My Elder Scrolls history is short and sweet. When I was 15 years old, I played an hour of Morrowind are my mom's boyfriend's house. That hour stuck with me. I didn't touch the game again until three days ago, but I never forgot my time wandering near Seyda Neen. There was something so different from what I usually played and so vividly memorable. I played Oblivion even less -- approximately 20-30 minutes on a display unit at a GameStop. Like many players, it wasn't until Skyrim that I spent any real length of time in Tamriel. And, like many players are equally quick to declare, I never even finished the story.
E3 2018 came and went, and the excitement for The Elder Scrolls 6's announcement prompted me to go back to the pseudo-beginning. Back to Morrowind, to relive that lone and lovely hour and -- perhaps -- go further. I'd watched the recent documentary The History of Bethesda Game Studios and remembered why despite relatively little personal history with their games BGS still impresses me. I asked for help finding lore videos and guides so I could finally, finally make some sense out of Nirn. And then I downloaded Morrowind and got to work.
My character is Nora Navarre, an adventuring Imperial who ran afoul of the law and got stuck on a boat. She doesn't know why, and neither do I, but the Emperor himself has pardoned her and sent her to Vvardenfell. Immediately I felt transported back to my youth, to when this opening sequence and revolutionary openness first stunned me. I recall contextual clues and Fargoth's voice and the glorious silt strider as if it were all just yesterday. I suppose it helps that Morrowind is beloved, and thus spoken-of often on the internet.
I've joined the Blades, working for a shirtless fellow with an obvious drug problem. I've joined the Fighter's Guild, clearing out an outlaw orc's house and making it my own. I keep getting attacked by assassins, and I don't know why, but their armor fetches a pretty penny so shine on, you crazy bad guys. I'm blown away and confounded by the number of gameplay systems at hand. I see items like greef and I have no idea what I'm looking at. I keep getting told it's my lucky day and I don't understand why.
I love it.
I grew up on JRPG stock. BioWare got me into WRPGs, but mostly I've stuck to BioWare. I'm taking my first measured steps into truly exploring Tamriel, and these giant trees look like mushrooms and it's like video game crack. Even the feeling of going down the Wikipedia rabbit hole every time I talk to somebody -- underlined clickable words ahoy! -- feels new and vibrant to me.
If anyone here happens to be a Morrowind vet (oh come on, half of you probably are) and has any tips for a first-timer, I'm all ears. In the meantime, I'll keep reading every book voraciously and devouring the gorgeous world-building and alien environs of Vvardenfell.
Cool game, yo.
E3 2018 came and went, and the excitement for The Elder Scrolls 6's announcement prompted me to go back to the pseudo-beginning. Back to Morrowind, to relive that lone and lovely hour and -- perhaps -- go further. I'd watched the recent documentary The History of Bethesda Game Studios and remembered why despite relatively little personal history with their games BGS still impresses me. I asked for help finding lore videos and guides so I could finally, finally make some sense out of Nirn. And then I downloaded Morrowind and got to work.
My character is Nora Navarre, an adventuring Imperial who ran afoul of the law and got stuck on a boat. She doesn't know why, and neither do I, but the Emperor himself has pardoned her and sent her to Vvardenfell. Immediately I felt transported back to my youth, to when this opening sequence and revolutionary openness first stunned me. I recall contextual clues and Fargoth's voice and the glorious silt strider as if it were all just yesterday. I suppose it helps that Morrowind is beloved, and thus spoken-of often on the internet.
I've joined the Blades, working for a shirtless fellow with an obvious drug problem. I've joined the Fighter's Guild, clearing out an outlaw orc's house and making it my own. I keep getting attacked by assassins, and I don't know why, but their armor fetches a pretty penny so shine on, you crazy bad guys. I'm blown away and confounded by the number of gameplay systems at hand. I see items like greef and I have no idea what I'm looking at. I keep getting told it's my lucky day and I don't understand why.
I love it.
I grew up on JRPG stock. BioWare got me into WRPGs, but mostly I've stuck to BioWare. I'm taking my first measured steps into truly exploring Tamriel, and these giant trees look like mushrooms and it's like video game crack. Even the feeling of going down the Wikipedia rabbit hole every time I talk to somebody -- underlined clickable words ahoy! -- feels new and vibrant to me.
If anyone here happens to be a Morrowind vet (oh come on, half of you probably are) and has any tips for a first-timer, I'm all ears. In the meantime, I'll keep reading every book voraciously and devouring the gorgeous world-building and alien environs of Vvardenfell.
Cool game, yo.
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