In lieu of an upcoming next gen Elder Scrolls, my RPG needs are looking to (finally) be met by Bioware's soon-to-be-released Dragon Age Inquisition. I've been thinking about what race I want to play as, and I'm leaning toward elf at the moment, but whenever I think about playing as an elf, I think about Dark Elves and then I think about Elder Scrolls and I get nostalgic.
I played a Dark Elf in Morrowind for the first time, and it was such a great experience. I rolled him as a mage and when I got built up, the game experience was mind blowing. Building my own mushroom house was the icing on the cake. Fast forward to Oblivion and I played a custom made Dark Elf "Blood Mage" (it was a semi-rip off of the Blood Mage from WC:III Frozen Throne). Finally, I think back to my final few playthroughs with Skyrim before we parted ways. I played a spellsword Dark Elf who I could not get enough of.
For me, the elven races are done best by Bethesda. I've never really encountered a rendition of elves in other fantasy media that are as relatable. I think it is partly because each race has so many different cultures within it, and you can have very traditional, almost alien elves, but then conversely you can have elves that are very influenced by Imperial culture. Elves who are basically just guys with weird eyes/ears/(faces in Skyrim). I especially like Dark Elves for their personality traits and just their overall temperament. I feel like if I were to be translated into the game, I'd end up as a Dark Elf lol.
For all the other elf lovers out there, why do you like Bethesda's take on elves over others? Or do you I guess? For the sake of this discussion, I'll include Orsimer, but no half bloods (I'm looking at you Bretons).