Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind

These are the only three I've played, so I can't compare versus the ones before Morrowind.

People always enjoy looking back on the older games, in any series, unfairly fondly. When Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas came along, it was said that the game was crap relative to the wonderful Vice City. Then once IV came out, San Andreas was suddenly the most amazing game in the series. With Forza Motorsport 4, FM3 was often sited as better, but two years earlier when FM3 came out it was said that FM2 was better. Any given The Legend of Zelda game is compared against Ocarina of Time and OoT is always regarded as better. With The Elder Scrolls we see the same, with Oblivion having been said to be inferior to Morrowind, and now we're doing the same with Skyrim.

The more recent Elder Scrolls games haven't simply improved over Morrowind in terms of aesthetics like prettier graphics and voice acting. This generation's Elder Scrolls games made some critical improvements over Morrowind in other departments as well, including the improved combat mechanics and dramatically superior menus including better organized lists for stuff like ingredients and an infinitely superior quest log. As I recall from playing Morrowind on the original Xbox, my quest log was simply done like a series of notes in a notepad all in chronological order rather than being arranged together with relevant information. This meant I would often have to browse through a dozen pages of journal notes looking for the one piece of information I need. If Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim all came out today at the exact same time for the very first time (pretending Morrowind and Oblivion had not previously been released), and all three running Skyrim's graphics engine and all three with full voice acting (as I recall, not all dialog was voice acted in Morrowind), but otherwise each being just as they really were including retaining the same combat mechanics, menus, and features, nobody would insist that Morrowind was better.

The same goes for movies. People seem to enjoy talking about how much worse remakes are versus their originals, but if the originals and the remakes had appeared side-by-side for the very first time (rather than the original having been released years earlier) almost none of the originals would be favored over their remakes. The remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street would be favored almost universally, the remake of King Kong would be universally favored over the original (not just because the original was in black and white and graphically primitive), and the new Halloween (Rob Zombie) would beat the crap out of the original, just to name a few examples. Yet somehow everybody always remembers the originals as so much better somehow.

I haven't played Daggerfall or Arena, and I don't plan to, but I have been an Elder Scrolls fan since early after Morrowind's release, so I can comment on these last three titles.
I've read a lot of these threads over the past few years. One thing holds true: nostaliga is the clear winner. For me, Morrowind is my favorite. Skyrim, however, is the best game I feel. Favorite does not mean best. I think a lot of people get into this mindset: that their favorite game is the best game. I feel that a game, like anything else, should be judged on its merits and dismerits. Some (but not all) of those merits and dismerits are listed below:

Overall, my taste runs Skyrim > Morrowind > Oblivion. Skyrim is definitely the more buggy of the three, but has the best voice acting and scripted events of the series. It also has some of the worst voice acting and scripted events of the series. This is contradictory, but possible, because there is a much great quantity of that kind of content. Overall, I feel that Skyrim is much improved over Oblivion, and Morrowind.
On game world size and entertaining content, Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind. Skyrim without doubt is the winner. Oblivion was spaghetti copypasta with a side order of weaksauce in the variety department, but it still has excellent quests, more so than Morrowind.
On chacter progression, variety of skills, specificity of role playing elements, Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion. Skyrim just barely beats out Oblivion here, I think.
Visuals, this one is obvious, Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind.
Scripted sequences, Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind.
Atmosphere and tone, Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion.
Plausible character reactions to events, Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion. Morrwind's reactions were mostly in dialogue, but there were still great. The consequences of actions in Morrowind could be dire, game-breaking, and awesome.
Quests, Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind. Crappy, iterative infinite quests are still better than no quests. The scripted quests have always been entertaining.
Dialogue, (text only), Morrowind > Skyrim > Oblivion. Morrowind was mostly text dialogue, except a certain few voice acted parts, notably Azura. The text dialogue was excellent, and to me, very entertaining. Skyrim dialogue at least has some interesting and plausible things for a hero to say. Oblivion dialogue felt like I was playing a simpleton (which in and of itself is not entirely boring...).
Dialogue, (voice work), Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind. Skyrim is the obvious winner. Oblivion had a lot of reused voice work and little variety, but several fold more voice work than that of Morrowind.
Sound and music, I'd have to say a tie here. Its always been excellent throughout these past three games. Especially the music. All three title themes are very memorable.
Combat, Skyrim > Oblivion > Morrowind. I was not a fan of the "dice roll" swing/not hit system in Morrowind, but before Oblivion's release, I did not even think to complain about it, because there was no comparison to make. Oblivion definitely improved on that. Skyrim improves on what Oblivion offered players.

To summarize:
Bias towards Morrowind because of nostalgia, but I think Skyrim is the "best" game.

Comparing these three games is a little bit like comparing a Nintendo 64 to a Nintendo Gamecube to a Nintendo Wii, everyone has their opinions, but many will say N64 is the best simply because of their feelings of nostalgia. I'm not sure which game is which console in this metaphor, so you decide. Oblivion is one of those games I will probably never play again, but it was enjoyable for a while.

However, I could see myself playing Morrowind or Skyrim in the next 10 years.

The influence of the Fallout series is apparent in Skyrim. Persuasion dialogue choices, for example. Level-up perks. Not sure that I like some of the Fallout-esque changes.

They actually fixed that bass-ackwards quest log journal scheme in one of the official patchs for the game. Of course, on Xbox, this could not be patched (not sure if the GOTY edition has the improved journal). The improved journal still had notes listed chronologically, but they added a new section listing quests by the actual quest name. It was a godsend, thats for sure.

I do miss Spears though can't say that is an improvement. Medium armor too :confused:

That feeling you describe is called nostalgia:
"a wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time"

I replayed Morrowind this past January/ February. There are some essential visual enhancement mods that I used to make the graphics bearable. With them I still think it is an awesome game, if only because of the tone. Its so gritty and dark throughout most of the game. Also, a lot of religious strife, and oher themes. Unsuprisingly, these themes reoccur in Skyrim, which is one of the reasons I really like Skyrim.

Looking at it objectively i would probably rank it like this...

Morrowind > Skyrim > Daggerfall > Oblivion > Arena > Redguard > Battlespire

To me Morrowinds graphics are still decent enough and the mechanics of the game are indepth enough to be considered a rich RPG. It had its problems, but i still think it was by far Bethesdas best game to date and a perfect blend of action and indepth RPG character customisation and story.

Skyrim loses almost all RPG aspects and the mechanics are as deep as a puddle in the height of an African summer but the gameworld, graphics, new features (duel wielding) make it a decent game. It does however get points for being modern and easily playable so for its time i would put this game behind ...

Daggerfall - A masterpiece in its own right with plenty of character customisation. This game really did let you tell your own story. However, theg raphics, UI and mechanics havent dated as well as Morrowind IMO

Oblivion - Its not a bad game. Its easy to bash it because its not as good as other offerings but the graphics were decent. The RPG mechanics had been dumbed down but had that been the sole reason for people disliking it then they would hate Skyrim for being further dumbed down. The problem with Oblivion was mainly that it was a bit too generic.

Arena - This game was a great first but it left a lot to be desired in terms of mechanics. I tried to play this again recently and couldnt get back into it.

Redgaurd - Bethesda really should stick to open worlds

Battlespire - Not a bad action game but IMO one of the worst Bethesda have done.

Daggerfall and Morrowind are the best games of the Elder Scrolls saga. Sadly, i expected more from Skyrim. The game is new, so i cant really understand or see the point of people who said is the best... time will give me the reason.
I born in 1987, im 24 right now and i have played the entire saga and lots of rpg games including pen & paper.

Skyrim looks very simply to me, i dont see how you can make a better game removing things that made the basic and esence of the game. Forget about grapichs, please... this is merely subject of the year the game is released.
For 1996 Daggerfall had amazing grapichs, and so for Morrowind.

But im going to compare Morrowind, i like more Daggerfall but i think Morrowind is more popular.

Morrowind/Skyrim and Character Customization:

Attritbutes

Strentght, Agility, Endurance, Inteligence, Willpower, Personality, Speed, Luck. 8 here.

Skyrim in the other hand = Health, Magicka, Stamina. 3 here.

Skills

Combat Armorer | Athletics | Axe | Block | Blunt Weapon | Heavy Armor | Long Blade | Medium Armor | Spear

Magic Alchemy | Alteration | Conjuration | Destruction | Enchant | Illusion | Mysticism | Restoration | Unarmored

Stealth Acrobatics | Hand-to-hand | Light Armor | Marksman | Mercantile | Security | Short Blade | Sneak | Speechcraft

28 skills at Morrowind... Skyrim, 18.

Birthsigns

The warrior, The mage, The thief, The Serpent, The Lady, The Steed, The Lord, The Apprentince, The Atronach, The Ritual, The Lover, The Shadow, The Tower.

Morriwind haved all of this, chosing one of them to be permanent when you create the character... now Skyrim have this stones, so you can change at will your "Birthsing" whenever you want.

Really, i dont want to continue... i dont feel like creating a character anymore. Perks? Thats new in Elder Scrolls and its not enough to cover the lack of things included in previous games.

Its shame, i always liked Elder Sroll, my favorite rpg game of all times... but now, i dont understand what happend.

Im not saying Skyrim is a bad game, probably is fun to play and have some interesting things... but its nothing compared to his father Morrowind, not to say his grandpa Daggerfall.

Bethesda, back to basics, please.

Even Fallout 3 and New Vegas include Atrributes =S.

I have to disagree. I've played Morrowind, Oblivion, and now Skyrim and I think that Oblivion has the best UI of them all. No, I'm not joking.

Haha 100%.

Are you seriously saying that more numbers means better game?...wtf..

I have to say that morrowind is my favorite Bethedsa game is Morrowind, mostly because it was my first Elder Scrolls game and i have very nostalgic memories from it.

The question is not "if you were to play all the TES games right now, what is the best?" It's asking what, throughout time, gave you the best feeling when playing it. What was most fun for the time it came out?

That probably has the same answer for everyone (except maybe some of those who started with Arena or Oblivion). The first one.

Daggerfall. Absent sentimental reasons, Skyrim hands down.

1. Skyrim. Add up all my following comments.

2. Oblivion. It was the first game I ever upgraded my computer for. I really enjoyed the setting in Cyrodiil, I liked how with combat you could hit with any weapon and do at least a little damage. The streamlined skills meant I could focus more on who I wanted to be/play, I enjoyed the option of fast travel, elven ruins, Daedric Shrine quests.

3. Morrowind. I love Vvardefell. There was a sense of mystery found there that (up until this point) I hadn't experienced in video games before. I liked how much you could meta game (though at times skills were cumbersome to increase).

4. Arena. It was an omen of things to come.

5. Daggerfall. Haven't played it.


P.S. If you like numbers so much.. Consider the number of copies Skyrim and Oblivion has sold over Morrowind and Daggerfall, haha.

Oh *BLEEEP* yeah.. I would get a divorce and sell my kids. Break my legs to get a pension and wall myself in with smokes, coffee and a phone for ordering takeout. Get fatter every day and eventually be unable to leave the room, but I wouldn't care....

JK (almost)

Every one of them has been best PC game at the time of it's release. That makes them to stand on same line - they are all the best. For now the title of best one belongs to Skyrim in future it will be given to TES VI. For this long every TES game has been twice as good as the previous one.

Right now my ranking from best to worst would be Skyrim, Oblivion, Daggerfall, Morrowind although I'd have to play Skyrim more for it to be a fair comparison with Oblivion. None were modded.

Daggerfall first got me interested in TES games. Oblivion got me back after the disaster that was Morrowind.

Skyrim is looking pretty good.

I think by modern standards Daggerfall would look pretty bad but for it's day it was awesome.

I spent some time in all of the TES I-IV games. I spent a lot more time in Oblivion than the others, mostly due to gaming with friends online. Oblivion happened in between online games.

For me, heavily modded Oblivion is the best.

Maybe if I spent more time in Morrowind that would be first.

Uldred

P.S.:



What technology advantage? It was primarily designed for XBox 360, which is older than Oblivion. No DX10, No DX11, It's not using multi-cores correctly; it's not utilizing GPU's efficiently; it's doesn't even an option to work well with more than 2g RAm without a mod/patch/hack.