Even the Blades in Morrowind basically thought they were grooming the Nerevarine to be a convincing decoy to be used for their own manipulative purposes. I love that. Also, the Dunmer in Morrowind didn't feel like a 'made up' alien race like we see all the time in franchises like Star Wars or Star Trek. Instead the Dunmer felt like a real alien race that you were interacting with and struggling to understand (what the hell is an n'wah and why do they keep calling me that?). Their society, their history, their language, religion, traditions, architecture, all of it was satisfyingly well developed. Morrowind hands down had the best story line and it left you appreciating all the tiny details.
While I agree with almost everything you said in your comment I don´t think you must be very familiar with Star Trek alien races (well at least the "main" ones), they are incredibly fleshed out and have very in-depth cultures and rituals. Yes, I´m a nerd.
Yes and no. Yes, no one has ever said that. No, many many lazy gamers fiending for a power trip would have said that if they had the self awareness to do so. Game sales do not lie :(
You would be surprised. Look at the new assassins creed. Basically all the story, all the depth got thrown out the window. And still people want to play odyssey. And you know why? What they tell me is that they want cool fights and a challenge in fighting. That's it. They don't really care about story. About stealth or assassins. Or about the plot surrounding it. They just want to smash people's heads in in the game. That's what people care about. People sadly don't really care as much about the story, as you would think.
Skyrim could've been 10 times better if the focus was the civil war, and the dragonborn story would've been something to figure out yourself. At one point you are going to walk up to high hrothgar, because the people you meet keep telling you about the pelgrimage. And then you discover why you absorb dragon souls and can shout. Imagine how cool the main quest would've been if it was hidden at first, and you're free to discover the frozen lands of Skyrim, and put an end to the civil war.
I agree. Like you were just a normal guy, a citizen of Skyrim and shit it's the fan. Honestly they could've scrapped the Dragonborn and shouts completely and focus on the very nuanced civil war, and that would be just fine with me. In fact, thinking of the missed opportunity to play out a truly engrossing story it's infuriating.
I would be happy if they make being the dragonborn more dificult, in morrowind you are called the nerevarine after defeating dagoth ur but Skyrim takes all the magic when everybody starts naming you the dragonborn after you kill the first dragón
The civil war IS the focus of Skyrim. All the dragon stuff in the game is indeed epic, but it's raher a background to the primary matter - the war between the men and the mer, which at that point manifests in the civil war in Skyrim. It's just that you, the player, can do nothing about the war. It's a civil war, and just as any civil war it can't be 'won'. You lose no matter which of the sides wins, because it's your people and your culture dying in any case (unless, for some odd reason you play a non-human character in the game). On the other hand, Alduin is 'pure evil', you just go and kill him in some spectacular battle, which makes everyone (save Alduin, of course) happy and you a hero. That's why the dragon questline appear much more visible than the civil war. The point though is that your dragonborn deeds provide a neat 'workaround' for the problem with the civil war, help you to stop the bloodshed and even negate the consequences of the civil war to a degree. Alduin comes (maybe summoned) right to let you kill him, he's your 'sacrificial lamb'. It's exactly same trick as in Morrowind, a show they arrange to make a hero of you. The only difference is that in this case you become a hero to humans and save them, while in Morrowind you become a hero to the Dunmer and destroy them (because in both cases your work for the Empire). So Alduin is a part of the civil war theme actually.
I agree with Yijiu. But the main problem in my opinion isn't the actual plot and focus, but that the dialogue and presentation of ALL the plot lines in the game are just incredibly juvenile and simplistic. The characters involved do not have believable personalities and their dialogue sounds like it was written by a 12 year old rather than a professional.. You could leave the plot and the focus the same, but present it in a more interesting way and it would be a much better game.
In Morrowind you had to read the sign post to get around, look at your maps, read books, read notes, pay attention to the terrain and pack for every adventure as if your life depended on it. There was no hand holding, and no one putting everything on a silver platter for you. You had to go out, explore, talk to people, and find the information, which made the world seem so much more immersive, and fleshed out.
I mean, I usually hoarded stuff but at the end I got through using half an armor set and some low-tier enchanted weapon. For the reading part I feel like the player can skip most of it as long as they know how to look for the key information - where and what to do - but I still enjoy it and the immersion it gives if I want to delve into it more Though something like Skyrim doesn’t really give that option imo, since it skips over the option of reading everything or just checking where and why by removing the other option and slapping a floating marker on your screen That’s how I feel, anyway
I can't stand how some people go back and play Morrowind, and get all impatient and hate on the game because they aren't being spoonfed quest markers and told exactly where to go. One of the game's greatest strengths was throwing you out into a world and forcing you to adapt to it.
I think we won't see a game in those places, because Bugthesda wants to revisit Hammerfell, they hint at it in Skyrim just like Oblivion hinted at Skyrim.
It doesn't feel simple it is simple. And stupid: Main quest - second mission dragon figt - Oh you are dragonborn, here is your free house and housemaid. - Seriously? Companions - after training on backyard - we have no leader, maybe you should do it. We are werewolfs btw. - Seriously? Winterhold mages - after going trough ruins - mysterious figure noone else sees - you will lead them - Seriously? Dakr Brotherhood - in third mission hide in coffin - You are Listener - Seriously? Thievs guild - OK, they had some not bad story, they are OK as all of them should be, but to unlock potencial of that faction, you have to do random boring generated content - Seriously?. Civil War - You are common soldier, nothing more or less. Ok that seems great as it should be - if start this missions before finishing everything else it will break half of the Skyrim quests. - F#@k I loved that when I was younger, but now seriously, how this is even a game? It was plain, empty and broken.
My headcanon with the Player possibly not being the Nerevarine is that Azura just forgot the prophecy. One day she woke up and said "Oh shit, right, i have to reincarnate Nerevar", so she picked a random prisoner, stuck Nerevar's soul in them, and said that is was all fate to cover the fact that she's a lazy daedra.
RyoKasai25 she isn't lazy though. She is the mother of the dunmer/chimer and is keeping with her pack to sotha sil to not manifest in mundus and intervene with mortals. Only time she does is through champions, and done so inorder to keep the dunmer alive.
I still think the thing I love the most is that the story 2 or 3 times over the course of the game says "it doesn't look like you're quite ready, maybe go out and get a bit of a reputation and experience". It encourages you to do the side quests as PART of the main story, instead of it feeling like you're ignoring the main story to do side content.
I agree tbh, Morrowind has such a detailed and well thought story, its a real shame a lot of people missed out on it or just didnt want to bother with the controls 😂
For the love of God, dragons are not evil. All races in TES want to dominate others, it's in their nature. So Skyrim is not "good vs evil", it's simply fighting a war.
I've been saying this for years. I am very fortunate to have been playing ES games since the beginning (The Arena) and what I have concluded is that they are making these games for the masses; easily digestible and doesn't take many brain cells to figure out. I personally don't give a shit about graphics, GIVE ME NUANCE, make me question my choices and my role within the game.
Morrowind is what spurred my lifelong love for Bethesda games, I played it on the original Xbox the first time, and tbh I keep a copy of it on my PC and occasionally load it up when I feel nostalgic
i miss rpgs having the complexity that morrowind had. I am not a fan of how rpgs are getting more and more linear. I grew up in the mid/late 80s through the 90s. My first video game was the legend of zelda, in 1988/1989. i was 3-4 years old. I remember sitting on the floor in front of the tv exploring the land of hyrule. in 2003 just before graduating high school a friend of my the boyfriend showed me morrowind. It was my first large 3d video game. I enjoyed the deep lore, the story lines. I enjoyed the stat and skill up system, and how you could go out and kill mobs for money, or loot dungeons for gold to train at trainers. I enjoy needing to be good at certain things inorder to progress in the guilds, great houses, and the ashlander camps. i enjoyed the hidden vampire clans, and being a vampire. I missed the customization morrowind hAd, such as the spell making, the gear, the enchantments. to me morrowind felt like a living breathing world, with, laws culture and a natural order of things. It felt more like an experience then a video game. I hope tes 6 brings back a lot of what morrowind did, bring back the rp elements and class system. bring back the stats, feel free to up the combat. remove world scaling as it stupid (i liked it at first, but after skyrim i just hate it) abd remove the forced story. I miss having to explore and level to do story.
Don’t get your hopes up based on the last few games Bethesda put out they’re heading in the opposite direction. I’m replying morrowind now and it’s still amazing.
I think one of the reasons that the lore doesn't get much deeper like in Morrowind, is that gaming is a mainstream thing now. Back then, gaming is a unique experience, much like Morrowind. It's not for everyone to try, and only few were devoted to it. The case nowadays, most game franchise and titles strive to become people's choice. Something even a first-time "gamer" can lay their hands on. And that's not the case in Morrowind. Because of the graphical limitations, certain gameplay rules and mechanics, and the lore, and what not, there are people who dislike it. Morrowind will never hold anybody's hand. It will make you feel like an outcast. The game doesn't appreciate the player, you're the one to appreciate the world that's been laid upon your eyes. I read comments like "mechanics of gameplay is broken and unbalanced", "the story is hard to follow", "the graphics is dated" I understand that. We understand that. Vodunius Nuccius probably left those testimonials before taking a boat trip to Narsis.
I FUCKING KNEW IT! I was looking for this exact comment. My brain came up with the comment too, but then censored itself saying "naah, that's too mean, this guy doesn't need to hear that all the time". Apparantly you didn't have the same empathy. Sad.
Ppl praise Skyrim for its vastness, but Morrowind had much more going for it. Every NPC you met had a name, not settler or citizen, and there were no bandits, but people who happened to be robbers, highwaymen, or just evil. So much hidden content, as well as a factions storylines to explore that take you all over the map.
You have the point (again lol) That’s a shame that TES games are getting simpler and simpler... It doesn't bother me so much in Oblivion (it still have unique and intereting quests), but Skyrim is quite „black and white” and also repetative. Hope that VI will fix that :)
I'm pretty sure you _are_ confirmed to be the Neravarine in the game. It isn't just Azura personally talking to you (which would would be weird otherwise), there's also that part where you put on Neravar's ring and don't die.
Every character's motivations in Morrowind are understandable, from their perspective. No better character emphasizes the duality inherit in every human being than Vivic. You might say he is evil, because in all likelihood he killed Nerevar. Yet, without the power of the tools, Morrowind would have been at the mercy of several invaders, as well as the gods. Even if you are indeed the Nevervarine, this still doesn't make you "good". You are still only fulfilling the prophecy of Azura, and Azura is far from innocent herself. You could just as easily interpret Vivic's "betrayal" as an existential quest for meaning, in that the Tribunal tried to create a just society for mortals, by usurping immortal power. Such a layered story, I agree with everything you say in this video.
would love to see something like morrowind today with all the game engine improvements, yet preserving all the storytelling and decision making you mention in this video. I don't know why Bethesda has accepted mediocrity in its story telling which makes them look more and more like all the other video games out there.
Agreed. I think part of this issue is the push for and obsession with voice acting and waypoint markers. Voice acting (though a nice touch) removes the possibility for variation in the story. And waypoints markers... well... they just ruin everything.
Great analyzis, pretty much what I thought. I think in Skyrim it is only Paarthunax at one point who asks why should you stop Alduin. All the philosophical pondering in that one is one asking who you are to stop the fate happening. While in Morrowind the whole storyline is about finding out if you are Nerevarine and does it even matter. Also the punishing mechanics made the player feel like becoming a good once getting good. In Skyrim everything scales and last enemies are same as the first enemies. If it wasn't for perks there would be no reason to bother with leveling in that game.
So glad you included the wizard at 8:40. I always made sure that was one of the first places I went when I made a new game. I grew up playing this game from a pretty young age and I dont think I'd be anywhere close to the person I am today without it. It inspired a lot of creativity and imagination and immersed me into the world of fantasy along with the LoZ games
the reason why the story is so good is becouse you have to read it ie. they can cram a LOT of content. Imagine listenning through a cut scene or dialogue with the wise woman, or listenning through all the info you need to read in the books to get all the info to even find out that there is any sort of ambiguity at all in the story. Reading just does that, it stops you and makes you think, lets you adjust. For people that make games ,well, in order to get that you somehow need to find the sweet spot between action, sound, vision and thought if you really want to explore imersion for the player, especially in these sort of epic games.
Isn't it the case that Morrowind can also be viewed as a simplification when compared to Daggerfall? But then again, I'd argue Morrowind hit a sweet spot.
The framework of every elder scrolls game is simple, it's your actions throughout the game along with your dialogue choices that tell the story. Morrowind's story is also simple, you wake up, discover you are the "chosen one", by birth or not, and are tasked with saving the world. In Skyrim, after killing Alduin, the Greybeards will rhetorically ask you what kind of Dragonborn you will be. There's no doubt Skyrim and Oblivion are more streamlined, but their stories have about the same amount of complexity. Morrowind is less streamlined and therefore allows for much more complex role-playing which in turn gives the impression of a better or less simple story. But, even I cannot deny that Dagoth-Ur is a good antagonist.
You're not wrong but I think the difference is more than just mechanical. The story itself is framed and executed differently. Take the way Daedra are portrayed, in TES 3 they were nuanced, In some cases frivolous but they "fit" the Prince in question, these Princes weren't only viewed differently but acted differently. They were dangerous, often selfish with a casual disregard for how their goals affected men and elves but they certainly weren't universally "the embodiment of evil". In Skyrim they're practically cartoon villains, with no nuance or much variety. Its implied that most will betray you at some point for no other reason than "because evil". All they're quests are basically go kill person x with only the absolute minimum of superficial flavour to differentiate them from one another. Lore may say Daedra are beyond conventional morality but they certainly haven't been written that way in Skyrim.
actually i want to say most RPGs cant pull this off at all. even the ones with really good writing like the witcher dont quite do it or. shows how good the writing was. even kingdom come which has really good RPG elements does not do it like morrowind. truly one of a kind game
Morrowind is also much better because main characters can die and affect the outcome of the story. I really wanted to kill Ulfric Stormcloak after defeating the imperials, but couldn't.
I find the question of whether or not you are the Nerevarine to be a bit strange. Azura clearly chose you, as is made evident by her speaking to you, you wearing moon and star without dying, and of course, ultimately fulfilling the prophecy. A more accurate question would be whether or not you are indeed lord Nerevar reborn. To be honest I never saw much reason to doubt the assumption that you are lord nerevar reborn. I mean why wouldn't you be? Is it beyond Azura's power to bring lord Nerevar back from the dead? I'm honestly asking because I don't know the limits of her power. Is reincarnation a difficult or impossible thing in the ES universe? Is it beyond a daedric prince's ability? And assuming she could bring him back. Then why would Azura settle for a stand-in Nerevar, when she could have the real thing?
I was about to comment “it’s theOCRACY not theARCHY” but then I looked it up, and it’s a much more fitting use of a fun, under-used word. So, mad English props and thanks for the new word!
Tbh I think it is a bit of a shift in social conditions rather than the games just getting simpler for no reason. Back when Morrowind got launched games were a newer thing, especially games of this type, and as a result, people were willing to spend more time and effort on them than your typical hobby. This can be compared to how books required significantly more effort to read in the past than now, as the lack of a better form of entertainment put the author in control of how he writes his book, rather than, (as any aspiring writers out there know all too well) the current setup in which breaking the"rules" of writing so often broken by writers from Dante or Murasaki Shikibu(sometimes credited as the first novelist) to more modern authors like Dickens, in reality, the rules of making a book understandable enough to your audience that it would never become a chore to read, were not as necessary before inherently more understandable and dynamic mediums existed(i.e film , internet, or, arguably video game). As games lost their novelty factor, they became a more usual pastime that you wouldn't spend more time and effort than on other activities, meaning, in the current state of the world, not much. We like to believe that people now have more free time than they used to, but unfortunately, most of the time, that just doesn't ring true. Back when books were the best new form of entertainment, the people who read them( usually the rich) had entire days, weeks, maybe even months of nothing better to do than sit around doing nothing while their peasants ensured them a steady income for which they would only need to do a minimum of administrative duties. A much smaller shift of this type occured in between the periods we are talking about: the early 2000s and now. Jobs might seem extremely similar, but in reality, there's been a continuous trend of piling on more and more responsibilities upon a stagnant or even decreasing amount of employees while also offering no better or even worse compensation. Mechanisation, outsourcing and fewer and fewer small-time companies means more people coming home tired and depressed. And you can't argue that, financial crisis or not, this has been a continuous progression until now, and that most people that used to play games back then were in high school , uni, or just getting started with work and still likely getting some support from their parents, whereas now, a great many gamers have noone to rely on but themselves in terms of income. This by no means absolves companies like Bethesda from blame regarding the story of their games, but it's a plausible explanation for why games in general have embraced more straightforward, "hand-holding" design concepts lately, because tired, depressed people(depression is at an all-time high by the way) aren't usually up to wanting to be overwhelmed by a game that wants them to figure it out while throwing challenges at them left and right as they try to explore. They'll just give up, and ask for a refund. Obviously there are still many of you out there who are up for a challenge, but that's just the situation with plenty of others, and probably the no. 1 reason people give up on Morrowind now. Even I must admit that despite being absolutely in LOVE with this game's characters and lore, and story, I just can't get into it. Simply because games have kind of become a sort of stress relief for me, and while you can play Skyrim, or Oblivion or New Vegas, or other non-Bethesda games with great stories(Mass Effect trilogy, Vampire: the Masquerade, etc), you just CAN'T play Morrowind to relax. It's like trying to solve puzzle after puzzle without getting any feeling of gratification in the time that you have, think of it as less "achievement per hour" when you have to constantly search for quest objectives, ask for directions etc. I'm not saying that's bad, it's a bit like real life, but people don't play games because they're a bit like real life sadly. Besides, depressed people don't like having the world against them too much, that's how many of them see reality already, and there's lots of them now, and dying often in a game, just gets them to quit because it further erodes their self-esteem. I hope when Skywind gets released some of those people, including me, are gonna be able to finally enjoy this game, so that a story like that doesn't get forgotten completely... Wow that was a text wall Well, C0DA makes it canon I guess??
Avarti It's me. Your biggest fan in Egypt (probably). So I actually played the elder scrolls games in an anti chronological order starting with skyrim and ending with Morrowind and while could get into Skyrim and Oblivion fairly easily Morrowind felt hard to penetrate; 1) As it doesn't familiarize the player with its mechanics so much so that I though the game bugged out because the shield blocks randomly. 2) and I STILL don't know how to use magic. I checked all in game help possible but I quit playing before I figured it out although for the short time I was playing it was oozing with charm. Any tips on how to play it or any such help that I could check out once school season is out. Thanks.
Hey, thanks for the support! :) Yeah magic took me about 4 months to figure out. Basically, you press 'R' to equp magic. When you open the inventory menu (right click on PC) there should be a separate box with magical spells in it. Select one of those, and then when you press R and then attack you should cast it. As for general tips, I'd say try using a mod like MGSO to beef up the graphics and just try and immerse yourself in the world as much as possible, ask questions etc. It will probably take 1-3 characters before you get the hang of the game.
If you're on PC, check out Zaric Zhakaron's Morrowind modding guide. It made my Morrowind experience significantly smoother & more stable. It also offers an option to alter the shield blocking option to manual instead of relying on a dice roll & your skill level.
Olga Lewalska why is everyone having a problem figuring out how to play the game/how the game works? Lol I haven’t played since I was a little kid but I had no problem figuring it out. I had the game on pc and xbox
Morrowind is my first Elder Scrolls game and I fell in love it as a kid even unto this day. I've put more hours into Morrowind than Oblivion or Skyrim (maybe not combined) when got into middle school I started to think more abstractly in general and in replays was disappointed you couldn't join Dagoth Ur but that is one of the few downsides with the others being the limited graphics viewpoint, sneaking mechanic and hit ratio, aside from that it is flawless! The story is amazing with very interesting characters great quests and factions and the world is phenomenal and so many options and role playing opportunities allowing for basically unlimited replay value making it the best Elder Scrolls out right now. How I wish there was a 20th Anniversary Edition remaster alas!
Anyone drawn in by Morrowind should check out Glorantha. Glorantha is a setting developed for the tabletop rpg Runequest (and an earlier board game) in the 70s and was a clear influence on the writers of Morrowind. Dwarves make their own mechanical god, elves are living plant people, dragons are just psychic projections of sleeping dragons, there are dinosaurs, humanoid ducks who worship the god of death and fight the undead, etc.
Honestly I think it's not really ambivalent whether you're the Nerevarine by the time you get to the Cavern of the Incarnate and get Moon and Star. Firstly, Azura clearly states that you are Nerevar reborn, and you put on the ring which kills anyone who isn't Nerevar himself and continue to live.
Often simpler stories of good vs evil are timeless and why they have appealed to broader audiences who identify with the classic struggle for centuries. Deeper nuance requires a commitment that will always be niche. World politics of the 16th and 17th century won't up end Shakespeare's plays in peoples imaginations and I think that is why Skyrim gets the attention it does in our era. Not to take away from what Morrowind has done though. I really enjoyed the work that was put into the dunmer "story", history, culture, etc. that feels fresh and imaginative.
I feel like skyrim wanted to give the idea that alduin and the dragonborn isnt just black and white/ good and evil. When you ask arngeir about learning dragonrend arngeir gets mad and asks the player if they are right, if the world was meant to be destroyed in order to be reborn. I personally used this in my playthrough as a key part. That arngeir’s words created a sense of doubt in my characters mind and caused him to be almost pacafistic (idk if thats a word) Thats what makes me love skyrim. It sticks to the main theme but leaves you wondering if you are right or wrong without actually telling you
Amanda Percival it does that in oblivion and it's even better because Mankar Cameron tells you the everything that begins must end and that Dagon is destroying the world and everything in it and then creating a paradise for those loyal to him and then the world will eventually be remade and even better without the evil of the past world it will be a world of peace and freedom and everybody is happy in the end
Alduin and Dagon aren't relatable though they kill for the sake of killing Dagoth on the other hand believed he was making the world a better place and even laments those who are dying in the conflict compared to skyrims your a bad guy for trying to save the world feel's incredibly cheap shit
There is unironically some semblance of ambiguity in the Greybeards and the Blades. The Greybeards act pacifist yet can be seen as bad for allowing the world to burn; then you have the Blades which want to save the world; yet are not concerned with conducting wanton slaughter of Dragons, showing no respect for them or their nature. Characters like Ulfric and Tullius have some depth to them. But that is as far is it gets, Skyrim otherwise is a very shallow story that just has a lot of content.
Skyrim also needed the civil war to be more of a as-you-go type of deal, rather than all-in with one faction from the start of the civil war. You can't really appreciate it or effectively choose a side in the war until after you've spoken to Toryyg's ghost in sovngard in the main quest, and from there it seems pretty clear Ulfric is the villain. They also could have added in optional bosses if the main quest wasn't completed during the civil war, like if you side with the Stormcloaks, High King Toryyg makes a deal with alduin and becomes a draugr deathlord, leaving sovngard and summoning draugr to fight alongside imperial troops, if you side with the Empire before finishing the main quest, Ulfric uses what he knows of the Way of the Voice to talk to a dragon and make an alliance with it to attack imperial camps.
Like there should have been Stormcloak and Imperial officers offering most of the quests Tulius/Galmar/Ulfric offer, and you should have been able to assist either side. Like you're a mercenary a side is recruiting for that particular fight, rather than a loyalist trying to prove their loyalty from the start.
Man recently started playing Morrowind its very cool so far but the one problem i have is in combat I miss 90% of the time and i don't know how to level up faster
As much as I like Morrowind,I didn't like how I didn't get a sense of urgency from it but I liked it's ambiguity as you can Roleplay a character who feels like He/She was born to complete The Nevarine prophecy yet you can also roleplay a character who doesn't feel like he or she was ment to complete the prophecy.
I think Skyrim definitely asks for more urgency, since you are the savior of the world and all, you got to go beat the bad guy. But this didn't actually give me a sense of urgency, it just make made my role in the game feel set in stone and that made me less interested in completing the main quest. I think the fact that great western RPGs like Morrowind or New Vegas tend to not have immediately urgent main quests is a big reason for why they are great games in the first place. It allows breathing room for you to get enveloped in the world of the game first, which in turn allows the main quest to be put into the context of that world later on, thus giving a sense of importance and scale to the quest.
@@Gabe7Gal I can understand that but I do like the sense of urgency I got in Oblivion. I felt like I had to do that quest or Nirn was doomed. I like most TES Games though
ha, different strokes I guess. Eventually I started to do the quest but I got bored of it. I think I can say that at least Skyrim does the power fantasy thing better than Oblivion, because it commits to it all the way. Right after you escape the dragon attack, you go and slay the dragon, and the story keeps rolling. In Oblivion you get hyped up as the hero from the start, but then the story pulls back and tries to build. If I'm going to play a power fantasy, then skyrim's got it down
I thought the pacing worked better as a slow pace, actually. To me, it felt like the first 75% of Morrowind's main plot was slow placed, and then it ramps up in the last 25% after you meet with Vivec. To me, this works well because I feel like the main quest isn't so much beating Dagoth Ur as it is cracking the Nerevarine prophecy, uncovering its meaning, and testing yourself against it. It's about answering the question: am I *really* the Nerevarine? Can I *really* do what I need to do? This lends to the slow pace. It's slow because you're investigating. Information gathering. Engaging in Imperial espionage under the Temple's nose. Speaking with a local to figure out what he knows about local culture, meeting with a dissident priest to see what beef they have with Temple doctrine, trekking into the wilderness to talk with the nomads about their customs. Then stringing it all together to see what you can make of it. Then, once you actually put it all together, things ramp up. You need to become Hortator and Ashlander endorsed Nerevarine. This puts you into the limelight. You've enjoyed privacy so far, but now pressure is put on you and the Temple denounces you. People know who you are now, you are notice wherever you go. Ordinators and Temple faithful attack you. Sleeper and Dreamer attacks begin rising too. This is where the plot urgency starts to pick up. Eventually, it becomes clear to the Temple that Dagoth Ur is a threat that can no longer be resisted. Vivec himself seeks your help and ends your persecution. You are called to fight the Ash Vampires and retrieve Sunder and Keening. Now, the urgency is at full blast. You enter the Ghostgate and it's go, go, go. It makes for a nice progression from information gathering to fighting the villain. From slow and intriguing to urgent and exciting. Rather than Skyrim, which is yelling "AHHHHHH" in your ear the *whole entire time* and comes off as a hollow and contrived urgency.
I don't even think the pacing is slow before the vivec meeting. When you meet that wizard in Tel Whatever and you find the last Dwarf in there that shit was cool. Plus that wizard has the path to the Crescent Blade unique sword in his room
With Oblivion and Skyrim i never really could fullfill my Hoarder obsessions with Ores,Gems,Silverware,Dwemerartefacts and Named Soulstones(means Souls from namem Enemies trapped in there)...atleast without the help of Mods.
You are the destined/chosen one in both Morrowind and Skyrim regardless if you say you are/aren't. Oblivions hero was the one who wasn't destined which made for a much better story.
If you recall that in Oblivion, Uriel Septum VII proclaimed you were the one from his dream, thereby entrusting you to deliver the Amulet of Kings to Jaufre(?). In a sense, this ordains you as the hero as well, as without you, Martin and the blades could not have fulfilled their mission.
@@SnivillusLupin People keep forgetting this point about Oblivion. You're placed in the prison cell for a reason and the emperor saw you in his dream. Daggerfall is better in that you're not a prisoner and sent there on a mission by the emperor.
My favorite part is that when you are declared hortator and neravarine by the houses and tribes, it’s not because you are some mythic hero. It because you do favors for the leaders or eliminate their competitors. their declaring you the legendary hero of old is purely self serving.
I understand as well because morrowind was my first elder scrolls game from when I was a kid.. But it was too complicated for me as a 13 year old at the time I would rather play grand theft auto 3. So the newer games in the series appeal to younger generations as well and they added the modding factor to make everyone happy so I'm ok with the games. But I would like my first playthough with the new games to have a more challenging option like take away map markers if we want
Well said. Morrowind had brilliant writers like Ken Rolston and gary kirkbride. While Skyrim had Fallout 4 writers enough said. You can see the differing levels of craftsmanship between the two And then the dip in quality as ken rolston left after oblivion
@@rixille Agreed. When i tried Spears in Morrowind i thought to myself "This things range is Insane. Why the hell is it not in Skyrim." Spears are my favourite melee weapon. Wish it returns in ES6.
Morrowind is a ROLE-PLAYING game. Skyrim is a role-playing GAME . The lack of the Silver Hand as a playable faction , and (as someone else mentioned) the idea that both objective quests are clear from the beginning points to that .
I have completed morrowind 3 times 2. and 3. is just for be able to say that my character really is nerevarrine 2. is a dark elf 3. is high elf after I learned that dark elfs at the time actually identical in appearance of high elfs... So yeah I agree that morrowind has the best story.
I get it. I just see a lot of videos on TH-cam, and very few even acknowledge Daggerfall existing much less being an awesome game. I think it is merely because it is 2d and DOS based game. Everything people pride Morrowind for having, the complex story, the multiple ways of playing it, the puzzles, and etc. Daggerfall had that in spades and then some. Like this video is talking about how Morrowind's story wasn't cut and dry and there is ambiguity about the "villain". In Daggerfall, you aren't chosen, you were just a friend of the Emperor. There is no singular villain. Dagger is in many ways The Elder Scrolls version of Game of Thrones.
I played Daggerfall as a kid and again as an adult. People complain about the fighting mechanic in Morrowind should really play that game without the mod. Outputs make you appreciate Morrowind better. I do like Daggerfall, but I think Morrowind hit the sweet spot of the series.
Well, at least they took a couple steps back into this direction in the main story of Fallout 4, where basically none of the people you can ally with are the "good guys" or the quintessential bad guys. Rather, every faction has their good things and bad things and when you choose one you make enemies of the others. I hope they will continue more strongly with this direction in TES:VI
Very interesting. I've never played Morrowind. Only Oblivion and Skyrim. Manly because I'm not a PC gamer. Now that I know more about ?Morrowind, I hope Elder Scrolls 6 plays in a similar way.
I like Dagoth Ur but my favourite TES antagonist is Mherunes Dagon. I guess I have always liked the idea of fighting the Daedric Prince of Destruction and his armies of Daedra.
Hey man I love morrowind to death and I'm thinking about replaying it again but I was wondering, what(if any) mods do you run and what settings do you have on in this video?
this only works as the best if you compare it to what came after. Skyrim is to morrowind what morrowind is to dagerfall. Morrowind is the first mainline game where they started taking huge steps back in the world and the character.
My favorite (and somehow most annoying) feature in Morrowind was that map was completely hidden except the parts you actually discovered. That and believeable fast-travel really made the game for me.
Dagoth Ur is just an amazing antagonist.
he is my sun dial head bae
You mean Dagoth URRRRRRRRRRR
What's up Irish
What grand and intoxicating innocence
Better luck on your next incarnation
Even the Blades in Morrowind basically thought they were grooming the Nerevarine to be a convincing decoy to be used for their own manipulative purposes. I love that.
Also, the Dunmer in Morrowind didn't feel like a 'made up' alien race like we see all the time in franchises like Star Wars or Star Trek. Instead the Dunmer felt like a real alien race that you were interacting with and struggling to understand (what the hell is an n'wah and why do they keep calling me that?). Their society, their history, their language, religion, traditions, architecture, all of it was satisfyingly well developed. Morrowind hands down had the best story line and it left you appreciating all the tiny details.
Alien culture is always appreciated
While I agree with almost everything you said in your comment I don´t think you must be very familiar with Star Trek alien races (well at least the "main" ones), they are incredibly fleshed out and have very in-depth cultures and rituals. Yes, I´m a nerd.
N'wah is akin to being called bastard or summit of the like
Mxl Lv same with Star Wars. Each alien race in Star Wars have in depth backstories, unique anatomies, and varying social structures.
Fetcher!
"I want linear, predictable, and shallow stories in my video games. Depth and nuance is unnecessary"
Said no one ever
Except Emil Pagliarulo
Yes and no. Yes, no one has ever said that. No, many many lazy gamers fiending for a power trip would have said that if they had the self awareness to do so. Game sales do not lie :(
You would be surprised. Look at the new assassins creed. Basically all the story, all the depth got thrown out the window. And still people want to play odyssey. And you know why? What they tell me is that they want cool fights and a challenge in fighting. That's it.
They don't really care about story. About stealth or assassins. Or about the plot surrounding it. They just want to smash people's heads in in the game. That's what people care about. People sadly don't really care as much about the story, as you would think.
Fact
Most of today's gamers voting for exactly such games with their purchases prove otherwise.
Skyrim could've been 10 times better if the focus was the civil war, and the dragonborn story would've been something to figure out yourself.
At one point you are going to walk up to high hrothgar, because the people you meet keep telling you about the pelgrimage. And then you discover why you absorb dragon souls and can shout.
Imagine how cool the main quest would've been if it was hidden at first, and you're free to discover the frozen lands of Skyrim, and put an end to the civil war.
I agree. Like you were just a normal guy, a citizen of Skyrim and shit it's the fan. Honestly they could've scrapped the Dragonborn and shouts completely and focus on the very nuanced civil war, and that would be just fine with me. In fact, thinking of the missed opportunity to play out a truly engrossing story it's infuriating.
I would be happy if they make being the dragonborn more dificult, in morrowind you are called the nerevarine after defeating dagoth ur but Skyrim takes all the magic when everybody starts naming you the dragonborn after you kill the first dragón
From the scraps of unused code and resources it seems like the original intent was a more in depth civil war but it was scrapped. (time? Money?)
The civil war IS the focus of Skyrim. All the dragon stuff in the game is indeed epic, but it's raher a background to the primary matter - the war between the men and the mer, which at that point manifests in the civil war in Skyrim. It's just that you, the player, can do nothing about the war. It's a civil war, and just as any civil war it can't be 'won'. You lose no matter which of the sides wins, because it's your people and your culture dying in any case (unless, for some odd reason you play a non-human character in the game). On the other hand, Alduin is 'pure evil', you just go and kill him in some spectacular battle, which makes everyone (save Alduin, of course) happy and you a hero. That's why the dragon questline appear much more visible than the civil war.
The point though is that your dragonborn deeds provide a neat 'workaround' for the problem with the civil war, help you to stop the bloodshed and even negate the consequences of the civil war to a degree. Alduin comes (maybe summoned) right to let you kill him, he's your 'sacrificial lamb'. It's exactly same trick as in Morrowind, a show they arrange to make a hero of you. The only difference is that in this case you become a hero to humans and save them, while in Morrowind you become a hero to the Dunmer and destroy them (because in both cases your work for the Empire). So Alduin is a part of the civil war theme actually.
I agree with Yijiu. But the main problem in my opinion isn't the actual plot and focus, but that the dialogue and presentation of ALL the plot lines in the game are just incredibly juvenile and simplistic. The characters involved do not have believable personalities and their dialogue sounds like it was written by a 12 year old rather than a professional.. You could leave the plot and the focus the same, but present it in a more interesting way and it would be a much better game.
In Morrowind you had to read the sign post to get around, look at your maps, read books, read notes, pay attention to the terrain and pack for every adventure as if your life depended on it. There was no hand holding, and no one putting everything on a silver platter for you. You had to go out, explore, talk to people, and find the information, which made the world seem so much more immersive, and fleshed out.
Which sounds awesome and fun, but at the same time. That was fucking annoying at times lol
Yes
I mean, I usually hoarded stuff but at the end I got through using half an armor set and some low-tier enchanted weapon. For the reading part I feel like the player can skip most of it as long as they know how to look for the key information - where and what to do - but I still enjoy it and the immersion it gives if I want to delve into it more
Though something like Skyrim doesn’t really give that option imo, since it skips over the option of reading everything or just checking where and why by removing the other option and slapping a floating marker on your screen
That’s how I feel, anyway
I can do away with the compass but I want a magic GPS. No, not the one that gets you inside dungeons, that's the daedric GPS knockoff.
I can't stand how some people go back and play Morrowind, and get all impatient and hate on the game because they aren't being spoonfed quest markers and told exactly where to go. One of the game's greatest strengths was throwing you out into a world and forcing you to adapt to it.
I feel black marsh and valenwood are the only provinces that come close to the alien feel of morrowind
Clavicus Vile agreed, I’d love a Black Marsh setting so I’d have a reason to play an agornian
What about Elsweyr? It's half hammerfell and half valenwood (desert/ jungle)
Peryite I REALLY WANT A GAME IN VALENWOOD
CANNIBALISTIC ELVES?!HELL YEAH
I think we won't see a game in those places, because Bugthesda wants to revisit Hammerfell, they hint at it in Skyrim just like Oblivion hinted at Skyrim.
Skyrim and Cyrodiil too... in the lore that came out before their respective games. And in those games themselves, in a few places.
"Dagoth Ur welcomes you, Nerevar, my old friend. But to this place where destiny is made. Why have you come unprepared?"
I love Skyrim but I hate the fact that it feels too simple
It doesn't feel simple it is simple. And stupid:
Main quest - second mission dragon figt - Oh you are dragonborn, here is your free house and housemaid. - Seriously?
Companions - after training on backyard - we have no leader, maybe you should do it. We are werewolfs btw. - Seriously?
Winterhold mages - after going trough ruins - mysterious figure noone else sees - you will lead them - Seriously?
Dakr Brotherhood - in third mission hide in coffin - You are Listener - Seriously?
Thievs guild - OK, they had some not bad story, they are OK as all of them should be, but to unlock potencial of that faction, you have to do random boring generated content - Seriously?.
Civil War - You are common soldier, nothing more or less. Ok that seems great as it should be - if start this missions before finishing everything else it will break half of the Skyrim quests. - F#@k
I loved that when I was younger, but now seriously, how this is even a game? It was plain, empty and broken.
@@zdenekdolezal9646 Agreed. Same vibe as getting power armor within 20 mins of starting the game in Fallout 4.
My first Elder Scrolls game!!! Still to this day I get chills going through the first cinematic and hearing Jiub's gravelly voice ❤❤
Morrowind was the story that really got to me the most. The way the tribunal betrayed nerevar really pissed me off. I really felt for nerevar.
Morrowind's story and writing is very captivating.
My headcanon with the Player possibly not being the Nerevarine is that Azura just forgot the prophecy. One day she woke up and said "Oh shit, right, i have to reincarnate Nerevar", so she picked a random prisoner, stuck Nerevar's soul in them, and said that is was all fate to cover the fact that she's a lazy daedra.
That still makes him the Nerevarine though.
RyoKasai25
she isn't lazy though. She is the mother of the dunmer/chimer and is keeping with her pack to sotha sil to not manifest in mundus and intervene with mortals. Only time she does is through champions, and done so inorder to keep the dunmer alive.
We all know wich Elder scrolls game has the best story....
Elder scrolls adventures: redguard.
No Travels Dawnstar is the best strory
I know redguard gets meme'd but it actually quite a good game
What's up lord cat
@@dr.elijah7742 wassup
Hi
I still think the thing I love the most is that the story 2 or 3 times over the course of the game says "it doesn't look like you're quite ready, maybe go out and get a bit of a reputation and experience". It encourages you to do the side quests as PART of the main story, instead of it feeling like you're ignoring the main story to do side content.
I agree tbh, Morrowind has such a detailed and well thought story, its a real shame a lot of people missed out on it or just didnt want to bother with the controls 😂
thanks for watching :) HD should process soon! Leave suggestions for future videos below.
For the love of God, dragons are not evil. All races in TES want to dominate others, it's in their nature. So Skyrim is not "good vs evil", it's simply fighting a war.
Of course its the best. Its because of Dagoth URRRRRRRRRRR.
Dagoth Ur is probably my favorite TES character. He's very complex and I even feel bad for the guy at times.
I've been saying this for years. I am very fortunate to have been playing ES games since the beginning (The Arena) and what I have concluded is that they are making these games for the masses; easily digestible and doesn't take many brain cells to figure out. I personally don't give a shit about graphics, GIVE ME NUANCE, make me question my choices and my role within the game.
Morrowind is what spurred my lifelong love for Bethesda games, I played it on the original Xbox the first time, and tbh I keep a copy of it on my PC and occasionally load it up when I feel nostalgic
i miss rpgs having the complexity that morrowind had. I am not a fan of how rpgs are getting more and more linear.
I grew up in the mid/late 80s through the 90s. My first video game was the legend of zelda, in 1988/1989. i was 3-4 years old.
I remember sitting on the floor in front of the tv exploring the land of hyrule.
in 2003 just before graduating high school a friend of my the boyfriend showed me morrowind. It was my first large 3d video game. I enjoyed the deep lore, the story lines. I enjoyed the stat and skill up system, and how you could go out and kill mobs for money, or loot dungeons for gold to train at trainers.
I enjoy needing to be good at certain things inorder to progress in the guilds, great houses, and the ashlander camps.
i enjoyed the hidden vampire clans, and being a vampire.
I missed the customization morrowind hAd, such as the spell making, the gear, the enchantments.
to me morrowind felt like a living breathing world, with, laws culture and a natural order of things. It felt more like an experience then a video game.
I hope tes 6 brings back a lot of what morrowind did, bring back the rp elements and class system. bring back the stats, feel free to up the combat. remove world scaling as it stupid (i liked it at first, but after skyrim i just hate it)
abd remove the forced story. I miss having to explore and level to do story.
Don’t get your hopes up based on the last few games Bethesda put out they’re heading in the opposite direction. I’m replying morrowind now and it’s still amazing.
The fact that you can wear the ring and Azura says you're the Nerevarine proves that you are the Nerevarine.
I think one of the reasons that the lore doesn't get much deeper like in Morrowind, is that gaming is a mainstream thing now. Back then, gaming is a unique experience, much like Morrowind. It's not for everyone to try, and only few were devoted to it. The case nowadays, most game franchise and titles strive to become people's choice. Something even a first-time "gamer" can lay their hands on.
And that's not the case in Morrowind.
Because of the graphical limitations, certain gameplay rules and mechanics, and the lore, and what not, there are people who dislike it. Morrowind will never hold anybody's hand. It will make you feel like an outcast. The game doesn't appreciate the player, you're the one to appreciate the world that's been laid upon your eyes.
I read comments like "mechanics of gameplay is broken and unbalanced", "the story is hard to follow", "the graphics is dated"
I understand that. We understand that.
Vodunius Nuccius probably left those testimonials before taking a boat trip to Narsis.
The Nuwwevuween.
Mowwowind *:3*
Lmao
Making fun of the way someone speaks... very high class of you
Anthony Fergerson ahh.. a sensitive nugget. Get you’re head out your ass were just joking 😂
I FUCKING KNEW IT! I was looking for this exact comment. My brain came up with the comment too, but then censored itself saying "naah, that's too mean, this guy doesn't need to hear that all the time". Apparantly you didn't have the same empathy. Sad.
Part of me wants a remake with the entirety of morrowind instead of just vvardenfell.
There is a mod about that
We don’t need a remake, Bethesda will just screw it up by adding too many simple dumbed down mechanics.
Just play Tamriel Rebuilt. It's a huge mod that constructs the land.
Ppl praise Skyrim for its vastness, but Morrowind had much more going for it. Every NPC you met had a name, not settler or citizen, and there were no bandits, but people who happened to be robbers, highwaymen, or just evil.
So much hidden content, as well as a factions storylines to explore that take you all over the map.
like how they said the lear amour system in fallout 4 is a new thing but they had it in Morrowind and i think Morrowind way is still beater over all
You have the point (again lol)
That’s a shame that TES games are getting simpler and simpler... It doesn't bother me so much in Oblivion (it still have unique and intereting quests), but Skyrim is quite „black and white” and also repetative. Hope that VI will fix that :)
Olga Lewalska couldnt put it any better myself i still love skyrim but i hope VI is more like morrowind
I really love to play each of these games, but c’mon Bethesda, you can do better
They are trying to appeal to a younger audience.
And thats what annoys me and ye come bethesda focus on elder scrolls make the stories deep and dark. A good channel that talks about VI is fudgemuppet
@@mr.lordcat9387 lol if you're being serious about it your wrong because a 82 year old lady plays skyrim
I'm pretty sure you _are_ confirmed to be the Neravarine in the game. It isn't just Azura personally talking to you (which would would be weird otherwise), there's also that part where you put on Neravar's ring and don't die.
I didn’t know this. Nice input.
Every character's motivations in Morrowind are understandable, from their perspective. No better character emphasizes the duality inherit in every human being than Vivic. You might say he is evil, because in all likelihood he killed Nerevar. Yet, without the power of the tools, Morrowind would have been at the mercy of several invaders, as well as the gods. Even if you are indeed the Nevervarine, this still doesn't make you "good". You are still only fulfilling the prophecy of Azura, and Azura is far from innocent herself. You could just as easily interpret Vivic's "betrayal" as an existential quest for meaning, in that the Tribunal tried to create a just society for mortals, by usurping immortal power. Such a layered story, I agree with everything you say in this video.
would love to see something like morrowind today with all the game engine improvements, yet preserving all the storytelling and decision making you mention in this video. I don't know why Bethesda has accepted mediocrity in its story telling which makes them look more and more like all the other video games out there.
Agreed. I think part of this issue is the push for and obsession with voice acting and waypoint markers. Voice acting (though a nice touch) removes the possibility for variation in the story. And waypoints markers... well... they just ruin everything.
Great analyzis, pretty much what I thought. I think in Skyrim it is only Paarthunax at one point who asks why should you stop Alduin. All the philosophical pondering in that one is one asking who you are to stop the fate happening. While in Morrowind the whole storyline is about finding out if you are Nerevarine and does it even matter.
Also the punishing mechanics made the player feel like becoming a good once getting good. In Skyrim everything scales and last enemies are same as the first enemies. If it wasn't for perks there would be no reason to bother with leveling in that game.
So glad you included the wizard at 8:40. I always made sure that was one of the first places I went when I made a new game. I grew up playing this game from a pretty young age and I dont think I'd be anywhere close to the person I am today without it. It inspired a lot of creativity and imagination and immersed me into the world of fantasy along with the LoZ games
Morrowind was amazing. It made up for it's smaller scale compared to Daggerfall with a level of worldbuilding that rivals the scope of Tolkien.
*its
@@duhmzdaih I see you woke up and chose violence today.
the reason why the story is so good is becouse you have to read it ie. they can cram a LOT of content. Imagine listenning through a cut scene or dialogue with the wise woman, or listenning through all the info you need to read in the books to get all the info to even find out that there is any sort of ambiguity at all in the story. Reading just does that, it stops you and makes you think, lets you adjust. For people that make games ,well, in order to get that you somehow need to find the sweet spot between action, sound, vision and thought if you really want to explore imersion for the player, especially in these sort of epic games.
In morrowind you had to read everything. I don't know how many hours i was reading the books in that game.
There is no discussion, the player in morrowind IS nerevar reborn, forgotten the ring of Moon-And-Star?
Eso has a good deal of moral ambiguity in its quest. The best example of this being the quest "The Better of Two Evils".
Isn't it the case that Morrowind can also be viewed as a simplification when compared to Daggerfall? But then again, I'd argue Morrowind hit a sweet spot.
The framework of every elder scrolls game is simple, it's your actions throughout the game along with your dialogue choices that tell the story. Morrowind's story is also simple, you wake up, discover you are the "chosen one", by birth or not, and are tasked with saving the world. In Skyrim, after killing Alduin, the Greybeards will rhetorically ask you what kind of Dragonborn you will be. There's no doubt Skyrim and Oblivion are more streamlined, but their stories have about the same amount of complexity. Morrowind is less streamlined and therefore allows for much more complex role-playing which in turn gives the impression of a better or less simple story. But, even I cannot deny that Dagoth-Ur is a good antagonist.
You're not wrong but I think the difference is more than just mechanical. The story itself is framed and executed differently. Take the way Daedra are portrayed, in TES 3 they were nuanced, In some cases frivolous but they "fit" the Prince in question, these Princes weren't only viewed differently but acted differently. They were dangerous, often selfish with a casual disregard for how their goals affected men and elves but they certainly weren't universally "the embodiment of evil". In Skyrim they're practically cartoon villains, with no nuance or much variety. Its implied that most will betray you at some point for no other reason than "because evil". All they're quests are basically go kill person x with only the absolute minimum of superficial flavour to differentiate them from one another. Lore may say Daedra are beyond conventional morality but they certainly haven't been written that way in Skyrim.
I just beat this game's MQ for the first time tonight and boy what a ride! I wish Skyrim was as deep and as nuanced as Morrowind :^(
actually i want to say most RPGs cant pull this off at all. even the ones with really good writing like the witcher dont quite do it or. shows how good the writing was. even kingdom come which has really good RPG elements does not do it like morrowind. truly one of a kind game
Morrowind is also much better because main characters can die and affect the outcome of the story. I really wanted to kill Ulfric Stormcloak after defeating the imperials, but couldn't.
Poor Ulfric gets a lot of hate
I find the question of whether or not you are the Nerevarine to be a bit strange. Azura clearly chose you, as is made evident by her speaking to you, you wearing moon and star without dying, and of course, ultimately fulfilling the prophecy.
A more accurate question would be whether or not you are indeed lord Nerevar reborn.
To be honest I never saw much reason to doubt the assumption that you are lord nerevar reborn. I mean why wouldn't you be?
Is it beyond Azura's power to bring lord Nerevar back from the dead? I'm honestly asking because I don't know the limits of her power.
Is reincarnation a difficult or impossible thing in the ES universe? Is it beyond a daedric prince's ability?
And assuming she could bring him back. Then why would Azura settle for a stand-in Nerevar, when she could have the real thing?
I am a simple argonian. I see Morrowind, I press like.
I was about to comment “it’s theOCRACY not theARCHY” but then I looked it up, and it’s a much more fitting use of a fun, under-used word. So, mad English props and thanks for the new word!
Tbh I think it is a bit of a shift in social conditions rather than the games just getting simpler for no reason. Back when Morrowind got launched games were a newer thing, especially games of this type, and as a result, people were willing to spend more time and effort on them than your typical hobby. This can be compared to how books required significantly more effort to read in the past than now, as the lack of a better form of entertainment put the author in control of how he writes his book, rather than, (as any aspiring writers out there know all too well) the current setup in which breaking the"rules" of writing so often broken by writers from Dante or Murasaki Shikibu(sometimes credited as the first novelist) to more modern authors like Dickens, in reality, the rules of making a book understandable enough to your audience that it would never become a chore to read, were not as necessary before inherently more understandable and dynamic mediums existed(i.e film , internet, or, arguably video game). As games lost their novelty factor, they became a more usual pastime that you wouldn't spend more time and effort than on other activities, meaning, in the current state of the world, not much. We like to believe that people now have more free time than they used to, but unfortunately, most of the time, that just doesn't ring true. Back when books were the best new form of entertainment, the people who read them( usually the rich) had entire days, weeks, maybe even months of nothing better to do than sit around doing nothing while their peasants ensured them a steady income for which they would only need to do a minimum of administrative duties. A much smaller shift of this type occured in between the periods we are talking about: the early 2000s and now. Jobs might seem extremely similar, but in reality, there's been a continuous trend of piling on more and more responsibilities upon a stagnant or even decreasing amount of employees while also offering no better or even worse compensation. Mechanisation, outsourcing and fewer and fewer small-time companies means more people coming home tired and depressed. And you can't argue that, financial crisis or not, this has been a continuous progression until now, and that most people that used to play games back then were in high school , uni, or just getting started with work and still likely getting some support from their parents, whereas now, a great many gamers have noone to rely on but themselves in terms of income. This by no means absolves companies like Bethesda from blame regarding the story of their games, but it's a plausible explanation for why games in general have embraced more straightforward, "hand-holding" design concepts lately, because tired, depressed people(depression is at an all-time high by the way) aren't usually up to wanting to be overwhelmed by a game that wants them to figure it out while throwing challenges at them left and right as they try to explore. They'll just give up, and ask for a refund. Obviously there are still many of you out there who are up for a challenge, but that's just the situation with plenty of others, and probably the no. 1 reason people give up on Morrowind now. Even I must admit that despite being absolutely in LOVE with this game's characters and lore, and story, I just can't get into it. Simply because games have kind of become a sort of stress relief for me, and while you can play Skyrim, or Oblivion or New Vegas, or other non-Bethesda games with great stories(Mass Effect trilogy, Vampire: the Masquerade, etc), you just CAN'T play Morrowind to relax. It's like trying to solve puzzle after puzzle without getting any feeling of gratification in the time that you have, think of it as less "achievement per hour" when you have to constantly search for quest objectives, ask for directions etc. I'm not saying that's bad, it's a bit like real life, but people don't play games because they're a bit like real life sadly. Besides, depressed people don't like having the world against them too much, that's how many of them see reality already, and there's lots of them now, and dying often in a game, just gets them to quit because it further erodes their self-esteem. I hope when Skywind gets released some of those people, including me, are gonna be able to finally enjoy this game, so that a story like that doesn't get forgotten completely...
Wow that was a text wall
Well, C0DA makes it canon I guess??
Damn man. I get chocked when I hear the Oblivion soundtrack in the background.
Same. It was very touching. Brought back memories..
It's the Morrowind soundtrack
Avarti It's me. Your biggest fan in Egypt (probably).
So I actually played the elder scrolls games in an anti chronological order starting with skyrim and ending with Morrowind and while could get into Skyrim and Oblivion fairly easily Morrowind felt hard to penetrate;
1) As it doesn't familiarize the player with its mechanics so much so that I though the game bugged out because the shield blocks randomly.
2) and I STILL don't know how to use magic.
I checked all in game help possible but I quit playing before I figured it out although for the short time I was playing it was oozing with charm.
Any tips on how to play it or any such help that I could check out once school season is out.
Thanks.
Hey, thanks for the support! :) Yeah magic took me about 4 months to figure out. Basically, you press 'R' to equp magic. When you open the inventory menu (right click on PC) there should be a separate box with magical spells in it. Select one of those, and then when you press R and then attack you should cast it. As for general tips, I'd say try using a mod like MGSO to beef up the graphics and just try and immerse yourself in the world as much as possible, ask questions etc. It will probably take 1-3 characters before you get the hang of the game.
@@AvartiPlaysGames Thanks.
After all these years I finally know how to use magic hah, thanks
If you're on PC, check out Zaric Zhakaron's Morrowind modding guide. It made my Morrowind experience significantly smoother & more stable. It also offers an option to alter the shield blocking option to manual instead of relying on a dice roll & your skill level.
Olga Lewalska why is everyone having a problem figuring out how to play the game/how the game works? Lol I haven’t played since I was a little kid but I had no problem figuring it out. I had the game on pc and xbox
Morrowind is my first Elder Scrolls game and I fell in love it as a kid even unto this day. I've put more hours into Morrowind than Oblivion or Skyrim (maybe not combined) when got into middle school I started to think more abstractly in general and in replays was disappointed you couldn't join Dagoth Ur but that is one of the few downsides with the others being the limited graphics viewpoint, sneaking mechanic and hit ratio, aside from that it is flawless! The story is amazing with very interesting characters great quests and factions and the world is phenomenal and so many options and role playing opportunities allowing for basically unlimited replay value making it the best Elder Scrolls out right now. How I wish there was a 20th Anniversary Edition remaster alas!
Title is wrong but hey that happens sometimes
I love Skyrim more than the rest because Skyrim is the game that got me into the elder scrolls series in the first place
Isn't it clear when you put on the gauntlet that you are the Nerevar? Otherwise you would have died
Don't you mean the moon and star ring?
I first played Skyrim in 2013 with my cousin and it’s become a goat game to me but morrowind is such a cooler game to me story and world wise.
Best music too. Made you feel like you were in a medieval noir film.
I liked the video but holy crap who gave you a thesaurus?
Jennifer Winn 😂😂 underrated comment
Skyrim is a good game but not a good role-playing game.
Anyone drawn in by Morrowind should check out Glorantha. Glorantha is a setting developed for the tabletop rpg Runequest (and an earlier board game) in the 70s and was a clear influence on the writers of Morrowind. Dwarves make their own mechanical god, elves are living plant people, dragons are just psychic projections of sleeping dragons, there are dinosaurs, humanoid ducks who worship the god of death and fight the undead, etc.
Honestly I think it's not really ambivalent whether you're the Nerevarine by the time you get to the Cavern of the Incarnate and get Moon and Star. Firstly, Azura clearly states that you are Nerevar reborn, and you put on the ring which kills anyone who isn't Nerevar himself and continue to live.
Often simpler stories of good vs evil are timeless and why they have appealed to broader audiences who identify with the classic struggle for centuries. Deeper nuance requires a commitment that will always be niche. World politics of the 16th and 17th century won't up end Shakespeare's plays in peoples imaginations and I think that is why Skyrim gets the attention it does in our era. Not to take away from what Morrowind has done though. I really enjoyed the work that was put into the dunmer "story", history, culture, etc. that feels fresh and imaginative.
I feel like skyrim wanted to give the idea that alduin and the dragonborn isnt just black and white/ good and evil. When you ask arngeir about learning dragonrend arngeir gets mad and asks the player if they are right, if the world was meant to be destroyed in order to be reborn. I personally used this in my playthrough as a key part. That arngeir’s words created a sense of doubt in my characters mind and caused him to be almost pacafistic (idk if thats a word)
Thats what makes me love skyrim. It sticks to the main theme but leaves you wondering if you are right or wrong without actually telling you
Amanda Percival it does that in oblivion and it's even better because Mankar Cameron tells you the everything that begins must end and that Dagon is destroying the world and everything in it and then creating a paradise for those loyal to him and then the world will eventually be remade and even better without the evil of the past world it will be a world of peace and freedom and everybody is happy in the end
Alduin and Dagon aren't relatable though they kill for the sake of killing Dagoth on the other hand believed he was making the world a better place and even laments those who are dying in the conflict compared to skyrims your a bad guy for trying to save the world feel's incredibly cheap shit
There is unironically some semblance of ambiguity in the Greybeards and the Blades. The Greybeards act pacifist yet can be seen as bad for allowing the world to burn; then you have the Blades which want to save the world; yet are not concerned with conducting wanton slaughter of Dragons, showing no respect for them or their nature. Characters like Ulfric and Tullius have some depth to them. But that is as far is it gets, Skyrim otherwise is a very shallow story that just has a lot of content.
Storytelling being ambiguous isn't by it's nature better as you are suggesting. The traditional good Vs evil can be just as good.
Skyrim also needed the civil war to be more of a as-you-go type of deal, rather than all-in with one faction from the start of the civil war. You can't really appreciate it or effectively choose a side in the war until after you've spoken to Toryyg's ghost in sovngard in the main quest, and from there it seems pretty clear Ulfric is the villain.
They also could have added in optional bosses if the main quest wasn't completed during the civil war, like if you side with the Stormcloaks, High King Toryyg makes a deal with alduin and becomes a draugr deathlord, leaving sovngard and summoning draugr to fight alongside imperial troops, if you side with the Empire before finishing the main quest, Ulfric uses what he knows of the Way of the Voice to talk to a dragon and make an alliance with it to attack imperial camps.
Like there should have been Stormcloak and Imperial officers offering most of the quests Tulius/Galmar/Ulfric offer, and you should have been able to assist either side. Like you're a mercenary a side is recruiting for that particular fight, rather than a loyalist trying to prove their loyalty from the start.
Man recently started playing Morrowind its very cool so far but the one problem i have is in combat I miss 90% of the time and i don't know how to level up faster
"I know no more than you do"
Even the _I don't know_ sounds fancy!
As much as I like Morrowind,I didn't like how I didn't get a sense of urgency from it but I liked it's ambiguity as you can Roleplay a character who feels like He/She was born to complete The Nevarine prophecy yet you can also roleplay a character who doesn't feel like he or she was ment to complete the prophecy.
I think Skyrim definitely asks for more urgency, since you are the savior of the world and all, you got to go beat the bad guy. But this didn't actually give me a sense of urgency, it just make made my role in the game feel set in stone and that made me less interested in completing the main quest. I think the fact that great western RPGs like Morrowind or New Vegas tend to not have immediately urgent main quests is a big reason for why they are great games in the first place. It allows breathing room for you to get enveloped in the world of the game first, which in turn allows the main quest to be put into the context of that world later on, thus giving a sense of importance and scale to the quest.
@@Gabe7Gal I can understand that but I do like the sense of urgency I got in Oblivion. I felt like I had to do that quest or Nirn was doomed. I like most TES Games though
ha, different strokes I guess. Eventually I started to do the quest but I got bored of it. I think I can say that at least Skyrim does the power fantasy thing better than Oblivion, because it commits to it all the way. Right after you escape the dragon attack, you go and slay the dragon, and the story keeps rolling. In Oblivion you get hyped up as the hero from the start, but then the story pulls back and tries to build. If I'm going to play a power fantasy, then skyrim's got it down
I thought the pacing worked better as a slow pace, actually. To me, it felt like the first 75% of Morrowind's main plot was slow placed, and then it ramps up in the last 25% after you meet with Vivec. To me, this works well because I feel like the main quest isn't so much beating Dagoth Ur as it is cracking the Nerevarine prophecy, uncovering its meaning, and testing yourself against it. It's about answering the question: am I *really* the Nerevarine? Can I *really* do what I need to do? This lends to the slow pace. It's slow because you're investigating. Information gathering. Engaging in Imperial espionage under the Temple's nose. Speaking with a local to figure out what he knows about local culture, meeting with a dissident priest to see what beef they have with Temple doctrine, trekking into the wilderness to talk with the nomads about their customs. Then stringing it all together to see what you can make of it.
Then, once you actually put it all together, things ramp up. You need to become Hortator and Ashlander endorsed Nerevarine. This puts you into the limelight. You've enjoyed privacy so far, but now pressure is put on you and the Temple denounces you. People know who you are now, you are notice wherever you go. Ordinators and Temple faithful attack you. Sleeper and Dreamer attacks begin rising too. This is where the plot urgency starts to pick up.
Eventually, it becomes clear to the Temple that Dagoth Ur is a threat that can no longer be resisted. Vivec himself seeks your help and ends your persecution. You are called to fight the Ash Vampires and retrieve Sunder and Keening. Now, the urgency is at full blast. You enter the Ghostgate and it's go, go, go.
It makes for a nice progression from information gathering to fighting the villain. From slow and intriguing to urgent and exciting. Rather than Skyrim, which is yelling "AHHHHHH" in your ear the *whole entire time* and comes off as a hollow and contrived urgency.
I don't even think the pacing is slow before the vivec meeting. When you meet that wizard in Tel Whatever and you find the last Dwarf in there that shit was cool. Plus that wizard has the path to the Crescent Blade unique sword in his room
Those dead cliff racers seem out of place.
With Oblivion and Skyrim i never really could fullfill my Hoarder obsessions with Ores,Gems,Silverware,Dwemerartefacts and Named Soulstones(means Souls from namem Enemies trapped in there)...atleast without the help of Mods.
Dagoth ur's personality is a little bit like thanos in terms of physiology and there thinking
You are the destined/chosen one in both Morrowind and Skyrim regardless if you say you are/aren't. Oblivions hero was the one who wasn't destined which made for a much better story.
Not necessarily, in Morrowind a hero was destined, but you were never destined to be that hero.
If you recall that in Oblivion, Uriel Septum VII proclaimed you were the one from his dream, thereby entrusting you to deliver the Amulet of Kings to Jaufre(?). In a sense, this ordains you as the hero as well, as without you, Martin and the blades could not have fulfilled their mission.
@@SnivillusLupin People keep forgetting this point about Oblivion. You're placed in the prison cell for a reason and the emperor saw you in his dream.
Daggerfall is better in that you're not a prisoner and sent there on a mission by the emperor.
My favorite part is that when you are declared hortator and neravarine by the houses and tribes, it’s not because you are some mythic hero. It because you do favors for the leaders or eliminate their competitors. their declaring you the legendary hero of old is purely self serving.
Impewiaw, nveverwine, confwonts, vandom, pwofecy, pwovoking, pwotagonist, himsewf, weesons, aweviates, pwovinces, pwovenence, stowy, owduin... Holy heck this is brutal.
I understand as well because morrowind was my first elder scrolls game from when I was a kid.. But it was too complicated for me as a 13 year old at the time I would rather play grand theft auto 3. So the newer games in the series appeal to younger generations as well and they added the modding factor to make everyone happy so I'm ok with the games. But I would like my first playthough with the new games to have a more challenging option like take away map markers if we want
Well said. Morrowind had brilliant writers like Ken Rolston and gary kirkbride. While Skyrim had Fallout 4 writers enough said. You can see the differing levels of craftsmanship between the two And then the dip in quality as ken rolston left after oblivion
Preach!
non DLC crossbows and thrown weapons, nuff said
It also had spears too, imagine how bad it is when Oblivion came out and such simple weapons which are widely used by armies; appears to be missing.
@@rixille Agreed. When i tried Spears in Morrowind i thought to myself "This things range is Insane. Why the hell is it not in Skyrim." Spears are my favourite melee weapon. Wish it returns in ES6.
Very cool, and totally agreed. I just re-purchased Morrowind GOTY through GOG. Can you tell me what vegetation mod you're running? It looks beautiful.
Try MGSO 3.0
Morrowind is a ROLE-PLAYING game.
Skyrim is a role-playing GAME . The lack of the Silver Hand as a playable faction , and (as someone else mentioned) the idea that both objective quests are clear from the beginning points to that .
morrowind was the first game I played of the ES series
it is without a doubt the best, I played them all
I played them all and Morrowind was disappointing at best. Oblivion will always been the King of Elder Scrolls titles
@@offlineraided your life is disappointing at best then
@@khronos142 copium
I have completed morrowind 3 times 2. and 3. is just for be able to say that my character really is nerevarrine 2. is a dark elf 3. is high elf after I learned that dark elfs at the time actually identical in appearance of high elfs... So yeah I agree that morrowind has the best story.
I feel like both Azura and Dagoth Ur recognizing you as the Nerevarine makes it pretty clear. Whether your character believes that is another story.
I love all of TES games in their own special way. They are all amazing in their own way.
I couldn't agree more.
My name backwards is n’wahs
Bruh, Sotha Sil and Dagoth Ur are not wholly evil or good. They both have some interesting stories behind them.
My favorite is Daggerfall. If they ever remastered Daggerfall into a 3D Engine, i don't know if i would ever need another game
Darryl Lyle unfortunately I can’t see that happening
The thing I most appreciate about Daggerfall are puzzles that are legitimately challenging. None of this 3-sided spinning pillar crap.
I get it. I just see a lot of videos on TH-cam, and very few even acknowledge Daggerfall existing much less being an awesome game. I think it is merely because it is 2d and DOS based game. Everything people pride Morrowind for having, the complex story, the multiple ways of playing it, the puzzles, and etc. Daggerfall had that in spades and then some. Like this video is talking about how Morrowind's story wasn't cut and dry and there is ambiguity about the "villain". In Daggerfall, you aren't chosen, you were just a friend of the Emperor. There is no singular villain. Dagger is in many ways The Elder Scrolls version of Game of Thrones.
Daggerfall is my 2nd fav, and it's mostly 3d. And, again, in Morrowind a hero was destined, you were never destined to be that hero.
I played Daggerfall as a kid and again as an adult. People complain about the fighting mechanic in Morrowind should really play that game without the mod. Outputs make you appreciate Morrowind better.
I do like Daggerfall, but I think Morrowind hit the sweet spot of the series.
Because you don't start as a prisoner. OH WAIT......
Morrowind: you may or not be the Chosen One
Skyrim: you ARE the Chosen One
Oblivion: you're just a regular guy that helped the army fight daedra
Well, at least they took a couple steps back into this direction in the main story of Fallout 4, where basically none of the people you can ally with are the "good guys" or the quintessential bad guys. Rather, every faction has their good things and bad things and when you choose one you make enemies of the others. I hope they will continue more strongly with this direction in TES:VI
Really? The daedra lady at the beginning literally tells u ur the chosen one.
I know lmao
Because they still cared about story back then
Man, all that choices in the end of the game, I've never seen such thing
Oblivion might look simple but has details that if noticed make you question it.
Very interesting. I've never played Morrowind. Only Oblivion and Skyrim. Manly because I'm not a PC gamer. Now that I know more about ?Morrowind, I hope Elder Scrolls 6 plays in a similar way.
Morrowind is backwards compatible on Xbox 1, if you own one. I don't know if the PS backwards compatibility.
+Autumn Breeze I'm a PlayStation man, but Morrowind was only for PC and Xbox 360. So I have no way to play it.
There's a team working on porting Morrowind over to Android:
imgur.com/a/DWCYf
I too want to shoot 5000 arrows directly at mudcrabs, and hit them with 1.
"Worth it. I jUsT nEeDeD hIgHeR aRcHeRy."
This is why i love Morrowind.
I like Dagoth Ur but my favourite TES antagonist is Mherunes Dagon. I guess I have always liked the idea of fighting the Daedric Prince of Destruction and his armies of Daedra.
I think the bigger ambiguity is that you were chosen by the zempire because you just happen to be born on a certain day
The Neverweenie
Hey man I love morrowind to death and I'm thinking about replaying it again but I was wondering, what(if any) mods do you run and what settings do you have on in this video?
You obviously have some graphical mods on. But still, it's incredible how well the game looks. I mean this game is 16 years old now, wow.
this only works as the best if you compare it to what came after. Skyrim is to morrowind what morrowind is to dagerfall. Morrowind is the first mainline game where they started taking huge steps back in the world and the character.
I've never had the Fortune of being able to play the first two, Morrowind was my first exposure to The Elder Scrolls series.
My favorite (and somehow most annoying) feature in Morrowind was that map was completely hidden except the parts you actually discovered. That and believeable fast-travel really made the game for me.