I think I'm still enjoying Morrowind. I'm not sure. I love the world, the writing, the lore, the gradually building overall story, but ... that fucking interface and the endless slog from point to point.
Have modern games ruined me? Is that what's going on? Most of what I bitch about it is stuff that attempts to simulate real world, like the endless slog from point to point. Let's go to Sadrith Mora. Ah, gotta head to Tel Branora. Got the thing. Now back to Sadrith Mora. Now let's go to Vos. Ah, this tower is really confusing. Let's spend two hours trying to find our way around it. Fuck it, I'll just look online.
(all screenshots are by me and I'm using the Morrowind Overhaul mod)
The problem with all of the above is that the player character moves at a somewhat realistic pace, unless you're willing to burn down all your stamina. You don't realize how slow we walk in real life until you play this game, and realize that your snail pace is actually really fast in real life.
Really, my biggest gripe with the game is the tepid pace brought on by the slow player character and distance between fast-travel points and objectives. It just takes too goddam long to get anywhere and do anything. Much of the design is spectacular, but I'm torn on how I should feel about how fucking long everything takes to do.
As I said, I can't decide if I have a legitimate gripe, or if modern design has tainted my ability to enjoy slow games.
I'm still loving it, I think, but goddam ... this is why so many people sunk so many hours into this game. Not because there's so much to do (though there is), but because they were walking slowly to silt striders, boats, and mage teleports over and over ... and over ...
... oh, and I have a confession. I finally broke down, and have been using console commands to fix some parts of the game, namely my inventory. I've been loading up on torches and levitation potions. Nothing else. But I've pledged myself to House Telvanni, which I didn't realize would mean I'd need a fucking truckload of levitation potions. None of the high-up dudes know what stairs or a ground floor is. It's annoying.
I love it, though. I'm roleplaying the hell out of this character, trying to manipulate circumstances so that I lead a Dunmer revolution. I'm getting concerned, though, as I'm trying to prove my loyalty to conflicting groups. We'll see where my bid to take over both the Ashlanders and the Temple leads me.
On ESO
Meanwhile, I'm wrapping up the main campaign in ESO, and that's a lot of fun. It's interesting playing through these two games simultaneously, and enjoying their vast differences, but also common ancestry.
ESO is a great game that wasn't great at launch, but has molded itself into something very much worth buying and playing. I have a lot of fun every time I fire it up, and the story and exploration are a blast. And the combat, once you learn it, might be the best of any MMO.
My perfect Elder Scrolls game, though, would be ESO's vastness + live players, combined with Morrowind's landscape and lore (which I'm getting in June) with Dishonored's movement. I REALLY hope the next Elder Scrolls game brings in Arkane to handle the player character movement. It could happen, since they're both under the Bethesda umbrella.
So, what say you about Morrowind? Looking back, how well do you think it plays for modern audiences? Do you have an older game that you love that you think might be hard to replay today?
Lemme know in the comments!
-Blaine
