I have never really gotten into the Elder Scrolls games but would like to give them a shot. Occasionally I will read people posting that Morrowind is the best of the bunch. That surprises me as my friends seem to rave about Skyrim when I ask them about it. What is so good about Morrowind that makes it stand out from the rest?

Morrowind is prolly on sale on Steam right now. It is definitely my favorite of all of them. TBH Oblivion isn't that great and Skyrim is just ok, but I will play the crap out of Morrowind. I go back every once in a while and beat it again.

Edit: Yup $11.99 on Steam right now. I would keep my eye on it in case it gets a bigger discount.

I prefer Morrowind because it's the only one I can max out the graphics on without fear of losing my FPS.

That and Oblivion has too many damn caves and mines!

Frankly I think that nostalgia is the main factor. I think it's the first TES game that had major mainstream success so it was many players' first TES game and thus they will almost automatically insist that it's the best one. I remember how I myself was blown away by it and the later TES games just couldn't repeat that (while they probably would have had the same effect if one of those had been my first TES experience).

But otherwise - for one I liked Morrowind's world more. It felt a lot less like generic fantasy to me than both Oblivion and Skyrim. I haven't played Oblivion nor Skyrim as much as Morrowind but I haven't stumbled upon a single location in either one of those that impressed me as much as some of the more original and impressive ones in Morrowind.

Oblivion also dug its own grave with enemy scaling. Enemies would get stronger along with you, kinda killing the entire point of character progression. Also in terms of content and style it was by far the most generic game in the series. Not to mention that everything was so nice and sweet there that I could vomit rainbows.

Other things that especially PC gamers will hate about the newer TES games is that they are optimized for console (especially Skyrim's interface was just unbearable when using keyboard + mouse, IMO) and dumbed down in ways. I never got into the TES magic system much (I usually play warrior kinds of characters, sometimes rogues) but from what I've read it was dumbed down a huge lot in the last two games.

I think the morrowind vs oblivion/skyrim is a lot like Fallout vs FO3/NV. You will like whatever one you played first the best. Each of the three ES games hast their good points and bad points. Morrowind story wise and quest wise is varied and interesting. However, the menu and controls are blarg. Oblivion is a mix between Morrowind and Skyrim, the quests aren't as varied, but still interesting, however the graphics and controls are way better. Skyrim is super super pretty, but the quests aren't as varied, it's a lot of, "fetch this, kill xn of that, cause yeah". However, I like Skyrim's build system a lot.

I first played Oblivion, then Skyrim and then Morrowind. I wish I had gone in order bc the lore of the ES is HUGE and I find that I missed a lot of fun, "omg I can't believe they referenced that" or "So that's what happened" since I didn't play them in order. Makes me sad :(

I just downloaded Morroblivion, which uses the oblivion engine to run Morrowind and I am like it so far, though there is a bit of lag. Ok, no, there is a lot of lag, but my computer is not so awesome. You can look into it here.

Be aware, you must own Morrowind plus the dlc and Oblivion plus Shivering Isles for this to work. that is what makes it awesome. spelunking for the win! see now I do not understand people not liking enemy scaling. what is the point of progression if you can just one-shot everything? I like being challenged in later game with scaled opponents.

And everything else you said about oblivion was wrong too ;) It's my favorite, however it was also my first ES, so yeah, like you said, nostalgia...

What unfathomable reason could have ever made you want to play anything in oblivion's garbage engine?

b/c my computer is too stupid for Skyrim and I can't stand Morrowind's interface, especially the stupid journal for quests. How is the for unfathomable?

Edit to OP:nevermind just read the stupid page and it's not running. you can only use oblivion's engine. if there are other engines or mods I am not aware of them. Modding isn't my thing.

Morrowind, when compared to Skyrim or even Oblivion had a very unique world to explore that trumps those two not only in how much of a better place it is, but in size as well. There was just a lot to see and it didn't follow the usual fantasy style instead going for this really grungy yet mystical style.

liez !
i played morrowind first and i cant stand it
ugly graphics
bland game world
horrible interface i hated the game from the word go it was oblivion the second tes gaem i played that actually reeled me in

if i never played oblivion i coudl blame morrowind for actually driving me away

See, in a good RPG (you know, one designed by people with brains) you level up so things get easier for you and so you can enter new areas and face stronger enemies and thus the game remains challenging. Or you become able to fight whole groups of enemies you could barely defeat individually early on. Yeah, Oblivion said "screw that, our hero has to have a hard time fighting puny bandits and doing beginner quests of guilds, even if he's already become a legendary warrior who's ready to save the entire world!".

This.

Morrowind has it's mechanical nuisances but the world and the way it interacts with you. Seeing Ald Ruhn for the first time and meeting this place wondering what built it? Why is it like this? Vivec.

Characters and factions have their own motivations independent of you and feel different. In fact, it is impossible to complete all in a single play through as certain factions won't interact with you or require you to destroy another as their finale. (Fighters Guild, to complete the Fighters Guild quest you must destroy the Thieves Guild. The reason is the Fighters Guild is controlled by the Camonna Tong, local crime syndicate) House Telvanni won't deal with you in the Mage's Guild, they are magically inclined and have their own interests opposed to the Mage's Guild. There is also quite a bit of upheaval and it just gets very interesting meeting everyone.

There is also a lot of side stuff to do but unlike say Skyrim, Morrowind doesn't scale. So there are sections that are more or less level locked to you. The game tells you in the main mission when you meet Caius Cosades go do some side things, level up, you can't do these things right now or at least you shouldn't. It doesn't stop you from doing anything.

well you are always the exception to rules, snowkatt.

Btw, you are punching the ever loving crap out of dragons.

yes i like to be
i loath morrowind i gave it ample oppertunity but i usually end up getting bored or horrified by the rat muntant that are the npc's and go back to oblivion

but not burninanting ?!
i dont punch i burn or stab !

what are you talking about? if you wandered too much early on in Oblivion, you got eaten by health regenerating trolls and other foul beasts. I remember Anvil being filled with lions that would run you down and kill you if you went roaming too early on in the game. Some quests were super hard too if you went on in too early or didn't know the mechanics well enough.

Besides, Oblivion is open world, and you should be able to traverse it at your pleasure. If you want level locked areas, play WoW. If I die in game, I want it to be b/c I wasn't skilled enough for the enemy, not b/c the developer put some arbitary level designation in an area that I didn't know about until I got ganked.

Besides, the enemies DID change during the scaling. you started at low level with puny scamps and clanfears. At the end you were battling Draemora. You got new, harder enemies as you progressed.

I had that same experience myself, played the Xbox port and hated the combat and lack of direction of what to do. I gave the game a second chance, fiddling with things and it is not as clunky as people suggest. The combat, the thing that people say sucked, is not that hard once you realize what weapons work for your character and being able to take advantage of the different sword swings you can do.