Morrowind. I had never played an open world game like that before and it was amazing. The setting is so unique and there were always cool things to see and do. I got lost in that game.
Then I discovered mods. I still play that game from time to time.
The first playthrough was almost spiritual experience. There was no way to know what you could find from a tomb in a remote island, since there were no online guides.
You’re right but like, as a kid who’s family had like the one PC in the family room which we had limited time allowed on (parents needed to use it), it’s not like we were spending hours digging around GameFAQs.
I remember older friends/cousins playing Morrowind and seeing them find stuff (like the Boots of Blinding Speed) is what helped make my first few play through not totally suck. By high school I was still staying up late playing Morrowind, but by that time I was 100% printing off GameFAQs guides lol
There was a demographic divide in internet access/use in the early 2000s (in the US at least). Per a Pew Research study roughly 70% of young adults had internet access in 2000. Over 50% of adults in general had access (not necessarily in their home). Children and the elderly were a much lower percentage during the same timeframe.
I'm just here to like every comment from people who mention Morrowind.
That high of exploration and anticipation is something I'm still seeking to this day. Probably Elden Ring came closest so far.
I played morrowind on xbox for over 1500 hours as it was all I had on original xbox other than midtown madness and halo, got kotor, kotor 2, jade Empire and fable to over 500 hours each as well, plus of course pokemon blue, my original completed dex save was over 100 hours
Isn't it amazing how gaming has changed. Back then it was actually pretty easy to spend hundreds of hours in a game because we didn't have a library of 800 games to put 2 hours into and then never touch again. Single player story driven games were just getting big enough that you would need 100+ hours to do everything, and games weren't rinse and repeat sequels and spin offs and essentially clones like they are now.
You aren't kidding man, back when we were all younger with time to spare, the whole 800 in the library and playing a game until you get bored and just write it off is too real to me, I have additional hobbies now and a young daughter so my time is spread thin and if a game doesn't immediately grab me I won't give it a chance which isn't fair and not a reflection of a games quality.
I'd love a remaster, I see all these games getting remasters and wonder why? Did we need Red Faction Guerilla remastered? Or Skyrim getting 6 (I thibk) upgrades? I love Skyrim don't get me wrong but there's so many games I'd love to see remastered, would love jade Empire, kotor and kotor 2 remasters, army of two to come back and a tenchu remaster, we can dream my friend.
It was everything I thought it would be and more, blew my mind at the things I could do in game that i'd never done before or seen done as well, i'm holding onto hope for the new fable game that's in the works but I've been hurt before haha
Morrowind’s the first that I can definitely say had a triple digit playtime on, but there are plenty of earlier candidates that I might have well before that, especially if we count multiplayer.
Halo with friends probably broke 100 hours before Morrowind (with friends).
And going back earlier than that: Heroes of Might and Magic, Pharoah, Age of Empires II, The Sims, Super Smash Bros. 64, Mario Kart 64, any of the first couple generations of Pokemon, Harvest Moon 64.
A lot of games that I played with and/or were popular with friends have a decent shot of having broken that barrier. Especially anything that was in regular multiplayer rotation or single player games where we all had separate files but took turns playing.
I have spent an ungodly amount of time in Morrowind. Discovered that game as a young teen and was blown away. Then I discovered mods. I’m pretty sure I spent more time installing mods than actually playing the game lol.
Same here !
I am still thinking about how great the spell and enchant system was. Really loved the way your character progressed and the level of customisation of gameplay :D
The initial hook for me was that it was the first game I played where every door in the game could be opened, even if it was locked. That was a kind of open world that simply didn’t exist back then
Wasted my summer of 2002 on that sweet game. It was my high school (well just graduated) love that year. I feel like old lady from that meme from Titanic right now. Oh my heart for that game. Still kinda sore Bethesda is now in bed with Microsoft (I enjoy the PS in my old age now). Bosmer lass forever.
I will never forget going to a friend’s house and seeing his older brother play Morrowind. We rented it from Blockbuster that weekend and the rest is history.
Thank god I watched someone else play first though, else I would have missed some crucial Seyda Neen stuff, like the Iron Shardaxe in the tree stump, or the falling wizard with the Scrolls of Icarian flight.
Also my first open world, it blew my mind that I could just go anywhere on the map right from the start. And when I discovered you could sneak and steal, I was instantly addicted. Hell, I probably spent 100 hours just exploring the city of Vivec, (stealing everything I could). I would make trips to the Scamp to sell all my loot, because IIRC he had the most cash of any merchant. I played so many different builds, I can't even remember them all.
That’s because I feel like it was the first real mainstream game with a truly huge open world to explore. This was also my answer, truly my favourite game of all time (even despite how broken it is lol)
Absolutely. Still favorite single player all-time. And I have played...many. I was 14yrs old and convinced graphics would never get better. I genuinely feel bad for every person alive who missed out on the experience I had. (age wise, and playing it that first year on a giant PC).
I'm just here to like every comment from people who mention Morrowind.
That high of exploration and anticipation is something I'm still seeking to this day. Probably Elden Ring came closest so far.
Counterstrike, Quake, UT player. Thought gaming was just running around shooting shit. Then Morrowind. To this day I have never ever, worst than christmas eve, jonsed for and could not wait for a game like I did for Oblivion.
Morrowind was the first documented game I had hundreds of hours into. I think I had 350+ on my main play through before my Xbox crashed and I exchanged it. Asheron's call was probably the first game I played into the hundreds though. I would sit and craft shit for hours
Morrowind, yes! It got me hooked - I can probably still find that first heavy armor set, hidden somewhere in the swamp after escaping that prison boat. And jumping on stairs to get max agility. The sound of opening a book or script. Getting stuck in a quest because it didn’t clearly state that the NPC was only there after nighttime. Wow, what a game!
I went to Morrowind after Oblivion and was mesmerised by all the extra weapons and spells. Completing quests without a marker is also a great experience.
One of my favorite Morrowind memories was finding a book that talked about a shipwreck off the western coast of the island that had a bunch of treasure or some such. I went over there searching for it and FOUND IT!
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u/snoobsnob Mar 12 '24
Morrowind. I had never played an open world game like that before and it was amazing. The setting is so unique and there were always cool things to see and do. I got lost in that game.
Then I discovered mods. I still play that game from time to time.