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Which Elder Scrolls game had the best quests?
- Thread starter vladdamad
- Start date
Makoto Yuki
Banned
I've put about 60-70 hours in Oblivion before I stopped but enjoyed the quests immensely. I've probably play about 100 hours of Skyrim and enjoyed the world and gameplay, but the quests where not as memorable.
Oblivion definitely had the best set of quests. The guilds were really well done, imo. All four were worthwhile, and all four had some great moments. A lot of the sidequests were well done, as well. Daedric quests, as usual, were on point.
Morrowind's were usually very simple, to be expected of such a small team back then. They do mix with the lore well, instead of just telling you to fetch "X from X", they would describe why you should (ex. So Hlaalu could get better rates on Guar hides). Little details like that help. No map markers help, too.
Skyrim's quests were a huge disappointment outside of the Daedric ones, which I thought were quite good.
Morrowind's were usually very simple, to be expected of such a small team back then. They do mix with the lore well, instead of just telling you to fetch "X from X", they would describe why you should (ex. So Hlaalu could get better rates on Guar hides). Little details like that help. No map markers help, too.
Skyrim's quests were a huge disappointment outside of the Daedric ones, which I thought were quite good.
I prefer the Morrowind quests the most because the game simply enables much more player agency with regards to the quests. If you're given a task there isn't generally a "right" or "wrong" way to do it. You can figure it out in any way you want using the game's very sandboxy mechanics and systems. In the subsequent games it's all so much more rigid and you're simply expected to do the quests in the strict way the designer intended. For example, one of the Fighter's Guild quests in Balmora is to get the Thieves Guild code book from a khajiit. How you do that is entirely up to you whether it be persuasion, theft, or just outright murder. By contrast, let's take that small quest in Whiterun in Skyrim where a street vendor wants you to make a bard stop hitting on her. IIRC, if you just do the mindless brute method and kill him, the quest simply fails and she doesn't even acknowledge what you did afterwards.
I also love the general Fighter's Guild questline in Morrowind with the whole corruption aspect. If you want you can just keep on carrying out your tasks like racketeering without question and that's just fine, or you can question the tasks you're given and start investigating what's really going on. AFAIK, there isn't really anything in the game to explicitly give you this choice, and has to be done entirely on your own initiative.
I also love the general Fighter's Guild questline in Morrowind with the whole corruption aspect. If you want you can just keep on carrying out your tasks like racketeering without question and that's just fine, or you can question the tasks you're given and start investigating what's really going on. AFAIK, there isn't really anything in the game to explicitly give you this choice, and has to be done entirely on your own initiative.
Spacecowboy77
Member
Oblivion
Murder an NPC? Now that I can do with pleasure!
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I really think Oblivion's quests are really well done, and this is me not even thinking DB Oblivion was a highlight halfway through.
Aside from the other stuff mentioned, you got a quest involving you getting yourself jailed, carrying a cursed item to a shrine, and even enter a dreamworld.
ESO quests are a step up from Skyrim too and have more valuable morality decisions. Just finish the Mage's Guild quest for instance.
Aside from the other stuff mentioned, you got a quest involving you getting yourself jailed, carrying a cursed item to a shrine, and even enter a dreamworld.
ESO quests are a step up from Skyrim too and have more valuable morality decisions. Just finish the Mage's Guild quest for instance.
Nothing wrong with playing it solo! Just a bit more fun in my opinion with at least one other person. What platform do you have it for?
SixMachine
Member
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9AbtCxDQA
I still don't know what an N'Wah is to this day or what the hell a Swit is. I don't understand Dark Elf slang at all.
I still don't know what an N'Wah is to this day or what the hell a Swit is. I don't understand Dark Elf slang at all.
Morrowind, Oblivion is a good second, probably, although the design destruction wrought by full blown level scaling of everything just pervades anything positive I can think of.
Then there is daggerfall, where its a miracle if you can actually complete half the quests you take because of how damn glitchy it is.
Then there is daggerfall, where its a miracle if you can actually complete half the quests you take because of how damn glitchy it is.
JimmyRustler
Member
Oblivion. Man, that game just had amazing quests. One of the first ones I got was the one where you had to collect the Ayleid pieces for that collector who ends up being some crazy nutcase that wants to summon demons and shit. Or that one city guard you framed who then broke out of prison and came after you. At that time my mind my was blown. Or that Gladiator who turns out to be some Vampires bastard...
Geez, this thread really makes me want to reinstall this game. Oblivion was GOAT in terms of quest-design and writing. Skyrim, while having and beautiful world was really a disappointment in that regard.
Geez, this thread really makes me want to reinstall this game. Oblivion was GOAT in terms of quest-design and writing. Skyrim, while having and beautiful world was really a disappointment in that regard.
fierrotlepou
Member
Oblivion for me.
Haunted house and the house party
That was so good, god DAMN.
Morrowind had great quests that made you feel a part of the world. Oblivion did have two very amazing questlines though. Skyrim and the rest of Oblivion are kind of meh.
Morrowind = Oblivion Thieves' Guild and Dark Brotherhood > Oblivion = Skyrim
Haven't played the eariler games.
Morrowind = Oblivion Thieves' Guild and Dark Brotherhood > Oblivion = Skyrim
Haven't played the eariler games.
SiegfriedFM
Member
Quest 1: Defend the guild at night from invaders!
Quest 2: Defend the guild at night from invaders!
Quest 3: Defend the guild from a dragon... nah, just kidding, it's just invaders!
SparksterMeta0
Member
Considering I only played Oblivion and Skyrim, and only some of Online, I have to go with Oblivion.
I'm your biggest fan!
I see #1 fan and raise you Gaenor.
A nobody who asks you for money and comes back with a set of ebony armor to kick your ass.
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Tribunal:Gaenor
I'm your biggest fan!
Ha, I told this guy to leave cause I was in the middle of the last Thieves Guild quest when he approached me. I'll have to come back to the Arena and see what it was that he wanted...
Gonna go with Morrowind, because the writing is just so much better.
But Oblivion had some incredibely entertaining sidequests, especially the one where you dive into a painted world or solve a crime in a mansion.
Skyrim is the worst TES I've played. The sidequests were a bore and not memorable in the slightest.
From what little I've played of TESO, the quests are more bearable than Skyrim, especially in a group.
But Oblivion had some incredibely entertaining sidequests, especially the one where you dive into a painted world or solve a crime in a mansion.
Skyrim is the worst TES I've played. The sidequests were a bore and not memorable in the slightest.
From what little I've played of TESO, the quests are more bearable than Skyrim, especially in a group.
Gabriel_Logan
Member
Didn't Oblivion have a most dangerous game quest, where your kidnapped and hunted for sport?
Edit: Also I felt bad at what happened to Lucien Lachance, I'd actually grown quite fond of him even though he was a psychopathic murdering killer.
Edit: Also I felt bad at what happened to Lucien Lachance, I'd actually grown quite fond of him even though he was a psychopathic murdering killer.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
So did most of Oblivion's quest though. You can turn it off without getting lost.
Yep. Too bad it's one of those "scripted" moments where you could have prevented an event had you not been locked.
LithiumSpade
Member
I don't even remember most of Oblivion's main storyline, but out of III, IV and V it has far and away the best side quests, and in abundance. Not the best game, but go off the beaten path and it's unmatched imo.