The first time I played Morrowind was in 2018. I had finished Skyrim for the second time at that point and Oblivion once. I was a massive fan of the series and naturally wanted to move on to Morrowind. I hated it, I played for maybe an hour or so before just giving up. Everything about the game was clunky and unnerving. I felt claustrophobic trying to make my way to balmora without realising that I could take the silt strider but I also felt bare and weird, the same feeling you could get when going out of bounds in a game I just felt out of place. It was my first venture into a truly old and aged game such as this. about a year or so later just before the summer of 2019 I decided to try it again. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and really tried my best to just enjoy it and let it run its course. I got a few quality of life mods and watched the same beginner tips videos I always watch before stumbling into an RPG game and started. Of coure you saw the 5 stars that I'm giving it and can guess that I fell in love with this game. I remember the beginning of summer after finishing my first year in a new school around new people in a new house, waking up home alone with the bright sun pouring through my lazily draped curtains while I connected my phone to a bluetooth speaker and loaded up my save on Morrowind. Everything about the songs I would listen to and the quests I completed during that time which in retrospect was probably only over the course of a few weeks was pure magic. the summer of 2019 would go on to be a time that changed my life forever both for the good and very very bad. I got sucked in to a very bad online community and was starting to question my gender and was overall going through the teenage mental health struggle. I think the reason that short time of when I first properly played the game is so special in my head is because looking back it was the calm before the storm. It was me, an innocent care free young teenager playing her new favourite video game and talking to herself while wandering around the island of vvardenfell as if she were really there. Since that first playthrough I have had 2 other big playthroughs and have about 400 hours accumulated. I only play the game once every year and a half or so and I am due a replay soon enough. Those other 2 playthroughs also hold special places in my heart but I just wanted to talk about the first because it is the one that I believe captures the essence of Morrowind best. I was a young teenager who was suddenly cast into the deep end of life and I feel like Morrowind kind of does that to you aswell but in a more positive light. If you ignore the negative emotions surrounding all of that questioning and confusion growing up it is a journey that keeps you on your feet and never stops to amaze you. Everytime I play morrowind that sense of remarkable intrugue never leaves its side and I don't think it ever will.