You're beaten!
This was definitely a game I kept looking at in my backlog like "I should play you", and finally, I marked it off the list. I really love Elder Scrolls; Oblivion is one of my top 3 favorite games of all time (Skyrim is good but I find myself liking it less as time goes on), so to really feel real I had to get more experience under my belt. Also helps that I wanted to finally completely and fully understand what the fuck those insane people on TrueSTL were talking about (I still don't think i do)
Regardless, this game is incredible.
For the most part, the core of charactering and RPGing is the same as Oblivion. The skills are the same (with some extras!), the stats are the same, the leveling skills for more stats on level up is the same, class building, etc, etc. So I have that background knowledge that eases the possibly jarring feeling of "older RPG that is very grindy" (Did you know FFXI also came out in the same year as Morrowind? I like these games). The differences between Morrowind and Oblivion though (other than those extra skills), are mainly in the combat. This game is completely dice roll. It's ALL math. Yeah, there's some "action" or "skill" in that you don't have to deal with a dice roll if you're not in the place to get hit, but when you hit it's still math. This is... frustrating. In the early game. I'm STABBING you why aren't you dying? But as you get stronger, it exponentially speeds up your ability to grow and feel powerful, and it honestly feels really good to Get Stronger.
Going from there, some of the most fun I had was number go up, trying to level my skills in an optimal way to get the most stat increases on level up, it's such a big dopamine source, though I do feel like I got lost in the math sauce a little bit and did that rather than actually playing the game by doing quests or going to fight and stuff. This wore off obviously once I got to higher levels and didn't have Number to Go Up, and towards the end I was purely focusing on quests.
Beyond leveling and combat, another core part of the game I really really liked was NPCs and dialogue. Oblivion and Skyrim are fully voice acted, and have pretty limited responses in how you can interact with them. Morrowind is all text (other than when you're walking around or occasionally when they speak. So maybe not all text. Mostly text.), which leads to some really cool interactivity. You can click on certain words and phrases in dialogue to unlock more dialogue; it kinda reminds me of FFII's keyword system. I love this. It encourages you to read so much and click everything and because it's all text there's so much range and freedom for the devs to put down whatever. It even extends to making random NPCs feel a little more placed in the world. You can talk to nearly anyone and get a bunch of info and it's awesome. Though after a while when you've read everything people start to get more predictable and less fun.
I guess the last bit I wanna talk about is back on the combat. Less on the dice roll, and more on the actually what you do. Something I thought was really cool was how weapons have different moves you can do based on how you move. Like I used spears mainly so I wanted to go back and forth to use the Thrust for max damage. Or when I used an axe I'd strafe side to side for the swing. It was awesome and really cool. Though right at the end of the game, some enemies became so damage sponge and my gear/potions were enough to keep me alive so it was just forward back forward back stab stab stab for 3000 years and that's not very fun.
Before I get into any story or anything, I HAVE to talk about the world. Morrowind/Vvardenfell is one of the coolest, most unique settings I've EVER seen in any game ever. A volcanic island with mushroom trees everywhere, weird lizard creatures roaming around, cities that look like pyramids made of sewers, buildings that feel right out of Star Wars, nomad tribes that wander the ash wastes; it's so fucking cool dude. I was talking with a friend and we mentioned how it's no wonder some people only play this game, cause there's not another game that feels anything like it.
The visuals are incredible too. From moment on on the title screen, the logo has this strange drawn, sketched look to it. So do the loading screens, showing off enemies that look like they're concept art coming to life. Then you actually get into the world, and you see these paintings that give off the same vibe in that dirty, brown world. The game is very messy, very gritty, and I love it. It adds to that sense of strangeness and the alien nature. The world is so weird, dude; and I wouldn't have it any other way.
I guess if I had to compare it to real life... it felt... Middle Eastern? A little bit? I think it's the text font, with the "desert" location (if the desert was made of volcanic ash), and the buildings in Balmora. But that's even not quite right, cause like, where do you put the mushroom trees, the swamps, the whole city of Vivec? The Ashlanders felt very Mongolian/Hunnic, but not too much that they felt like a direct rip. Just enough for inspiration, but still feeling unique.
Speaking of cities, I love them all. Balmora was definitely my main hub home for convenience, but I just loved the small city vibe it had near the river. Vivec is stupid huge but an amazing concept with the cantons, as well as that meteor hanging over. Ald'ruhn having a giant, live in crab with HUGE manors inside is the sickest shit ever. I also really like Gnisis, the temple in the center and all the shacks around it makes it feel like a religious city. Then there's Sadrith Mora and all the other Telvanni towers; giant mushroom and vine towers made for mages that swirl and curl around. It's so unique and cool.
Kind of a continuation of the last section. When I say visually the game is very grimy, the lore feels just as much as well.
Morrowind is a newly integrated province of the Empire. You walk into a culture full of Dark Elves/Dunmer upset about their culture being overwritten by the Empire (and others not so but that's what makes a realistic world). The Dunmer culture is full of Saint/Daedra worship, Slavery is commonplace, the Great Houses rule over the land with shrewd business sense, traditional warrior culture, or "fuck off let me be an asshole" wizards in their towers. The people of Vvardenfell hate "outlanders" and will let you know constantly (this game calls you slurs before online CoD lobbies ever did!). Society has officially sanctioned murders that people are used to. Most important of all is the worship of the Tribunal, 3 living gods; mortals with godlike power that lead their people. It's not at all what you would see in Cyrodiil/Oblivion. Beyond main civilization are the Ashlanders; nomadic tribes that pray for the return of the Nerevarine to cast down the Tribunal as false gods, drive the outlanders out, and to unite the Dunmer once more. You're thrown into this land that fucking hates you. Yet you're sent to investigate and save it regardless.
It's such a raw world to explore. I don't think I've ever played a game that feels so... oppressive? Sure, you make friends. You eventually become beloved. But there's just something about how everything is presented that never makes you feel welcome, and I think that's awesome.
The story of your journey itself is really cool. The Emperor himself sends you, a nameless prisoner, to this island, cause he believes you match the Nerevarine Prophecies; someone that is the reincarnation of Lord Indoril Nerevar, the greatest hero the Dunmer ever known, and close friend of the gods of the Tribunal themselves. During the main story, you learn of the coming threat of Dagoth Ur and the Sixth House, another former friend of Nerevar, outcast, rejected, and betrayed by his comrades, now returning in a twisted way to corrupt and take over Morrowind.
I feel like I can't really do a plot summary justice without making it the size of the whole blog post. But the journey is incredible. So much of it is learning about the past, and about the culture of the land. It feels like a big part of the story is learning about the mystery of what happened to Nerevar, what happened to the Dwarves/Dwemer that disappeared during the Battle of Red Mountain, how the Tribunal got their powers, and why Dagoth Ur ended up the way he did. You find out how all of these bits are connected, and even though you literally talk to primary sources, even they are biased to where you're never QUITE sure about what really happened that day. One of my favorite quests is when you're first learning about the Nerevarine Prophecy in detail, learning from an Ashlander Wise Woman. It's just a shit ton of reading and text and seeing what your character matches, what you can still do to meet those prophecies. It was amazing. The final boss scene against Dagoth Ur might be my favorite compared to Oblivion's siege of Imperial City and Skyrim's Alduin in Sovngarde. You have a full conversation with this man, as he asks you questions of who might be his once beloved friend ("friend"), and you ask what this madman is planning; before you fight near the giant corpse-looking artifical god robot Dagoth is building out of the heart that the Dwemer used to ALSO try to make an artificial god robot that eventually disappeared them from the whole world. It's one of the most unique things I've ever seen. Sure, the gameplay itself might not be super exciting (though hitting the Heart of Lorkhan with Sunder and Keening was really cool, and how Dagoth can fall off the bridge afterwards is neat), but conceptually, with a bit of imagination, it's amazing.
Also, not a built in narrative, but my character was an Argonian (I always play Argonians they're #1). The concept, or the narrative, or whatever, of the reincarnation of this great war hero, this man that's supposed to drive the outlanders out, instead being this woman from low class, a member of the race they use for slavery, someone that HATES how this culture treats others, being their final salvation? I dunno man, it's something special. Argonian Nerevarine is canon, I don't care what people say it works the best
Again. I can't do a summary justice. It's something you really have to play to fully understand and appreciate. But it's something magical for sure. There's nothing like it.
It's an Elder Scrolls game. The main story is like, 2% of the game. I did as many of the factions as I possibly could. But something neat about this game is you CAN'T join everything, some of them are mutually exclusive. I guess I'll just go one by one.
Overall, I do think I like Oblivion's guild quests more, but Morrowind's were really cool, and for the most part they all offered something different and unique (Imperial Cult is the exception that one stunk)
I also did the DLCs before I considered the game "complete". They're... fine. Not the best. Tribunal, the first one (which I thought was the second one but I guess not?) is like, the Rise of the Zilart. It's an expansion that's like a direct main story continuation. It takes place in Mournhold, a city on Morrowind's mainland, away from Vvardenfell, and you deal with Almalexia, one of the Tribunal. Mournhold is... very small. Claustrophobic, even. And half of the DLC takes place in underground sewers and caves which just felt like one big dungeon I kept having to go into and it was exhausting and I didn't like it. It did have good side quests though, I think; and the final set piece of fighting Almalexia near the rotting corpse of Sotha Sil in his clockwork city was really cool. Probably my least favorite part of the game. I do think it was really cool to meet Barenziah though, a lore figure I've read about in books for years now.
Bloodmoon on the other hand, is not connected to the main story, is not claustrophobic, and I liked it a little more. It takes place on Solstheim, the same place as Skyrim's Dragonborn DLC, and you deal with the Empire landing on this island, as well as its Nord native inhabitants and their Bloodmoon Prophecy, all leading up to a confrontation with the Daedric Prince Hircine. Having the freedom of an open island I could jump around was really refreshing. While I didn't care for the main quest, maybe cause I was starting to get burnt out, but I don't feel like it transitioned into Hircine well enough. I did really like the East Empire/Raven Rock storyline though. Another questline where choices actually matter, I went for the one that lets it succeed. It was cool to see it slowly built. Similar to Tribunal, seeing the origins of stuff we see later, and the origins of how this island came to be in the modern times was awesome.
The thing about big games is they have big posts. Morrowind is a very big game. There were still something I didn't do, but that's ok; I was ready to move on when I was at the DLCs.
Doesn't change the fact that this game is incredible. It's old, it's janky, there's Cliff Racers everywhere, but it's magical. It's game that is truly fully unique, a world you can get completely lost in.
Final note on something that I didn't mention before but I wanted to talk about (and couldn't figure out where to put it): Bethesda games are notorious for being crashy glitchfests. I played this game with no unofficial patch, and honestly? It was pretty stable. It did crash a couple times, but the absolute worst bug I ran into was whenever you enter a cell, NPCs shift slightly more and more until they're way out of place, and I had to use a command to reset them. But that's honestly nothing.
I think I still like Oblivion more, but I would attribute a good chunk of that to nostalgia. This is absolutely a world you should try to immerse yourself in though, and if you're not a fan of story and reading? Well, then there's still joy in making stupidly broken potions and blasting all of Vvardenfell's denizens with lasers and fireballs and shit as you LITERALLY fly around.
9.5/10. One of, if not the most, unique world I've ever played through in my life, with a really fun sandbox to play with on top of it. It's old and a little janky, but that doesn't cancel its wonder.