It probably depends on whether you're more of a RP or a FPS type player. Either order you play them, going between MW and OB or vice versa will be somewhat of a shock, because the graphics and combat animations of the earlier title are so primitive in comparison to the later game, while the earlier game has so much more in terms of content (classes of items, amount of dialog, extent of lore, more skills, and overall diversity) than the latter. If you play them in chronological order, OB will feel like a huge "letdown" after MW, while if you play them newest to oldest, MW's dated graphics, difficulty due to near-constant failure at low skill levels, and its crude "combat resolution system" will make it difficult to "get into".

While they have much in common, they are designed for different playing styles: MW based almost entirely on the skills of the character, OB based more heavily on your finger dexterity as a player. If you start with either game, then it becomes the "norm" by which the other game is judged. Since they are so different, the forum is heavily split between the FPS and RP players.

The former MW player will hate how you don't need to have ANY skill in Lockpicking to pick the most difficult locks in OB, or any skill in a particular field to become its Guildmaster, and that you can't even attempt other tasks 1 measly point above your skill level, yet can't possibly fail at the same task once you gain that point. OB's level of challenge is blatantly matched exactly to your character, so both the challenge and the rewards are pretty much the same no matter where you go or what you do. All that, along with the removal or "consolidation" of many popular spell effects and weapons types, and the simplified "console-style" menus will leave a MW player feeling that the game is "dumbed down" and pointless. The argument has been made repeatedly that Morrowind's "artistic vision" is more exotic and compelling, even though Oblivion's more "generic" artistic execution is much more technically advanced. Then again, OB will give you an occasional breathtaking "Oh Wow!" moment as you view the scenery from a good vantage point, whereas MW's limited view distance and fog (to limit the amount of graphics earlier computers needed to render) hides the distant hills and scenery.

Former Oblivion players will hate the blocky landscape and angular looking objects (and NPCs) in MW due to the old graphics, the near-constant failure at most tasks at low levels, the crude combat, the near-inevitability of death if you enter certain places at low level, and having to read all those lines of text in conversations. Trying to find places after being given "poor directions" in MW frustrates a lot of OB players who have gotten used to having a big arrow on your screen pointing right to the next quest target. The limited use of levelled adversaries and lack of respawning NPCs in dungeons and caves in MW means that you will eventually run out of "difficult" opponents beyond a certain point, if you continue to play beyond the Main Quest.

Maybe it's better to try Daggerfall first, or just consider MW and OB two entirely seperate games with a common "history". They're all great games in their own right, but they don't "compare" easily to each other. Another way to view it is: OB is a much better "casual hack and slash game", MW is a deeper and grittier "world to live in". MW with a few good graphics mods can come pretty close to OB in terms of viewability, although there are still a few points where OB's later technology can't be matched by the older game. Several of the most popular mods for OB are designed to make the game play more like MW.

I'd say Morrowind, if you decide to use mods right off the bat. There are some graphical mods out there that make it look nearly as good as Oblivion! Morrowind also seems to have more stable mods, which will give you a more pleasant experience. I have a Morrowind mod that adds a soldier office, where you can hire companions to travel around with you. It works really well, too! The same mod would be much more difficult in Oblivion...

Oblivion would probably be a nicer start if you decide not to use mods for your first playthrough.

That works with Daggerfall too!

People who have played Morrowind first generally have an easier time going on to play Oblivion, than the other way around.
So I suggest you start with Morrowind then go to Oblivion, and if Morrowind isn't your thing, then Oblivion most likely will be.

If you find yourself interested in the ES games, definitely give Daggerfall a go, it still has it's advantages over Oblivion and MW.

Though Morrowind was tough early due to low skill levels, it sounds like people exaggerate Morrowind's difficulty. Morrowind isn't terribly hard compared to Oblivion once you get your skills up. Anyway, it depends how much you can tolerate certain things. I played Oblivion first and then moved on to Morrowind (technically I played a little of Daggerfall in between), and loved it. I'm not sure if you would be able to get used to Morrowind's elements after Oblivion like I did, so it depends on your own taste. I would reccomend probably Morowind first then Oblivion.

I'd say start with Oblivion, then Daggerfall, and finishing with Morrowind.

I've played Morrowind for years.

I can't express to you what it was like the very first time I played it and the "main," theme started playing at the title screen...then, an hour later, (which is how long it took me to create my very first ES character, [Nord custom-class named "Devis,"]) the song came on again whilst I was playing.


-It literally made me shake it was so good.



It's not really about the graphics, it's about the story(ies) and the gameplay.


Either Morrowind or Oblivion deliver superbly on both fronts, but in sometimes vastly different ways. (I have only played Oblivion sporadically on the 360, though.)

Morrowind will require a willingness to be immersed in a massive world, it takes a lot of effort and imagination to enjoy that game but if you like this sort of stuff, it's probably second to none in my opinion.

Oblivion is more of a straight-RPG of the hack/slash variety, it's as in depth but you aren't constantly reminded of this.
Unlike with Morrowind, you could probably play Oblivion through, including the guild quests and side-quests, without listening or reading 90% of the dialogue and instructions, etc. It's pretty straightforward.

Yeah..I struggled with Morrowind's main quest for literally about three months...building up my character's strength.

Oblivion was CAKE compared to that. I literally breezed through the MQ and every guild in less than a week. Difficulty wise, Morrowind is much harder to master but more rewarding for it. Oblivion is the kind of game you can beat at level 1, unmodded. It's still a very, very GOOD game. One of my favorites. But I didn't have the same sense of accomplishment after the main quest.

I wouldn't recommend going from Oblivion to Daggerfall. That would be like learning to swim in the shallow end of a swimming pool, to throwing yourself head-first into the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

I don't know, on the surface, and old age aside, daggerfall and Oblivion aren't that different, note that it's just on the surface. Environment, fast travel, mounts, stuff like that, the similarities end there of course, but it's enough to make me notice as I tried it out. I was actually pretty amazed at how going into daggerfall gave a sense of familiarity.

If your new to RPGs start with oblivion,it won't overwhelm you that much compare to morrowind or daggerfall.If played your fair share of RPGs go with Morrowind or even better Daggerfall(If you don't care about the graphics and some game breaking bugs).If you played alot of RPGs or a old school RPGer Go for Daggerfall.Just my two cents

I can't deny that there are a few similarities between Daggerfall and Oblivion. I had noticed them, too, the first time I played Daggerfall. However, once you scratch the thin layer of veneer that makes them seem (somewhat) alike, it becomes evident that they are vastly different in terms of complexity and game-play. Daggerfall is the closest thing to a PnP RPG that the Elder Scrolls has come to. Oblivion, on the other hand, is the closest thing to an FPS/Action title that the ES series has come to. As such, each game appeals to a very different kind of player. This is why I wouldn't recommend playing Oblivion first, then jumping into Daggerfall right away. IMO, it would be too abrupt of a transition. Starting with Oblivion, then going to Morrowind, then Daggerfall would probably be the smoothest transition. Otherwise, starting with Daggerfall, then going to Morrowind, then Oblivion, would be the next logical choice. But, that's just my 2 septims. :shrug:

Morrowind is fun. I like oblivion better though because its a bit more simplistic and less overwhelming. Plus oblivion is better than morrowind if you are able to get your hands on a [censored] load of mods.

I've been an RPG player my entire life, then I found Oblivion, and I loved it. Oblivion is not even close to an FPS/Action game. I love previous Elder Scrolls games as well. The only things making Oblivion more of an action game are the ability to choose when to block and the lockpicking mini-game. Those only make Oblivion more based on player skill, but they do not make Oblivion anything close to an FPS/Action game and it isn't really any closer to an FPS/Action game than Morrowind is.

I can definitely see you point, and I agree that this is also a great way to introduce yourself to the rest of series. The reason I advised going from Oblivion to daggerfall, was kind of, because of their surface resemblance, but also because of their underlying differences, as well as age difference.

Obviously somebody who's played Oblivion is gonna have some expectations about the other games, since daggerfall is so old, those expectations becomes lowered, but not because one considers it bad, but because "it's old", so your mindset is changed, the graphics also mean that when you attack and don't hit, it's not such a staggering difference according to the attack you see, distance is not easily judged, animation is not fluid, and so it becomes plausible that you simply missed, or the enemy evaded. Then there's fast travel and mounts, which makes the transition more fluid. There's still a compass but no quest arrow, however, the instructions aren't convoluted or unnecessary complicated, the directions you are given is always in a straight line, no road signs, no twists and turns, only "that's north from here", "that's east of here", and even better, when you get closer to your target, "let me marked that on your map", bam!, you can go straight to you're target. Through this you'll become accustomed to following instructions, and there's a low chance of getting lost (in the cities that is).

Anyways, it's a hassle, and going for Morrowind or Daggerfall, really depends on what you enjoyed in Oblivion. At least, that is just my opinion.

agreed

I definitely think Oblivion was an attempt to return to Daggerfall's style of play. In pursuing an amazing, persistent, hand-crafted world with Morrowind and the utterly mind-blowing amount of little details and intricacies the game has, Bethesda decided, at least for the time, to go for a slightly less open-ended game. I'm not saying Morrowind is linear at all - if anything it's just as non-linear as Daggerfall, moreso with an endless supply of mods. But it definitely seemed to emphasize lore, the plot, and political turmoil quite a bit. Daggerfall had all of these, but in the end, they were all still back-seat to the design mantra of simply running off and doing whatever you wanted.

Oblivion feels a lot like Daggerfall to me. Hell, even the guards look similar. The emphasis was on dungeon delving and roaming the countryside. In Morrowind I have rarely killed innocent NPCs as I grow so attached to them - in Oblivion I have no problems resuming (especially with neat additions like physics) Daggerfallesque "goofing off", jumping from rooftop to rooftop, cutting a swathe through innocent NPCs, and all that good stuff. Oblivion seemed like it was trying to encourage exploration, the towns were much like Daggerfall's in that they had little to offer beyond a few quests and shops.

But you have to remember that the dungeons are boring as hell, Oblivion has a much more rigid system of gameplay + skills than Daggerfall had, and, in the end, its monotony just isn't acceptable for a 21st century game. I'd love another Daggerfall-styled game too, but Bethesda has to put a lot more effort into it - pursue Daggerfall's open-ended world, sure, but remember - this is still 2010, and standards are higher for you guys now.

I could be mistaken, but I sense that you are taking what I said about Oblivion being, "the closest thing to an FPS/Action title that the ES series has come to", a bit out of context. I recognize that it is a sandbox RPG at heart. However, it seems to me that there is a heavier emphasis on the player's own motor skills than the character's skills in Oblivion. In addition to that, the MQ is thrown in your lap with such an implication of urgency that a player who is new to Oblivion ends up feeling like it is mandatory to become involved (as opposed to skipping the MQ entirely, which should be a perfectly valid option in an ES game). It is these things, in combination with the things that you mentioned (and then some), that make Oblivion feel closer to being an action title when compared to it's predecessors. Don't take these criticisms of Oblivion as 'bashing'. I think it is a great game if judged on it's own merit. Unfortunately, it shares a lineage with other games with deeper RPG roots, and thus will always be stacked in comparison against them.

Meh. To each their own, I guess.

For the most part, I felt differently. The leveled NPCs and creatures, the leveled loot, and the respawning NPCs/creatures/loot made dungeon diving repetitive, which quelled my enthusiasm for exploring fairly early on. Additionally, I never really felt like I fully 'cleansed' a dungeon because anytime I went back, there were more baddies and more loot. As such, dungeon diving not only became repetitive, but it also seemed a little pointless. Therefore, I'm inclined to say that emphasis was more on the MQ rather than on exploration. While the dungeons in Daggerfall were senseless labyrinths, at least there was the off chance that you might run into some decent loot. Plus, they are quite challenging -- at least, in the beginning. After about the 100th hour of my first adventure in Cyrodiil, I only went dungeon diving to farm loot, or if it was part of a quest. Other than that, it was 'something to do' if there wasn't anything else to do.

As far as going on murdering sprees is concerned; Oblivion isn't very comparable to Daggerfall as it has unkillable NPCs, which kind of takes the wind out of your sails when on a murderous rampage. And in terms of world scale, Oblivion gets an 'D' when compared to Daggerfall (it's not an utter failure since its not all randomly generated). But, I will concede on one point; playing roof-scotch is more fun in Oblivion than in any other ES title. :foodndrink:

I would personally suggest Morrowind. It's available for both PC and Console, so you can choose your preffered medium (MW does run on 360 as well, if you don't have last gen equipment). It's less of a jump back in time, so it's slightly easier to get into. As a lot of people have mentioned, it does many things better than Oblivion. Graphics obviously aren't one of them, and the combat system is a love or hate it affair, but it will teach you more about what TES is, and, will give you that nostalgic feeling if you ever do decide to try Oblivion afterwards.

If you want to save money then try Daggerfall. I personally haven't played it (I'm gonna download it right now though), but it's got the same basics as any TES game. Just remember it is a little older, and is built a little differently to modern games, most noticebaly it used randomly generated content.

Anway, pick your poison, you are about to enter a completely different world, and it will make you want to leave your current life behind. Hope you have fun.