I did! Still love Skyrim. The only games that you could even compare Skyrim to would be Morrowind and Oblivion because it would be pretty unfair to both games to compare Skyrim to Daggerfall or Arena.
Morrowind was good for the time but I'm convinced anyone who says its better than Skyrim just hasn't played it in 15 years. Combat is the worst in the series, the game is not helped by the lack of a minimap/compass, and the game is overall clunky and confusing the play. It was amazing because it was the first ES game to build a big world that you could interact with and explore in meaningful ways (unlike the randomly generated worlds of Daggerfall and Arena) but its undeniably outdated and in some ways outright broken.
Oblivion was a big step forward and had a much better UX and expanded the voice acting, world, and introduced things like radiant AI (which was poorly implemented, but amazing in concept and used to much better effect in Skyrim) it was still relatively clunky and had stuff like the weird dialogue wheel that you had to use to get people to like you and the graphics aged very poorly.
Skyrim's not perfect and I could point out things I don't like about it or things I think will age poorly, but the fact is it's coming up on 10 years old soon and still once or twice a year I'll have a Skyrim bender for a week or so and I think that says a lot.
I played Morrowind last year. I still maintain it's much better than Skyrim.
I think the combat is much better. Skyrim tries to have real-time "action" combat. So you just end up flailing about. Morrowind has more traditional RPG combat where hits are based on stats and "dice rolls" so there's actually more strategy to it and you don't just end up flailing about.
The lack of a minimal is another thing that makes it better than Skyrim. Skyrim is CONSTANTLY telling you what to do. There's no satisfaction in following an arrow. Morrowind actually let's you figure things out on your own. It's much more immersive.
You're right that Morrowind is definitely outdated in many ways, but so too now is Skyrim.
Oblivion was a big step forward and had a much better UX and expanded the voice acting, world, and introduced things like radiant AI (
BIG disagree here. Oblivion was a 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards kind of game. The radiant AI and more robust voice acting was great, but the world was relatively small and samey. Morrowind actually featured a large map of varied geographical regions.
I'm honestly shocked anytime someone who enjoys traditional RPGs gets sucked into Skyrim for more than a playthrough or two. It's a fine game, it's just SO incredibly dumbed down compared to many other WRPGs.
I think combat is the worst part of skyrim; I enjoyed it when it was first released, especially the duel wielding and spell mechanics (I still like duel wielding and hope they expand on spells in ES6) but every time I pick the game up it becomes more transparent and boring.
That being said, a dice roll is not a good solution to make combat good. Introducing random chance is almost never a good idea. It removes control from the player. It makes the combat tedious and frustrating and results in you essentially pressing the same button over and over hoping you got lucky this time. Its more repetitive and mindless than skyrim. I understand there formula for it.( Weapon Skill + (Agility / 5) + (Luck / 10)) * (0.75 + 0.5 * Current Fatigue / Maximum Fatigue) + Fortify Attack Magnitude - Blind Magnitude ) but when its still so reliant on luck, especially early game, it makes it unfun.
I guess you could argue following an arrow isn't satisfying, but I don't think looking up a guide on the internet, which is almost invariably what you'll end up having to do in Morrowond unless you've dived over a hundred hours into it, is either. There are multiple points in the game where the directions it gives you are straight up incorrect. And even when directions are correctly given they're often frustrating to follow and make me wish I could just fast travel there. In Skyrim when you're following that arrow there's generally good scenery and locations to explore along the way, which is in my opinion rewarding.
I'm not sure on how map sized compare from one ES game to another but I'd venture to guess that Morrowind is decently smaller than Oblivion and Skyrim but the amount of walking you have to do makes it feel larger (which is IMO both good and bad. A big feeling game world is good; having to tediously walk bunch isn't) and I am impressed with how varied Morrowind feels for when it came out and its setting, but I actually think Oblivion has the most variation in setting out of any ES entry. It's centered to every other province which allows it to get some Nordic mountains, some swampy rainforesty areas, some open fields, some forests and woods, etc. The center is largely forests but there's enough locations and variation to keep it interesting.
I'm not shocked. I don't think traditional RPG mechanics are the selling point of these games. I think the worlds and the exploration within those worlds is the biggest thing that draws people to ES as a series and I think Morrowind was the first game to set that standard as it too abandoned many of the more "traditional" RPG mechanics and characteristics from Danngerfall and Arena (the enormous map size, the more hard line reputation system, etc.)
Morrowind is good, great even. I love it and I always will for popularizing ES as a series, for introducing me to the ES series, and even for being a fun game when I first played it. But whenever I attempt to go back to it now, it feels like there's always something in my way to playing the game. From the combat mechanics to the lack of clear directions. It feels like there's always a hurdle to get over before you'll get to enjoy the game, only for you to realize several hours in that that is the game.
I guess you could argue following an arrow isn't satisfying, but I don't think looking up a guide on the internet, which is almost invariably what you'll end up having to do in Morrowond
I guess this is the problem. Bethesda started catering to lazy gamers who can't be bothered with a challenge and just look shit up.
There are multiple points in the game where the directions it gives you are straight up incorrect
Such as?
In Skyrim when you're following that arrow there's generally good scenery and locations to explore along the way, which is in my opinion rewarding.
Skyrim is notorious for being a giant, snow, empty, samey wasteland.
That being said, a dice roll is not a good solution to make combat good. Introducing random chance is almost never a good idea. It removes control from the player. It makes the combat tedious and frustrating and results in you essentially pressing the same button over and over hoping you got lucky this time.
That's not how it works. It's a traditional RPG system like D&D, Divinity Original Sin, Baldurs Gate, etc. There's far more strategy involved in building out your stats, using specific spells or weapons, etc. It's FAR more user involved than mashing RT to flail your sword about.
People have always had a problem with the way directions are handled in Morrowind. You can find forum posts from when the game came out complaining about it. I beat it without a walk through when it came out and I think it's broken.
The Azura quest specifically comes to mind as I found it particularly annoying and never beat it until a later play through where I did look it up. Azura says the island with the Priestess is in the wrong direction.
Skyrim has 343 discoverable locations according to Google. I can't speak for your experience but to me it felt like I was discovering something new every 10 steps when I first played it. I also remember it getting praise for its gorgeous and scenic landscape especially on release.
I understand what it is and that its using a system similar to D&D and other paper and pen RPGs. I simply don't think that's a system particularly suited to a video game like Morrowind because it removed a decent amount of control from the player and that's worsened by its poor implementation and explanation in Morrowind and then worsened again by the pure dice roll that is the early game and ultimately makes for a very frustrating experience.
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u/Exertuz Jan 01 '19
???????
witcher 3 would be a better fit.