Battle of the Elder Scrolls – The Best of the Bunch?

Well. This should be interesting! I’ve been wanting to write an article like this one for quite some time. The Elder Scrolls has been around for decades, and right now, it seems Elder Scrolls VI keeps eluding us. (Hint, Hint!) Skyrim is still so popular they love re-launching it every few months. Eh, it’s fun, so I cannot blame them.

But which one is the “best?”

Edginess aside, this is something I’m going to try and address. Not counting Daggerfall/Arena and the weirder releases, and certainly not counting Elder Scrolls Online, this is going to be a discussion about the Big Three. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. This of course is subjective, like all opinions are, and I’ll be comparing the three titles in many different categories.

Introduction

I love RPGs. Alongside Strategy and Simulation, they are my go-to when I play a game. So much so that 40% of the games installed on my computer are RPGs. Now, because many RPGs are rather sprawling masterpieces with a huge game-time, I don’t play my games as much as I’d like, because I’m so invested into one or the other. The Elder Scrolls games are no exception.

RPGs tend to have three main elements to it: The world, the story and combat. Very few, if any RPGs nail all three. Witcher 3 nailed the world and story, but combat and movement was janky at best, frustrating at worst. Skyrim was just a giant, ocean wide but skin-deep sandbox, big and packed of content but with the immersion of a tapdancing satsuma. (I will get into this more soon.) Morrowind nailed world and story but it’s combat was terrible. ELEX has nearly unparalleled world-building, but it’s horribly janky and frustrating combat.

Now, let us go into the Elder Scrolls. Bethesda cashed in on a goldmine with these list of great, yet often buggy open world action-RPG games. I’ll be perfectly honest here for a moment, and admit something. Elder scrolls V: Skyrim was the first Elder Scrolls game I ever played. I know, that’s awful. I didn’t hear much or even play the older versions until after I played Skyrim for a good amount of time. How mad is that?

If you would like to read my early experiences of Skyrim, check out my article. It’s one of the first ever released on my blog: https://thousandscarsblog.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/the-worldly-experience-skyrim/

Now, let us go into this, shall we?

Worldbuilding 

The big one for me. It’s pointless playing an Open World RPG like these if you just cannot get into the world.

Morrowind – Definitely the most alien and unique world. Full of towering mushrooms, volcanic badlands, rolling plains and fair sized cities. Cities are of a decent size but sometimes (excluding Vivec) feel slightly too small, but even then, I feel it is stronger then the other two. World feels unique in different regions, Ashlands of the north feel a world away from the swamps of the South. Dungeons similar enough to notice but unique enough to enjoy. There is a definite sense of wonder and urge to explore. In terms of scope, Morrowind to me is by far the best of the three.

Oblivion – A much more generic fantasy setting. World not as alien or varied as Morrowind, with most of the map being either green forest of green/yellow plains, and it just feels like copy-pasta, over and over again. Thank God the fast travel mechanic is there from the beginning, for I just do not enjoy travelling the Oblivion world. This is a huge shame, especially coming back from Morrowind’s open world.

However, there is a strong suit of Oblivion world-building – the settlements. Cities feel large and believable and are numerous. There are many more towns and villages than Morrowind or Skyrim.

The dungeons are okay, but definitely feel similar after only a few. Especially true with the fort ruins of the game. A lot of samey assets and repeated journeys.

Skyrim – World is more mysterious than Oblivion but not Morrowind. Cites are smaller than expected but compensate in other areas. Snow areas aren’t particularly interesting but other areas like the marshes around Morthal and volcanic springs of Eastmarch make the world feel satisfyingly varied. Dungeons feel much more unique than Oblivion’s or Morrowind, especially since many more dungeon designers were used than in previous games. Skyrim for me fits in the middle. It has some great elements for exploration, but the cities are TINY.

For example. There are more NPCS in Ebonheart Castle in Morrowind then there are in all of Solitude, and that is the capital city of Skyrim! This sucks in an immersion setting, but there is a lot of love in the world. It’s one mixed bag, which is a shame.

 

The Story and Quests 

A major part of any RPG. How does the story shape up? All well and good exploring the world, but what is the meat in the sandwich? Let’s go into it.

Morrowind –

Note: I haven’t played all of Morrowind’s quests yet. This is just my opinions.

The main quest is enthralling and of the perfect length (long enough to be invested, not long enough to get bored). Uniting tribes and houses feels rewarding and fun, at least much better then closing Oblivion Gates. *Shudders*

DLC main quests often start off slowly and improve later on, especially Tribunal. Guilds are more realistic than other games. Guild quests consist of normal jobs, not a story, in which you ascend ranks by completing real jobs, much more believable and rewarding. There are more than double the number of guilds, though joining one can lock out another, which helps with immersion. Not like the latter two which allowed you to just dominate everyone. Side quests are strong, with a wide variety of objectives and styles. Overall, I was quite content with the quests of Morrowind.

Oblivion – Ugh. The main quest is both yawn-inducing and irritating. The Oblivion Gates system was a terrible addition! I almost refused to play the main quest many times. Hello, you must go into the Oblivion Realm, fight the exact same map and enemies over and over again and keep closing them. Oh, and you must do this to finish the main quest. Ugh.

However, other aspects make up for it.

Let’s talk about the DLC. Knights of the Nine feels like a typical ‘knight in shining armour’ ordeal with an Elder Scrolls twist, and while it was medicore, it was still relatively enjoyable. The true strength came in Shivering Isles. One of the best DLCs EVER, it is a wonderfully mad and varied place.

Guild quests blend good story and uniqueness with sense of progression and realism. This is where Oblivion really shines above the others. With incredible quests especially in the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, although the shame in the Arena Fighter’s Guild is lacking.

Side quests are a mixed bag, some excellent (the painting one especially) and others horrifically boring. The Daedric quests are pretty good though. Overall, quite decent.

Skyrim – Eh. Middling. Bear with me.

Unlike the Oblivion Gate farce, the main quest of Dragonborn is pretty good.(Dragon shouts FTW) It’s decent, and doesn’t last too long. Not that the world gives a shit when you finally win, however. There is little sense of actual progression in the world.

Dawnguard is okay, but not of particular note. Even so, I really enjoyed Dawnguard overall. Dragonborn has interesting themes but the main story is awfully short. Thats kind of the problem with Skyrim questlines. They are short and few consequences.

Guild quests are fun but are very short, you become leader very easily and any play style completes and story. The Dark Brotherhood is the best, but has nothing on Oblivion’s guild lines. It was a deep disappointment going from Oblivion’s quests into Skyrims. Dumbed down for certain. The College of Winterhold is a joke. Sure, a swordsman with no magic can become Archmage!

The Civil War is fun for battles and conflict but not very deep or unique, and is extremely small. Battles of a dozen soldiers each is NOT a good immersion technique. Side quests flow naturally and come in a wide variety. Radiant quests add infinite jobs in over a dozen different themes (Thieving, assassination, animal controls etc) but get repetitive after a while. All the same, its still content, and can be fun. Overall, Skyrim for me sits in the bottom, which is a shame.

 

Mechanics

A hard thing to get right. Naturally, the newer the game, the better this should be, right? Let us see.

Morrowind – A solid start. Believable and changeable world. Joining one faction can lock off others (Joining one Great House means you can’t join another. Not like the latter games. Power Fantasy!)

Books and dialogue are expansive and add huge depth and realism. NPCs can hate or love you depending on your actions. Who you kill or spare can drastically change a faction or person’s view of you, and can kill your progress. Role-playing is somewhat restricted to adventurers and guild members. Much more realistic with consequences, limitations and rewards for everything you do. A bit like a true RPG, and old school in comparison to Oblivion and especially Skyrim, which are more action-adventure shallow-boxes with minor RPG elements. In all three though, the freedom is still there.

Now, let’s go into combat, and this is where Morrowind seriously fails. Combat is stats based and awkward. Combat starts off hard but becomes incredibly easy later on. Stealth almost non-existent and point-blank misses are frustrating as hell to do. This difficult start can make it very frustrating to play. The map is also hard to navigate with a pretty bad UI. It certainly has not aged well. It’s one of those games that is an incredible experience, but in terms of actual gameplay, can grate on you. For a game released in 2002 though, you’ll have to take recency bias into consideration. Despite the RNG element with the combat, there is a lot of variety, with lots of customization everywhere in weapons and armor. Spell crafting abound too.

Overall, the mechanics are solid enough, but the lack of hand holding and terrible combat will turn people off, especially newer players. No map markers, only yourself in a mess of UI. And the movement is painfully slow and laughable.

Oblivion – Again there is a balance, and Oblivion is the go-between. NPCs treat you slightly differently depending on their opinion of you, but not on Morrowind’s scale, which was an unfortunate downturn. Faction membership has little impact on the world aside from changing Infamy (which doesn’t really do much. A bit like Fallout 3’s karma system.) However, completing main quest makes you a hero to the people and they will treat you accordingly, with similar consequences for completing the guild quests. There are real rewards. Role-playing expands to allow a wider range of choices and themes.

Overall, the game much more streamlined than Morrowind, but that sacrifices a bit of immersion. Uses quest markers rather than Morrowind’s directions, so it is a lot more accessible. Much more “pick up and enjoy” than Morrowind’s “pick up and get killed by rat”. Spells are decent and spell-crafting just as good if not better than Morrowind, a huge bonus over Skyrim’s terrible magic system. Enemies level with you and get the best weapons and armour, making levelling up kind of pointless.

Stealth is slightly better but bows are underpowered. Combat is based on physical accuracy not stats, making it much more fun then Morrowind’s mess of a combat system. You still get to pick a sign and stats, so roleplay mechanics are still there with choices and different systems. It’s much better then Skyrim, but behind Morrowind. The combat is a bit clunky, but excellent magic system almost makes up for it.

Skyrim – We really get into “Streamlined mechanics” here! Few consequences or restriction are placed on the player. The only times joining one faction alienates another is Imperial vs Stormcloak (which are fucking identical anyway) and Blades vs Greybeards (which can be completely ignored and has virtually zero consequences). NPCs will treat you slightly differently under certain circumstances but these are usually the result of a direct quest. Aside from the odd guard, no one cares that you saved the world from Alduin and people still talk down to you like you are a Level 1 weakling. Role play is superior with many more things like farming, mining, cooking, smithing and wood chopping allowing more choice for role-play builds, but again, there isn’t really much to do in the game. It’s more of a time waster, but if you set your own rules, you can do a lot.

Mechanics wise however, Skyrim feels the easiest and most accessible of the lot. Movement is better then the others. Trans-versing the world is even more smooth than Oblivion, using quest markers is still a controversial topic. Can be picked up and played like Oblivion but getting the most out of the game comes from true investment.

Magic is much more viable and believable but spell-crafting no longer available, with a poor selection of choice. This lack of versatility really gets in the way of roleplaying. Dragon shouts are a brilliant addition to the layered gameplay, but many are useless. Levelling is based on perks allowing characters to have abilities and specialisations rather than Morrowind and Oblivions linear “more power!!!!!!” style of skills. Enemies level well, with weaker ones still appearing at lower levels. Combat improved and refined on Oblivion. It probably has the best “gameplay” feel of the three, largely helped by the passage of time, but it sacrifices depth and quests to pull it off. Oh, and Stealth, Smithing and Archery is just broken. Too easy to abuse.

A more accessible experience, but not necessairly the “best.” There is nothing wrong with Power Fantasy however. For a mindless combat sandbox, Skyrim is a lot of fun.

 

Endgame – Which is best?

The test. Honestly, I’ve played a ton of each game. all have their strengths and weaknesses. What is better for you? Depends on what kind of gamer you are.

Personally, I would have to say that Morrowind feels the best of the three, if you like living in a vast, believable open world, but the lack of modern mechanics and piss poor combat is a major turn off if they are your bread and butter. It’s a true classic RPG, with little handholding and an RNG system that can annoy you if you aren’t prepared to sink hours into it.

Oblivion has major problems with immersion and a lack of depth in exploration, but great overall quests, decent combat and a jack of all trades make it a good contender.

Skyrim benefits from a huge fanbase, massive mod community and is by far the most accessible of the three. In terms of overall enjoyment, I rate Skyrim the highest, but as an “experience”, it is lacking sorely in areas. Poor RPG elements, small scope, terrible cities and an overall poor series of quests seriously hampers it, but I still love it.

My verdict:

Enjoyment: Skyrim

As an RPG Experience: Morrowind

Overall: Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls is a series which has regressed, I believe to appeal to the masses. That in turn has its downsides and advantages. All the same, all three are great games in their own right, and wonderful experiences.