Morrowind was special to me.
I remember getting excited about it when reading the good review in PC Gamer, then not hearing
anything else about it.
I wondered how the world was still turning after such a seemingly impressive title had
been launched, and why nobody else was excited about it.
I began thinking up the adventures I'd have.
For some reason I didn't buy it until a good year after.
Money was short.
This loneliness and sense of being forgotten was a recurring theme in Morrowind for me.
It didn't get the fanfare that it deserved when it was released.
With the internet in its infancy you couldn't just look it up and find thousands of people
who had had the same experience as you.
You felt as though you were exploring the island of Vvardenfell for the first time and
that no one- not even most of the developers- would have found the things you had encountered.
Who will forget Fargoth, the Wood Elf who made me never play as a wood elf again?
I'll always remember what this daedra guy said when I insulted him.
Why was this even in the game?
How is this game even a 12?
Did the people rating it simply never find this room?
How about the topless guy in the main quest who demands you take your clothes off and
kiss him?
There really was something new to discover around every corner.
I remember being terrified of the trapped zombie in somebody's house in case it infected
me.
I laughed out loud at the zombie rehabilitation sanctuary.
Did that really happen?
Yes it did.
Of all the Elder Scrolls, Morrowind was the Big Leap.
It replaced sprites with polygons and randomly generated terrain with hand-placed items.
It was set in the rugged environment of Vvardenfell, a place that really doesn't like outlanders.
You start off as a nobody.
Worse than a nobody, actually, as even shop-keepers insult you as you try buying their stuff.
You may play it now and wonder what all the fuss was about, but give it a go and you may
find yourself becoming absorbed in the culture and environments that this game has to offer.
If you had played it at its release you would have been blown away by how advanced and detailed
it was compared to anything else on offer at the time.
For such an unforgiving and difficult game, it isn't hard to get started.
You can hide in the towns if you please and there's a warm fuzzy feeling of having guards
protect you against rabid animals.
This was one of the first games to do this and it made the world feel alive.
Jeremy Soule's music really sets the tone for your adventure and there are so many things
to do, so many adventures to experience behind every door, that you'll end up getting lost
in the world for weeks.
It's just as well you have people willing to attack enemies for you, because when you
start the game you're so puny you even struggle to defeat jumping maggots.
Battling Lord Vivec is a hilariously futile experience and the flying asteroid above the
capital was a no-go area until I found enough levitation potions.
It's not like the newer Elder Scrolls games where you can do what you want, when you want-
this game made you WORK to get somewhere.
You can forget about fast-travel!
You'd have to wearily trudge back from a plundered tomb.
It could take FOR EVER.
Morrowind is a fascinating combination of old and new.
It combines the unforgiving, unbalanced and cruel nature of older RPG games with the graphical
style of newer titles.
What could be considered its biggest weakness is also one of its greatest strengths: It
doesn't bother balancing things.
It adds so many elements it couldn't possibly hope to!
Archery is underpowered, it doesn't warn you about high-level areas and you can rip those
angry shop-keepers off if you have enough patience.
You might look down on such traits, but it's better to think of it as a game play mechanic
to help you against the cruel world you find yourself stuck in; Archery can be used as
a last resort against a glitched high level monster.
You may take a terrifying and memorable short-cut across a mountain range, only to discover
that everything is ten levels above you.
You CAN rip those traders off, but it takes so much time it's only really worth it if
you come up a little short in the money department for a bone mould shield.
These are all stories to tell, and hey, life isn't fair.
I'll never forget the moan of a Silt-Strider, or the shrill chirp of a Cliff-Racer.
I recall falling through the floor on occasion and turning back when the red storm clouds
from the volcano began to stir.
To this day the closure of the main storyline is more pronounced and significant than of
any other game in the series.
Morrowind contains the most memorable and alien landscapes that I have seen in the Elder
Scrolls and, after weeks of grinding and exploiting the game, it rewarded me by making me feel
like an unbeatable hero.
Not some kind of player in a world that revolves around him, like the later, tamed games in
the series.
I had to earn my place in the world.
This was a true adventure.