily exploitable features built into it; enchanting every piece of clothing, armor, and equipment is so broken that you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone to defend it, yet that gets a pass. Custom enchanted equipment is often much better than many legendary weapons found in the game.
This is why IMHO Skyrim is a better _game_ rather than sandbox; its limitations are intentional and deliberate to make sure magic and enchanting aren't as easily exploited (there are still exploits but they require finagling), and - more importantly - it means that legendary weapons, armor, and items that are found or given as quest rewards retain value and utility instead of being overshadowed by a cheesed-out item you can make on an enchanting table or spellmaker.
@@therexbellator You had me in the first half. Morrowind is indeed extremely exploitable (although I think it's the point really, gaming used to be all about self-imposed limits). How objectively good that is in long run is...debatable. All in all, though, this is a very valid argument.
The part about Skyrim, however... is plain wrong. Backwards, really. Alchemy/ehcnatment loop is literally the same as it was in MW and is actually easier to do in absence of failed craft rolls and faster progression, no finagling involved. Whereas Legendary items are just...disappointing on the average and gimmicky at their absolute best. They're overshadowed even by regular level-scaled gear a lot of the times, how bad is that?
Speaking of cheese...Morrowind only had enchanting and alchemy - both of which required some know-how to truly break the game. Unmodded MW enchanting in particular has EXTREMELY prohibitive strength-to-success ratio and cost, you need upwards of 300 enchanting to even attempt to make a viable constant effect item (or, like, 55k gold). And even then, all you can do with it, is broken potions and enchantment-capacity limited gear - which need to be deliberately cheesed in a very specific and unintuitive way to achieve this result. Which Skyrim also allows, and the idea is far easier to come up with and implement, but you can actually sharpen your weapons to a ridiculous degree on top of that. The point is, going by your own metric, Skyrim is a worse game.
The magic is a whole other story, but again - breaking anything with MW magic requires quite a bit of thinking and mischievous intent, whereas Skyrim magic is just...garbage, unfortunately, so there isn't even any space for cheesability comparison here. I can hardly call it being so pathetically weak and inflexible a better game design.
@@therexbellator Skyrim is just as exploitable as Morrowind, maybe even moreso. But, it's just one of those things that makes Elder Scrolls games what they are. You can usually mod some of the exploits out or you can simply choose not to use them. These games are based around everything you do making your character more powerful, which is difficult to balance because the more the devs balance the gameplay mechanics, the less freedom the player has to do what they want. So, a lot of the balance in these games is in your hands based on how you choose to play. You can choose to use exploits or overdo it on complimentary skills and make the game easy for yourself, or you can limit what you're able to do/use to make it more difficult. True for both Skyrim and Morrowind.
@@JonnyCrackers I don't know why you and the other guy are harping on this. Yeah Skyrim has its exploits but they are NOT by design, they are exploiting a bug in the coding for enchanting and restoration.
My point with Morrowind is that even without exploiting bugs the game isn't built around balance. The fortify intelligence potion loop is pretty much intentional afaik. And having a dozen different pieces of clothing/apparel/armor that you can effectively enchant with stacking effects is just asking to break the game balance. The only thing that prevents it from being more broken is that Constant Effect enchantments are not easy to come by unless you farm Golden Saints for their souls and even then it's not impossible.
They're both great games but Skyrim was clearly designed with some form of balance in mind, which is not to say Bethesda did it perfectly (before anyone tries to claim I'm saying that), but the _idea_ is there.
I have played Morrowind since launch pretty much. To me it is and will always will be the best in the series. It doesn't hold your hand in ways that the later games do. It also allows you the freedom to do anything you want. Including kill quest related characters. If you want to doom the world and fail the main quest then it is completely up to you. Most games do not give you that level of freedom nowadays.
^
Games back then and in the 90s had that freedom. Maybe we didn’t have the graphics back then but I literally can’t stand current video games. The only thing that’s truly blown my mind in the past 10-15 years is Skyrim
Also it remains the most visually creative of the series.
It is just... not even a competition in my mind, I went back to Oblivion and Morrowind and Morrowind is so much more of what I want it is almost sad. It has this level of awe and wonder that even as the rose tint fades is still just present.
The game just feels good to play. Your actions feel like they have an impact. That message of slaying and important NPC is so... wonderful to get. The idea of you messing something up and just having the option to not give a damn is just... it is so good.
The world is so alive, so there, so in the moment you feel good and bad decisions, you impact the world and it responds. Not Skyrim though Skyrim in comparison to Morrowind feels like it was made in 1995. It is such a massive leap backward it is shocking so few talk about it.
@@mugwump7049one of the most visually creative I've ever seen. Top 10 if there was a list for atmosphere and art direction for me.
Ah, Morrowind. My all-time favorite game, hands down. Morrowind is the reason I wanted to get into game design. I strive to capture that magic and wonder about the world that Morrowind did for me for new players. It not only holds many fond memories, I still play it to this day.
The fog made the world feel so big and mysterious. Do you play it modded and what do you play?
@@loganross1861 I typically play Bosmer more than any other race, and I love the magic and stealth. I do play with a few mods - cleaner (less blurry) faces and body meshes, cleaner clothing textures, slowly recovering Mana so I don't have to sleep as much, and House mods so I have places to store my loot. (I love my loot.)
Vivec and the Telvanni islands benefit greatly from the fog and the Ashlands benefit from the blight storms. I wouldn't ever do anything to change those effects.
@@TwilightRogue15 I have fondly memories of one of times when I visited Ald'ruhn: there was this huge blightstorm all around me and suddenly, I heard the sweet song of a silt strider. It was like returning home after a very tiresome and dangerous travel (what it indeed was. For my character, of course! 😉)
@@rosesareredbutzerglingssti9290 Yes! The game really set an atmosphere for travel-sometimes it was a beautiful little jaunt through the Ascadian Isles, sometimes it was harrowing trying to find your way through the Ashlands, and sometimes you were wading through swamplands to find somewhere off the beaten path. You can really feel how your character feels!
@@TwilightRogue15 Meanwhile, all games made by Bethesda these days hold our hands telling to where we need to go instead of lefting the exploration to us. The worst part? Many kids today (I'm 55 years old) thing that doing such thing ruins the game making "unplayable and difficult".
The kids these days are too lazy. 😮💨
In morrowind you set the difficulty by deciding how much gamebreaking exploits you want to use.
[drinks 50 homebrewed potions simultaneously made from random junk he found in a cave or some shit and proceeds to break the sound barrier]
coc toddtest isn't an exploit, its the original feature. As I recall, Todd left the good part of his soul wandering there. Perfectly legit strategy.
I remember when I discovered that you could resist magic the blindness of the boots of blazing speed while still keeping the speed. Silt striders became instantly obsolete. Edit: boots of blinding speed, sorry.
*chugs 1000000 skooma*
Soultrap on target + fortify attribute on self
I played TES games backwards. Started with Skyrim in 2012, then Oblivion, and I finally ended up playing Morrowind for the first time last year (2022). I did have to install some graphics/gameplay mods for my own sanity, since i doubt I wouldve been able to enjoy the experience otherwise, and I have no regrets. It allowed me to have one of the most fulfilling game experiences of my life. Unraveling the story of Nerevar, Dagoth Ur and the Tribunal, discovering the lore of the Ashlanders, and fulfilling the prophecy, not because I WAS “the chosen one”, but because i DECIDED to be the chosen one - absolutely amazing. This game really does hold up, even 20+ years later. It had been a long time since a story in a video game left me in tears.
Same thing here
personally i prefer OpenMW, greater stability is a tradeoff i'm willing to make for the PS1 NPC models.
@@dmas7749 you can use newer NPC models with OpenMW
If one of the gameplay mods is Accurate attack or the like, it really sucks tho. Vanilla combat system is great and perfect the way it is.
@@dmas7749 You can, in fact, achieve the same level of stability with the Morrowind Code Patch + MGEXE, which also gives you access to any mod you want...those dependent on MWSE/LUA are some of the best out there, and most do not have OpenMW equivalents.
The only game where you can drink gallons of sujamma and destroy the strongest enemies at level 1
Sujamma doesn't raise your agility, so if you miss that OP swing, you will probably get merc'd with your 45 HP Bosmer lmao.
Yess!!!!!!! Remember the levitation drink and can walk the whole map in the air 😂
*laughs in 1.2 million Intelligence for 15,000 seconds*
@@ChristianVelez-us3hf Why drink a potion while you can have the boots of the apostle or an enchanted staff ?!
The games leveling system is how RPGs should work. I still remember going into a cave as a level 3 and there was a level 6 mob, which beat me to a pulp, I had to flee, after I leveled up a few times, I went back, and I was able to defeat him. So basically you could feel how your character was getting stronger. You could even overlevel and kil the main boss with a few hits. Every NPC had a name, and was hand placed by the devs. No procedural generation. It was great, and you could see the work the devs put into the game.
Yes whoever added that scaling to Oblivion needs to be flogged. I'm lookin' at you, Todd.
Oblivion ruined it! Maxing out should take time and be difficult but it *should* mean that nothing can touch you anymore. I hated finding out that in Oblivion no matter your level or achievements, guards were still difficult.
"Ruined" is the exact word... No incentive to level up. After realizing, I restarted a playthrough where I just didn't level up (all you have to do is not sleep, though I think you have to sleep once at some point or something, because I ended up level 2), rushed the main storyline and it was just ridiculous. The valiant battle where humanity almost got destroyed at Bruma... by a bunch of stunted scamps. And then my level 2 ass slains the big boss just like that, with a non-special, non-unique, non-enchanted, run-of-the-mill sword. The most disappointed I've ever been about a game. But it sold millions...
@@chrisnewbury3793 skyrim scaling is the same thing
@@Destroymaster100 Skyrim scaling not the same as Oblivion...at some point in Oblivion you start getting weaker and weaker because of the enemy scaling.
Morrowind was, and still is, a Legendary game. For better or worse, it started a legacy Bethesda Game Studios would continue to this day.
Literally a lot of shit in Starfield is just an evolution of Morrowind. Like, most of the skeleton of Bethesda games come from Morrowind.
um bethesda is bad now
@@lenol0315 They've been bad for years
I wish they continued evolving morrowind's design instead they've dumbed down their games so much they barely resemble what is arguably bethesda's most in depth rpg.
Morrowind is their high water mark, they've never reached those heights again.
Another reason I love Morrowind is that the setting is is a truly creative and alien fantasy world. In a genre like fantasy where you can truly create whatever kind of world you want, way too many fantasy worlds are just visual and cultural clones of medieval Europe, including most of what we see in the next two main elder scrolls games. No hate on Europe but I wish more fantasy settings had a more creative and original setting. Morrowind delivers on that front.
💯 What genre of fantasy should we dub this? Theocratic, mushroom, swamp, feudal slavery simulator? I want more fantasy in this sub genre!
Third world fantasy lol
Absolutely this ☝️
@@dabrams84mushroom core
It's because most game designers have just played other games and grown up in Europe or America. Morrowind's creative impulse was Kirkbride who was obsessed with eastern mythology and bugs, so those perspectives made it into the game. Even The Witcher 3 felt like a breath of fresh air because it wasn't Western - it was Polish.
Morrowind and Dark Souls 1 are the only games I’ve ever played that really mad me learn how to get around the map. You feel like you actually live in the world.
I had the GOTY version of the game on OG Xbox. It came with a map and by lord I used that map! It was so handy and fun to use a map IRL to play a game.
The load times got way too ridiculous on Xbox though. 10 minutes just to load your save file once you get past halfway through it. Would load up the game as a kid, go eat breakfast, come back and wait another minute or two haha. Totally worth it back then. No other game came as close the Morrowinds level of immersion, wonder and fantasy at the time.
@@Deusaga I had the map and an English dictionary in front of me at all times. My parents were against video games but I think that convinced them it's not a completely braindead activity.
Shitty design choices do not "teach" you how to do anything, blunt force trauma is still blunt force trauma
Yeah yeah, we all played Dark Souls. You aren't special.
@@victorkreig6089 No. Learning how to get around the map isn't a "shitty design choice". It's a feature. That is called exploration. If you are lazy and like having the game handing your hand and telling you where to go instead of simply trying to find the location to where you need to go by yourself, that is your problem. Me? One of the things I hated about Skyrim was how the game guided you by hand instead of letting you explore and get lost in the damn map and discover new places by yourself.
I think the biggest differentiator between morrowind and all games that follow from bethesda is that effort was actually put into the writing and storytelling. How theplayer interacts with good writing is up to them. In the later games your interaction with the story is the focus and the quality of the storytelling takes a back seat
I have to disagree. The main quest of any Bethesda game is easily the weakest point, in terms of quality. They're not always bad, of course, but they are easily outclassed by at least one other major questline in their game, but more often many. Hell, Fallout 3's main quest is outclassed by literally every other quest, and it's not even close. The focus is so far and away from the main quest of these games that it's easy to never progress it, in favour of the exceedingly better writing found elsewhere.
How to spot a Morrowanker: The post
People who think morrowank is the height of writing in the elder scrolls just shows how much of an emotional neckbeard they are, you were a child or a teenager when you played morrowind for the first time full stop. The writing and storytelling in Oblivion was miles better to the point of almost being funny, the effort put into Daggerfall makes your statement an absolute joke, and the level of smart map design in Skyrim just shows how much bias you have.
Grow up, it's not 2002 anymore
@PyroOfZen fair enough as I have never beaten a fallout main quest other than new Vegas. I do think the morrowind main quest was actually quite interesting and depending on how involved you are as a player actually enhances your understanding of the world, what truth means in tamriel, and allows you to appreciate the other details in the game more fully. Other than morrowind (never played daggerfall or anything earlier so cannot speak to that) I do agree that the main quest is just an optional power fantasy that actively detracts from immersion if you partake though, maybe with the exception of new Vegas but it's been a long time since I actually played the new Vegas questline at all.
@@victorkreig6089 you inject a lot of emotion into trying to tear down someone else's opinion for enjoying something. What made the oblivion main quest better in your opinion? I'd love to know. My memory of it was that I was given a lot of necessary tasks because I happened to be in a jail cell that was in the way. I remember thinking as a kid that if that is how the empire is run, it probably deserves to fail.
@@shetlandapache949 it does have the justification of the emperor having had a vision about you being the one ending up saving the world, which is why he trusts you. IIRC the guards really don't but they follow the emperor's orders. Of course the player does have the freedom of taking that as an old man's demented fever dream if they so desire because it's not actually very strong story writing anyway
getting lost in the map is such an essential part of an immersive RPG experience in my opinion. Missions feel like an adventure and not just an Amazon delivery. You wander, wonder what to do next, discover the unexpected. You really feel rewarded when you accomplish something because you feel that was entirely up to you. I miss that in modern games.
And they had to crush that experience with the compass giving all the locations away.
This was the main thing missing from Starfield
@@xSaintxSmithx😂 theres a lot missing from starfield
And finding just quest location or person all day long with very slow speed...What a fun. Game is good but you should have critical thinking lol
@@Komotau4691 as should you, letting a game hold your hand because you are too much of a simpleton to grasp the complexity of mw
In Morrowind going to a dungeon and realizing your completely outclassed was my favorite part. Made it scary to try many du geons.
Try Gothic 1-2, you don't even go that far at the beginning like dungeons. ;D First you will just meet with anything from wildlife and will scare you to death. XD
small tips for anyone intending to play: Pay attention to the weapon skills you choose at character creation. Too many times I've seen people complain about missing a ton of attacks early on, only to find out they're using the starting dagger (which iirc is classified as short sword) but they only chose say, long sword and axe as their melee skills. Skills matter a lot in this game, so you really need to pay attention to the weapon you're using vs the skills you have
With that said, you can still train and use other weapons outside of your chosen skills, it just won't contribute to your overall level and you may need to pay trainers because it can take a while to level those skills from scratch (this goes for all miscellaneous ((unchosen)) skills)
Oh and stamina affects spell casting chance (and melee hit chance). Low stamina means spells will likely fail more often. Always make sure you have full or close to full stamina for combat (stamina potions are actually useful in this game). You could also just find a mod to change that if it's annoying, though
Jump height is tied to acrobatics. There is no practical limit. 😉
Yes. I had several false starts with class/ sign mess ups with weapon s/ magic before I hit upon my current character .
Jump everywhere. Even inside. @@GnohmPolaeon.B.OniShartz
A masterpiece. My favourite game (and game soundtrack) of all time. Every time I visit this strange, elusive world it feels like coming home... But weirdly, I've never actually finished the main quest - I always get sidetracked from my destiny in the most beautiful way.
ive finished the story and dlc stories multiple times throughout the years but still come back to it constantly. we're talking at least 10-15 200 hour playthroughs
@@kvltslime2261 Same here. I've finished the game at least a dozen times. Every playthrough I still discover something new.
Morrowind is awesome because you can be pretty much anyone you want. You have to be the Nerevarine, if you progress. But if you'll be an evil assassin, a thief who cares for nobody, a lunatic barbarian or a resplendent knight is up to you and your choices. That's why it's so cool, in my opinion. I've played games since I was a child, starting in late 90's, and I play games to this day, but if I'd have to pick one game to be my all-time favourite, I would pick Morrowind.
Agree. There would be also Fallout 2 beside the Morrowind for me if I were to pick my all-time favourite.
me too, or at least in the top 5 (and ive played many)
@@drahomirmichalko I never got into Fallout before Fallout 4 came out, sadly. But I've read a lot on Fallout 1&2 lore and I must say it's definitely very well written and incredibly interesting. Games were just different back then. Nobody worried about "wokeness" or if the wider society thinks it's inappropriate or not. It's like we had our own secret society to enjoy these awesome games and companies made them because they wanted to, not because they were necessarily gonna be a cash cow for them.
That's true. Also, I'm not sure any other Bethesda game allows as much wild creativity with your character builds. Enchanting a set of armor to heal you automatically. Creating a spell that covers a 200 foot area. Being entirely invisible and untouchable.
Except morrowind is a bastardized joke of elder scrolls
It stripped all the best parts out of Daggerfall( a superior game in every way) and didn't replace it with anything even close to similar or superior quality. It also retconned a truckload of the lore because Julian Lefay is a petty jerk
My most immersive experience for Morrowind was a relatively recent character. A Bosmer Ranger who reluctantly was trying to ingratiate themselves with Dunmer culture by under going the 7 trials needed to fully join the Temple. While questing they came across a stuck up traveler who also needed to complete their trial with in the next three in game days. It was the trial of Red Mountain, one that I needed and had been instructed to seek out last per my own safety. They would pay better the quicker the pilgrimage was completed and my Bosmer was of relative skill at the time to be confident with the trek. What followed was a steady but perilous decent to the heart of Morrowind, blight creatures and blight storms raged, supplies began to run low and resting was a detriment to the time sensitive demand. We made it in 2 days time though my character was talked down to for them sustaining a little injury along the way. What got me was the walk back, snipping blighted cliff racers encircling from the skies, using rocks to stealth from Nix Hounds and roaming Deadra then coming back into civilization half dead from the ordeal only to be attacked by Dagoth Cultist after resting at the local Inn. A threat that until now was always just outside my characters peripheral vison, a shape muffled in the distance by ash storms.
I can not recommend enough to simply talk to everyone you meet and see where those meetings can take you. To abstain from Fast Travel as much as possible and to not allow your experience be watered down to go to X, kill X, turn in to X.
"Why would you rely on an army when the hero can just wipe the floor with them?"
Persistently threatening the player's progress and success through attrition is a great way to raise the stakes.
got it don't do the Morag Tong questline.
Cringe.
Keys Cassades
That pisses me off so much in this video. I think he's doing it on purpose.
-Start Game
-Find Khajiit with soul trap spell
-Create Spell
--Intelligence = 100
--Area of 1
--Soul trap on self
-Find any old book on a table
-Point crosshairs at book
-Cast spell over and over again, failing many times (dice roll), until you eventually cast it the first time (may take an hour). Once you successfully cast it you exponentially increase your ability to cast it again. Continue the failed/successful castings until you get it so high you can cast any spell in the game.
Intelligence doesn't effect spell chance it's willpower
@@jjbanana2774 *affect
@@jjbanana2774 magicka limits
Can be optimized by instead soul trap on target, and just aiming straight down into the ground.
The thing I love about Morrowind is that I genuinely got lost in the game in the most spectacular way. Just wandering into a random town I've never been to to see endless amounts of areas to check and items to loot scratched all of my gaming iches.
I STILL remember the first time I played this when it launched. Such an amazing game! The water effects always blew my mind back in the day. I still think this is the best Elder Scrolls game ever made.
"Some players actually consider MGSO to be outdated."
The _creator_ of MGSO has publicly said it's outdated and recommends that it no longer be used. If nothing else, the versions of the Morrowind Code Patch, Morrowind Graphics Extender, and Morrowind Script Extender packaged in MGSO are many versions behind the current versions.
Yes, but it's not hard to update those after installing MSGO; especially since the installer gives you a pretty good idea of what they do. I still recommend it for first-timers - along with the MGSO patch.
@@gavinmatthewlyall MGSO isn't just outdated, it has horrific bugs that people will then go on to attribute to the game itself. It literally completely breaks the game in several places.
@@delayed_control Yes, it is not salvageable. It took not only a plethora of community mods but also hours of tinkering with the construction set to fix the bugs in that pile of crap. And days to replace all the garbage mods to my liking as well as adding more modern graphics mods on top of it. That was years ago, these days i just try to stay close to vanilla morrowind look with a bunch of quest and gameplay mods.
Could anyone recommend an alternative please? I really don't want to have to spend ages researching mods and setting them up. I'm looking for one thing that I can just download, install and be done. Just basic graphics upgrade, view distance and better bodies is all I need. Cheers.
@@cursedmonkey1033 I've typed out several in depth comments/tutorials to help you out, and no matter what I say, youtube keeps fucking insta-deleting them. Let's keep it really vague and simple and see if this flies:
OpenMW. View distance is in the settings.
"I Heart Vanilla" and "Graphics Overhaul" lists
Wabbajack to make it not tedious.
I still remember how my friend brought me Morrowind CDs after we played Gothic 2. We were really excited about it. Admittedly still the Gothic Trilogy is more for me, but Morrowind has a place right next to it.
Wow, same. What do you think about Skywind/Skyblivion and official Gothic Remake?
@@idontfeelsogood2063 I didn't try Skyblivion yet, but doesn't look bad. About the Gothic Remake I have some concerns, but we'll see when it finally comes out.
@@idontfeelsogood2063skyblivion isn’t even out yet 🤔
We need a mod that gives morrowind npc’s gothic npc’s AI
I also played it since launch, and it’ll always hold a soft spot in my heart. I’ve always found it particularly satisfying how alien most of the animals are, which more recent titles, especially Skyrim, shy away from. They’re unlike any other fantasy out there, making it feel so special and satisfying.
Decided to pick it back up watching this. Joined the fighters guild, fought the first rat, had bad luck wth attcks, died realizing I never saved. 10/10
I think Caius' name is pronounced KAI-uhs Kah-SAH-dees. NPCs say it in the game. I think.
I think at least half of all complaints about Morrowind's combat would go away with one change. If, when your attack missed due to die rolls, some text appeared saying "miss," as in many other RPG's.
As is, new players often find themselves unable to damage enemies and they do not know why. If the game just told you that your attack missed, then that would at least get you started saying, "Oooh my attack missed, I should find out why." The way it works now almost looks like a bug if you don't know what's going on.
YES! You have to view it more like DnD type game in that regard, where you have a 1 in 4 chance to hit or so, then it is totally enjoyable.
It's not an action game, it just looks like one. I think in later entries to the franchise this gets less acceptable, but for MW I could totally live with it...
It already does so if an enemy resists a magickal attack so I’m shocked it didn’t already
They play mage character with a longsword and wonder why their attacks do not connect. Idk go figure, even 10yo me wasn't that oblivious of why am i not killing my opponents.
Someone should make a mod where "Miss" damages the enemy with 1 HP.
Or maybe mod that would make your attack more accurate the more you hold the button. Basically "Charging" precision.
@dmmpg The weapon goes woosh whether or not you miss.
You can try playing the game through OpenMW, an open source project that attempts to recreate morrowind in a different engine so that all the crippling engine bugs from the original game are not present (it still looks exactly like base morrowind as it does not have any of the assets of the game). It also provides some modern features like wide screen support. I'm not sure if there are any mod packs for openMW however, so you might have to download the mods one by one.
Asset mods work fine for openmw for the most part
There are mod packs and I play a modded version of OpenMW. There are fewer that are compatible, but I prefer a mostly vanilla playthrough.
There are methods to use mods with openMW
I don't think that at any point in the 20 years since the game was released I've ever heard anyone pronouce his name as "Keys Cosades"
bro how the hell did you get "KEYES KESAIDS" from Caius Cosades?!?!??! xD
Seriously lol
It's the actual english pronunciation, much like "Cesar" is Caesar's.
I am getting the same issue when they pronounce Hortator... I am pretty certain that is said in the game... But I could be wrong. Hard when the game is not fully voiced.
And now I have to eat my own words, because apparently that IS how it is pronounced!
So yep, Azura pronounces it as hor-tuh-tor, not hor-tay-ter... I was certain I had heard it before.
This is one of my favorite games of all time. I sleep to the soundtrack sometimes. I've played it at least four times. Thanks for the mod info. Downloading it now.
I've not played this game but actually I've installed it as I really wanted to go back and dive into it. I'm more hyped since you recommended the graphics mod.
I also prefer the Morrowind class system, just like WoW ifyou're a mage, i wont expect to be wearing heavy plated armor and being the best archer, mage blacksmith and everything else.
In MW you can create custom class and pick your own major, minor, and misc skills & and 2 main attributes. So technically you can combine the skills to be sort of everything if you want to (say for example a thief that can cast alternation spell such as levitation, jump or slowfall or illusion spells). However, Morrowind allows you to level up all the skills in the end (but it takes time), so you can wear heavy armour and cast spells or shoot a bow.
Morrowind's story reminds me a lot of Herbert's Dune. It doesn't hold your hand, it asks you to read lore and experience the history in order to understand what is going on. No quest markers and no invincible NPCs. It is an adults RPG. Even then, the ultimate story conclusion is ambiguous and requires the player to decide who they are.
Love to see a Morrowind video. It's one of my favorite games. These days I play it using OpenMW and with Tamriel Rebuilt. Haven't tried Morrowind Rebirth yet, but I'm also unsure if it's compatible with Tamriel Rebuilt. Wonderful game & I wish the other Elder Scrolls titles were more like it.
TR is compatible with Rebirth in a way. But there's a catch. Rebirth changes a lot of the game world and mechanics (including, items, prices and even the forms of furniture). Whereas TR's main goal is to make a seamless content expansion to the vanilla game-world. So, the transition between Rebirth's Vvardenfell and TR's mainland will be drastic. In addition, you will most certainly find many floating items in people's houses due to the changed furniture. And the the difference between prices/enemy levels between Vvardenfell and the mainland will feel like you're playing two different games at the same time.
Hello, can you tell me more about OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt? What are these? I want to play this game again, I used to play many years ago, I am a noob, thanks :)
@@alexbeleiu258OpenMW is a new engine for the game with bug fixes and QoL improvements built in.
Built in controller support
Increased view distance
Read dialogue topics that go dark like Skyrim
Built in mod manager and profiles.
It's a lot more stable do to being built from the ground up to replace the original Morrowind EXE
Be warned any that uses the old MWSE will not work
That's an... interesting... way to pronounce Caius Cosades name.
That said, you did do a great job of showing how fun the game can be, as well as why some things work the way that they do. I believe I'll have to get started on a fresh playthrough in the near future. On my original Xbox, of course.
Morrowind had an incredibly unique and alien universe. So much so, that I was spending most of my time exploring Vvardenfel and reading the lore rather than doing quests. This game really ignites the imagination.
How odd -- I am doing another run through for the first time in a few years and am about 6 hours in and then bam, this hits my recommended.
Quality stuff mate. Subbed.
The only factions that are actually exclusive are the houses. You have to choose one of Hlaalu, Redoran, or Telvanni, but otherwise you can join all factions.
It is true that joining the Mage's Guild will make the Telvanni like you less, but you can still join them and you can still become head of the house. It just becomes a little more difficult.
Joining both the Fighter's Guild and the Thieves Guild can cause issues because their quests conflict in some areas, making it impossible to progress if you don't do them in a certain order. I mostly consider this a bug, though. Ideally the game would take this into account and change their quests accordingly.
You do have to stick somewhat to your class because otherwise you can't level up, but since you can create a custom class and choose everything yourself, this is not really an issue when replaying the game. For a first playthrough, though... yeah, I would agree with this. Choose a class and stick to it.
Regarding Telvanni and Mages Guild, you are correct. Telvanni consider themselves superior Wizards in Morrowind and if you Join MG first Telvanni Mages will have lowered disposition towards you significantly.
More like a great feature rather than a big. The guide shows this excellently.
When asked what my favorite video game is, I always respond simply, Morrowind. I bought Morrowind about a year after it came out. It's the only game that stayed with me long after I had turned my computer off. I took it with me, in my head, almost every damn where I went. So much so, that I routinely would find myself in class, writing up a character with a role-play progression and backstory. Should've been taking notes and paying attention to the lecture. It's a wonder I passed any of my classes at the time.
My favorite game as well, been playing it since launch
“Wonder”
Todd should go back and take a lesson or three from Morrowind on how to make a good rpg
If only
Its not even good
@@CursedSFMSmorrowind is the best game bethesda ever made. This is an objective fact.
@@trolltalwar no its not
@@trolltalwar
morrowind is literally unplayable it's like a 1/10 game
And dont forget the drums of the title soundtrack.. goosebumps. The story is so detailed and written with love, i loved my permanent levitation amulet, sourcery and so on. What a great game back then. My entry to gaming: Morrowind and Gothic 1
For the first time, I'm actually enjoying Morrowind and it's thanks to Steam Deck. Somehow it feels more intuitive on that device, for me at least.
and it works perfectly fully moded (POTI modlist)
Hmm sounds like I'll have to put it on mine 🤔 hadn't really thought of trying it on there
Using OpenMW for native gamepad and the trackpads for working menus and hotkeys is the best
Morrowind was my first open world RPG I ever played and is still my favorite elder scrolls game to this day.
The lack of handholding and actually having to figure out quests, where to go, find the person you supposed to contact. It was an amazing experience.
I don't really see how Morrowind is considered inaccessible, it's super cheap and while yeah, you WILL get slaughtered a few times off the jump until you learn the basic combat system and you WILL get lost for hours on end, any level of interest in the elder scrolls fictional universe and a pinch of persistence, or a huge love of exploration will get you through the early parts and once you've got some knowledge of the game, you'll usually fall in love with vaardenfell
Yeah boy if you want an inaccessible Elder Scrolls game, try Daggerfall or even worse, Arena. Those are from 1996 and 94 respectively, back when PC gaming was its own universe full of obtuse nonsense and the most confusing interfaces and controls you've ever experienced.
Yah yah yah I am lorde
I've never heard anyone say Morrowind is a difficult game before...it is, in fact, extremely easy but it does subscribe to the old school RPG notion that you are nothing at the beginning of the game and you must slowly and carefully accumulate power if you are unfamiliar with the game. Once you get your main skill up a bit you stop missing all the time and it's a cakewalk. I've also never heard anyone say Morrowind has a hard class system before...probably because it doesn't. 🤪
Yeah, that "hard class system" is 100% wrong.
Morrowind is a game, that demands attention. You need to plan and think and not just follow map markers around blindly.
Try Gothic 1-2. ;)
@@HeyJoeHUN81-PCRPGCommunity Exactly! Great games aswell. :)
Or Fallout 1&2
Played Morrowind when I was 10 to 12 years old and English is my second language. It taught me so much, loved reading the journal to navigate as well.
The fact that you can speak down npc to the point it attacks you or speak up to the point like you more and give you better prices or more info or whatever is something. Disposition towards npc and vice versa made this game 100% more immersive then many new rpg. Npc literally react on your deed and actions, choices and so on. True is yeah many of those things are outdated but they are there and not scrapped and thrown away. Bethesda should upgrade not cut off for better immersion. Passing through the ranks of factions also feel more organic even so quests could be for nowadays standards somewhat simpler. Skills and stats really matters and leveling them up really scale your character. Oh and also for me personally the fact that you things deteriorate and you need to keep them in best condition possible to have best out of them is also good thing. Arrows has weight and when i go to wilderness i have to prioritize what to sell to merchants and what is good to keep and this gives me real sense of adventure in possible danger ahead i have to overcome in my limitations. All this give real sense of role playing and increase immersion not reduce.
Hey man as an old head who was there 3000 years ago when Morrowind came out, the graphics were always funny. We had Metal Gear Solid 2 then so we knew what graphical fidelity meant. My friends and I always got a chuckle out of the faces and the hairstyle choices. What always stood out was the unique design and how they implemented it. To me, Morrowind's graphics aren't dated, they're timeless.
One of the greatest things about Morrowind is the ability to kill anyone, even if it breaks the story. Gaining experience for everything you do was nice too. I used to spend hours at the beginning of every playthrough just running up and jumping off the tower in Seyda Neen to build my acrobatics and stamina.
I have so many memories of this game. Most of them fond... most of them. It was a good time with a good game, and I still consider it easily the best Bethesda had to offer.
*Pats on back*
"Cliff racer swarm?"
*Slams back a shot of Flin*
"Aye, we've all got scars. Some heal better th'n others..."
@@TwilightRogue15 Rest in peace Saint Jiub, long may he reign
Been watching you for forever, please keep it up with the ES content, I’ll always watch.
I got morrowind overseas when i purchased an original xbox in 2004. Getting lost in that game got me through an incredibly shitty deployment. I've been a die-hard elderscrolls fan ever since. I've currently got a completionist playthrough going to try and finally get all achievements. Oblivion was my first game to ever 100%, including dlc. If you can get past the graphics by todays standards, morrowind is an incredible game. Thank you, Avarti, for giving it the attention it deserves. You've inspired me to go work on that achievement list now.
Morrowind is amazing, the amount of freedom and role-playing you're given is astonishing! I played the game for 3 months casually and I didn't even finished the campaign of the base game. Now, I took a break and started to play Daggerfall and honestly, I'm having a blast with that game too! 😀
I've never understood how people need graphic overhauls to play Morrowind, for a 2002 game it's fucking beautiful, I'd go so far to say that even with extremely low graphics settings and low render distance it looks better than Skyrim, and I'm not willing to go back on that statement
Do they need them or do they choose them because it’s better looking and they’re available?
I actually got the game because I saw a screenshot of it in an early preview and the graphics blew me away. Some people seem to forget, but this was cutting edge stuff back then.
Its not so much the graphics that are a bother as the UI is, I really felt the need to get UI overhauls for this game to be enjoyable for me. I can see why a lot of people like this game, but Skyrim will remain my favorite.
This game caused me nightmares since I was a kid.
10/10
I remember playing this on my crappy family PC back in 2004, and then being excited to doss through Science class in school to chat with mates about which dungeons we had explored and what we'd found/missed. Nostalgia, but the game still holds up.
I played Morrowind on the original Xbox and was my first introduction to the Elder Scrolls
same
Same. Bought the game from a dollar store as a teenager and I was hooked. Couldn't put it down.
I played Morrowind when I was at school 20 years ago. I still remember this game, I have a nostalgia about it, would love to play it again. It gives me beautiful emotions ) time flies 20 years ago. I can’t believe.
The actual best bethseda rpg.
Have you ever played daggerfall?
@@DarioSocciDaggerfall is best played on daggerfall unity, its the best rpg that its not even considered an rpg but rather a life simulator by how immersive it is in narrative and details.
@@vivec6857 DFU is indeed amazing. On not defining it an RPG, I do not agree. From my point of view it is the most RPG game out there :)
Great video, dude. I played OG Morrowind while recovering from back surgery in the early 2000’s. This was very nostalgic. I’m old;)
🐶++
Just watching this I'll probably fall asleep tonight to the sound of cliffracers in my head.
I finally got back to Morrowind and completed the main quest last week which I have never done before because I made the mistake of overwriting a chararter's save file with a 2nd, much worse character twice in the past and didn't want to touch the game again.
Oh boy am I happy that I actually did start it once more. I only used the unofficial patch to get some bugs patched and basically played the vanilla game. No graphics enhancements, no additional content except the dlcs. It was amazing and now that I played it for the main quest and got familiar with the game again I can totally see myself diving into a fresh character and explore each and every corner of Vardenfell. Probably with enhanced graphics this time. The mods look amazing.
As someone who appreciates compass markers, I don't think the term "hand-holding" is fair to describe reasonable gameplay conveniences that many require in order to enjoy a game. For example, I have maybe an hour, two or three times a week, to play games. I don't want to spend that time stumbling around lost. However, I can see how some would prefer that, so I wish modern games would give more in the way of options. In Skyrim, I have a mod that lets me control the compass readout. I've kept the mission quest markers, but deactivated enemy pips for added challenge.
Or better yet, these games aren't for people with an hour a week free for playtime. Casual gamers have ruined everything already
@@Jay-og4yb By having jobs and responsibilities? lol. Cry me a river kid.
The other replies here are a perfect illustration of how appropriate my nickname for Morrowind fans is. They're Morrowindbags, people who think that playing a certain video game in a certain way makes them superior to everyone else. Laugh and pass on; they're hopeless.
Feel that - the having responsibilities part.
and to the windbags,
Casual gamers didn't ruin all our games.
Capitalism did; and that's not a political stance.
The #1 goal is profit, so
if a dev/pub can sell a game to 500% more people by casualizing it, they will. In fact, once it's known that they CAN do so, they have to - or investment evaporates..
10,000 reskinned CODs was only a matter of time..
If you want a game that's specific to the stringent, niche requirements of a "hardcore" gamer, you're gonna have to do some networking and secure grassroots funding yourself..
Or hope for a small developer to attract some small investors that are willing to target a small market to make a small(ish) profit.
@@KP-uc1ez Great points. The more games cost to make, the larger the audience they have to appeal to. It's just dollars and sense. The best strategy is to make games that people can play the way they want.
Great video and awesome to see some Morrowind love in 2023, but I'm gonna be entirely frank here: those beautified faces are absolutely terrifying. Like, half of them look like plastic doll faces taken from failed supermodels, and the other half look like the creator just used Handsome Squidward as a template. Everything else about the graphics mod that was shown off looks great but those faces are hideously deep into the uncanny valley.
As an old man of 46, Morrowind was the very first Western RPG, and the first Elder Scrolls game, that I've ever played. Obviously, that makes ESIII hold a great deal of nostalgia--- but that said, I have had loads of fun playing Morrowind, lol...
For me, the best part of playing Morrowindcis the actual lack of map markers... I have been list plenty of times, but even then, I just felt more
immersed in the game-world!!
Back when you needed a notebook and a pencil to play the game. It really does ironically feel more immersive when you're taking the notes yourself because of how invested you can be.
And, for anyone who doesn't want to leave the game, there are now mods to write notes in game. In my favorite one, you need an Inkwell, a Quill, and a sheet of Paper. Morrowind mods are some of the most immersive mods I have ever played in any game. It's a testament to how dedicated many fans are to keeping that spirit of the world alive. Morrowind is my favorite game for many reasons.
@@TwilightRogue15 I disagree you're objectively incorrect there are far many more immersive mods for skyrim I can't list them all
@@hutki_shira Subjectively incorrect? Sure. Everyone has different things that grab their attention or caters to their preferences better than other mods or other games bring them in more.
Objectively? No. How Morrowind catches my attention and immerses me into the game cannot be disputed.
@@TwilightRogue15 You said about mods morrowind is objectively more immersive but the mods are all meh nothing as good as skyrim mods
Morrowind was a game that gripped me for a long time in my teen years. I had a scratched disc for the xbox that would periodically corrupt save files because it would crash mid-save, and so I had to learn reeeeeal fast that I needed to double up my saves. Of course sometimes I forgot to, so I had made dozens of characters that reached certain points in the game, only for me to lose progress or the entire playthroughs, and it would leave me devastated because of all the hours I lost. Even then, I'd come back to it eventually, because I wanted to see what I hadn't. There's so much content and lore to sink your teeth in. It's a huge, weird, and wonderful world. I'd like to imagine that the characters I lost along the way were guys that simply weren't the "true" reincarnation of the Nerevarine, and where they were lost is where their journey ended. Maybe they gave up, maybe they died in a ditch. Morrowind is a dangerous place and not every story has a happy or even conclusive ending, but it's such a treat to get immersed in. Easily my favorite RPG.
I began playing Morrowind on Xbox this year, I love it! however, it is not only the beginners combat that's difficult to fully enjoy the game but the fact that I can't see more than few meters ahead. In Vivec, for instance, I can't see more than a half of each canton😔😅 everything's foggy🙈
Regardless, I ended up Fangirling whilst playing it😂 Love how you can just combine clothes and pieces of armour to create your own strange appearance and that you can use a candle holder as a light source or that you can lift those Bar-table-doors😍 Idk why but I find it awesome 😂
The fog was in essence an attempt at naturally reducing render distance, making the game run smoother. Completely outdated feature today, but it really added to the immersion and overall mood. I would recommend a mod that basically removes all that if you find it annoying, but Xbox... Also, if you do somehow find a way to do it on Xbox, the Island will feel a lot smaller.
You can play it on Android
Also if you have it on PC you can use openmw recreation of the engine which makes Morrowind run smoothly ASF
@@kopicat2429Yep I wish I played with fog the first time.
This reminds me of the "open world loot" mod in Skyrim. It makes it to where the world doesn't scale with your level. That way it feels rewarding when you actually get through a challenging part.
One of the best games of all time.. So much exploring and so many memories..
You can become the head of all the factions, except the three Great Houses where you do need to pick one. I know, because I did it back in the day. The Thief-Fighter, and Telvanni-Mage conflicts can be handled if you know what you are doing. Without mods, the two temples don't care about each other mechanically.
Morrowind is when you had to THINK and the game didn't roll out a red carpet for you at the beginning. It made you explore. I wasn't so concerned about graphics back then. More armor slots. It is a cool game.
The graphics were cutting edge at the time so if you were a person concerned about graphics, you were still playing Morrowind. 😁
Oh, I'll play Morrowind again. I have the OG disc and DLC discs. But, I also bought the GoG version. Always be an awesome game@@memitim171
Even going back in 2023, I still find the old polygons and textures endearing. I never think of it as being dated. And yeah, back in ‘03 when I first played it, I was amazed at how realistic everything looked! The Toonami review of the game is what got me into it.
when I first played Bloodmoon in 2005.... It felt like I was in Beowulf.
I've been playing this game since the mid 2000s, I the graphics are janky but I still love them, at the time when I first started playing they weren't seemingly as bad anyhow, but I got so into it that I don't really need mods for immersion, what amazes me the most about it is how I still find new things everytime I start playing again, I didn't even know about the mudcrab merchant until I had been playing almost 10 years! I also think Bloodmoon was possibly the best ad on to a game ever, the fact that it fit seamlessly into the game, but still added a whole new dimension to it was amazing, and you didn't want to set foot there until you were at least lvl 10 unless you were cheesing.
I remember how hard it was to find azura s shrine in the main quest but it was so rewarding finding it and getting nerevars ring.
The world does scale somewhat i think. Some enemies dont spawn until you hit a certain level unless its a scripted encounter. Also the brotherhood assassins sxale to your level. There are very dangerous places though that should not be visited until the so called lategame like certain dwemer ruins and red mountain and generally north of red mountain where kogoruhn and the ashlanders live
This is a major shortcoming of both Oblivion and Skyrim. Playing those games, I never felt like there was anywhere I *couldn't* go due to the heavy scaling. The world of Morrowind actually feels dangerous. Some areas are just way too difficult in the early game, and that's a good thing. Conquering those areas later on gives you a feeling of progression.
@@elbschwartz Its weird that the ESO games went this route, because modern Bethesdas Fallouts went the other route, there are places on the map where you will be wrecked because simply high level enemies spawn there. New Vegas also went this route with its infamous deathclaw ridden valley on top of scaling enemies.
@@mrvex6695 Yes, it's actually the main reason I like Fallout more than Skyrim. In Fallout, I become more powerful and eventually almost impossible to take down by the average Joe and raider gang. In all the ESO games, the raiders just sit in one place doing nothing but somehow get all the same weapons, armor, spells, hit points, abilities that you got from travelling the whole world and closing out unique quests. It's so terribly immersion breaking for me to get to level 35 or 40 in Skyrim and then suddenly always running into level 40 vampires on the road all day, it's just too ridiculous.
@@mrvex6695 You can easily get past that deathclaw valley in New Vegas you get a stealth boy right in the begining of the game
Yeah, Daedroth and Ogrim won't spawn until much later.
It’s unfortunate that the graphics and older physics hold people back from playing this gem of a game. I got this for the og Xbox 4 years ago and played it on my 360 and was hooked immediately, it’s the most immersive and true rpg game of the last 3 elder scrolls games and with mods on pc it’s even better especially with the Tamriel rebuilt mod and Skyrim mod
I have never heard such an intense butchering of Caius' name before/ (Kai-iss Ka-so-deez).
Keez Co-saids lmao
Factions in Morrowind not having a "main quest" was one of my favourite parts of the game. It makes you feel like you're part of an interesting group with its own role in a fantasy world and by extension that your character is a part of a believable world with their own identity and role in it besides \just\ being a hero who shows up to solve everyone else's problems.
I'll say this, what makes Morrowind hard to get into is that even it's own manual doesn't explain it's mechanics very well. It took Lynel Schnub's Mechanics of Morrowind series for some aspects of the game to become widely known, and even that misses a few things, I've found. Otherwise you're really stumbling in the dark in a game that _can_ screw you over a bit.
You're immediately wrong just over one minute in. Morrowind doesn't run on a class system beyond whether you choose Combat, Magic or Stealth as a specialization and that only reduces the points needed to level those skills by 20%. Otherwise starting classes just determine your starting stats and you can end up wherever the heck you want.
It was my first elder scrolls game, played it at start in the 2000 and loved it to this day
After seeing everyone talking about it years ago, I put in 115 hours on a heavily-modded playthrough without ever touching the main quest, and it was amazing.
when I bought this game years ago I had been playing games like Baldur's Gate, BG 2, Fallout, PS:T. I started this game and got bored very quickly with the levelling system and I put it in my bag of "Games to sell". However, I did start reading reviews of the game saying how brilliant is was and thought that this many people couldn't be wrong so I'll give it another shot. What a great idea that was. This game is brilliant. And I personally love the way you start out rubbish at fighting and spellcasting because it makes you work for your progress.
Tip for first time players, please keep the view distance relatively low, it really adds to the experience
OpenMW is pretty great because you can set the view distance to whatever number of cells you want. I usually pick 2, to keep that mysterious fog in the distance, but also opening up the viewing range enough to see some neat things a little ways off
Yes; I find 4-6 cells allows for epic vistas without destroying the illusion of a much bigger world.
@@ryanjones4106 It also lets you get lost, which is half the fun in early playthroughs.
7:14
"And inside the ghost fence, well, be ready to become annoinchuhvaashspuhn"
Huh?
Great Video. Surprised you made no mention of the Skywind Morrowind remake project. I am waiting for that project completion to replay this title.
Lol, waiting for a inferior version of the game
Skyrim is a souless vapid engine
An all time classic game. Played it when it first came out and loved it. Played it through recently, unmodded, and once I had got used to the old graphics still eally enjoyed it.
This just reminds me I stopped in the middle of modding and I need to finish so I can play
Playing through other ES games, I think the thing that is under appreciated the most about Morrowind is the travel system. It is very well setup and keeps you invested.
This game was insanely good, my two bros still talk about this game till this day.
Played it on OG Xbox, then i got it for PC.Insane upgrade of graphics with my pentium 4 on a CRT lol.
Late game enchanted armor with crazy buffs made my character look so badass with a bubble shield on constantly.
The newer elder scrolls need to bring back the buff/debuff icons on the HUD.
Skyrim's UI and "talent tree" were a letdown, Oblivion was Ok i guess.
They need to bring back the OG devs, doubt it will ever happen.
I just started playing Morrowind last week. I remember my friend in school playing it on his Xbox and I thought it was so cool. Years later I built my first pc the same year Skyrim came out so that was my go to. I'm just now getting around to it and I love it so far. I created my own class and made a Paladin type character. I majored in blunt weapons so I just run around with a big two handed hammer.
Morrowind is wanting for quiet a few quality of life concessions, but if you’ve played Daggerfall or, Divines preserve us, Arena, you will understand how far it actually came. Morrowind may be a bit janky mechanically, but it is entirely playable.
Story-wise it has different priorities to its sequels. Skyrim wanted to be epic, but at the occasional cost of being unique; Oblivion wanted to be silly at the occasional cost of being immersive, and Morrowind wants to be avant-garde, at the occasional cost of being coherent.
I'm so used to the vanilla version of the game that seeing Caius in this mod looking like a yassified version of himself just cracks me up.
I have about 4 files in Morrowind, but the only one I've actually beaten the main quest on I used console commands. I should really go back to one of the others and play through it more. Or maybe I should restart with a mage....
mage is super op once you get to a certain level. and you can create your own spells and enchantments, like wtf? it's awesome, you should def try it
Being told to occasionally go adventure and do other stuff by main quest givers is something modern RPG's need to start doing again.
It's all about player agency: Morrowind has a lot of it. Starfield does not. In Morrowind, you are free to kill whoever you want, do things in whatever order you please, but there are consequences for your actions. In Starfield, everything is handled with kid gloves, and you can't kill any named NPC until the game says you can. There are no backpaths and no alternate ways to complete anything. You play the game as the devs intended or you don't play it at all, and that's an insulting game design, especially coming from Bethesda, champions of "do whatever you want however you want."
I like that the game can be quite unforgiving: I once ended an entire quest path because I had accidentally killed an npc that I later had to go and talk to. Months before said quest I had used my ring of fireballs on what I tought was a vampire in some underground crypt. When I checked the body I found no vampire dust- I had killed some random person. I went "whoops" and didn't think much of it. Months later (in real time) I have to go talk to some Ashlanders. They only wanna talk if I first go fetch one of them from a nearby location. And as I approach the place I start to get this strange feeling of Deja vu, like I have been there before, and when I opened the door I realised why. I had been there before and the one I had come to bring back... was the one I had killed so long ago.
That UI scale hurts my eyes.
Download a mod
bought xbox for halo. Got morrowind on the side as a gift. Ended up with 1,000 hours in morrowind.