Review RPG Codex Retrospective Review: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (2002)

[Lexx]

Biggest problem with MW is that typical Bethesda quest shit. Like, shit starts out really promising but then suddenly turns apeshit. Take the Ordinator murder quest in Vivec as example. It makes you feel like being an awesome detective quest but then you walk to that canton, ask NPCs about "a woman with dagger", then go into the sewers, find a woman with dagger who attacks you, you kill and that's the quest. Wow...

Generally quests are sending you all over the place, that's so typical Bethesda. The world looks big, but every dude in some backwater tavern on the left South side of the map knows a guy in a backwater tavern on the north east side of the map... There is an NPC that feels like being followed by a guy... who sits in a house 3 towns away, what the hell, man.

Shit like this is what annoys the crap out of me.

 

[Dwarvophile]

Thanks to this review I gave a try to Morowind and discovered a much better experience than those old graphics ugly NPC models suggested. It's marvellously atmospheric and I guess I care about its world and its characters. It's a nice surprise.

 

[Israfael]

Lets necro this a bit...

In my opinion, Morrowind was the last Beth game with MK direct involvement in it, so after that the main strength - quirky philosophy and worldbuilding (Lessons of Vivec, Seasons, Egg of Time / all other dwemer lore books) - was gone and replaced with something low-brow. Mystery was gone, and the game became dull (I never played Skyrim, but only the Thieves guild and Dark brotherhood quests seemed good in Oblivion, everything else was trite, dull and shit). Well, and Gothic shat on both in terms of interactivity. Would be kinda nice to see a hybrid of Gothic systems / main quest design and MK world + trivia.

 

[Falksi]

Lets necro this a bit...

In my opinion, Morrowind was the last Beth game with MK direct involvement in it, so after that the main strength - quirky philosophy and worldbuilding (Lessons of Vivec, Seasons, Egg of Time / all other dwemer lore books) - was gone and replaced with something low-brow. Mystery was gone, and the game became dull (I never played Skyrim, but only the Thieves guild and Dark brotherhood quests seemed good in Oblivion, everything else was trite, dull and shit). Well, and Gothic shat on both in terms of interactivity. Would be kinda nice to see a hybrid of Gothic systems / main quest design and MK world + trivia.

Good shout. Exploring Morrowind felt fresh and like you were exploring an alien world. A lot of what you discovered was original and unexpected.

Skyrim & Oblivion took us back to either generic or rehashed roots, and both became dull fast.

 

[Brayko]

Released in 2002, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is widely considered Bethesda's last good game before their full embrace of the dark side.

I eagerly await 2025 when the NuNuCodex talks about how Skyrim is widely considered to be Bethesda's last good game before their full embrace of the dark side.

We're more streamlined now. PC game ported to consoles is acceptable but not the other way around.

 

[Bob's Chicken & Orphanage]

Lets necro this a bit...

In my opinion, Morrowind was the last Beth game with MK direct involvement in it, so after that the main strength - quirky philosophy and worldbuilding (Lessons of Vivec, Seasons, Egg of Time / all other dwemer lore books) - was gone and replaced with something low-brow. Mystery was gone, and the game became dull (I never played Skyrim, but only the Thieves guild and Dark brotherhood quests seemed good in Oblivion, everything else was trite, dull and shit). Well, and Gothic shat on both in terms of interactivity. Would be kinda nice to see a hybrid of Gothic systems / main quest design and MK world + trivia.

While MK hasn't worked for Bethesda since Morrowind, but his work on the TES series hasn't ended. He wrote six books for Oblivion, and did some work for Knights of the Nine. He also wrote the transcript for Heimskr (the Talos preacher in Whiterun) in Skyrim, and probably did some other stuff I can't remember.