Is Morrowind worth buying?

[Popadoo]

I'm a late entry to The Elder Scrolls' fanbase. A friend of mine introduced me to Oblivion, and I was skeptical at first.
'The graphics are terrible! Why is that guy in the other cell yelling at me? Why is the king here? Why aren't I shooting stuff?!'
But I was drawn in. I haven't completed the main quest yet, but that's mainly because I got caught up in the side-quests.
Now, I ask, is Morrowind worth buying? I've heard a lot of people saying Oblivion is 'dumbed down' and isn't as great as Morrowind. I have a regular, none-gaming PC, but Morrowind pretty old so I think I can run it.
What makes it better than Oblivion? Is there more content? Give me details, people!

 

[Christopher Waldron]

A thousand times yes.

The setting is far less generic compared to Oblivion's. Although, don't think that skills learnt playing Oblivion will translate into playing Morrowind. Despite being of the same series both games are very different.

Surely you can pick up a copy of Morrowind on Amazon for a pittance now? for such a low price it's definitely worth it.

 

[Geeky Anomaly]

I preferred Morrowind to Oblivion because for some reason, in Morrowind, I just felt helpless...vulnerable, and alone in this massive world. This made a better RPG experience, at least for me.

Also, in Morrowind, instead of buying a house, you can kill someone, and take their house...permanently. Any anything you drop off in the house stays there, exactly how you left it. Oblivion doesn't do that, all the decor for houses in EX IV are pre-configured.

 

[Kajt]

...dear fucking Thor, yes. A thousand times yes. The combat and spellcasting may be worse than Oblivion, but you're usually too lost in it to give a crap. The atmosphere and world is fucking amazing in that game.

 

[tjarne]

If you can stand the outdated graphics then go for it. It's one of my favorite game of all times, shadowed by Oblivion. Most things are better in Morrowind except stealth and graphics.

 

[DEAD34345]

Yes, it's Oblivion without the level scaling.

I'll repeat that for emphasis: Oblivion without the level scaling.
...

WITHOUT THE LEVEL SCALING

There's a ton of other reasons too, but that's the main one in my opinion. The only area in which Oblivion is better is the combat itself, whereas Morrowind has the better story, region, levelling system, spells, dungeons, lore, quests, items, weapons, pretty much everything in fact.

Also, did I mention the lack of level scaling?

 

[Popadoo]

I DO like less generic settings... I'm very interested in the Lore of The Elder Scrolls universe. Will I find new and interesting quests related to lore in this game? And since there isn't level scaling, will there be harder areas and easier areas?

 

[TheEverix]

Morrowind has a much better story and more varied world than Oblivion (imo). Also, the region has a deeper history and feel than "it's basically Rome". The factions are developed SO much better. The quests you do for them are varied, and you have to travel the world to get them done.

However, the gameplay is a little broken. Archery is almost unusable, sneaking doesn't work very well and is very easy to exploit, and it is a little too easy to make magic over-powered.

However:

A thousand times yes.

I second this opinion. I have very, VERY fond memories of the hundreds of hours I poured into that game.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I'd go for it.

I don't like it much, but that's because I like the level scaling in Oblivion.

 

[Mr. Grey]

Do you want to keep your soul, son? Because what you just spoke was blasphemy. To even question that it's worth it, you need to pray... pray now so that you may keep your soul. Because if you do not pray, Cliffracers will come for your soul and will rip asunder your body in order to attain it.

Pray now, buy it now. As for why? Ask not why, just have faith.

 

[Raijha]

Absolutely, especially with the many amazing mods for Morrowind, you can almost make it look like Oblivion, the world was larger, the quests better, the story much more interesting. While I'm not going to out and out say it was a much better game (each had their own ups and downs) It was still amazing and would be worth every penny.

 

[Eleima]

Absolutely, it's worth every frakin' penny and then some. If you're too afraid about it being a bit older than Oblivion (and this goes for Oblivion too), don't hesitate to mod your copy. Adding new meshes and textures to your game does wonders to refresh the game. Heck, I never play Oblivion with the Oblivion Audio and Visual Overhaul [http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=oblivionmods.detail&id=5345] mod. Planet Elder Scrolls [http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/] and are complete treasure troves, but you might have to do some digging. If you need any pointers, I'm sure a quick search will yield threads in which we've already voiced our advices (I know I already did in the past), or just ask. =)

 

[Neverhoodian]

Absolutely. If you can look past the dated graphics and somewhat archaic gameplay mechanics, you'll find one of the most immersive free-roaming RPGs ever made.

It has more abilities to choose from than Oblivion, there's more variety in the landscapes, and the lack of level scaling really makes you feel like your character is becoming more powerful.

Also, if you get the PC version there's all sorts of mods out there that address the aforementioned graphics and gameplay issues.

 

[Shirokurou]

It's a VERY big game. (in a good way)
But I can't really say that the battle system is super awesome.
I liked it, but it's a matter of taste I guess.

 

[Gerdneek]

Yes yes yes yes yes oh god yes! I was good for me, it will be good for you

 

[BreakfastMan]

It depends. It was certainly worth buying for me, and others like me, but I do not know if you would like it. What type of games do you like? Are you a fan of really complex, obtuse old RPGs, or do you hate them?

To answer your questions: The appeal of the game mainly comes from the unique fantasy world. The isle of Vvardenfell is like no other game world in existence (from what I know of). There are forests of mushrooms, red sand-storm filled deserts that looked like they were ripped straight from the surface of Mars, towering steam-powered ruins, long ago abandoned by the ancient Dwarven race, house made from the shells of giant molluscs, wizard towers made out of massive, coiling vines... Morrowind has a really unique look and atmosphere to the world that Oblivion does not with it's standard Europe-esque fantasy world. Oh, it also has a larger variety of weapons and spells, and a funner alchemy system, but that is about it.

EDIT: Also, the main quest is much more interesting than Oblivion's.

 

[Geeky Anomaly]

Yes, it's Oblivion without the level scaling.

I'll repeat that for emphasis: Oblivion without the level scaling.
...

WITHOUT THE LEVEL SCALING

There's a ton of other reasons too, but that's the main one in my opinion. The only area in which Oblivion is better is the combat itself, whereas Morrowind has the better story, region, levelling system, spells, dungeons, lore, quests, items, weapons, pretty much everything in fact.

Also, did I mention the lack of level scaling?

http://www.giantbomb.com/level-scaling/92-608/

THIS. No scaling in Morrowind...I was like a level 5, and I wandered into the Elder Scrolls version of Mordor by mistake...and was promptly beheaded by a level 40 orc in Samurai armor...it scared the shit outta me...and it was awesome!

 

[Popadoo]

I'll be honest, I don't play that many PC games. I'm just getting into it, after realizing that PC gamers are much nicer than console players. And thus, I have no idea what THIS means:

Intel(R)
Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40 GHz
3.39 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM

Would this be able to run Morrowind?

 

[TheProfesser]

I hate it >

 

[DEAD34345]

I DO like less generic settings... I'm very interested in the Lore of The Elder Scrolls universe. Will I find new and interesting quests related to lore in this game? And since there isn't level scaling, will there be harder areas and easier areas?

Yes, you definitely will find lots of lore-related quests, much more than Oblivion in fact.

Also yes, though it isn't harder and easier areas so much as harder and easier enemies. You might walk into a dungeon at level one, find some rats and a bandit, clear them out and find some cool loot.

You also might walk into a dungeon, find a bunch of unholy demons that are perfectly capable of killing you in one hit, and be forced to run for your life.

Then you might walk into another dungeon, find a chest containing the best sword in the game, and then go around owning everything in the universe at level 1.

There's really no way to predict exactly what you're going to find, and that makes the game much more fun in my opinion. In Oblivion all of the enemies and loot were levelled, so I would kill the exact same levelled enemies and find the exact same levelled loot in every cave, dungeon and campsite. Then I would level up, and all the enemies would level up with me, making it completely pointless (In fact you usually get weaker as you level up relative to your enemies).

Morrowind is completely the opposite, levelling up is actually worthwhile in that game, as is finding good loot.