Wildcat’s Favorite Franchises – The Elder Scrolls

Sometimes there’s a game that just seizes upon you, and you become so taken with it that you need more to satisfy some inner longing built from its excellence.  In these cases, there’s been plenty of ample sequels or prequels to fulfill that itch for me.  These are the franchises I have been following the closest over my gaming existence, the ones that I hold the highest standards to and anticipate the greatest.  They are not in any real order, because that would be agonizing to determine what I love more.  It’s hard enough with individual games – uniting them all would be a nightmare.  However, I will go into what game left the impact and which of the series I adore the most, as well as discuss each game I have (or have not, and explain why) played and its furthering impact upon my feelings.  There’s nine that I consider the finest – let me lead you into the realms of The Elder Scrolls.

Elder Scrolls (Bethesda)

Game That Left the Impact – Daggarfall (PC)

The Game I Adore – Morrowind (PC)

I remember entering the open-ended world of Daggerfall and being blown away with the sudden freedom of doing what I pleased.  I was a pre-pubescent teen at the time, so I thrilled in stealing panties from shops as a pantsless Khajitt, which is a very embarrassing moment of game playing to reflect on, now that I think about. XD  BUT!  After that brief taste of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series, I became enamored with the hope of trying it out again.  Once we got our new PC, I had the chance to dive into Morrowind and Oblivion (as well as revisit Daggerfall), and the franchise has enshrined itself as a favorite.

What I’ve Tried

Daggerfall (PC) – The game that got me into liking the series has not shown its age well.  A recent attempt to replay the game was a little more frustrating than I remember, mainly with its interface.  It’s more cumbersome than it needs to be, but I do need to set aside more time and give it a second chance.  I’m sure it improves once you get out of that introductory dungeon.

Morrowind (PC) – Morrowind is amazing.  I love the world, the open-ended freedom it offers, and the awesome potential it presents.  Each game has not been the same, and I adore that about it.  I hope Skyrim remembers a lot of what made Morrowind so great.

Oblivion (PC) – A great, but not stellar sequel that makes a few too many mistakes in its design to match up favorably to Morrowind in my book.  The combat is really the only edge Oblivion has for me.  That’s not to say Oblivion is bad or anything – just a little disappointing after Morrowind’s excellence.

Skyrim (PS3) – Skyrim is such a upsetting game for me.  I adore it.  Grace adores it.  We want to play it.  But the thing’s so riddled with bugs, glitches and apparent system meltdown capabilities that we can’t enjoy playing it.  So we’re selling it off and will revisit it in time when it gets more repaired.  If the PS3 version is never truly cobbled together, we’ll give the PC one a chance in the future.  It’s really agonizing for me to talk about it, so I’m going to stop. XD

What Haven’t I Played?

Arena (PC) – The first game I could attempt to download and play, but if I’m experiencing a bit of shock with Daggerfall, I’d be remiss to not say I’m frightened of how archaic Arena might be.

What Makes It One of the Best?

Freedom to Do Whatever You Want – The Elder Scrolls games give you the tools to be personas of many shades.  A necromancer with a chip on his shoulder against Wood Elves?  A thief that has become infamous for their heists of the Vivec vaults?  A berserker who intimidates any one foolish enough to cross weapons with her that leads the Fighter’s Guild?   Just three of an infinite list of characters you can make.  And each has their own way of handling quests and encounters – one may use magic to subdue foes, light up the dark or turn invisible, or instead rely on their acrobatics and sheer speed to keep danger away from them, or get right up in the opponent’s face and pound them to butter, letting your armor and high HP help you withstand the assault.  This type of gameplay is intoxicating.

Massive Environments to Explore – All three of the games I’ve played are huge, with plenty of nooks and crannies to uncover and loot.  Towns and cities also have their fair share of secrets to find, and each cave passage leads you into something slightly different than before (Oblivion restrains this aspect a little, to its detriment).  It’s such a thrill to roam the valleys, mountains and waterways in these games to see what new excitement awaits.

Robust Armament – Options to equip your hero or villain are excessive in these games.  You can choose from multitudes of clothes and armor to deck out your appearance, and choose from a wide range of weaponry to fend off foes.  Sometimes you’ll stick with weaker gear just because it looks cool.  Half the fun of these games for me is getting the look just right…

Houses! – …while setting up residency is a guilty pleasure of mine I have no shame in admitting.  I’ve spent as much time getting my character’s abodes to be JUST right as I have been out in the wilderness looking for stuff to pad my homes with.  Not everyone will be as delighted stumbling on a new book to add to their hero’s library, but I am!

Sense of Truly Being a Part of the World – Morrowind and Oblivion do a great job at allowing you to escape into these realms and truly feel like your actions are doing something to the entire world.  No matter the path, what you do has consequences, and it’s wonderful to see the repercussions of stealing like mad from a city, or slaughtering a city full of people, or, to be nicer, saving the realm from the antagonist.  Knowing that whatever I do has these kinds of overarching rewards and punishments makes the games be much more than a standard RPG where you can plunder chests all day long and not a damn person cares…you know?