The User Interface of Every Mainline Elder Scrolls Game

An exploration of the user interface design and functionality of each mainline game in the Elder Scrolls series: The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
The sections on Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim are from my previous videos.
Enjoy, and don’t forget to hit that subscribe button for a cool glass of milk!
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:34 Arena & Daggerfall
5:09 Morrowind
12:24 Oblivion
17:29 Skyrim
22:19 Conclusion
Sources:
The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages Wiki: en.uesp.net/wiki/Main_Page
Morrowind Loading Screens in Widescreen: / morrowind_loading_scre...
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Game of the Year Edition) Manuel cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.co...
DND Character Sheet: www.dicegeeks.com/character-s...
The Art of Morrowind: www.imperial-library.info/con...
The Making of Oblivion Documentary (which is on KZbin!) • The Making of Oblivion...
Music:
Awake (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim soundtrack)
Where Dost Thou Hail (The Elder Scrolls: Arena soundtrack)
Over Snow (The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall soundtrack)
Nerevar Rising, The Road Most Travelled, Peaceful Waters, Caprice, Nerevar Rising (Reprise) (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind soundtrack)
Watchman’s Ease, Wings of Kynareth, Harvest Dawn (The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion soundtrack)
Dragonborn, The Jerall Mountains, Secunda, The Bannered Mare, The Streets of Whiterun (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Soundtrack)
Glory of Cyrodiil (The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion soundtrack)
Creative Exercise (Mario Paint Soundtrack)

[@tilofuder5182]

I really love morrowind's UI because it really prioritises function over form. It's not pretty but it's straight to the point. Press one button and on a single screen you can see your character sheet, inventory, spellbook and map at once. You can move around and resize each window to your liking and you can even pin them so that they stay on screen while playing the game. You can, for example, pin your character sheet to see your stats while playing, which comes handy if you're playing as a mage for example as it lets you see exactly how much magicka you have left, instead of just having a blue bar. It also lets you know when one of your attributes is damaged. You can also pin your map for example, if you think the minimap is too small. I also love the way it works. Everything is drag and drop which makes it very easy to use and rather intuitive once you understand how it works. I particularily like how you can drag and drop items from your inventory onto the game world and vice versa. It makes it easier to place items and decorate a room for example. I also like that it's semi transparant and that you can control its opacity and size depending on how much of the world you want to see while browsing your menues. It helps with analysing what's going on while deciding what would be the best approach to certain situations. You can even completely disable certain windows if you have no use for them. Mainly, the spellbook. If you're playing as a warrior and never plan on using magick, you can outright disable the spellbook window to make more room for your inventory or your map for example.

[@bullseye0913]

Yes i was in the milk club

[@CodeAndGin]

I love your editing it's so fun

[@milkdrinker28]

Thank you! :D

[@saffral]

One thing I don't think gets mentioned enough is Daggerfall's extensive control customisation screen (if you press Esc in-game to get to the menu) and if you press Enter it toggles the game into mouselook mode, like the later games use by default. With a bit of tinkering you can play Daggerfall almost like the more modern titles. Side note, I think Oblivion's UI is specifically intended to be a clipboard. Remember when clipboards were a thing?

[@TheNonnomen]

Extremely niche Elder Scrolls subject matter? I'll be there

[@laomedeiaa]

1:06 MILK DRINKER BEING REAL AS HELL AS USUAL

[@PizzaRollExpert]

I really like Morrowinds UI and it's a shame that more games haven't done anything like it. There are some quality of life improvements that would be nice to have, like searching for things by name, sorting different ways and less dragging and dropping, but it's super useful when you learn how it works

[@OceanMachine_]

The rat caps the colovian fur helm once more.

[@velociswagtor]

i luv these elder scrolls vids youve been making, been watching them like an ant taped to a phone screen

[@emmanuel1337]

Damn, this channel is too good to be so underrated... I honestly love the constant memes -- never get tired of this style of editing hahaha.

[@stormstout115]

I jusf realized how wild that es arena cover art is by todays standard

[@justsomedude5727]

I'd like to mention Daggerfall's fullscreen mode where you only have small health stamina and mana bars on screen, makes it super immersive and definetly my preferred way.

[@marcinsarniak]

Skyrim UI is tailored for consoles, and that's why it feels inconvenient on PC.

[@TylerJMacDonald]

The editing in this is amazing. Instantly subscribed. Looking forward to more!

[@aevvah_flxwer8550]

17:17 - I appreciated this meme 20:27 - Lmfao xDD Awesome rehash of these videos (the Arena & DF sections were great)! Also, the meme inserts and editing were very well done as always ^^ I hope TES VI takes inspiration from how older games styled their UI, not that Skyrim's is bad...maybe it could take inspiration from how Skyblivion does it.

[@milkdrinker28]

Thank you so much :D I would love to see a better UI design in the next game, and I think taking inspiration from the older games is a great idea for sure

[@skeletonking4119]

I played morrowind as an old friend advice me to when I have disappointed from VTMB 2 and the new people in charge, morrowind was indeed hard , harsh , I hate it then was scared , after that I study it, notice my errors, build my character better, then try again, And again, then I just adore it, it’s one of few games that I actually FEELS LIKE I am part of that strange beautiful world. It give me inner peace.. and I adore it! I really missed it! Once I fixed my game I will finally be able to play it!

[@ccl1195]

You did a good job. I reference these games a lot for my work on my own games. I like that you spent a lot of time in your analysis paying attention to the tones and allusions in the paper UIs. I think these are very important. You can see good examples of the form too in Medieval Dynasty and Kingdom Come: Deliverance. These older games, back to Morrowind, were made at a time where we read more, used physical books, and even wrote each other letters. I think that's very important, and it would be nice to go back toward that a bit. Also that's a nice rat you've got there. It would be a shame if somebody put it in an opening Fighter's Guild quest.

[@yalkn2073]

Daggerfall also has a minimal hud

[@Cewrin]

It's surprising how often people miss this.

[@peterduprey7286]

I drink milk right out of the jug when no one’s looking.

[@greenleaf4127]

awesome video, thanks!

[@TheFrogEnjoyer]

I'm glad to have found this channel. I shall watch your career with great interest.

[@dumbage]

why are your videos so amazing?

[@moonverine]

This is a genre of video game analysis I never knew I needed until today.

[@Tigerbro6]

i laughed when your voice went double on the unsheathe. morrowind is based as heck, spent like 3 weeks finishing that game and i had such a blast handling the journal.

[@VanBurenOfficial]

The underking would give a great asmr back scratch

[@kynlem]

what a fun video! thanks for making it :]

[@ArkngthandArchive]

Great video!

[@rutherfordmoment]

The daggerfall box is so cool in person it's holographic

[@dog_with_hat]

Excellently made video :) here before they blew up

[@thinlizzie435]

Interesting video man

[@dog_with_hat]

I agree, the artwork in Oblivion is so good. I absolutely love it.

[@fartingcowgt8953]

Holy cow i remember when this channel had 19 subscribers. The growth is well deserved and soon to be exponential. I expected nothing less from the goat.

[@milkdrinker28]

Thank you so much! I greatly appreciate the support :D

[@NotYourEveryDayAlex]

Just bought 5 gallons of milk right before i found this channel. Coincidence? I think not

[@jacksonhaug8015]

“Someone cooked here” 😂😂😂subbed

[@igors2383]

and for so long i wondered if ever a feem would make videos like this

[@jasonmuller1199]

I enjoyed your video thanks, Morrowind is my favorite game in the series, I just can't get enough of that game

[@DigitalVirusX2]

I usually prefer a more minimalist UI, elements that fade away when not in use, which is why despite not really liking Skyrim's UI 'design' I do like how un-intrusive it is in gameplay. Actually selecting items, going through the menus and not being able to see my character when selecting armor is a pain in the butt tho. OH! And the constellations are actually amazing, they're so pretty and I love how it has that awesome 3D effect when zooming into different perks.

[@HTRism]

Ds-despite being a stutterer I loved that detail

[@Barholtworld]

Never seen your channel or videos before but this is really good. You got talent and I will check out more. Can you do something on daggerfall unity? Maybe with some mods since a channel like jodzie makes it look like a current day indie masterpiece and I would love to see your take on something like that.

[@Ser_Locke]

Very cool, thank you Elder Scrolls Pyrocynical

[@gur1363]

this broad is good at editing

[@biblium17]

Morrowind appreciation from a fellow Gen Z, as well as wojaks and nerd memes throughout the video? Subscribed

[@crosswire40]

It's 3 AM for me. The perfect time for MILK. Excellent video!

[@Jaymastia]

I see you.

[@zoeyes6829]

this was a fun watch and I definitely agree. also I like to chug an entire jug of milk every full moon

[@Verchiel_]

I find skyrim's UI design to be a healthy mix of being clean whilst having just enough flair to be a standout. I find it fits quite well with the rest of the skyrim's themes, seeing as skyrim and it's nordic inspiration is overall more simplistic focusing on lineart. Shame the major quest knotworks around quest names weren't brought up, probably one of the most elaborate and unique pieces of UI in skyrim. It's not super expressive but it's hard to dislike imo. More in line with morrowind in it's design. And the map in skyrim is honestly one of the best in video games. Some minor issues like the limited camera movement aside, seeing a full 3D model of the world and being able to pan around it and really be able to plan your routes is great. Meanwhile the inventory/magic menus are certainly the weakpoint, which is why SkyUI is such a core essential. I do hope with tes6 they bring back some of the morrowind UI features, like customizable window sizes/locations, a minimap, etc.

[@jking4854]

I think the thing with Skyrim's UI functionality is that it was designed with controllers in mind, I wonder how the console version of the other TES games fair in UI functionality.

[@NineEyeRon]

Don’t bash the KZbin Algorithm if it delivers like this! Subscribed, liked, commented, bell icons etc

[@Necrom6]

Good video, me like :)

[@frogdeity]

Morrowind has the best UI and it's not even close.

[@uncledaisy]

Honestly you could do a video just on the morrowind concept art booklet alone

[@kg30004]

God I love the Elder Scrolls

[@tsdulyn9]

You are a critically underrated youtuber

[@tJustSoup]

oh frick, gotta go get my milk

[@stanleyparks]

me when a milk drinker twenty-eight video comes out: 😈

[@maxtravers1314]

I think about oblivion’s UI all the time, it did so much for immersion and aestehtics…

[@Openzmindz_]

love your videos lol. :D Yeah, Skyrim's UI from a functional standpoint is great but UI before it was so much cozier and immersive.

[@Openzmindz_]

yep, overall, I do think Oblivion is the winner here.

[@povilzem]

Morrowind is the literal peak of functionality. In Skyrim you have like six separate menus for your map, spells, inventory, statistics, skills, etc. In Morrowind you get all of that in one screen with one click of your right mouse button. Skyrim might be more convenient for console, but who on earth cares about console gaming...

[@Openzmindz_]

@@povilzem True. Morrowind probably had better UI in that case. I forget about vanilla Skyrim UI sometimes and tend to default to SkyUI. I got into Skyrim and TES late so I started with SkyUI.

[@Openzmindz_]

I have used some of vanilla UI since I eventually got it on my switch for convenience.

[@retroartist9186]

Amazing video, the editing is on point haha

[@RockBand2Freak78]

When the youtube algorithm hits just right

[@1q34w]

Morrowind had the best inventory. It wasn't plagued by console design.

[@cruz6550]

LONGER VIDEO YYIIIIPPPPIIIIIIIII

[@pixelheresy]

Oblivion’s main quest is better than Skyrim, but wait until you get through Morrowind. Best story, best lore.

[@elainetamika4822]

Uriel Septim after daggerfall travelled to Turkey...i mean to visit a Redguard hair transplant doctor... mean Mage, and than he reverted his balding.

[@driftwoods2229]

This deserves waaay more views. Excellent job!

[@arcanemagpie6833]

You can tell the UI has been more and more dumbed down to make it easier for use with a controller + console throughout the games. My personal favorite is Morrowind's, although I would like it to have a functioning map and journal like Oblivion and Skyrim had.

[@birel3336]

Thankfully the Skyblivion Project is not using the modern-esque UI and going full blast in the artistic side

[@MrVisualHigh]

I'd take Skyrims UI over the ugly pseudo-skeuomorphic UI of Oblivion any day.

[@birel3336]

@@MrVisualHigh hm, I was talking about skyblivion remake, look it up on their channel, they released a good video about the new "Reworked from Scratch" UI and development progress. Thanks for the input, tough. Personally I find Skyrim UI very messy without the SKYUI mod, oblivion is at least a bit more useful, either way it's not saying that is great by any means.

[@MrVisualHigh]

@@birel3336 So I looked up the Skyblivion UI and their UI is certainly a vast improvement on the original Oblivion. I didn't like how noisy the original game was, too many textures and decorative frills made it hard to know where to luck. I don't know that I agree that Skyrim UI is "Messy", I think it was designed for a console market first which is gonna feel weird on PC. Bethesda could definitely have implemented some tweaks to PC versions to add some quality of life stuff.

[@PANDORAZTOYBOKZ]

Bruh I cleared my watch history and immediately this is the first shit I got reccomended. IS CLEARING SEARCH HISTORY THE SECRER TO FINDING GOOD CHANNELS???

[@charliemelton885]

You and Anyaustin need to collab lol, ur the gods of analyzing mundane things about Bethesda games

[@milkdrinker28]

Thank you! :D I’ve seen some of his Skyrim videos and they’re really good

[@ryanwinsel4053]

The ELder SCrolss !!!

[@GrooveSpaceArk]

Ye olde medieval UI is GOAT

[@jaydenlobbe7911]

0:02 Yipe

[@cat_city2009]

"Majeeka" lol

[@atomicat]

No lollygaggin

[@coynelaundry]

yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!🎉

[@HUNGRY4EGGS]

Milk

[@carloscaminha9748]

I'm mageecka addicted

[@diurtydantv8061]

In terms of functionality the Bethesda fallout games have TES beat. Even if i enjoy the TES menues art design more.

[@connorlenihan2015]

Red is math, not health

[@jakefocht5715]

Wait... I know you...

[@rukusrasputin4290]

"Muh-jee-kuh"

[@oceanman7549]

Sure fuck it, I got 23 minutes to kill

[@jakefocht5715]

Oh the racism... Fond memories....

[@timheyfl]

What about elder scrolls online?

[@aleksapetrovic6519]

Pitty you didn't cover Battlespire, Redguard and ESO. Battlespire has the worst UI, all icons are the same and I am not talking about all potions, but unrelated items like potion and scroll. Redguard UI is predecessor of Morrowind and Oblivion and I love it. ESO UI is meh as it copies Skyrim UI, but with no logic. Skyrim to some extend had subtle norse art like knots at the end of a window (wish Skyrim went more on that like they did with menu), in ESO it makes no sense, because it covers whole Tamriel. It's not distracting at all, but functionality is the only thing it has going for.

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

I love morrowind, but I hate everything about the user interface

[@fawkes774]

5:02 this is true, I’m white people

[@Mastattak]

12:48 Omfg this is genuine editing gold

[@skjelm6363]

I hope they'll never bring TES VI, because atm it seems they kill every franchise. Every new Fallout was a downstep, Starfield is a disgrace in comparison to real RPGs and don't mention the other vampire thing game they made... To be honest, they are not capable of doing a good game. Bethesda always relayed on modders to fix their game and screwed them over afterwards. but looking around they missed the big step in the future, how games could be nowadays - and there are some great games out there! I loved Oblivion back then, I played Skyrim when it came out for such a long time, but in all that years I learned to dispise Bethesdas dealing with the customer. I don't believe that they will ever recover or even want that. They sold Skyrim, how many times "as new" in a decade? Nah. That hype is over loooong ago.

[@nmanything]

HELP WHY DIDNT YOU USE DAGGERFALL UNITY

[@diurtydantv8061]

Probably because og daggerfall is the version available on steam

[@shiny1556]

Some people complain about the quests in the journals getting simplified over the years but it really embraces the local cultures. In Morrowind you have paragraphs sucking yourself off whilst talking about your tasks whilst Skyrim embraces the Nord mindset of “hrm do thing”

[@throatwobblermangrove7508]

UI in skyrim is trash

[@winter_ghosth]

They are losing money if they don't remake the first 2 games to look more like Skyrim/oblivion or Morrowind but I hate Morrowind game mechanics

[@KingJulius349]

Skywind and and Skyblivion already on it

[@Kropolis]

​@KingJulius349 nah he's talking about remaking Arena and Daggerfall

[@winter_ghosth]

@@Kropolis Yeah and not necessarily like skyrim , just take the game's own mechanics and enhance it , also the graphics.

[@KingJulius349]

@@Kropolis ohhh yeah I don’t think that’s possible those games has so many more rpg features and Bethesda has no interest in add ing features only substracting , especially not feature they had in earlier games.

[@DancesRainyStreets]

They probably won't, too much work next to their upcoming games. Most games in the series have active communities, except Arena i think. There's an endless list of mods and quite the number of larger projects, either already out or in progress. Daggerfall Unity, OpenMW, Tamriel Rebuilt, Beyond Skyrim, Skyblivion, Skywind, Morroblivion, just to name the most well-known. Akso, most of Morrowind's mechanics are closer to the original idea of how an RPG functions, with some of them being dated and tedious indeed.

[@Vallee152]

The number of memes you use is so annoying