Morrowind: Best Computer RPG. Ever.

[Simplicity]

I remember Morrowind. The controls were awful and when I finally got someone to give me a quest I had to walk for almost a half an hour in real time to find a bugged door. I think that was the one and only time I ever bothered to play it...it was awful.

Oblivion was much better, but as soon as I found out nearly every single story quest is "go kill the demons and bring me their magic rock" it got boring in a hurry.

Every story quest on the main thread... but yeah. That got old pretty damn fast.

 

[Mycanid]

Pity ... and here I was thinking that Oblivion would be more than that and stupendous eye candy. :\

 

[trancejeremy]

Well, the Elder Scroll series has pretty much followed the same pattern since Arena. Generally you either like it or you don't.

I'm really not sure which is the peak. Morrowind is probably the biggest (Arena covered more ground, but was procedurally generated for the most part), but Daggerfall was somewhat deeper character wise.

I'm kinda disppointed that they went for better graphics, rather than making smarter NPCs. (I don't mean NPCs that follow a schedule, but ones that actually have personalities and such). While I like the games, there is a certain emptiness to them, as none of the NPCs sound different, saying exactly the same things. (Oblivion gave speech, but they still do, just have 5-6 different voice actors).

Personally, I think Wasteland is still the best ever. Obviously not as open, but I've probably finished that game 50 times.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I had reservations about Morrowind before I purchased it, but I have to say now that it is definitely one of my favorites. I'd rank it as number 2, the Baldur's Gate series being the best and Fallout 2 coming in at number 3. Oblivion was also excellent, but I actually liked Morrowind better for the plot and because of the diversity of the various towns you could visit.

A lot of people thought that Morrowind was tedious, but no other game made me feel so much as if I was actually a character in the game world. The fact that you could manipulate nearly everything in your environment was also a treat. Also, I enjoyed the fact that it took so long for my character to figure out what was going on. As the plot slowly unfolded it made the situation that more intriguing to me, and caused me to want to adventure and discover more about the situation.

Afterwards I played KOTOR and hated the fact that I couldn't manipulate everything around me and that I couldn't find a lightsaber on the dark jedi I had just killed most of the time. In fact, I found KOTOR inferior and tedious compared to Morrowind in almost every aspect despite the fact it was a newer game. However, more people enjoyed KOTOR than Morrowind. Take the lightsabers away from KOTOR and I think they would have realized what an inferior product they really had.

 

[silver_wizard]

Morrowind was an ok game. However, if we are to decide what the best RPG is, I'm gonna vote for Planescape: Torment. The only game I've played that gives you a sense that it is NOT all about killing things. Great setting, great story, great characters. I remember trying to play Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal immediately after completing Torment. I was totally bored and turned off after about 15 mins. It lasted longer when I tried to play Morrowind again, but still...

That said, I haven't played Oblivion yet. It might actually be better

 

[jonesy]

Morrowind is the ultimate exploration game. I find it great how you don't have a 'magic compass' pointing to where you need to go, and actually need to find the places yourself.

And the simple 'you become better at what you do' is awesome.

Hehehe... If you like Morrowind, Oblivion will blow you away.

I have both, and still prefer GOTY Morrowind. Oblivion just feels small. Especially so after you get a horse.

There are hundreds of NWN mods, any one of which is more fun to play than Morrowind.

There are also hundreds of Morrowind mods so that point is moot.

Also, I enjoyed the fact that it took so long for my character to figure out what was going on. As the plot slowly unfolded it made the situation that more intriguing to me, and caused me to want to adventure and discover more about the situation.

I didn't find the main quest until after I'd done most of the mainland guild quests. And I wasn't even sure which the main quest was untill the corprus stuff started.

 

[trancejeremy]

What made KOTOR great was not the light sabers (though they make everything better), but the story and the characters. The big spoiler in it is probably one of the greatest plot twists of all time (including movies and books). And while I wouldn't say all of them were the best, I can remember most of the characters from it. Carth, the whiny jerk; Bastilla the stuck up Jedi; HK the psycho droid; Canderous the Mandalorian; Juhani the lesbian cat lady Jedi; Jolee the crotchety old guy.

By contrast, the only one I can remember in Morrowind is the head of the thieves guild, and he pretty much is a standard Robin Hood type. And the plot is sorta cliche - you are the "chosen one".

OTOH, in Morrowind you have pretty much complete freedom. You can wander however you like and it's fun just exploring.

KOTOR tried to combine a great story with some freedom - you had some nonlinearity in doing the quests, and you could generally do quests by several different ways, and there was the whole Light Side/Dark side thing.

It (along with Planescape: Torment) was sort of an attempt to merge the console style of RPG (mostly from Japan), which focus intensely on the story and characterization (but at the expense of freedom) and the computer ones, which tended to be less linear. It still leaned more towards the story driven ones.

Anyway, at one time, at least for Daggerfall, Bethesda wanted more depth in terms of NPCs and PC interaction. But that never panned out. Presumably because the game was already running late.

I guess companies have to make a trade off. They can only pack so much stuff in a game, so can't do both story/characters and freedom.

It will be interesting though to see what EA's upcoming Middle Earth RPG will be like. It's supposed to be open like Oblivion, but it uses "Sims" technology for the AI.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

However, if we are to decide what the best RPG is, I'm gonna vote for Planescape: Torment. The only game I've played that gives you a sense that it is NOT all about killing things. Great setting, great story, great characters. I remember trying to play Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal immediately after completing Torment. I was totally bored and turned off after about 15 mins.

Ugh! I forgot about Planescape: Torment! A great game! What can change the nature of a man?

Oh, and Throne of Bhaal was a bad ending to an otherwise great series. The only thing good about it was the optional dungeon crawl. At least the story got resolved.

Nice RPG mention, although not the best: Arcanum.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

What made KOTOR great was not the light sabers (though they make everything better), but the story and the characters. The big spoiler in it is probably one of the greatest plot twists of all time (including movies and books).

I had a different experience, unfortunately. I figured out the plot twist halfway before getting there. I remember the BBEG revealing the 'great secret' and finding myself wanting to scream: "I know, I know. Let's move on already!" I think KOTOR IIs story was more compelling up until you discovered that the final 25% of the game was sliced off to make the Christmas deadline.

 

[Vigilance]

OTOH, in Morrowind you have pretty much complete freedom. You can wander however you like and it's fun just exploring.

Right, and that's what I love about. The fact that I get lost all the time, but frequently wind up doing something more interesting because I run into a monster-infested cave to escape a sandstorm, or just meet someone on the road who asks for help, these aspects of the game intrigue me.

It's like one of those D&D worlds where the GM is REALLY railroad-phobic, has tons of time and has just populated every possible dungeon, forest and city, then just asks you "what would you like to do".

It's not ALWAYS what Im in the mood for, and when I am in the mood for something with more story I can always pop in Fallout II.

But the sheer amount of things you can do is the real strength. When playing some RPG franchises, even when their excellent (Final Fantasy X and DragoN Quest VIII, I'm looking at you) you occasionally hit a stretch of the game that just doesn't interest you for whatever reason, and you either slog through and hit a more interesting place, or you just stop playing.

In Morrowind what you do is find another quest. I got bored with the mainline quest for awhile, but the Fighters Guild quests were getting too tough for me, so I just went and joined the Imperial Legion and worked their quests for several days of real time.

It was a very nice diverting break, I leveled enough to tackle a couple more fighter quests, after which I decided to actually pick up the main quest line again.

Chuck

OT Hey Jeremy, I've been emailing you about some reviews, do you no longer check the email listed on your review site? Drop me a line please.