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So GAF... Which Elder Scrolls game is the best?

Morrowind. There is so much shit you can do in that game. Got 100 into every stat for that game and Oblivion. Daggerfall is up there too. Didn't follow the plot and went off and did my own thing. Never did beat that game. Lost my copy of Daggerfall years ago, but hey its free now. Might jump back in again.
 
Choke on the Magic said:
Would love a remake of morrowind
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There is a high res texture pack out for it.

morrowind20110104200001.jpg
 
I loved Daggerfall when it came out. I tried to play it again last summer but the controls are fucking awful. So sad. My fave Is Skyrim.
 
Skyrim forever.

Skyrim literally shits all over Oblivion on a design level. Visually, the art direction and the aesthetics of the game are exactly what I wanted of Oblivion, but sadly all we got was straw huts, repetitive caves and dungeons, and a few stone buildings.

This time around, everything just looks so.... so........EPIC.

Never played Morrowind though..
 
Morrowind made me feel like the entire world was my oyster. I could do anything, kill anything, and be anything I wanted to be. There wasn't any disgusting creature or loot scaling, and the world was packed with all varieties of unique items.

Skyrim corrects some of the problems Oblivion introduced into the series, but it still doesn't stack up to Morrowind.
 
Blue Ninja said:
Yeah, maybe it's because Oblivion was my first, but it really does hold a special place in my heart as well.

I tried to give Daggerfall a go, but the archaic controls really put me off. Is that something that XL Engine improves upon as well?
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cheststrongwell said:
I loved Daggerfall when it came out. I tried to play it again last summer but the controls are fucking awful. So sad. My fave Is Skyrim.
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Open options, click mouse, change the mouse to view control instead of cursor. When that's over with you can rebind anything to whatever key you want via the previous menu. Daggerfalls default controls are mind mindbogglingly bad, but are easily changed. My setup currently controls almost exactly to Skyrim.
 
Could have sworn we just had this discussion with that TES Morrowind Appreciation thread.

That said, Daggerfall is my favorite Elder Scrolls, especially if you consider my respective reception to each of the games.

Wren said:
Open options, click mouse, change the mouse to view control instead of cursor. When that's over with you can rebind anything to whatever key you want via the previous menu. Daggerfalls default controls are mind mindbogglingly bad, but are easily changed. My setup currently controls almost exactly to Skyrim.
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God. Rocking default is absolutely insane. I remember trying to play this way in the 90s, my left hand manning the arrow keys, with my right hand resting cross over it so I could run and jump, but moving that same hand all the way back to the mouse for attack, plus adjusting page up and down. Yeah.
 
I never realized how much of a black sheep Oblivion is to TES series, till I saw this topic and the fact that I could NEVER get into Morrowind (though my only attempt to play it was in 2010, long after replaying Oblivion for the umpteenth time). Skyrim is downright stupid to me, some GAFfers claim they took the worst of Oblivion and put the good stuff in Skyrim. I say it's the other way around. Hopefully, we will all live long enough in, I dare say 2 years, everyone will realize how much of a crappy game Skyrim is because no one would dare touch it. This is assuming Bethesda doesn't rape it with bad updates.

I don't care about the stupid "Lord of the Rings"-esque set up or the crappy, useless characters in this damn retarded game. The main quest is so damn disappointing. I could have easily taken out Alduin without the dipshits taking credit. I found Oblivion's finale to be a much better one, although I will be honest, I have probably played with around 20 characters in Oblivion, beaten the DB questline so many times, but I never finished the main story. I was hoping Skyrim's would have been better than Oblivion with the shouts and shit, only to be majorly disappointed.

There were a lot of points where they could have extended, why not help the Forsworn? why not take down the Black-Briars? They made a freaking Vigilantes of stderr and they never had a shred of a plot. Todd, these only fool reviewers with that fake "depth". But I am a WRPG player and I will attempt to do everything in this game, not write up a report/make a video within a 4~5 days period.

Not to mention a good percentage of complaints about Oblivion can be taken care of with mods, Skyrim? Most of my problems with it can only be fixed by Bethesda (lame VAs, lame quests, AWFUL script...etc.) and I have 0 faith that it will be fixed, I am having huge doubts about the DLC and I doubt I will ever buy it if this is what a real TES game is.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Thalmor or the elf dominion or w/e. Nice job with giving us only 1 quest relating to them.
 
I'm conflicted. Nostalgia makes me want to say Daggerfall, as it was my first and being able to travel to so many different cities, visit their lords, and steal their stuff made a HUGE impact on me when it first released.

And then there's Skyrim. Despite all of its bugs, it's one of my favorite games of the last two generations and I love the Nordic setting and the whole Dovahkiin plot.

Let's call it a tie. :D
 
Oblivion holds a special place in my heart because it was the first Elder Scrolls I played. To me, I feel that it has better quests than Skyrim but Skyrim is overall a much better game. Much better world, art direction but I'll always <3 Oblivion even though people love to shit on it. It has so many memorable quests like the Dark Brotherhood questline, going into a painting, going into someones dream and quirky stuff like that quest with Glarthir, that was hilarious. I can also appreciate it's very flawed though, mainly the world was just... bland in comparison to the others and the dungeons were so poor and hardly unique save a few.

I'll go back to it after Skyrim and return to my mountain fortress Frostcrag Spire. Morrowind is also good, I can certainly appreciate the quests, world design and writing but going to it after Oblivion felt difficult. I may give it another go sometime.
 
legacyzero said:
Skyrim forever.

Skyrim literally shits all over Oblivion on a design level. Visually, the art direction and the aesthetics of the game are exactly what I wanted of Oblivion, but sadly all we got was straw huts, repetitive caves and dungeons, and a few stone buildings.

This time around, everything just looks so.... so........EPIC.

Never played Morrowind though..
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You need to have at least played Morrowind to be eligible for this topic ;)

But from what Skyrim gained over Oblivion in dungeon design they lost in quest design. I'll take Oblivion's repetitive dungeons if I can get those great guild quests back.
 
Derrick01 said:
You need to have at least played Morrowind to be eligible for this topic ;)

But from what Skyrim gained over Oblivion in dungeon design they lost in quest design. I'll take Oblivion's repetitive dungeons if I can get those great guild quests back.
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No way. Please don't work for Bethesda. You're right about quest design but I don't ever want to go back to the dungeon design we got in Oblivion. It was bad.
 
I have to go with Arena. My dad bought it when it first came out on floppy and I played it for hundreds of hours over the next few years. The cities and the dungeons were huge and the world and possibilities were endless. I always tried to complete the main quest line, but I never could. I think the max level was 14, and I'd be level 14 by the time I had to get the third staff piece. But I just wouldn't be strong enough despite having great equipment. To this day I have no idea how you're expected to finish that game.

My dad also bought Daggerfall when it first came out, and it seemed like it had a ton of potential, but the 3d map was worthless and I couldn't stick with it. I just went back to Arena. Morrowind didn't click for me. I did love and finish Oblivion. Haven't played Skyrim yet, but feel like I must.
 
WanderingWind said:
I link you to the top 25 mods on Skyrim Nexus, and you say this? Why waste your time? You know there are more than that, you understand the game has been out for two weeks and the list is growing daily and you realize that anybody with an internet connection will know you're being obtuse.

So...why? Is this the "trolling" the kids are always on about?
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ok yes a retextured candlestick, and oscuros oblivion overhaul are both "mods" but lets be real here....



anywho to answer the OP, Oblivion with Guns.
 
I liked Oblivion alot I havent played Skyrim yet but Oblivion was one of the 1st big games on 360 so it was special to everybody at the time even with the bugs and stuff. Plus in those days most people where still playing on a SDTV that I knew.
 
Lakitu said:
No way. Please don't work for Bethesda. You're right about quest design but I don't ever want to go back to the dungeon design we got in Oblivion. It was bad.
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I don't either but I'm just saying if I could only have one, which seems to be the case with Bethesda, I'll take the quests. I like the unique dungeons but the awful loot kind of ruins the point of going through them.
 
pramath said:
I'm honestly in love with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is an incredible game, and after the all round disappointment of Oblivion, and the horrific Fallout 3, it is Bethesda's return to form. More than fifty hours in, and I'm still addicted, still playing, still discovering new secrets in the world. I have never been as taken by a game since Ocarina of Time, way back in 1998, and I haven't had as much fun with a title since The Wind Waker, almost a decade ago.

That said, the other Elder Scrolls games were all incredible too (barring, in my opinion, Oblivion, which was a bit of a disappointment to me). What I wanted to know was... which Elder Scrolls game is NeoGAF's favorite? Is it the impossibly large Daggerfall? The exotic and fantastic Morrowind? The first true HD generation title Oblivion? Or, the game I truly believe to be the return of the RPG, return of the single player game after nearly half a decade of multiplayer shooters dominating the scene, Skyrim?
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Hated Morrowind and thought Oblivion was mediocre. Sort of got into Fallout 3 but got bored with it as well.

Skyrim is the one for me.
 
Gameplay/combat: Skyrim

Everything else: Morrowind

Character progression, exploration, exotic locales, freedom. Morrowind is everything an Elder Scrolls game should be. Morrowind dropped you into an enormous world and said "Have fun!"

Skyrim drops you into a kind of big world with a lot of areas that seems bigger than it is because of the mountains you can't climb. It holds your hand. You don't feel like you've discovered much anything really.

Skyrim is great for what it is but I don't consider it a real Elder Scrolls game. I know it's a joke and it's overused but it really IS Fallout 3/NV with swords.
 
Basileus777 said:
There's no creation kit out yet, so all you get is simple replacers, texture mods, and stuff that can be done through hex editing. So yeah, there aren't any real mods outside of simple tweaks/cheats and textures.
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and that's why there are no "mods". A full circle we have come!


also: yes the ending of skyrim was so bad, possibly even worse than fallout 3s original one. The main quest really did feel like minor crap at the end, and this damn engine STILL cannot do epic battles, im so damn sick of these "huge" fights in gamebyro games (Oblivion/Fallout 3/New Vegas/Skyrim) consisting of like ~20 people? (the fading out and in enemies on the of the stronghold assaults were especially ps2ish)

is there reason the battles suck and that the New Vegas Strip was the most underwhelming thing ever...


we need new hardware...
 
Switters said:
Morrowind is the dark/demon's souls of western rpgs and it will never be topped.
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Don't think much else needs to be said. Way to go.

Morrowind = Difficult and immensely rewarding.

Skyrim/Oblivion = Focus tested to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.

People need to keep in mind that these games aren't supposed to be all about the combat. What makes an Elder Scrolls game an Elder Scrolls game is the exploration and the sense of discovery and freedom. In these ways Morrowind (and Daggerfall) are the clear winners. I think Daggerfall is TOO big however, and most all of it is randomly generated. Randomly generated = shit as we all know.

Morrowind remade with Skyrim's engine would be perfect.
 
My knee jerk reaction is Morrowind. If I manage to accumulate 200 hours in Skyrim, I'll be able to confidently judge between the two.

One things for sure, the best definitely ain't Oblivion.
 
I don't quite understand the Oblivion hate that seems so prevalent here on GAF. Skyrim is very similar to Oblivion...albeit with awesome dragons and a very streamlined (overly simplified?) leveling mechanic. It seems odd that there is such a massive disparity in opinions between the two games.

Personally, Oblivion on PC with mods > vanilla Skyrim on PC.

Just to be clear, I love Skyrim. I bought all three SKU's (plastic dragons ftw) and will be re-purchasing it when the GoTY edition is released next November. This isn't a stealth Skyrim troll post.
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
point me to these massive game changing mods, and not nose normal map retextures, nude lizards, and Photoshop sharpened filtered rock textures.

http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/top/
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You can't be this dense.

pramath said:
Skyrim doesn't even have mods yet.
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Are there mods?

Here's a performance mod http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=1013
In game effect mod http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=193
Cheats! http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=219
Visual mods http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=836
Extra content http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=799

So, that's a yes. You're arguing against basic, easily verifiable, facts. It's beyond silly, and frankly, a bit bewildering and more than just a little embarrassing for you.
 
MoGamesXNA said:
Personally, Oblivion on PC with mods > vanilla Skyrim on PC.
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Well that's not really fair as you can probably find mods that make the game look better than Skyrim, plus you can mod out the awful level scaling and loot scaling and put something like Morrowind's in.

Skyrim will be the same way once the creation kit's out. But if we're comparing both games in their released state I guess Skyrim's better. The loot scaling really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth but Oblivion had it too. The only real difference is the dungeon design and quest design disparity between the two. One has good dungeons and shit quests and the other is the opposite.
 
I grew up playing D&D, love RPGs and have a soft spot for fantasy. I've bought the last 3 Elder Scrolls game knowing I SHOULD love them. They are right up my alley. Skyrim is the only one that I've actually stuck with and enjoyed playing.
Thats my favorite.

It's also technically the best of course, because video games are often just as much consumer products as art... that should factor into things (making it harder to make excuses for an old game with busted camera and controls vs. an old film with no color or bad sound) IMO.
 
Derrick01 said:
The loot scaling really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth but Oblivion had it too. The only real difference is the dungeon design and quest design disparity between the two. One has good dungeons and shit quests and the other is the opposite.
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Those are all fair criticisms which I actually agree with to an extent. If there were any other fantasy role playing games that worked on the scope of the Elder Scrolls games, I guess I'd feel more strongly about them. As it stands, with a small amount of modding a lot of this can be fixed quite quickly.

I'd be keen to see a higher degree of randomness in the loot drops and shop sale items for future ES games though. Dragon armour and glass weapons, for example, shouldn't only magically appear as shop items and loot after you've hit a certain level etc. This is purely a game design decision of course. But it's one I'd like to see Todd Howard and company, remove for later games.

Dungeon design has never been a sticking point for me personally. I'm one of the few that actually likes the ES dungeons.
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
Obviously re-skinned rocks are worthwhile mods to your argument, so I'm sorry my expectations aren't so ....pedestrian. You win?
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Yawn. The "I was wrong, but I'll pretend to be above the whole thing at the last second" thing? That was old when the dancing baby gif was still new, bud.
 
The best moments in Morrowind were the parts where you would enter a cave/dungeon that you some how miraculously found in the needle/haystack that is the games world. Filled with enemies that out-level you by an obscene amount. Then somehow miraculously defeating all of them and feeling like you shouldn't have been able to do it.

In Morrowind you feel like you've really conquered something. Even if the loot isn't that great it just feels awesome as fuck to feel like you got one over on the game.

You could also level to the point of being god-like. You could become a God. You could fucking fly, you could wear all enchanted equipment that fortified the shit out of your attributes, you could run really fucking fast and jump really fucking high.

Fucking fuck.
 
ZombieSupaStar said:
Obviously re-skinned rocks are worthwhile mods to your argument, so I'm sorry my expectations aren't so ....pedestrian. You win?
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I'm with you on this. Oblivion and Morrowind had mods that fundamentally changed the way the games could be played. They fixed what was broken and improved on them in every way. Don't see any mods like that coming down the pike for Skyrim.
 
Ducky_McGee said:
I'm with you on this. Oblivion and Morrowind had mods that fundamentally changed the way the games could be played. They fixed what was broken and improved on them in every way. Don't see any mods like that coming down the pike for Skyrim.
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Well the construction set hasn't been released yet, and it hasn't even been a month since release.
 
Ducky_McGee said:
I'm with you on this. Oblivion and Morrowind had mods that fundamentally changed the way the games could be played. They fixed what was broken and improved on them in every way. Don't see any mods like that coming down the pike for Skyrim.
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oh I'm sure they will, eventually months after the creation kit is released, whether they live up to the earth shattering (lol puns) rock re-textures and non blocky noses on the manfaced-women reskins, that currently enrapture modern day pc gamers is another story.
 
Ducky_McGee said:
I'm with you on this. Oblivion and Morrowind had mods that fundamentally changed the way the games could be played. They fixed what was broken and improved on them in every way. Don't see any mods like that coming down the pike for Skyrim.
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You probably ought to read the rest of what's going on. The argument started with a simple "there are no mods" statement. Not that there are as many mods in a 2 week old game as there are for a 5-year and 8-year old game, respectively.

And there are already, in less than a month's time, mods that change quite a bit about Skyrim's gameplay. I linked some (that your boy cut out of responses) above. There are more on the site, and they're being added to almost daily.

With the CK release there will be plenty more coming for Skyrim. Their toolset has been historically easy to use in the past.

ZombieSupaStar said:
Yes I was wrong reskins are mods, you win kid, you win!
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And what of the dozens of others that aren't? Do those count to you?
 
One change I really wanted to see going from oblivion to skyrim was a decrease in dungeons/towns/places frequency. There's just way too much stuff in way to small an area. You're at a cave. You walk a minute, you're at a dwarf ruin. You walk another minute, you're at a nord ruin. You walk another minute, you're at a town. It just breaks the illusion that the world is put together with even the tiniest semblance of logic.

And I think instead of focusing on quantity, Bethesda should have made each dungeon really deep, unique and non-linear. Because as is, one of my biggest issues with Skyrim is that looting a burial ground/dwarf ruin/keep feels way too predictable... the loot scaling doesn't help of course :P

And fuck yes to the person who said Marrowind had far more unique items. The dragon masks and a few other weapons were like the only new things item wise added to the series. I couldn't believe Bethesda just copy and pasted the daedric items straight from oblivion. And the vast majority of the stuff one finds in the game is forgeable/can use enchantments to make. There's just not much unique stuff
 
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