I have a long history with this game. I first played the Game of the Year edition on Xbox, probably close to 20 years ago. At that point I was too young to really understand the game and how it worked, but I was endlessly fascinated by the alien world of Morrowind and it had a lasting impact on my imagination. I knew I would want to return to the game at some point and see more of what it had to offer.
I finally did this in 2015, in my first year of grad school. I have fond memories of ordering Chinese food and sitting at my desk in my mostly undecorated on-campus apartment, completing quests for the Mage’s Guild, exploring swamps and ruins and tombs, and searching for any clues of why the dwarves seemed to have vanished from the world. I got pretty deep into the game then, but between grad school and beginning my first serious relationship my priorities shifted and I had the leave the island of Vvardenfell behind again. But recently I picked the game back up and decided I would do my best to get through the main storyline.
My absolute favorite part of this game is how much care and detail went into creating such a unique, believable world. Vvardenfell is full of strange wildlife, countless political and religious factions, and plenty of mystery. It’s a largely hostile and unforgiving setting, but as you talk to characters and learn more about the society and culture of Morrowind, it starts to make sense how people live there. I loved learning about the history and relationships between the great houses, the more traditional/nomadic Ashlander tribes, and external forces like the empire or the various deities influencing the game’s events. One thing I always appreciated about this game (and Skyrim after it) is that they take place in colonized imperial provinces, and they examine what that means and the different ways people react to being ruled by a foreign power. For some reason I’ve always really enjoyed these themes in fantasy and science fiction stories.
Actually playing the game is not always a pleasant experience, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad or that it aged poorly. In a weird way I think the complexity and opacity of the gameplay systems complements/benefits from from the mysterious tone of the game. It definitely adds to the feeling of being lost and helpless, particularly in the earlier parts of the game. (As a side note, these are always my favorite parts of Bethesda games; when you’re lost and overwhelmed and underpowered and there’s nothing you can do but explore and find ways to survive. Especially in combat, these games tend to lose their balance and some of their charm as you get more powerful, in my opinion.) Combat doesn’t feel intuitive and your normal movement speed is excruciatingly slow, which leads a lot of players to abuse a certain magic item that makes you move a lot faster. You can also use spells and potions to help with travel - by the end of the game I was leaping and levitating around the map and running on water to explore smaller islands.
I enjoyed the story of the main quest once things picked up a little, although the pacing was weird toward the end. There’s a long, drawn out series of quests and then you’re rushed straight into the climax. I’ve read that a lot was cut from the finale, and it’s pretty clear that’s true, which is a shame because the stuff they hinted at would have been very cool (it seemed like they wanted the final area to be similar to Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild). Still, I liked the game a lot and it feels great to have finished it! I haven’t checked out the expansions yet, and I’m not sure how deep I’ll go with those, but we’ll see.
I finally did this in 2015, in my first year of grad school. I have fond memories of ordering Chinese food and sitting at my desk in my mostly undecorated on-campus apartment, completing quests for the Mage’s Guild, exploring swamps and ruins and tombs, and searching for any clues of why the dwarves seemed to have vanished from the world. I got pretty deep into the game then, but between grad school and beginning my first serious relationship my priorities shifted and I had the leave the island of Vvardenfell behind again. But recently I picked the game back up and decided I would do my best to get through the main storyline.
My absolute favorite part of this game is how much care and detail went into creating such a unique, believable world. Vvardenfell is full of strange wildlife, countless political and religious factions, and plenty of mystery. It’s a largely hostile and unforgiving setting, but as you talk to characters and learn more about the society and culture of Morrowind, it starts to make sense how people live there. I loved learning about the history and relationships between the great houses, the more traditional/nomadic Ashlander tribes, and external forces like the empire or the various deities influencing the game’s events. One thing I always appreciated about this game (and Skyrim after it) is that they take place in colonized imperial provinces, and they examine what that means and the different ways people react to being ruled by a foreign power. For some reason I’ve always really enjoyed these themes in fantasy and science fiction stories.
Actually playing the game is not always a pleasant experience, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad or that it aged poorly. In a weird way I think the complexity and opacity of the gameplay systems complements/benefits from from the mysterious tone of the game. It definitely adds to the feeling of being lost and helpless, particularly in the earlier parts of the game. (As a side note, these are always my favorite parts of Bethesda games; when you’re lost and overwhelmed and underpowered and there’s nothing you can do but explore and find ways to survive. Especially in combat, these games tend to lose their balance and some of their charm as you get more powerful, in my opinion.) Combat doesn’t feel intuitive and your normal movement speed is excruciatingly slow, which leads a lot of players to abuse a certain magic item that makes you move a lot faster. You can also use spells and potions to help with travel - by the end of the game I was leaping and levitating around the map and running on water to explore smaller islands.
I enjoyed the story of the main quest once things picked up a little, although the pacing was weird toward the end. There’s a long, drawn out series of quests and then you’re rushed straight into the climax. I’ve read that a lot was cut from the finale, and it’s pretty clear that’s true, which is a shame because the stuff they hinted at would have been very cool (it seemed like they wanted the final area to be similar to Hyrule Castle in Breath of the Wild). Still, I liked the game a lot and it feels great to have finished it! I haven’t checked out the expansions yet, and I’m not sure how deep I’ll go with those, but we’ll see.