EGM, Oblivion, and Morrowind.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

I just got the new issue of EGM yesterday and they do a short preview of Oblivion for the 360. The writer kept talking up how much more strongly this game pulled you into the main story and kept knocking Morrowind for it's lack of direction.

Come on! The whole point of the Elder Scrolls games is the open ended gameplay. There are enough Final Fantasy/Grandia/Shadow Hearts/Dragon Quest linear RPG franchises out there. Leave the straight as an arrow plotting to them. Give me a world without the artificial boundries of the story telling me where I can't go.

I just discovered Elder Scrolls III a month or two ago. I honestly didn't know they were still making games like that on the consoles. Buried somewhere in the archives there's a post of mine that's basically a love letter to Might and Magic on the Genesis. Morrowind is the first thing I've played in that vein in years.

My "don't even think about it until the second price drop" policy is in effect for the 360 (as it has been for every system since I dropped $300 in paper route money on the sega cd way back when) so my chance to take a crack at Oblivion is still a few years off. Is there anything else on the current gen systems that matches it's open ended role playingly goodness?

[Tan]

to be honest, not really, at least not to the level morrowind is, there are people who spend hours hunting certain creatures, or concocting potions from herbs gathered etc. etc., you could play the game for a few months before you ever got around the the main quest, not many console games can make that claim.

and i'm not sure what version you have but there are two versions of elder scrolls III, the later one is a game of the year edition and has both expansion packs added to it, which just about doubles the game, if you don't have the "goty" one you should do yourslef a favor and pick it up, your original morrowind save file can be used with the goty one. 8-)

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

Yeah the one I picked up was GOTY. I'm wrapping up the main quest, and I haven't even started to jump into the Tribunal/Bloodmoon portions of the game.

The wildest thing is that you can pick up this kick ass RPG for like 7$ at most game stops.

[meancode]

Yes another convert! Morrowind GOTY is just mammoth. I would say before you head into the red mountain for the final Main Quest'ing you finish your House quests first (whichever House you chose). You should also do all the Ashlanders plots too, if you have not already via the main quest.

Talking about hours upon hours for one enemy. I have spent days trapping Golden Saints in that game.

It slightly pisses me off that Oblivion will not have Levetate, as I have Levitate as a constant effect right now (and I am a Redguard.)

There are so many quests in that game it takes over 400 pages for the strategy guide.

The vampire quests are killer! (OK, that was bad.)

And if you are not going to get a 360 for Oblibion, I will tell you how it is when I get my copy :P

And it is a great price for 100+ hrs. of game play!

Oh I almost forgot: about EGM, did you read their DOA4 review? Or their NBA 2K6 (360) review? They come out with that f'ing brilliant Peter Moore interview but besides that have been all over the place with their reviews in the past few months.

When Morrowind came out IGN even trounced it, saying it was crap.

I can't wait to see how they simplify the RPG in Oblivion. I did not think things were that complicated in Morrowind, but I know of a bunch of people who tell me it was overly complex.

[PDorr3]

I can't wait to see how they simplify the RPG in Oblivion. I did not think things were that complicated in Morrowind, but I know of a bunch of people who tell me it was overly complex.

its because people are so used to havin their hand held in RPG's. I loved morrowind because of its open endedness, it was the first RPG that I had played like that, and I must admit I loved every moment of it.

[ProgrammingAce]

Heh, morrowind... I tried to do the plot, got bored one day and started killing everyone in sight, literally. Then i accidently saved over my original save file, and decided to see if i could actually kill every person in the game... I spent the next two months killing each and every person in morrowind who didn't respawn... and the game never tried to stop me... now that's open ended gameplay. Never did restart to see how the main story goes tho...

[calthaer]

I agree with you that Morrowind's "sandbox" world is in theory superior to the "train-track" linearity of the JRPGs, but let's face it - Morrowind wasn't terribly compelling. The world had a very static feel to it, because NPCs never went anywhere or did anything. Shopkeepers would stand behind their counters all day, all night, all the time. It's a step in the right direction, for sure, but it still doesn't come close to Ultima VII - which allowed you to go anywhere you wanted AND managed to create a compelling game at the same time.

[Joker T]

Morrowind is the Grand Theft Auto of the RPG world, I'm not a huge RPG player at all but this one instantly got me. The world is so huge and there is so much to do, you feel much more part of it than you do in other games. I'm very much looking forward to Oblvion.

[Ed Oscuro]

I agree with you that Morrowind's "sandbox" world is in theory superior to the "train-track" linearity of the JRPGs, but let's face it - Morrowind wasn't terribly compelling. The world had a very static feel to it, because NPCs never went anywhere or did anything. Shopkeepers would stand behind their counters all day, all night, all the time. It's a step in the right direction, for sure, but it still doesn't come close to Ultima VII - which allowed you to go anywhere you wanted AND managed to create a compelling game at the same time.
I thought combat was pretty lousy, as well.

Grinding was a huge issue, as well.

You were either underpowered, or overpowered, but never anything in between.

[calthaer]

I know, Ed - no kidding! It took me forever to raise my weapon skill from like 25-50 because you miss so often, and then you really shoot up from 50 to 100 in no time flat - and at that point, you usually have an obsidian weapon of some type which will kill your foes in one hit (or perhaps 2-3, if you're using short blade). It's hardly a challenge at this point to kill anything. I played for a lot and then left it right around this point...maybe at some point I'll breeze through the rest of the quests.

[mezrabad]

I re-re-restarted playing Morrowind on the heels of seeing some of the Oblivion trailers (That will be the game for which I will eventually buy a 360, but not until 2007, at least.)

I started playing Morrowind and I guess what I like most about it is just finding things. Finding caves, finding things hidden in tree trunks. Breaking into buildings and seeing just why the fracking lock was so high level, etc.

Still, the static nature of the game does indeed annoy me. Daggerfall had shop hours. Pedestrian trafic which mostly disappeared at night. Yes, it was a deeply flawed game, but there were aspects of it that I really wish had made it into Morrowind.

I do miss the "wonder" and "awe" I had when playing Ultima VII for the first time. I guess this would be a topic for another discussion, but how often to games come out now that give you that same "wow" factor that games in the past used to. Is it that we're getting older or are the games just not as wonderful (in the literal sense) as they used to be.

[Tan]

just to bring to topic back around, he was wondering if there was anything for this gen of consoles comparable to morrowind, i don't have alot of expierience with the gamecube, and don't use the ps2 much, so i'm kind of wondering myself. 8-)

[Half Japanese]

All I can say is this: linear or cliche as it might be, Jade Empire is the only RPG that I've ever played to completion. I was bored to death with FFVII before I saw my first Chocobo.

With my limited RPG experience my recommendations aren't the best, but I really enjoyed what I played of Deus Ex too. Sort of a cyberpunk shooter/RPG that was a lot more open-ended and gave you more options than your average run-n-gun.

[Lothars]

I liked Morrowwind, I really liked the open ended gameplay though didn't like the combat system found it annoying

on that note

I am looking forward to oblivion

it should be good.

[squidblatt]

The only series out there that's similar to The Elder Scrolls is Gothic for the PC. Gothic 2 came out around the time of Morrowind, and many people prefer it. Like Morrowind, there is a huge world to explore at your leisure. Unlike Morrowind, the world is not static. NPCs follow schedules, have jobs, etc. I haven't played enough of Gothic 2 to give you the complete lowdown, but my impresssion is that it is slightly more linear that Morrowind, but not by much. Graphics are good but not state of the art anymore, so you can probably run it on your PC without problem. Gothic 2 can be found in the bargain bin these days, and if you're done with the Elder Scrolls but want more, it is the obvious choice.

[jdc]

Back when we were all discussing whether we would be buying Xbox 360s or not I had stated a resounding "no" (too expensive, not enough choice at launch)......and even more so when we found out that Oblivion was not to be a launch title.

After the launch I tried to console my 360-less self by firing up my trusty GOTY copy of Morrowind and creating a new character....threw up my hands in resignation.....and bought a 360. I knew deep down that I simply could not bear to eventually see copies of Oblivion on store shelves and overhear people at our local shop talking about what an awesome game it is unless I was able to enjoy this magnificent new adventure as well.

I also read the few previews of Oblivion (EGM and OXM) and even though they may have "streamlined" the gameplay, I highly doubt that Bethesda would bastardize our experiences by dumbing down the game as seemed to be portrayed by the two "experts" who played the near finished code. As far as the stated slowdown, Elderscrolls wouldn't be Elderscrolls without the usual bugs. LOL (I sure am gonna miss not having the Silt Striders though)

[meancode]

Silt Striders cost money, AFAIK it costs nothing (but possibly time) to zap to places on the map that you have visited before.

I am going to miss levitate! I am sure I will get over it once I have the game.

I am looking forward to the streamlined system, but I am a firm believer that the Morrowind system worked very well.

[Tan]

as much as i'm looking forward to seeing oblivion, mark my words there will be fable comparisons because the game won't be nearly as big or non-linear as people hope.

[hezeuschrist]

as much as i'm looking forward to seeing oblivion, mark my words there will be fable comparisons because the game won't be nearly as big or non-linear as people hope.

There won't be Fable comparisons in terms of size, because Oblivion is a shitload bigger than Fable. Morrowind is also a shitload bigger than Fable. And it will be far more non-linear than Fable... it can't not be.

[Joker T]

as much as i'm looking forward to seeing oblivion, mark my words there will be fable comparisons because the game won't be nearly as big or non-linear as people hope.

There won't be Fable comparisons in terms of size, because Oblivion is a shitload bigger than Fable. Morrowind is also a shitload bigger than Fable. And it will be far more non-linear than Fable... it can't not be.

And the Elder Scrolls games are much more known in the RPG world than Fable.

[jdc]

No levitate? That was a handy spell!!! :(

I'm sure I'll also get over it as soon as I lay eyes on the new character creation screen. The last Morrowind character that I made was a Kajit theif.....and I had lots of fun ignoring the central plot and working my way up in the theive's guild. I'll most likely "cave" and do a battlemage. Just hurry up and bring it on!

[meancode]

Yea, I have read that playing as a mage will be much more balanced this time around. They will not be so weak offensively.