Daggerfall

[cutterjohn]

..been playing it and loving it again, although I didn't recall how combat was closer to Oblivious than not.

The quests are semi fun(unlike Oblivious), the graphics are adequate(for the time), the music is OK, the writing is AWFUL(I'd forgotten), and well the bugs are the usual Bethesda affair, something which they apparently never forgot how to do...

Still, I'm having fun with it, but in the end upon playing again, probably not as much as I really enjoyed Morrowind. (Scripting support probably made mw the true classic since df had almost none...)

Anyways, no pix, no videos, etc. just my opinion... (Also been playing Arena for the helluvaofit, and sometime teh gfx seem better, go figure...gameplay sucks ass though...)

[EDIT]
Also been re-playing M&M VI but haven't felt the need to comment since it is well pretty aged and in that hasn't aged well at all in the remotest sense... or something or other...(other than it's long, hard, and brutal... VII is better for that but...)
[/EDIT]

 

[cutterjohn]

Er duuevel post or something

Anyways the graphics of Daggerfall are just as awful as I remember, but somehow it's just fun wandering around HUGE dungeons...

It's something that makes you wonder if the original Bethesda management were in place what they could manage with MORE textures and building blocks rather than focusing on servicing on the moronic crew that is their current fan base... the only things that I enjoy more about morrowind is the scriptability of it, AND the skill based RPG system as in skills determine success or failure of your skill applications... v. your reaction based swiping and hitting...

 

[hakuroshi]

DF had a lot of faults but it had a lot of virtues also, and some faults were not really faults at the time. OTOH not all it's virtues are accepted by everyone (if any).

For me main enjoyment from DF was an illusion of a big fantasy world around which could be believed without resorting to LARPing tricks. This illusion is rather shallow and easily disrupted if player is picky or searching some complex roleplay there. But it nevertheless working. There too few of such examples even in games which are better rpgs then DF. Admittedly it may be achieved differently and in story-driven rpgs there is no need of such extensive illusions. But it nice to have one like in Gothic 1-2 for example. Later games are quite disappointing in that sense though.

MW is technically superior but was handled actually worse then DF. It has much more developed setting and background which are well-thought and have sense. Funny that seeing the alien setting some DF fans (myself included) were repulsed. There was much thrashing of MW back then and a lot of it was deserving. But not all, and some of it seems silly now. As lamenting the gone generic fantasy flavor of DF (at the ESF). Well, we've got it back in game which should not be named in polite society.
Nevertheless whatever virtues MW possesses it is not a living world and cannot be made one without so much efforts that it would be pointless. Mind, that DF is not a living world either but it has a working illusion of one. Which is sufficient in the game. In MW I often felt like LARPing my PC, or more preciously that my PC is LARPing in some well-done game park.

As for Arena, I like some small touches in it. Like pools after the rain which reflect the moon, and athmospheric descriptions when you enter the location. Everything else was in need for much improvement. Some improvements were even made in later games. Some sadly not.