The best elder scrolls game

[FootloosePhoenix]

Oblivion, AND SCREW EVERYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE. RAWRAWRAW.

Seriously though I've only played Oblivion and Skyrim so I obviously can't judge what the best game of the Elder Scrolls series is, but Oblivion is by far my favourite out of the two. While Skyrim is a great, fun game in its own way, it's just not RPG-y enough for my tastes, I find the landscape of Skyrim dull and the game takes itself way too seriously. Nostalgia most likely clouds my view a bit in this too, but the majority of my opinion on the matter stems from the departure in atmosphere from Oblivion to Skyrim.

 

[eimatshya]

Going to have to go with Daggerfall.

That game was absolutely massive and I loved every second of it.

It also boasts the biggest game world map ever.

this
although for different reasons
the maps and stuff are pretty dull and all the dungeons literally look the same
the atmosphere, however...
it's gotta be one of the scariest freaking games I've played
whether you're walking around a dungeon or, god forbid, arrive Daggerfall City at night, there's always a feel that you're bing watched, or that enemies are there (due to the oh so subtle sounds they make), and it can be really unnerving (closest game I played in which I felt that was Minecraft and its caves)

I swear there was this time in which I was doing a quest in some castle where I had to clear it from the nymphs inhabiting it
and after I killed all the enemies besides the nymphs, I was walking around trying to find them, and all there was around me was darkness and their laughs, which was getting me really, really paranoid

so yeah, I was frightened of being in a dark place full of naked women =P

I have to agree with you. Daggerfall is one of the very few games that I've played where I enjoyed dungeoun crawling. I remember desperately trying to find a safe place to rest, but 90% of the time you can always here something scuttling around down the hall from you, so the game won't let you sleep. Made the dungeons very tense.

Also, Daggerfall had the best character creation process out of the Elder Scrolls games that I haves played (I haven't played Arena, Battlespire, or Skyrim, so I can't comment on those). Daggerfall was also a great game for fucking around. You could take a huge loan out from a bank, then by a boat from the same bank and sail off to another kingdom, never to repay your bank loan.

So, I'm going to say Daggerfall is my favorite Elderscrolls RPG (although I haven't played all of the games, so that is tentative).

I also have to give credit to Redguard. While it isn't an RPG, and has some very awkward gameplay elements that should by all rights make the game irritating to play, I for some reason loved it back in the day. The confrontation with Nafalilaargas (or however you spell that) shaped my conception of what confronting a dragon should be like. The quest to learn and perform a propper burial ritual for that one lady's son was a great moment for building up Tamriel's lore, and N'gasta was a neat character.

Spoiler: Spoiler about Clavicus Vile

Going to the realm of a Deadra lord and finding it to be a colorful place inhabited by a demon that looked and sounded like a little boy was a neat moment too. Especially his explanation for his name.

And there are a bunch of other quests that I loved in that game, but I'm not going to list them all since that would be boring as hell, and I've already rambled for too long. Basically, I wanted to mention how much I loved Redguard since no one else has mentioned it.

 

[evilneko]

Having only played Oblivion and Skyrim, I'm gonna have to go with Skyrim. Oblivion was boring, bland, lifeless, and both melee and magic combat mechanics sucked. Skyrim at least tries not to be as bland and lifeless, and the magic combat mechanics are much improved. Melee still needs (a lot of) work though.

 

[Haefulz]

I've only played Oblivion and Skyrim, and it's tough to say between the two. I sank way more hours into Oblivion, and it was some of the most fun I've had with any video game. But there's no question Skyrim is a more polished, better feeling game. The combat was vastly improved, the environment had an awesome amount of variation, and it was immersive enough to allow me to lose myself to the game's world.

If I tried to go back and play Oblivion, I don't think I could handle the boring-ish combat and somewhat dead world, comparatively at least. Because of that, I'll say Skyrim.

 

[SoranMBane]

Now that I've finally played Morrowind, I have to say that it does far outpace Skyrim in terms of writing, and I actually kind of enjoyed not having quest markers pointing me to every little thing once I got used to it. I would have preferred just a little more direction for some quests, but at least there's a detailed journal, and you can usually ask characters for more information on where you have to go. Skyrim has much better gameplay, though. I'll give up all the spears, super-jumping, and levitation spells in the world just to be able to shoot a bear with an arrow at point-blank range without a 50% chance of it "missing" even though it clearly hit the thing. I also like being able to wear shoes as a Khajiit, and being able to walk 30 feet without being swarmed by cliff racers.

So, it's a tie between Morrowind and Skyrim, I guess. Morrowind has better writing, has more options, and finishing quests is more rewarding, but Skyrim is more fun, more polished, and less frustrating to actually play.

 

[TaintedSaint]

Morrowind period. True Elder Scrolls fans all agree.

 

[octafish]

Going to have to go with Daggerfall.

That game was absolutely massive and I loved every second of it.

It also boasts the biggest game world map ever.

Agreed, the map is 4000 times the size of Skyrim. I loved Daggerfall bugs and all, I know I've never forgiven Morrowind for being minuscule. I'm enjoying Skyrim despite it being particularly bland when it comes to the races/genders. I'm sure there are mods to fix that though.

Oh and Oblivion has the worst looking characters in all of the Elder Scrolls, ugh the horror of the potato people and Shrek orcs.

 

[MBurdock]

It depends.

I think everyone can agree that Skyrim is more enjoyable to play, while Morrowind has a vastly superior role-playing setting and story.

But, if we're going by combat mechanics, both are freaking terrible compared to other games.

 

[Slash Dementia]

I played Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim, and I choose Morrowind. Morrowind's setting, geography, and quests were way better for me, but I really didn't like the combat because of how hard it made the beginning. That game had a whole bunch of stuff to do and lots of spells, weapons, and armors that you can mix and match. It's just a great game if you can get into it.

 

[Jimmy T. Malice]

Morrowind may be a better RPG in terms of the amount of effects and freedom you have, but Skyrim is a much better game. Morrowind got the 'Role-Playing' part right, but forgot 'Game'. The gameplay in Morrowind is awful, with attacks missing and spells failing for no apparent reason and obscenely slow walking. Skyrim may be easier and all playstyles are supported, but how does that make it bad? Who wants to play for 30 hours and then find that their class is completely gimped for the rest of the game?

Oblivion is closest to the best of both worlds. It has both deep class options and accessible gameplay, but it's let down by its asinine NPCs with no personalities and horribly broken level scaling.

Skyrim is the best out of these three for me. I haven't played the first two Elder Scrolls games so I can't pass judgement on them.

 

[Razentsu]

It's between Morrowind and Skyrim for me. If were forced to choose between the two, I would give the edge to Skyrim.

 

[Tallim]

Morrowind or Daggerfall......... think I'll plump for Morrowind.

Oblivion was the biggest let down in existence after Morrowind and Skyrim, while much better, was still a big 'Meh' on my scale of awesome.

 

[Royas]

I'm going to have to go with Morrowind as my favorite. Oblivion was ok, not the greatest RPG but it had some good action, and some of the DLC and expansions really improved it. I just disliked the beginning of the "dumbing down" of the game. Bethesda took too many of the things I liked out of the game for Oblivion (seriously, no levitate, no throwing weapons, no spears? WTF?) Daggerfall was good, but Morrowind was really where story, gameplay and graphics started to come together in a cohesive whole.

Skyrim is a very close second. While it is still missing a lot of the favorite things that Bethesda took out for Oblivion, it adds some neat features and has a great story. I also like the way they do leveling in Skyrim over the leveling in all of the other games. What I don't like was the removal of the stats, that bothered me. Adding more perks, that was nice though.

I can't say that I hated any of the Elder Scrolls games, there were just some I liked a bit more than others.

 

[Wayneguard]

Morrowind is just magical. I've never been as immersed in a world as I was in Morrowind. It can't really be sufficiently explained to someone who hasn't experienced the difference between Morrowind and the later games for themselves.

Morrowind period. True Elder Scrolls fans all agree.

The illogic of this statement is almost palpable... but I have to agree

 

[ms_sunlight]

I replayed Morrowind earlier this year, with mods to update the graphics. It's still a great game. What I love most about it is, it doesn't hold your hand. Want to find something? Follow the directions an NPC gives you, look for landmarks, get lost, explore, find something unexpected. The complexity and variety of Morrowind has never been equalled in an open-world game. Plus, the faction system is fantastic. There are factions you don't even know about overtly, groups you'll never get to join, but the choices you've made will still affect how they feel about you and what you can do.

Best of all, Morrowind lets you screw up. It even lets you kill essential NPCs although it will give you a message to tell you that the chain of prophecy has been broken. It lets you wander into areas you're not ready for yet and get killed. It doesn't fill your map with quest markers or force you down a predetermined path.

I love Morrowind. It's in my all-time top 10. Skyrim and Oblivion, whilst they're fine games, never quite reached that high water mark.

 

[PPB]

I think they all have their own strengths and weaknesses.

I could never really get in Daggerfall myself, the huge world really appealed to me but I found various aspects really confusing if not badly designed. Like many other games it also suffered from being made in that awkward early 3D era.

Morrowind obviously has very dated combat, but the story and setting are awesome in my opinion. My first few days in Morrowind were some of the most immersive and memorable I've ever had in a game.

Oblivion? I honestly enjoyed it but I think it's the weakest in the series post-Daggerfall (which I haven't played enough to really judge). Off the top of my head, the only thing that stands out are the beautiful forests and soothing music. Everything else is better done in either Morrowind or Skyrim. I guess it could have a certain appeal as being the "middle of the road" game, but it didn't do it for me in the long run.

Skyrim is, I think, almost as much fun as Morrowind to explore but the storylines and quests are severly lacking. I also don't like the linear dungeon design.

If I had to pick one, it would be a toss between Morrowind and Skyrim. My heart says Morrowind but my brain says Skyrim.

 

[Irik Eraptan]

Honestly, Skyrim is my least favorite Elder Scrolls Games, and by far the most over-rated of the series. I can't believe people would pit the best of the best like Morrowind against Skyrim, which only lasted about 9 hours to me. Story was horrible, gameplay was rehashed Fallout 3 with those finishers, no skill involved accept when aiming things, and the RPG elements were just terrible. I'm dumbfounded that Skyrim got as much praise at it did, but enough ranting for one comment.

Morrowind wins this by a long shot in my opinion. Meh combat doesn't break a game that just is that insanely addictive immersive and interesting. If you've made it this far in the thread, you obviously already know the rest of Morrowins Pros, so I'll shut up now.