I know... I know... I know. We're only the 13th. But... I couldn't resist. For those of you who believe they have played a significant amount of Skyrim to make a solid opinion, I beckon you.

Which of the big three TES titles do you think is your favorite?

Trilogy? What about Arena & Daggerfall?

I knew someone would bring this up. I actually wanted to focus on the more recent games in the poll because I felt that there was more to compare. Most specifically, when people discuss Skyrim's strenghth's, they pit it against Oblivion and Morrowind. I felt Daggerfall was maybe a little too distant to bring in to the equation.

Needless to say, I will add those in since I know they still do count.

Like you say it's too early to tell. But the more I play the more I'm seriously thinking that Skyrim might eventually replace Morrowind as my favorite game of the series. I have a long way to go though before I'll be able to make that judgement though.

Morrowind, always.

So far, I think my tentative rankings (with minimal Skyrim experience) goes as follows:

• Daggerfall - Easily the best. The most-ambitious of the entire series, it had one of the most open worlds around, as well as the most content, and the best flexibility. It definitely managed to get all the GOOD elements of a "Rogue-like" RPG in there, that leant it a level of replayability that later games failed to match to. (star signs, I'm looking at you!) The fact that it didn't come out on consoles doesn't disqualify it.
  
• Morrowind - This takes a solid second-place. Sure, many like it most, but I think that's mostly because it was their first experience, and the exhaustive array of mods available for the game. Stripping the mod content, the game is still pretty solid, albeit has some more irritating features, and felt a bit clunky in handling.
  
• Skyrim - So far, it actually looks like gamesas managed to fix many of its prior game's shortcomings WITHOUT massively overcompensating to the point where the net result was actually worse. Though it still has some problems with further "dumbing-down" here, between the magic system and yet ANOTHER cut of skill counts.
  
• Oblivion - This game was a disappointment for me on so many levels. Almost as if a cruel joke, the developers heard "more things like Daggerfall," and followed... But mostly picked irrelevant elements, things that Morrowind actually improved upon, or did them poorly. (mounts + horse armor - mounted combat, I'm looking at you) Tack on the horrific PC interface, and yet a lot of "dumbing it down," and the game never lived up to what it claimed to be.
  
• Arena - I'll admit I didn't care for the game that much. I do hold that it was the one that started it all, though most of the more familiar elements (including those that'd get dumbed-down but retain fame) would actually originate in Daggerfall. All in all this game actually felt a bit too repetitive. The Passwall and associated spells are fun, though... But just for a bit.

I really think Bethesda nailed it with Skyrim. Sure it has it's flaws (embarrasing textures, faces lack emotion, UI has issues) but [censored].... I'm getting feelings i've never had with any of their previous games and i just want to play it all the time, never happened with the other games to this extent.

hardcoe RPGers may not love it as it's "streamlined" but ah well, as a game it's superb without categorising it on what level of hardcoe it is.

This. I'm enjoying Skyrim immensely so far. It has the Morrowind feeling, polished gameplay, and absolutely revels in the lore of TES.

I kind of feel like Beth took the all the best aspects of Morrowind (the grittiness, better story, less dumbed down gameplay and plot, lots of lore, amazingly good art direction) and mixed with the accessibility of Oblivion and voila: a game that is fun to play but treats you like an advlt.

Actually that was my main gripe with Oblivion. I felt that it treated me as a child with its hokey plot and cookie cutter setting. Morrowind on the other hand I often found too hard. There were so many times that I just wanted to explore and loot dungeons but I was forced to abandon certain locations because the enemies were too hard. I know, I'm not a hardcoe gamer and in fact my love for TES spurs mainly from my love of exploration and world design (big Myst fan here), so in the end I feel Skyrim is the perfect middle ground. Acessible and streamlined yet smart, well designed and engaging.

I think Skyrim might just take the cake.

honestly skyrim seems to be the best but i have little doubt black marsh will be better

*looks at profile picture* Well of course you think Black Marsh will be better, lizard :rolleyes:

My favorite TES IMO,

morrowind.

felt the story in skyrim and obliv too were too short, and kind of lazy. becoming the neravarine took balls. not like it matters, 1000+ hours of gameplay to be had again in skyrim, like previous titles.

I say Skyrim because of sound and music. Sound and music of games to me is one of the most important parts and it's one large reason why my top 3 favourite games of all time are in my top 3, Final Fantasy VI, Dragon Age Origins, and Skyrim is tied with DA:O, not at number 3. Oblivion's music was sometimes to peaceful to even notice in my opinion and the battle music got very repetitive and it wasn't even epic. In Skyrim, not only are there great travelling/exploring music but the battle music is epic and it doesn't play as soon as a monster sees you. I believe the battle music plays when the fight goes on for awhile or if there are multiple enemies.

I also love the combat, especially dual-wielding/dual-casting. Crafting is also great.

Best TES of the PENTALOGY (I take the title as a personal insult!) is Daggerfall, but I haven't even played Skyrim yet

A true bethesda fan stays current
Skyrim :thumbsup:

I'm the only one who voted oblivion.

But a true fan of a game doesn't stop liking it because it gets a sequel

This won't give you accurate results. The majority of people browsing these forums and answering your poll won't have played Morrowind or any of the titles before it.

Skewed results will be skewed.

We think alike. I really need to play more daggerfall because I haven't played it much, so currently I go with Morrowind. I love skyrim for the smoothness, but I agree with the "dumbing-down." I think for me why i still like MW a bit more, is that skyrim's quest line's feel too short/easy, and that the game, for me, lacks the same pure variety of game play. I do acknowledge the duel-wielding system is awesome and adds a lot to the game, as well as other things. I love Skyrim, but I do feel more limited in some regards, and even playing on a higher difficulty makes doesn't make the game seem all much more challenging for me.

I would like to counter-point myself and say for one, that I sometimes think the illusion that modern games are easy is because technology allows the gameplay to be smoother/easier and more natural feeling then older games. So sometimes I wonder if this is a contributing factor or not to why some new games feel easier.

I still think Skyrim is an incredibly brilliant and awesome game. For some people (like myself) I think immense variety and a pure vastness to the game are what I really enjoy. I also love in MW how foreign and bizzare the land felt to me. There are some moments of that for me in Skyrim, but not to the same degree.

This is all just my own opinion of course though! GOGOValenwood/Elsweyr/Black Marsh for TES VI !!! (Couldn't resist sorry)

And Battlespire and Redguard. I think there were also TES games for the failed N-Gage.
My favs:
1. Daggerfall
2. Morrowind
3. Skyrim
4. Oblivion
5. Arena

I haven't played Battlespire and Redguard much, so i can't comment on those. Perhaps i should start both up someday.
Although Oblivion is on 4th, i still loved the game. Especially SI was awesome.

Trilogy? And why Battlespire and Redguard didn't even get to appear in the list?

Seriously, I've still not get the chance to do Skyrim, but by all that I've seen, the design seems pretty solid. Thankfully, the cheesy, rainbowish, happy atmosphere of Oblivion seems gone: Imperials look like Imperials again, and not like some damn Arturian knights, the mer and beast races are so reminiscent of Morrowind that tears come to my eyes whenever I look at them, and I can taste a slight (I said slight) taste of Daggerfall influence on the edges. Not needed to say that the design and atmosphere sums pretty much of what a TES game is for me at first glance.

Interestingly, of all the TES games, Daggerfall is the only one that I keep permanently installed (on a portable HD). I travel a lot, and tend to stay at parents house's whose pc's aren't exactly up-to-date. And despite that, I've never managed to complete the damn game. That surely says something about the scope and size.

The best thing about TES series is that each game stands on its own. Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, all have their own strengths, charms and flaws, and are worthy playing by their own merits. I'm sure it will be the same with Skyrim.

dumbing down and streamlining isnt always a bad thing... i mean really, who wants to level up mysticism X_X i wish there were changes to skyrim like lockpicking and pickpocketing should be the same skill set and perk tree but its still an amazing game

Battlespire, Redguard, and the two mobile games (Shadowkey and Dawnstar?) were spinoffs; not in the main series.

Thus the Elder Scrolls Adventures line in the title.

Skyrim is pretty and immersive, but I've still gotta go with Daggerfall on this one.

Anyone who got on board with Oblivion or Skyrim, or even Morrowind, and thinks TES games are big with lots of content...have no idea what big is until they play Daggerfall. One tiny little kingdom of High Rock has more towns, dungeons and other locations than you can visit in many hours of gameplay. And there are dozens of these kingdoms all over. And the main storyline is still the most epic of all the ES games in my opinion. Involving alliances, betrayals, assassination, deception, and of course unearthing long-lost artifacts and dealing with dark powers and journeying into the unknown. And several different endings depending on your actions. (I think there were 6 possible endings?)

That coupled with the extremely detailed character creation system, and the incredibly numerous factions the player can align with or make enemies of, Daggerfall is just such a good game. If only people could get past the dated graphics and such, I think a lot of people would really enjoy it like I do. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim is my favorite game of the current generation. But I still don't think any of these games can hold a candle to Daggerfall in terms of world size and player choice and epic storylines.

If people think Skyrim is reminiscent of Game of Thrones, Daggerfall blows it away. In fact I think Daggerfall out "Game of Throne"'s Game of Thrones...