Is Morrowind Better than Skyrim?

If you're reading this, the title and thumbnail are totally clickbait. This whole video is more about discussing the shortcomings and shortcuts of and made in Skyrim (and to a lesser extent, Oblivion) due to a trend of simplification and obsession with accessibility in the gaming industry, which Bethesda is not exempt from.
Sorry about the bit rate by the way, I think I just figured out how to fix that. Big thanks to a buddy of mine (whose channel I will link here if he ever uploads) for loaning me his microphone for this video while I've still got a headset mic and helping set me up on DaVinci Resolve when Vegas Pro died on me and made me restart this entire project.
SECOND CHANNEL: ‪@OmniburgPlays‬
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Setting
8:48 - The "RPG" Problem
15:27 - The Questlines
19:45 - It's not THAT bad
21:55 - Outro
TAGS
#morrowind #elderscrolls #theelderscrolls #skyrim #skyrimse #skyrimspecialedition #skyrimae #comparison #gamecomparison #gamecommentary #gaming #games #videogames #videoessay

[@ArniesTech]

Elder Scrolls 6 will have 3 Skills "Boom Boom", "Swoosh Swoosh" and "Sparkle Sparkle". And it will have 2 Armor classes. "yes" and "not yes". 💪🏻😊

[@unicyclepeon]

Yeah, but they will have a bunch of standing stones that let you swap out your gender, so it's all good, right? 😉

[@PedanticTwit]

Sounds like what Capcom did in Dragon's Dogma 2, limiting every class to a single weapon and four skills.

[@nubbles162]

Hopefully it’s better than the remastered games that are getting released

[@whoeverofhowevermany]

The Elder Scrolls 6: Skyrim 2

[@Erucus]

@@PedanticTwit DD2 is fine just be warfarer and carry sword and bow

[@And-ur6ol]

It is such a small thing. But it is so immersive to see a road sign, walk up to it, and read the city name you are traveling to, confirming you are still on the right path.

[@JourneyManJoel5]

Facts

[@rehm402]

It really does get me everytime. It’s the stability I need in a world of chaos.

[@dumbage]

right i love that mechanic

[@ZacMcCoyYT]

the singn exists so u know where to go fr

[@yunusakm]

Thats how I got to the imperial city in Oblivion when I was under 8 years old :D

[@chriswest4875]

I think it is ironic how games are becoming more casual while gamers are becoming increasingly competitive

[@4bschaum]

it's super weird. blizzard loaded D4 up with a bunch of useless mechanics to increase playtime instead of just making the game hard and deep. that came out kinda wrong but i also kinda like it

[@azoniarnl3362]

You forget all the 10 year olds and their parents wallets.

[@DGB120]

@@azoniarnl3362they on Fortnite

[@volodymyrbilyk555]

@@4bschaum replayed OG Diablo recently. Holy shit that games goes into deep waters fast. I had to buckle up to get through. Now that's what I call increasing playtime.

[@zedorian6547]

Because hardcore gamers are a massive freaking minority (which most hardcore players are incapable of noticing due to them only being in hardcore bubbles) and game companies (typically) want to appeal to the widest market possible (that market being the casual audience).

[@yellowfellow7246]

Morrowind has, without a doubt, one of the most interesting worlds in gaming.

[@prometheus9096]

Yes i remember it was so yaw dropping at its time. A true alien world to explore, not the generic "medival fantasy, Tolkien" setting. In Morrowind the most "normal" was the Imperium, the occupiers and in a strange way they felt so alien too in that world, that you really could feel why the dunmer hated them so much.

[@UncleBiccy]

My Dad bought me this piece of perfection for $10 back in 2005. I still play this game 19 years later.

[@husky3g]

I got it for free in 2009 from a friend that gave me the OG Xbox version. I ended up getting it for PC and am playing it religiously in 2024. It's been 15 years and it's still one of the best games I've ever played.

[@DarkVeghetta]

Now that's some value for money! Reminds me of playing Tales of Maj'Eyal (a roguelike) for the past 15 years or so and it being entirely free. I did spent some jink on it several years in for a bit more convenience and flair, as well as to give back to the dev for the superb experiences I've had with it. Many of the best games ever are exceedingly fairly priced, some are free, and a few are even properly free (no adds, gatcha, or other such 'free to play' shenanigans).

[@IreneSmith]

I bought the game when it was first released back in 2002. I have played through it many times since. I've also played Oblivion and Skyrim as well but I think I like Morrowind bet.

[@nikolaip2]

​@@husky3gdo you recommend trying modded Morrowind once I finish a vanilla playthrough or the game is *that* good that I won't want to install mods but play a lot in vanilla? I have only played Daggerfall (like 80 hours), Oblivion and a f*cking lot of Skyrim.

[@bingus4105]

​@nikolaip2 use some graphics mods, but don't make the view distance too far out. If you use the full graphics mods they will put the view distance so far out that it changes the feel of the game. Also, don't play the expansions until after you beat/have had fun with the original. Both expansions were meant to be played after having a high level character, so playing with the expansions from the start breaks the game economy, is annoying and disrupts the flow of the game.

[@franklydum5056]

The virgin stealth archer vs the chad levetating ninja star thrower.

[@UncleBiccy]

The lore in Morrowind is wild - You couldn't make this shit up. The story directors definitely smoked salvia.

[@ClarkKentai]

There's a story that Michael Kirkbride isolated himself and tripped on shrooms for about ten days while he wrote the background lore for Morrowind. Not sure how true it is.

[@UncleBiccy]

@@ClarkKentai No doubt!

[@hughgrection7246]

@@ClarkKentai wasn't it mushrooms AND crack ? That was my understanding at least.

[@arturnicaciodeandrade9861]

@@ClarkKentai Its just a myth, Kirkbride was an acoholic and a smoker (he's clean now), but never did heavy drugs.

[@13Cobra91]

@@ClarkKentai I saw this meme. I'm pretty sure the guys who originally created it just made it up. They had a picture of Michael Kirkbride sprawled on the ground inside his place and said something like "He famously tripped on shrooms to write X book and didn't show up to work for X number of days. Todd Howard found him in his apartment like this." The image they used was actually a screenshot from a stupid, silly music video MK was in. Of course creatives do often use drugs in this manner, but I think this whole myth takes away from the fact that MK spent years in University studying religion as well as writing, among other things. It's not wonder he was able to write in such an esoteric manner. Of course, I'm sure many would look at that music video and be like "Ah this confirms he is on drugs 24/7 for sure" anyway so, I dunno. When I see comment threads like this I always just want to say some people are just creative. That's all.

[@KefkeWren]

One of the best takes on Morrowind I've seen. Yeah, the game is old, and it's a product of its time, but it's better at the things that matter for an RPG. Hell, for all the flack the dice-roll combat gets, there are still games that do that today, so all it _really_ needed was better feedback on what was happening.

[@PeteyPirahna77]

Better for things for an RPG, but worse at things that make for an actual good game. The same thing applies to Fallout New Vegas when compared to Fallout 4 to be honest. A lot of people don't know this, but Morrowind also removed a lot of RPG elements that were in Daggerfall. It streamlined before long before Skyrim even existed. People just don't know that because the first 2 games weren't that popular.

[@elvangulley3210]

​@@PeteyPirahna77shut up modern fallout sucks especially fallout 4 you cod dude bros should just stick to your own shitty brain dead games morrowind and new vegas are masterpieces

[@kyroscrow3418]

@@PeteyPirahna77 What do you mean when you say "Actual good game" RPG stands for 'role playing GAME' and what makes a game 'good' depends on what fun is supposed to be found in it, Fallout 4 is an action/adventure theme park experience, NV is a narrative/choice driven experience, Stardew valley is a farming sim experience, Chess is a strategy game, and Roadwarden is essentially just an interactive novel. People come to games for different experiences and therefore find different things fun. this is not meant to be an attack on you in an way I was just curios.

[@D--FENS]

Hit chance was a part of combat balance. Removal necessitated compensation in other aspects, such as increasing difficulty by making enemies damage sponges.

[@KefkeWren]

@@D--FENS Correct. More consistent hits means having to account for enemies taking damage more frequently. And unfortunately, enemy AI has never been good enough that you can compensate for the lack of miss chance by just having the AI be better fighters. So the only way to compensate for the player hitting more is if the enemies die more slowly.

[@MatthewMcRowan]

Morrowing caused me and my real life friends to just walk around outside with sticks and story tell our own adventures and imagine we have armors and stuff for hours straight, all thanks to the things we saw in Morrowind

[@prajiturel2902]

beautiful ❤

[@peregrination3643]

Morrowind is one of the most influential sources for my writing. It also helped me create a fun exercise regime as a kid. Heck, even now, playing it so much lately has gotten me to dial back my attitude to clients. Instead of feeling anxious and perfectionist, I'm like my character just casually putting to together the issue and taking a whack at the quest.

[@insensitive919]

Why did you attack the non-hostile scrib if you didn't like being paralyzed

[@thefranken-thing]

But...muh jelly.

[@Omniburg]

I thought it’d be an easy fight and wanted to get my skills up haha

[@HeldIntegral]

U thought 😌 What a grand and intoxicating innocence

[@denifnaf5874]

​@@Omniburgwhat a grand and intoxicating innocence

[@And-ur6ol]

@@Omniburg how could you be so naive?

[@pkthunder416]

They'll never reach these highs again without Kirkbride

[@justinm4497]

true

[@saltydunmer3453]

Kirkbride could not himself, sadly. Most of his last works were woke, soulless, corporate garbage.

[@HickoryDickory86]

I would love to see what Chris Avellone could do if handed the reins as lead writer. Maybe even bring back Mark E. Nelson as co-lead writer with him. Nelson was a writers/designers for _Morrowind,_ and was the lead designer for _The Shivering Isles._ I think Avellone would relish the opportunity. While still at Obsidian, he once pitched the idea to Bethesda for Obsidian to do a New Vegas-style spin-off game in The Elder Scrolls franchise. They rejected the idea, obviously. They were probably still butthurt that Obsidian outclassed them with _Fallout_ and didn't want the same thing to happen with their own, homegrown IP.

[@azuragoddess]

And they don`t want to reach them. Todd wants profits with little efforts, that`s why he is waiting for the AI to become powerful enough to give it most of worldbuilding and quiest design.

[@user-jc1dw9zf5t]

@@saltydunmer3453 really?? which ones ?

[@Angelikatosh]

Great video man, you forgot to mention that you can pick up AND carry candles in Morrowind (peak gaming experience) but other than that, solid discussion

[@dylanevartt3219]

I love being able to grab dif colored candles/lanterns to decorate my house with. And yes it is my house, the last owner disappeared mysteriously but I assure you I had nothing to do with it 👍

[@BroadwayJosh]

​@@dylanevartt3219Cool. I would place candles at the top corners of my cribs, just so I could pick 'em out a distance, and one at each entrance. Yeah... classic classic game.

[@peregrination3643]

Right now my end game character has swamped the lodging area of the Balmora Mages Guild with various candles and lanterns of different colors dabbled among my heaps of books, alchemy gear, and expensive loot I still haven't found an in-game reason to discover the Mudcrab Merchant to sell to or sell back and forth enough with Creeper.

[@mcfarvo]

I had the most eclectic hoarder house in Morrowind haha

[@RNS_Aurelius]

The architecture in Morrowind is such an underrated but impactful factor. It in itself tells a story. You know if you are in telvanni, redoran, hlaalu or imperial territory just by the building around you. At first the idea of a xenophobic society with a superiority complex sounds inherently bad but when you play especially if you do the legion quests. The first being taking a land deed from a widow whose husband was killed by a legion member, you really understand why the dunmer don't want the legion meddling in local affairs.

[@thewrongopinion2474]

Opposed to bending the knee to a colonising, religious sanctioning, tradition outlawing society that fully endorses prison labour death camps primarily housing khajit and argonians? Morrowind loved to put the player between a rock and a hard place. Also loved that they actually had beast-feet so couldn't equip boots. I still find it hilarious that they copy-pasted this for the civil war in Skyrim, but completely failed to actually implement any of the details 😂

[@plebisMaximus]

You develop your opinions so much over the course of the game. Imperials seem nice enough just off the boat, then you learn more about how they exploit loopholes for slave labour, overtax the poor and enforce their own rules and institutions on the people of Vvardenfell, so you start feeling sympathy for the dunmer. Until you're 30 quests deep in the Redoran questline without a single drake paid out to you and you've met the Telvanni. Even if you just rush the main quest, you'll be left just wanting the whole damn province to just sink into the sea.

[@peyoteguy425]

I am finishing Morrowind for the first time this week and the first time I played it was 20 years ago when my brother moved in after spending some years in a different state. It was the first RPG I ever played. The one tip I always remembered from him was to jump to get your acrobatic skill up so you can actually jump. Every since I was a kid I would spam jump in Elder Scrolls games, except Skyrim I guess.

[@MG-mh8xp]

i'm literally a zoomer. I started playing Morrowind not a month ago. I grew up with Skyrim, and I LOVE Morrowind so much.

[@Omniburg]

Morrowzoomers rise up

[@ginke1996]

Me too, I started playing in 2018, but it was only years later that I started to appreciate it.

[@ThaCyNiQ]

​@@OmniburgMorrowimps

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

For me it was similar with Fallout. I have over 2500 hours on Fallout 4, bought New Vegas last year and had a blast. I still play FO4, it has it's mechanical strengths, but the roleplaying of NV makes FO4 look like a CoD campaign.

[@bojidarvladev4890]

For me it was TES2 Daggerfall on Steam . Skyrim was really good ,but Daggerfall (post guide) felt good for me.

[@talongreenlee7704]

My favorite thing about Morrowind is that there are very very few instances of quest-locking items or events. Every single legendary item in Skyrim requires you to be on the quest to get it. It makes it feel like the only way to get cool things is to be the main character of the story. The world and the setting feel like the main character in Morrowind. The vast majority of legendary artifacts that I found in my first few play throughs were just stuff I found while out adventuring. I had no idea that there were quests associated with finding them. It made it feel like this was a living world that would continue existing in its own right, even if I wasn’t watching it unfold before me.

[@benjaminberkey2920]

Don't forget the legendary items in skyrim and oblivion are leveled so for them to be at their peak, you need to be about level 25, unlike morrowind where ALL items are how they are, no weaker, no stronger.

[@ConcurseiroAleatorio]

I’m from brazil and my mom bought morrowind for me in 2012. I wasnt able to understand english, so I played 6 months morrowind without leave the census office building because, I managed to kill the npc with the butter knife that I found in the table. When I finnaly got out of the house, it was amazing kkk. I still remember. After that I start to use the translator to play the game and learned a lot. Im very grateful that my mother bought me this game.

[@felipeazevedo840]

Também joguei quando pequeno - lembro que meu irmão e eu apelidamos o jogo de "Morro dos Ventos" kkk. E para mim teve um bom impacto porque meu irmão e primos já jogavam antes e sabiam inglês melhor. Lembro que eu gostava da Bitter Coast porque, quando eu viajava para o interior ou a algum balneário, era parecido o ambiente. Então eu brincava imaginando que estava no jogo e vice-versa kkk sem falar que eu gostava de Khajiits porque eles davam pulos muito altos.

[@ConcurseiroAleatorio]

@@felipeazevedo840 legaaal, eu também chamava de morro dos ventos!!

[@idontwantahandlethough]

LOL that's amazing man. Morrowind has to be the funniest way to learn English I've ever heard 😂 Definitely a classic game, I go back to it every few years

[@amberfoster3285]

My Dad bought me the Morrowind Game Of The Year Edition on original Xbox for my birthday. I still have it and play that game today. I was thinking today while playing a modded Skyrim that it would be a great way to learn another language.

[@raybrandt]

Morrowind factions: they are heterogeneous groups of people, some have been infiltrated, some are corrupt, you can often choose different questgivers if you feel one of them is using you to do their dirty job or they are dangerous to the guild itself. Storylines are branched and feel like the job it is supposed to be. People complain about fetch quests... But you start out as a fetcher, do you expect to be called "the chosen one" out of the gate? Also, sometimes seemingly simple quests have more to them than it seems, as anything you fetch and any bribing/intimidating that you do undermines some other faction somehow (remember factions are friends or rivals of other factions) and rival faction members might refuse to talk to you, collaborate and will charge you more money for their services, that completely changes how you approach parts of the main quest. Skyrim (and Oblivion's) factions: Here's a nice little story. Self contained. It doesn't affect the world or any other factions, except these ones we made up only for the questline (Silver Hand, Blackwood Company) and you'll never see them again. It's linear, conveniently short and we will take control away from you for dramatic purposes so the story can happen.

[@Omniburg]

Dead on.

[@jaydenc367]

I mean in Skyrim and Oblivion they do affect the world and factions like with the Dark Brotherhood, and obviously you can choose different questgivers and in Skyrim you can choose between two sides in a civil war, and storylines are branched too and how you get to choose which branch you wanna go to. And simple quests can always have more to them than it seems that applies to Oblivion and Skyrim too. And not only are new factions that you only see in quest lines are involved, again it's more in depth then that. It's not all linear or convenienatly short again it's quest lines and takes time to get through and they don`t take control away from you for dramatic purposes so the story can happen or at least don`t for the most part.

[@nikocantas6886]

NEW VEGAS MENTIONED NEW VEGAS MENTIONED

[@damiencrossley7497]

SO what?! No one cares about my fave game anymore .....Poor Overlord!

[@LDW12887]

Overrated

[@damiencrossley7497]

@@LDW12887*Receive the lords boot*

[@nekipeh7373]

Aint that a kick in the head, huh ​@@LDW12887

[@azuragoddess]

@@LDW12887 For your overwhelmingly monstrous behavior, you have been vilified by the community

[@PaulKentSkates]

I suppose I'm a morrowboomer (played daggerfall and got morrowind during release week) But the alien setting really did it for me, and it's the thing AI keep thinking about. The settings stuck with me all these years and I think about them surprisingly often. I also agree over casualization sucks.

[@dylanevartt3219]

It blows my mind that they gave us such a unique and alien world, and then defaulted to generic roman and norse settings. Those too could have been really unique if bethesda wasn't afraid of writing new lore

[@theslavicrat3784]

@@dylanevartt3219 Bro imagine if cyrodile was actually a temperate jungle. And that we would see different oblivion realms instead of that kinda funny voice acting. Wouldve been so peakkkkk

[@dylanevartt3219]

@theslavicrat3784 yeah they should have waited for better tech before making a game set in cyrodil

[@todd2.08]

They used up all that tech for Oblivion for ai behavior and routines which tbf, is a huge step up from Morrowind’s NPC ai and quite a feat on its own but Cyrodiil should’ve been more

[@theslavicrat3784]

@@todd2.08 Even tho I kinda dislike oblivion I 100% it was huge. The feeling "in the moment" feels way more lively in post MW games for sure. Shame they kinda fucked the society world building thing tho

[@bricktastic-acular1298]

Played Morrowind for the first time last month. The best part of morrowind was the fact that traveling to locations is engaging, I feel like a backpacker that has mastered a countries transit system. Maybe non-diegetic fast travel ruins some enjoyment, but in skyrim and other games like it, my eyes glaze over during travel and I basically go catatonic.

[@UsmevavyPanacek]

Great way to travel is creating jump spell (like 150 for 2 seconds is enough), climb some high place, pick direction, cast it and jump.. and don't forget slowfall spell when the ground gets closer (1 strength for 30s should be enough).. And you usually land near something interesting.

[@Ichthyodactyl]

I highly recommend Outward then. Become an actual backpacker. :P

[@dylanevartt3219]

​@UsmevavyPanacek the great part of morrowind is that you could also levitate everywhere, or use boots of blinding speed with magic resist on. So many tools to play with

[@ayeyuh6920]

@@Ichthyodactyl Outward is one of the greatest adventure games I've ever played. Just the fact that you have to use landmarks to understand where you are and traverse the map is SOOO immersive. By like 20 hours in I could travel anywhere without even opening the map because I memorized everything. Incredibly fulfilling.

[@theslavicrat3784]

@@Ichthyodactyl Reminder : Outward 2 has been anounced !!!!!

[@Rollskblau]

Here my fellow N'wa you dropped this👑

[@miecha4445]

6:25 I think the problem with Vivec city is less that you can get lost in it and more that every canton feels the same. It's also feels so empty and unlived in on the outside because there are so few npcs walking around compared to the house capitals

[@plebisMaximus]

It's also really annoying to navigate until you get reliable levitate. Having to walk up and down and up and down, often through hallways the ordinators will bodyblock all while constantly calling you scum. Pretty cool detail and rather funny the first couple times it happens, but on your 20th visit to Vivec in your 5th playthrough it's just grating.

[@plubog]

Nowadays if Junior got lost in Vivec he would throw his PC through the window. Todd has thought of everything

[@NoMastersNoMistress]

Nice to hear you mention OpenMW... adding a few texture packs along with Tamriel Rebuilt to it is trivial and stable, which is more than anybody can say for Viking Circle Jerk.

[@Omniburg]

100%. Those mods are incredible!!!

[@turbomax1178]

​@@Omniburgespecially shotn

[@todd2.08]

OPENMW removed the best parts of Morrowind ie: the “it just works” features like draining skill/attribute to train up a skill easily which feels like a glitch but completely makes sense in the logic of the game itself

[@NoMastersNoMistress]

@@todd2.08 Finding the master trainers has always been another quest in itself for all my characters... also, making money to pay trainers is trivial. And when your character is a conjurer born under the Atronach, you can summon sparring partners for training multiple skills and experimentation. It's the only game in the series that makes mage gameplay really interesting by way of experimentation. Throw in just a good necromancy mod and things become really fascinating.

[@todd2.08]

@@NoMastersNoMistress Mages are the best Thieves in Morrowind fr. Telekinesis and Chameleon

[@SomethingScotty]

One of my fondest memories of Morrowind was probably the first time I ever played it way back when on the original Xbox. Picked it up one day after school based on a recommendation from a friend. Made a Nord. Spent like the first 3 hours in both the character creation and first town Seyda Neen. Finally decided to make the trek from Seyda to Balmora. Saw a dungeon and figured I'd go into every one I saw along the way. Walked into one dungeon with what I'm assuming is a Necromancer. Beat the piss out of him and his minions. Looted the dudes corpse and went to leave only to realize I couldn't move. I dropped everything I had on and still couldn't move. Didn't know what the problem was. Realized my endurance and strength had both been reduced to 1 in the fight. I probably waited for a total of 3 days in-game to see if the debuff would wear off. Never did. Deleted that character figuring it was bricked and made an Argonian instead since they were immune to disease. Proceeded to make the most overpowered character I've ever had in a video-game. Enchanted my gear so much that one jump took me from Balmora all the way to the Ashlands. Then jumped to Red Mountain and 1 shot everything in it with my brokenly overpowered bound Daedric longsword.

[@Soapylemonlad845]

I am a proud morrozoomer. Skill issue to anyone who can't play it.

[@Adamas_83]

Skyblivion and Skywind = The Creation engine's actual true purpose. Mod teams will be releasing the greatest, most immersive RPGs in 2025; not any AAA studio.

[@rehm402]

Dude do you think skywind will drop in 2025??

[@ashtonjack]

Skywind won't drop in 2025, but It's fine because it will give us time to play skyblivion

[@juliusfishman7222]

Exactly skyblivion 2025 ending, skywind 2029

[@DancesRainyStreets]

Then there's also Beyond Skyrim, The Wayward Realms and Light No Fire coming.

[@jamesdowns3219]

@@DancesRainyStreets I’m hyped for wayward realms. I don't want my hand held and I want to find out where to go by asking for info or doing task for people

[@georgeprchal3924]

Skyrim: Here is the exact position and a a marker of what you need. Morrowind: @#$& you, go north find a ruin somewhere north and find the @#$&ing puzzle box.

[@plebisMaximus]

you WILL spend an hour exploring the whole place before realizing it was right next to the fucking door the whole time

[@jerridok2708]

i remember being pumped for oblivion thinking it was gonna be massive like morrowind and was so sad when it wasnt :(

[@kakerei]

Nice vid, but for your information - you can join the Telvanni and mages guild in the same playthrough. Great Houses are the only excluvicve ones. Thieves Guild will ban you from joining if you complete a certain Fighters' Guild quest

[@Omniburg]

There is a mages guild quest which can bar you from Telvanni as well, I mistakenly forgot to mention it

[@Roset595]

Yeah I'm currently a Lawman in House Telvanni and a Wizard in the Mages Guild, trying to play both sides for as long as I can.

[@hiperboreo10101]

Late Morrowind player here too. The fact that you need to pay attention to the journal hints to get to places or complete quests blew my mind, it is satisfying to achieve objectives without quest marks.

[@matiasvonbischhoffshausen1307]

I remember the time I was going through the quest with the dwemer ruins and the box. I was lost for a few minutes in the dungeon, until I remembered something I heard on a video ablut a lot of people missing the dwemer box, so I returned to the entrance and searched everywhere for the item. I eventually found it in a room I hadn't seen before, and returned to the quest giver. It was fun to just wander around the place without anything to guide me, since I explored the dungeon more, though I hate the dungeons in Daggerfall. Those buildings, if they could be called that, are a complete architectural disaster, and not having any method to identify the target of my quest, like a small difference in the sprite, or being the only enemy of its type in the dungeon, made completing guild quests a nightmare.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Skyrim: here is a floating marker Morrowind: here is a proper description on how to find the guy. He lives in that town in that house and visits that place every Tuesday and Friday. Go and find him.

[@resiseven7407]

it's how most rpgs worked prior to quest markers. it's funny how games like fallout 3 & skyrim are meant to be about freedom, and yet everytime i play them they feel like a reeeeally slow roller-coaster. with loading screens.

[@denisrivarola2387]

Morrowind LOOKS more like Skyrim than Oblivion.

[@divinezoomer7305]

Playing Morrowind right now. It was my first elderscrolls, but when i played it i was just a kid and didnt know wtf i was doing. going back now to replay it more seriously, i agree with all your points man. I love Oblivion and Skyrim, Morrowind is much more of an RPG. the Dialogue is much better even if it isnt voice acted. I haven't modded in better graphics yet, but i will at some point. you can fix a lot of the games age with mods. When i was a kid my brother modded in spells for me, Morrowind brings back great memories of being a kid and fucking around with broken spells.

[@tsbol2201]

I suggest starting with OpenMW as a baseline when you get into modding. The engine overhaul makes the game play experience much more stable and you can pile on graphical mods after that if you want a more personalized experience.

[@JourneyManJoel5]

Morrowinds replay ability is crazy for example I’m playing a mage right now and focusing on telvanni house but when I’m eventually done with my save I will want to try something different such as being a character that uses a melee weapon and when I’m done with that and want to try something else well then the cycles continues and each time I will learn more and more and be more immersed in the world

[@ElliotKeaton]

3:41 In fairness, Morrowind _alone_ was touted as being a hostile, alien land where you might think you stepped into another realm all the way back in Redguard.

[@HickoryDickory86]

After _Starfield,_ I have lost all of what little remained of my faith in Bethesda, and I have lost all hope that TES VI will be anything resembling a quality product. I will give it a wide berth and just content myself with the games I already own. And I look forward, instead, to _Skyblivion_ and _Skywind._ _Fallout: London_ also looks phenomenal!

[@jmangames5562]

@@EcardEcardian Bahahaha yeah ok lets check sales and current player numbers......Skyrim is the GOAT and it is not even debatable. You can like Morrowind better but that does not mean it is there best game, period.

[@lorecow88]

@jmangames5562 Most people have low standards. Success and quality don't always go hand-in-hand. Skyrim also came out at a time when the audience for video games was several times larger, and it was heavily advertised.

[@michadybczak4862]

I lost hope when Skyrim came out, and the next Bethesda games were even worse. Morrowind is a masterpiece - there is no game like it.

[@EngiGODS358]

​@@jmangames5562Player count means nothing, bring a toaster in it you don't have the intelligence level to use the Internet

[@ernestisom5878]

Only thing holding morrowind back was the technology of the time this game is still leagues ahead of many modern games.

[@lamedrawings]

You know Skyrim's story is cooked when one of the most downloaded mod is to tell Delphine "Hey I'm the leader of the Blades now and I say we don't kill the dragon that has helped us w defeating Alduin" instead of bending over backwards to her demands like a low class soldier.

[@plebisMaximus]

That's cool, but another settlement needs your help. I'll mark it on your map.

[@nikocantas6886]

Solid content keep it coming man

[@Ph33NIXx]

To me.. the only thing missing to make the Morrowind Combat system perfect.. Is a dodge and Miss animation...

[@Downshift25]

I got morrowind back in 06 and younger me could appreciate it. The game I've spent most time on is Oblivion and ESO but now that I'm older, Morrowind and Daggerfall are good. Skyrim is the one I least go back to.

[@Idle_Wisdom]

This was an excellent take on the comparison between Morrowind and Skyrim in particular and older versus newer open world rpgs in general. I too only played Morrowind in the last few years and it really impressed me with its setting, story, and options.

[@garycurrier1037]

The dawnguard quest line has choices that affect the outcome of the game like joining the dawnguard rather than the vampire lords. In a way it's the same as the civil war quest line where you choose a side and then gain benefits completely independent from either side.

[@stevesmith7793]

i remember playing morrowind back in the day, it was so much harder than modern games. we didn't have internet guides to help you, no mini maps, no quest markers, vague directions to the objective, limited fast travel, and a strategy guide the size of a phonebook. such a great game.

[@MatthewMcRowan]

i couldn't beat it until i was grown up

[@UlricTheWolf]

You can get a mini map in Morrowind. All you have to do is click on the corner of the map to lock it on the screen. You can then resize it and move to a location you like. Although I only do this when using detect magic or detect key spells.

[@dylanevartt3219]

​@UlricTheWolf I love how the menu system works, being able to resize and move around all the menus. Plus it's everything instantly on one page instead of tabbing through skyrims console-optimized ui

[@TheRaya09]

The problem is tod howard vision, "keep it simple" but at the same time make it as big as possible at the expense of it being empty and dull

[@redomer91]

I had an idea a few years ago on how to play Skyrim in a way to make it more interesting. I simply stopped using the fast travel via the map markers and when I noticed the game wasn't exactly build for that I installed some mods that greatly expanded upon the in universe fast travel system by connecting the important places up more thoroughly via carriage and boat and added divine intervention back in. The result was actually astonishing, especially when combined with survival mechanics, vanilla or modded. I saw so much more of the game world and getting to a place felt so much more fulfilling. Sure, completing objectives takes much longer but the real objective was the adventure along the way. Also, shoutout to one my favorite mod series in Skyrim, Cities of the North. Greatly helps enhancing the feeling of being a fantasy world by changing the hold capitals up while remaining very lore friendly and fitting right in.

[@IceDruid23]

I hope you'll make a video covering Tamriel Rebuilt as well. It's amazing and great at the same time!

[@petervlcko4858]

No hand holding. Better designed world. Skill+stats system and so on. Reading actually keeps my attention higher because of my feelings. Impact of your actions and choices. Arrows have weight. Planing. Journal. Ingenuity. With this game you can learn foreign language if you install it into it.

[@rehm402]

Arrows have weight?!?!

[@petervlcko4858]

@@rehm402 yes. Like everything should in the game. So you can not have unlimited amount. Different types weight differently, do different dmg so you spend some time to think what you need and game give you this management which seems boring but in the same time is immersive because you can mess up or doing good. In just so small things game do make you feel that you do not play arcade.

[@shrouddreamer]

​@@petervlcko4858 "Oh hush. We wouldn't want to expect players to actually use their brains, would we? Catering to casuals makes us so much money, why change?" - Bethesda (probably)

[@petervlcko4858]

@@shrouddreamer yeah true

[@plebisMaximus]

For people who might not know, even money had weight in Daggerfall. It had a banking system, where each province had their own independent bank. If you needed a large chunk of money for a daedric chestplate or something, you had to get a note from the bank to use in the store instead. An easy way to make a lot of money early game was also to loan a shitload of money from a few different banks and then go deposit it in the region you wanted to live in and never pay any of the loans back. Of course, they'd send bounty hunters after you to collect. This kind of depth is completely dead in modern Elder Scrolls. Wouldn't surprise me if future Bethesda games just got rid of the weight system altogether, wouldn't want players to complain they couldn't pick up that worthless, pointless battleaxe they found because they didn't bother dropping off the 6 sets of ebony armour they're carrying from last dungeon after all.

[@comradecatbug5289]

Games being afraid to ask players to commit to their choices is a hindrance holding modern RPGs back. It's even affecting FROM games, which is crazy as they were known for not catering to players.

[@manaboutsound]

Nicely put together and good argument, thank you

[@michaelwarner3890]

This was really good I subscribe

[@barronTV1]

Skyrim was my first and Morrowind is my favourite, I can't enjoy Oblivion or Skyrim the same after playing MW. Its the best Bethesda game and we'll never see another like it.

[@ryguy1483]

I understand Skyrim, but not Oblivion? The combat in Morrowind always prevents me from diving further, along with the slow running.

[@barronTV1]

@ryguy1483 morrowind combat is simple, turn on always use best attack, pick some weapon skills as major and use those weapons, hold down attack instead of spamming and go into a fight at full fatigue. Fatigue is king in morrowind. As for speed, level up speed.

[@Ardieeh]

highly recommend for you to check out Daggerfall Unity as well. for me it took the #1 spot from MW

[@barronTV1]

@Ardieeh I forgot, I played DFunity before MW as well, thought it was really good, too ambitious for 1996 but still really good. Looking forward to the spiritual sequel Wayward Realms

[@theslavicrat3784]

@@ryguy1483 Oblivion has objectivly the worst gameplay out of the whole series. Quite literally just button mashing and damage sponges

[@el-violador]

I'm a Morrowboomer. I played Morrowind as a 13-14 year old and it's still my favourite game of all time. That said, while Skyrim has been the most commercially successful of TES games (and is my second favourite game) I feel it has done irreparable damage *BECAUSE* of its success. Todd Howard comes across as a dude that just wants to make all the fans happy and that's noble. But the bigger the fan base gets, the more mixed the fan base gets (people whos favourite game is the Witcher or Elden Ring or Dragon Age but play because it's in the genre) the harder it is to please them all. I haven't played Starfield but I read a comment that said it's "the oldest new game I've ever played". Has that dude played anything other than Skyrim? That's Bethesda's MO. Make a game that's rough around the edges but then makes a playground where you're free to be what you want. I'm sure Starfield would have been great if Bethesda stopped trying to please everyone and just made a playground for the old-school RPG fan

[@DrakusRecords]

I'm old and played this game when it first came out. It was the first Elder Scrolls game I ever played and it blew me away. I never finished it though. I might just have to go back to it.

[@muhammadscott1488]

Bro feel free to make a part teo this video is amazing

[@wh1st]

I miss the political complexity in Skyrim. In Morrowind for example the brother of the Duke of Vvanderfel(from Hlaalu, best buddies of the Empire) is a leader of racist criminal gang and possibly the biggest slave owner in the game and has half of fighting guild in his pocket.

[@wh1st]

Also Telvanni are possibly the least racist bunch, because they enslave every race equally :D

[@carstumps]

Daddy knows best!

[@heyitsvonage2768]

The best part about Morrowind is the setting! I love this game but it was my first Elder Scrolls game, so I have a bias. The lore is AMAZING. The cultural detail is AMAZING. The feeling of walking the path to discover if you are truly “the one” is done SO WELL. This game is MY SHIIIIIIIIIIII (explodes into pure magicka)

[@thecoffeebadger5807]

I actually like Morrowind, especially It's 21 classes. With the release of Skyrim Anniversary Edition, I can actually use the Morrowind classes in Skyrim. Now that I am able to see the skills from older elder scrolls games. Skyrim did not actually remove the things people actually thought they did. Spears don't actually exist in Skyrim, but the Stalhrim, Ebony, and Orcish Battleaxes are Halberd types and would considered to be spears in Morrowind. The creation club batteaxe that looks a Spear is in fact a Spear, it just falls in the two-handed category and it benefits from the battleaxe perks. Hand to Hand is now a perk in Heavy Armor, Mysticism is broken off into the 5 schools of magic, fatigue is now part of Survival Mode, intelligence is now a perk in the schools of magic, endurance is together in the stamina attribute and strength is in the form of perks. The only weapons missing in Skyrim are ninja stars, but those are replaced with throwing spiders, and Scrolls. Fenrik's Welcome is back in Skyrim which is a spell that opens expert or lower level chests. That spell has been around since Daggerfall and that was awesome to see it return to Skyrim. As for a true RPG? Daggerfall wins that title in my opinion. The dungeons suck in Daggerfall which Morrowind beats Daggerfall in Dungeon Design and Skyrim even better than both Morrowind and Daggerfall, but Daggerfall wins the RPG elements for how much emphasis the game persists that you do the miscellaneous quests first before the main quest ever begins. The RPG elements are so well put together, you can't even tell which is the main quest on your first playthrough. To this day, no other game has come close to Daggerfall's RPG elements and I like the way Morrowind follows almost the same thing. Skyrim is optional if you want to be hand held, but as a Elder Scrolls boomer, you and I must follow the small quests first before you are ready to begin the main quest. That's what Bethesda is expecting of their older fanbase to do.

[@ginke1996]

And much of this only became available 10 years later in a paid DLC, while the modding community had already created

[@kasper-jw2441]

When Skyrim released, i played it once.. called my older brother and said: this was fun, but not that special... i dont understand what the fuzz was about with the elder scrolls games. He was like: oh.. uhmm, but uhm.. can you levitate? Levitate? how do you mean? In Morrowind you can levitate he said.. Just for that reason alone i picked up that game and never played skyrim again. If i play an elder scrolls game, it will be morrowind.

[@williamgregg6339]

I always loved Skyrim because of the map. The open world. I never thought Skyrim was a great as a rpg but I liked to explore the map.

[@kasper-jw2441]

@@williamgregg6339 well thats a good point, thats why i also think skyrim is such a different game then morrowind.. bethesda took the rpg genre en made it all about exploring and discovery, wich is fine, its just not why i play an rpg. Where as morrowind is much more about the factions and more complex quest design etc

[@williamgregg6339]

@@kasper-jw2441 They used to make good rpg's that was also fun to explore. They keep dumbing down the rpg aspect . Fallout is basically a more shooter than rpg.

[@ndfnq7811]

Morrowind is better than every game

[@gargos25]

Yes, it's definitely one of the best games I've ever played. And I have played many.

[@xbon1]

Eso is better.

[@gargos25]

@@xbon1 I've bought ESO and never played it after like 3 to 5 hours of trying hard to like it. What's so good about it? Should I start again?

[@xbon1]

@@gargos25 depends when you tried it. You also gotta make a few menu settings changes and maybe get some addons. It’s literally skyrim on steroids just without physics. They just added spellcrafting and it’s already the mmo where you have the most build customization, so adding more to that = total rpg sandbox.

[@LooniJoose]

​@@xbon1 1 million years dungeon.

[@camolive3727]

Just played through Morrowind for the first time recently and it felt like way more fun than Skyrim or Oblivion. I think it’s mostly the fact that Morrowind is much more heavy on the RPG side of things while Oblivion/Skyrim had to be toned down in that regard in order to work well on console. (Yes Morrowind was on console but it was absolutely designed to be played on PC)

[@Butchernu]

Hey man just watch your video, an loved every minute, it was informative, funny, educational, just an all round good watch, keep up the good work will be subbing an following your work. GG

[@Omniburg]

Thanks so much!! I really appreciate it. And thanks for being #700!!! You made my day!

[@nekipeh7373]

The only thing i needed more in Morrowind is more safehouses. Fixed it with some stealth killing but still, i need to satisfy my inner "mr richman estates". Also, fuck Cliffracers and Brotherhood jumpscare after rest. Love the game!

[@sigtryggureinarsson5910]

You are right Oblivion was really good, but I felt it was mechanically lacking, combat was simple, magic was simple, speech skill was simple, but it was there and i liked it and as i waited for elder scrolls 5, hoping it woukd be skyrim (icelandic so the northern theme speaks to me) it was skyrim! Happy i was, waited in line for my copy at the 11.11.11 i what wonderful times. I played it. Yea it looked okay, wait, the spells are even simpler then oblivion, were is a huge revamped speech skill, why is combat just as simple , where are the improvments!?!? Everyrhing is getting simpler and dumber

[@Omniburg]

It must have been disappointing as a long time fan like that

[@sigtryggureinarsson5910]

@Omniburg it really was , the game felt so unpolished. I really tried to like it because it was exactly what i had wanted but, the quests were underwhelming and i became champion of every guild after fetching somebody lunch like 3 times and the civil war was only like 12 people arguingand juat such a let down

[@lycanlube7484]

​@@sigtryggureinarsson5910 preach

[@lucasjerez2137]

After 22 years,2 days ago i finally beaten Dagoth Ur and the Main Quest...im on tribunal in clockwork city

[@miecha4445]

Enjoy! Tribunal was a great DLC

[@nathanaeldaigrepont1604]

I've never seen anyone say all the things I've been thinking all these years like you did. I've always loved the combat system BECAUSE of how it ties in with roll-playing; basically it is virtual 3D D&D but with a completely original plot and world. I've played this game since I was very little and now I want to start another playthrough

[@ima6pack]

To expand on your point about "Bethesda doing everything on one character": not only does it kill replay ability, but it makes the game incentivize doing EVERYTHING regardless of what kind of character you're playing. I like to play the good guy imperial knight, but there are so few places where that's feasible and even the imperial legion is so shallow that I still have to go do EVERYTHING ELSE just to get the most out of my gameplay. General Tullius doesn't even reward you with imperial gear when you advance (though the lack of unique items in Skyrim is something I could go on about all day). With your dark brotherhood example, I choose to destroy the dark brotherhood and always feel jipped because because it's such a shallow experience. It feels like I am being punished because I didn't play Bethesda's way. The companions? Well I hope you're cool with being a werewolf - which I'm absolutely not okay with. The blades? Kill the coolest, most helpful dragon you meet in game. The only faction that seemed to make the good guy roleplay feel worth it was the Dawnguard, and I actually did quite like that expansion... Even though the Dawnguard didn't even have their own swords but I'll let that one slide I guess. All that to say Skyrim was a garbage RPG at best, and simply not an RPG at worst.

[@jaydenc367]

I mean there still is game incentive clearly. There are many places where playing the good guy imperial knight is feasible though and the imperial legion really isn`t shallow tbh. You can get imperial gear by joining the imerial legion though. (nah Skyrim has unique items clearly). Dark Brotherhood isn`t a shallow experience either how is it? How does it feel like you are being punished? I mean you got options other then being a werewolf. Eh I disagree, other ones like the legion or greybeards or other ones made the good guy roleplay feel worth it too tbh. Nah Skyrim is a good RPG actually.

[@caiodiniz7371]

From the top of my head, I can remember some quests that you have choices in skyrim: - Hircine: Kill or side with the werewolf, it defines if you get the ring of hircine or the savior's hide; - The one with the bandit leader ex-husband: you can choose if you kill her and if you tell the truth or lie to the husband; - Azura: choose to side with azura or go for the Black Star; - Vaermina: choose if you kill Erandur or destroy the Staff, your choice defines if you get him as a follower or get the staff as a weapon; - choose if you side with the rieklings or the nord camp in solstheim; I do agree with you that it would be a lot better if we had more choices and consequences, but we do have a feel

[@Omniburg]

You’re absolutely right - there are definitely some quests which give you options. I just wish there were more which let you affect the world, in the way that you can with the civil war for example. In games like FNV or Kenshi, depending on which characters and factions you kill or help, you can change the world around you and that’s mainly what I’m saying shouldn’t have been removed from TES

[@mikeity2009]

Half of those are inconsequential.

[@user-un5xj1wl6p]

Those quest are not decisive in choices... well Elder scrolls rarely had those witcher level choices....

[@caiodiniz7371]

@@mikeity2009 not for the NPCs that die. Not all RPG choices are about transforming the world around you. Most choices only affect you and the people directly involved

[@johnclifford4185]

Those are just loot choices mostly that don't effect the overall world though or your position in it.

[@sherab2078]

Playing Morrowind was my best gaming experience ever. There were a few other games later on that came close, but nothing else was so memorable.

[@jimmicrackhead12]

Loved how you can wear different armour pieces

[@DivineBanana]

What blows my mind is oblivion came out just 3 years after the Morrowind dlcs. And in that time, yes they casualized alot of things, but they also added alot of ambitious things to the game that did improve the overall world building and rpg feel, such as almost all npcs having complex schedules like moving around the city, going to sleep, closing their shops etc. The cities also feel a bit more lively hearing NPCs talk more, even conversing with each other. Even if it was mostly nonsensical babble, atleast it was something to make the cities feel alive. Obviously the physics engine added alot to the realism and they overhauled the combat system (for better or worse, but it was atleast trying something a little different.) Im sure there is even more stuff i cant think of atm, but atleast Oblivion had enough changes to justify its creation as a main title in the franchise Say what you will about the jump from Morrowind to oblivion but in just 3 years they made a new game that definitely took some steps forward, even if It took some steps back as well. But then i think about the jump from oblivion to skyrim and i seriously cant think of anything significant that was added, and yet they spent more time on it. If anything it seems like they only removed things. Only took steps back. Like seriously, the only things i can think of that Skyrim brought to the table was improved graphics. I'm not trying to be a hater, i love skyrim, but seriously someone help me out here. Surely skyrim added something to rhe formula i am overlooking. Right?

[@zoltanz288]

shouts i guess. dragons. giants.

[@DivineBanana]

@@zoltanz288 so basically magic with a different name and 2 new enemies haha. I will give em points for dragons though, atleast when they do work properly, they can be pretty epic to fight, especially in a town where they are perching on buildings and the whole town is going to war. It's pretty epic NGL. I will say it does get old quick tho, by the time you are fighting your 15th dragon it kinda loses the magic lol. And once you get dragon rend they are just a joke.

[@maxranierus3574]

So Oblivion is worth it? I thought it was a flop game. I'm asking out of curiosity, i love a lot Morrowind and Skyrim.

[@shambleshef]

Without a doubt the trend is absolutely downwards. It's insane to have watched it happen from around this time (early 2000s) until now. The "shallowfication" of games. This isn't even a problem unique to elder scrolls. Devs got their heads up their rears

[@williamgregg6339]

RPG'S keep getting dumbed down.

[@dear1337er]

I remember the first character I played when I was a kid. I made a pure mage so my character was painfully slow and squishy. I spent 2 hours crawling around before I ran into betty netch on the road. Assuming the flying jellyfish was a danger I had to deal with, I attacked it and my character died in 2 hits. I instantly fell in love with the game.

[@NiceuRiceu]

it's crazy how you need Jayserpa's Quest Expansion mods, The Choice is Yours, More to Say, Follower Dialogue Expansion mods, Skyrim Reputation, the Silver Hand and Penitus Oculatus quest mods to get more RPG aspects into Skyrim that should've been in the vanilla game from the start

[@pravanshu5219]

Keep it up 👍

[@volodymyrbilyk555]

Morrowing is god tier shit. One of the best gaming experiences in my life. Its a way of life

[@ConnorRunda]

You truly honor the sixth house and the tribe unmourned.

[@NBDYSPCL]

After Morrowind, the Lotr movies came out. And they were obviously very successful. So that's why subsequent Elder Scrolls games toned down the weird and locked into the standard fantasy tropes. I love those movies, but they have a lot to answer for by homogenising fantasy in the 2000s. Just look at D&D and paperback fantasy novels from the 80s and 90s. It was wild what we had, and it just stopped.

[@tntTom174]

Morrowind - a game with deep RPG elements from leveling, skills, math behind it, fleshed out factions, requiring your attention to solve ingame Q and stuff but with completely unbalanced and unrestricted sandbox gameplay. Cheffs kiss

[@diabeticmonkey]

I’m a Morrowind elitist, and y’all n’wahs should play it.

[@Pajek-wr9us]

I already did. Skyrim is just better in my opinion

[@scortechinisebastian500]

​@@Pajek-wr9us I'm so sorry. I wish I could give you some of my good taste.

[@Pajek-wr9us]

@@scortechinisebastian500 u mean ur bad taste?

[@Sweetrayz]

The OpenMw engine made this game 10x more amazing than it already was

[@Skriak]

Hello! I was already enjoying the video and then was happy to notice a random meme of mine appear around 15:25! Honestly made me do a double-take and I'm flattered. Presumably you also lurk on the Morrowind subreddit or something?

[@Omniburg]

Yes I do! Thanks so much for commenting. It’s a funny meme!

[@Skriak]

@Omniburg Hooray! Morrowind is literally my hyperfixation recently so it's also been the focus of my memes and art.

[@FrankieWuzHere]

Still never played Morrowind. But this video makes me want to.

[@thomasinefitzpatrick]

Theres still active modding for it.

[@jordonlegge448]

And it’s like $10.

[@ArniesTech]

Morrowind makes boys to men.

[@plebisMaximus]

I largely agree with you. You are absolutely oversimplifying and exaggerating to get the point across here and there, but generally we agree. What I don't agree on is the ancient complaint that you can do conflicting questlines as a character not built for it. I prefer the Morrowind system of hard locks and disposition loss too, but I don't agree it's the only way it should be done. You killing the Emperor as a loyal general of his armies is a choice you make for your character, you are actively shunning the roleplay when you do something like that. You CAN actually join both the mages guild and House Telvanni in Morrowind too, just as you can join both the fighters guild and thieves guild, but if you want to make choices like that, you're not approaching the game with the intent of playing a character making sensible decisions within the world of the game, you're deliberately choosing to play it as a single save one-and-done thing. Same thing in Skyrim, just because you CAN be the harbinger of the companions as a cutthroat thief with no honour doesn't mean you should. Obviously it's not "playing it wrong", games are art and you're making your own interpretation by playing it however you want to, but it is a bit disingenuous to refuse to approach Skyrim as an RPG and then complain it's not good as an RPG. If you play it more like you would Morrowind, making multiple characters that specialize in one area and do only the related quests, not only does equipment/spell scaling matter less, as you won't be hitting those level 80+ highs, but it also just starts feeling like a more connected and cohesive game. Of course, then other criticisms start popping up, like the game heavily hinting you should play it "wrong", by having ambassadors of every major faction try to coerce you into joining at some point through the main quest, as well as the main quest itself being forced on you, but that's entirely different to just saying "Skyrim bad because I don't care to RP". Aside from that, I honestly don't think you went hard enough on some points, the dice based combat not only isn't as big an issue as people make it out to be, but I honestly prefer it in a lot of ways, makes you feel like your character is actually getting better. Going from failing half your basic fireball casts to nuking daedra with a single touch is so much more satisfying than just buying a new spell because shit, level scaling has left my current one useless.

[@krzysztofsokoowski4298]

Is Skyrim a shit? Yes. It is.

[@LordValdez2]

On the other hand, MW has a very old, and very limited engine. If you play MW extensions like Tamriel Reborn, you will realize that no mater how creative the mod developers are, they are constrained by the venerable engine. All quests are basically: bring, deliver, defeat, escort.

[@ghost-user559]

Kind of. There are some that do some remarkable things, and with Open Mw it is actually a completely new engine. Shaders, fov, and even combat mods that add some really interesting elements. Even the Mwse has some mods that make things feel more like later titles. But it does always feel like Morrowind, and even with a new engine the core feeling remains.

[@SuperSpacebum]

This takes me back. I played this when it came out. I was in middle school. I was legit addicted to this game. I think the music was better in this game, too. I can still remember it.

[@mkg4588]

you are so right. Thank you for this video!

[@frogdeity]

Your summary of Morrowind five minutes in is pretty good.

[@EneruM]

I was a Skyrim player for the last 10 years. Loved the universe and read about all other games, but never played them. Recently i tried Morrowind and hell, i was barely in and felt so immersed. It has to be one of the best rpgs ever. And now i can't even think of going back to Skyrim, even though i put thousand of hours in that game. Skyrim is great and all, but it really is not a role playing game and you need A LOT of mods to keep it interesting or for remaking what the crap some skill trees are. TL:DR: Go play Morrowind.

[@thomasinefitzpatrick]

Come Nerevar, friend or traitor, come. Come and look upon the Heart and Akulakahn, and bring Wraithguard, I have need of it. Come to the Heart chamber, I wait for you there, where we last met, countless ages ago. Come to me through fire and war, I welcome you!

[@singingorgames]

You have captured exactly how I've felt forever! Skyrim being an "Action adventure game" and not an RPG was always my main argument, it's good to see that others can also acknowledge this.

[@DarkVeghetta]

My only complaint regarding this video and the context in which it exists is that I'd prefer it if you posted more (but kept the quality). Maybe posting even longer videos would be a bonus. Why, yes, that does mean I don't actually have any complaints regarding the video itself. Superb work and I hope to see more from you in the future.

[@djspacebard]

Not sure about the specific examples you bring up in terms of character deaths and choices. You mention killing Astrid and Vivec, and praise the ability to kill Vivec while not being able to continue (at least the intended path of) the main quest line, while also putting down the idea of killing Astrid because you're far more incentiveised to keep her alive and follow the DB questline. I get the larger point about the vulnerability of NPCs and choice, but I don't believe these were the best examples. We can debate about how important it is to keep Vivec alive anyway, but I feel that killing Vivec early just diminishes the overall main quest experience. You get to understand him more, and his relationship with Nerevar, and thus understand the wider world more, etc. At least, to be fair, you can still kill him whenever after the main quest is finsihed, and it's not scripted, etc. But yeah, main point, you're kind of encouraged to keep both alive, at least for awhile, but we should at least praise the ability to kill them if one chooses Also, the point about joining the Legion and killing the Emperor: I would argue that the two can still happen easily enough. There's even the whole Legion quest in Morrowind where you have to go and kill the members of the Talos Cult who, if I remember correctly (it's been a few months since I've played it haha), are plotting to kill the Emperor. There's even a cool mod where you can join the Talos Cult where you try and help them kill the Emperor, but that's a seperate point. But yeah, I think the point is, one can back the Empire and its principles without backing the Emperor. I can even see the case for the Dragonborn seeing the current Emperor as illegitimate, and can justify killing him for that reason, even though they've sworn to protect them (and with that, the oath could just be meaningless for the Dragonborn) I know these were small parts in the vid, just wanted to add my two cents there haha

[@KittysDawn]

For better or worse, these games need choices to matter. Yes, even if your choices are BAD. Or your build is BAD. That's tough luck, buddy. You can always try again. Or just grind even more to compensate for your terrible choices. Yes, quest should be possible to fail. Your game world should not be safe and bubble wrapped. If you kill everyone in a fit of gamer rage, reload or live with your choices. Even choices people never use should be kept in games. The fact you have a choice and it has an effect you can't simply ignore IS THE POINT. Yes, some things may exist purely for the player to have a comparison point to what they are doing. But I get it. From a standpoint of investing, making a game where everyone quits after playing the tutorial 40 minutes is best. They'll buy it again even though they say they won't. Everyone acts like it should backfire.. eventually. People will learn better. I remind people of horse armor and how much more offensive DLCs are now common. Fallout 4/76 should have been the point people learned. We got Starfield anyway, and Starfield is a SUCCESS. They'll do it again.

[@Skyslayer5]

Dagoth Ur is even more terrifying when you realize his end goal. Become the Godhead to try and right the "wrongs of the past". Uniting everything under him. Everyone would be him and he would be everyone. The thing is, what we know is CHIM, the end result would most likely be everyone zero summing out of existence.

[@akumaoni3861]

15:00 so many examples of how NPCs have depth in morrowind. Racist pubs, slave freedom fighters, spies hiding in plain sight you can eventually have train you, a cult of daedra worshipers in a sewer, the last dwarf, a mad wizard who cloned himself into female sex slaves he calls his daughters, another mad wizard who has a serious fetish for furries, an enslaved and perpetually bored daedra serving as a tour guide for a rock, I can go on and on xD

[@rickyrain7773]

You are correct, sir. I still love skyrim and Oblivion, but they just dont compare.