Morrowind review - Fourth Time's the Charm I guess

 

I have a long and complex history with the third entry of The Elder Scrolls Series, Morrowind. I actually first heard of the game after having played the fourth entry of the series, Oblivion, which at the time was the most complex game I had ever played. Though a quick glance at the internet forums of the time revealed that a large part of the Elder Scrolls fanbase thought the game was rather underwhelming compared to it’s much deeper and complex predecessor Morrowind. As a naive 13 year old who defined his entire personality based on his interests I took this critique quite personally and decided not to play Morrowind out of spite. Although I remember looking up videos of Morrowid online just to see what the fuss was about and I remember pretty much falling to the floor with laughter looking at the outdated graphics and animations. “So THIS is the supposed superior Elder Scrolls game?” I thought. “Oblivion isn’t perfect but at least the combat doesn’t consist of 2 opposing characters playing whack-a-mole against each other until one falls”. That’s pretty much how I justified not exploring the matter further and preemptively decided Oblivion was better.

The graphics may be a bit dated but I must admit there's a certtain charm to them.

After my initial emotions had subsided I decided to do some research on the game anyway. After all, judging a game by its graphics is rather shallow and Oblivion certainly had some questionable graphical qualities as well (like the faces. My god the faces). After a quick read through some Wiki-articles I found out that Morrowind had way more factions to join than Oblivion had, and the factions of Oblivion were some of my favorite content of that game. Not only that but if your character had turned into a vampire you could also join several different vampire clans to hone your vampiric abilities. Oblivion had no such thing and vampirism was one of my favorite mechanics in that game! So I decided to give the game a chance, despite it’s outdated graphics.

I bought the game at the local game store and started playing it as soon as I got home and… I was not impressed. Several questions filled my head as I was playing: “Where is the voice acting? Why does my fatigue drain so quickly? Why can’t my character hit anything? Why do all the characters have so many dialogue options? Where is the map marker telling me where to go? You seriously expect me to remember all these directions the NPCs give me? No this won’t do. This game is pretty much unplayable.”

After my initial disappointment I decided to go online to look up some guide for beginners. Feeling confident with my newfound knowledge I decided to give the game another go. I gave more thought as to which skills I would focus on in the character creator, I visited some beginner friendly cities and bought some decent starter gear and most of all, I chose my battles carefully. I managed to get a bit further this time but I pretty much hit a brick wall once I tried to continue the main quest. You see, in Oblivion the main quest is quite straightforward and pretty much a linear experience. However the first quest in Morrowind, once you report to your boss, is pretty much “play the game”. No seriously, he doesn’t give you any concrete instructions and just tells you to hone your skills, join a faction, buy some decent equipment etc. At the time I had a hard time grasping this as there were no definite objectives or success conditions. I was just expected to explore what the game had to offer and then report back to him after some arbitrary amount of time when he deemed me ready. I felt so overwhelmed as there were so many factions and shops to explore. Should I join the Fighters guild? Mages guild? Thieves guild? Imperial Legion? Imperial Cult? Tribunal temple? One of the great houses? Am I seriously expected to find out what they all stand for and then make an informed decision as to which faction fits into my play style? Sure, Fighters guild is quite self-explanatory but what the hell is a House Hlaalu? “Nope. This is just too much” I thought as I turned off the game and decided it simply wasn’t for me.

I didn’t give Morrowind much thought until I had played the fifth entry of the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim. Just like when Oblivion was released, the debate whether this new game was comparable to Morrowind arose once again. The arguments presented were quite familiar: this new game didn’t have the complexity of earlier entries and Morrowind still holds up as the best game in the series etc. Many years had passed since I last played the game and this time I kind of knew what to expect in the early game. So I decided to approach it again but this time with a different mentality, just so I could see what these rabid fans were always raving about. I tolerated the outdated graphics, the clunky combat, the lack of direction, the endless wall of texts during dialogue sequences (without voice acting mind you) and after several hours of very slow game progression I believe I saw a hint of what people liked about the game so much. The problem was the ungodly amount of hours I had to spend to get to the good parts. It felt like too much tasteless cream spread over too little delicious crust. My interest kind of waned after 13 hours of gameplay and once again I just thought the game wasn’t for me (although I had much more respect for the game now).

And now we’re caught up to the present and I’m almost willing to call Morrowind one of my all time favorite games. So what happened? I guess I just approached the game from a different angle. In my first 2 attempts I tried to play it like I would play a game of Oblivion and on the third attempt I pretty much treated it like an uglier version of Skyrim. This time I actually treated the game like it’s own thing and only then did I realize why this game is so amazing, and that is simply one thing: Immersion. This word has been thrown around so much in any kind of RPG discourse that it has almost lost its meaning. Many people define it in rather shallow terms, like how NPCs may act “realistically” which helps sell the illusion that the world is real. But I would define it in a different way. I would say that a game is immersive when it truly engages you in its world and the rules it plays by. Morrowind does this by pretty much forcing you to engage with local politics, geography and power structures of the world, since if you don’t learn about it quickly you will just end up lost and unable to continue the game. Most players of Oblivion and Skyrim probably enjoy immersing themselves in the world as well but as long as you just follow the marker on the map you can essentially breeze through the game without engaging in the world at all. Sure, the optimal experience comes from kind of “playing along” with the characters but doing so is optional.

How does Morrowind work differently? Well since there are no map markers pointing to where you’re supposed to go you can instead ask for directions from NPCs. Here's an excerpt from some actual directions on how to get to the ruins of Arkngthand:

“The old Dwemer ruins at Arkngthand are extensive on the surface and underground. Head south out of town past the silt strider port, then cross bridges east over the Odai River. At the signpost, head north towards Caldera. Immediately on the right see a signpost for Molag Mar. Turn right and head uphill on an old road to cross an ancient Dwemer bridge over Foyada Mamaea. The entrance to Arkngthand is on the east side of the foyada, south of the bridge. Turn a crank on a pipe nearby to open the doors”

Dwemer? Silt Strider? Foyada? Is that even english? Also what’s with all these names? Arknghtand, Odai, Caldera, Molag Mar, Mamaea? Are they even in the same language? How am I supposed to remember all this?

This “short” excerpt is just a taste of what you’ll be bombarded with whenever someone tells you to go somewhere. You simply have to become familiar with all the locations and local expressions to get anywhere in the game, you simply don’t have the choice to just sit back and let the game show you what to do. Luckily all given directions are saved on your journal but this means that traveling from one location to another requires you to look through maps, journals, sign posts and local landmarks. This makes the game a hundred times more immersive than any attempt at “realistic AI” could ever hope to be. It actually forces you, the player, to take part in the world and get familiar with everything.

Yeah yeah this is all fine and good but none of it really matters unless the world you’re expected to take part in is interesting right? Well let me tell you how interesting this world is. First things foremost, the world of Morrowind is Complex, as in complex with a capital C. I’ve been spending the last couple of weeks trying to wrap my head around and map out just how many layers of politics, religion and culture affects the world you’re traversing and I’ll try to explain as well as I can:

First of all, Morrowind is a region of the Cyrodilic Empire and is the home of the dark elves, or Dunmer as they prefer calling themselves. However Morrowind is not just a simple kingdom with a king that answers to the emperor. The Cyrodilic Empire is a capitalist enterprise that allows a certain level of autonomy among it’s regions provided the empire is free to extract resources from the region in question.

The land of Morrowind is divided into different spheres of influences of different great houses, which incidentally all hate each other. These houses are somewhat unified through their loyalty to the Tribunal gods and the temple. The tribunals are the supposed rulers of Morrowind and all new imperial laws must be discussed with them before they can be established in the region, which creates an interesting dynamic between the Empire and the Temple as it’s not always clear who has authority over whom. Despite all this the great houses still have a lot of autonomy over their own regions. For example, the Empire has outlawed slavery in Morrowind but you’ll still see slave markets in some remote regions of Morrowind where the Empires presence is weak. Then there’s the ashlanders who inhabit the near inhospitable ashen desert that covers most of Morrowind. These ashlanders live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, reject the tribunal temple and aren’t governed by any imperial or House law.

Map showing which faction has influence over which region (supposedly)

Most Dunmer worship the tribunal temple, a powerful organization which holds great influence over many facets of society. The ashlanders, however, reject the tribunal gods and instead adhere to ancestor worship. Ancestor worship is also very common among temple worshippers but they tend to treat ancestors more like saints, while the ashlanders believe one ascends into godhood after death (provided you’ve lived a fulfilling life and your predecessors mourn you properly).

Some ashlanders, but not all, have formed the Nerevarine Cult. This cult believes in the prophecy where the great warrior Nerevar of ancient times will be reincarnated and drive out the n’wah (outlanders), cast down the false gods (the tribunal) and build a new Morrowind built on traditional Dunmer values and ancestor worship. The Tribunal Temple acknowledges Nerevar as an important religious figure but treats all claims of reincarnation as blasphemy, and thus brutally suppresses any citizens adhering to the cult. On top of all this there are also the Dissident Priests, temple worshippers who acknowledge the power of the tribunals but dispute their divinity, instead believing their powers are of magical origin and not holy. Disputing the divinity of the tribunal is also considered blasphemy and anyone making such claims is sent to the Ministry of Truth for “reeducation”. And let’s not forget The Sixth House who worships Dagoth Ur. This faction opposes the temple, the empire and the Nerevarine cult and is slowly growing in popularity as more and more dunmers are becoming disillusioned with the status quo. What pretty much all these factions have in common is their distrust towards Outlanders, ranging from apathy to outright hostility. However their xenophobia manifests itself in very different ways depending on their beliefs.

The Ministry of Truth, held up in the sky by the power of Vivec, the Tribunal

I’ve only just scratched the surface of Morrowind politics and I could honestly go on forever explaining how all the factions relate to each other. I haven’t even mentioned the Imperial cult who worship the nine divines, nor have I mentioned the complex relation all these faiths have towards Deadra (demon) worship, or how the Empire and the different houses relate to each aforementioned faith but this review is already becoming long as it is. This is just a small taste of the complex socio-religious atmosphere of Morrowind.

Since the player character will play an important part in all of this it’s very important to learn about it all while you play the game, otherwise you won’t be able to get very far. You have the opportunity to join almost all of these factions but the story beats are still the same. Since many factions one another you might have trouble befriending, say, the Nerevarine cult (which you must do in order to complete the main quest) if you’re also a member of the Tribunal temple. It’s still possible but you have to be more clever about it and really use everything the game has to offer to your advantage. If you’re smart you’ll probably be careful about joining certain factions until you know what relationship they have to everyone else. Certain NPCs of certain factions will become unfriendly, or maybe even hostile if you’re a member of an opposing faction. Playing this game is all about accepting that you will make enemies along the way and that you can’t please everyone. In comparison, Oblivion features almost none of these complex politics. Even though the main plot of that game is that of a succession crisis there are no signs of different factions, royal houses or opportunists vying for the throne. The joinable factions are mostly unrelated to the main plot and the player can pretty much join and achieve maximum rank in all of them without consequence. The factions just end up feeling isolated from the game at large.

But I’m losing focus. I was supposed to write about Morrowind so let’s talk about geography! Specifically the geography of Morrowind and how it’s unlike any other fantasy world or even unlike anything you’ll find on planet Earth. Morrowind, or specifically the island of Vvardenfell which the game takes place in, is mostly a barren ashland devoid of any significant vegetation. Only the coastal regions feature anything in the way of greenery, but even then it’s a far cry from the European style forests you’re used to seeing in most fantasy RPGs. It’s more akin to a Louisiana swamp if it also housed giant mushrooms the size of buildings. In fact, the great House Telvanni are known for molding these giant mushrooms into houses. While those living closer to the ashlands are more likely to make houses of giant bug shells. In fact, the House Redoran stronghold is just one colossal bug shell containing an entire city within itself. Morrowind Architecture is quite otherworldly to say the least.

I've always wondered what it's like to live inside a giant bug shell...

Or a mushroom...

The ashlands are filled with natural corridors formed by lava from the sacred Red Mountain. After the lava has passed it leaves ravines in its wake which can be used as natural paths to navigate yourself throughout the world. There’s a certain destructive beauty in it all. The harsh lands are very unforgiving to the unprepared but there’s also a certain calmness permeating through the lands. You hear no chirping of birds, no grass blowing in the wind, no leaves in the trees, no howling wolves, just the occasional roar of a Silt Strider or Cliff Racer.

I will admit walking through the ashlands at night can be pretty scary...

Speaking of Fauna, you certainly won’t see any conventional Earth-like animals in Morrowind. There are no horses, dogs, oxen or chicken. Instead you’ll find Silt Striders, 5-story tall beetle-like creatures with very long skinny legs. The dunmer uses these peculiar creatures for transportational vehicles by splitting open the protective shell of the bugs' backs and then manipulating the bugs movements by twitching their exposed organs. Or how about the Netch, giant flying jellyfish-like… things that hover through the ashlands in herds. Some ashlanders move together with the Netch herds as their hides make for useful crafting materials.

A silt strider in all it's bug-like glory!

Don't mind me. Just a floating blobby jellyfish thing coming through.

This is one of the key elements of Morrowind's ability to fully immerse you. Everything in the world makes sense in it’s own internal logic. On the one hand the flora and fauna may seem very alien to you but struggling to find your destination and scrolling through maps and reading directions on the other hand, is very relatable. By relating to you in this manner you’ll eventually realize that the world of Morrowind is in fact very much like our own, it just looks different.

As of writing this review I still haven’t finished the main quest but I just wanted to write down my words while they were still fresh in my mind. What I especially wanted to express was how this game has really put so many other games in a different perspective for me. You see, way back in the day when I studied game design I remember reading an article talking about immersion in video games. The article was especially critical of modern game design trends that seem to strive to make games play and look as realistic as possible in hopes of making the game more immersive by “blurring the lines” between video game and reality. He argued that this missed the point of immersion in video games entirely as true immersion stems from the contrast between reality and video game, not the absence of it. At the time I didn’t quite understand his reasoning as I myself always liked modding my elder scrolls games so that the AI acted more “realistically” in hopes of making it more immersive. Upon playing Morrowind I think I’ve started to realize what he was trying to say. Basically, the closer to reality a video game becomes the more sensitive we as players become to every minute detail or inconsistency that doesn’t align with our own reality. If a game looks super realistic the immersion will be shattered all the harder during the few times it bugs out. If you’re willing to suspend your disbelief in a less realistic looking game on the other hand, then your immersion won’t be ruined as easily since you’ve already accepted that the game is not trying to emulate real life and instead works within its own self-defined rules. Games are defined by their limitations and only by accepting these limitations can you truly immerse yourself in the game.

A good example to demonstrate this concept would be to compare Oblivions and Skyrims radiant AI and compare it to Morrowind's more static AI. All NPCs in Morrowind pretty much do nothing but stand in the same place all day, every day. They don’t eat, they don’t sleep and they never close shop no matter how late it is. Sure it’s not realistic, but it’s a game and games aren’t real. Oblivion, on the other hand, introduced a feature called radiant AI which basically means that all NPCs have their own goals and routines that they follow. Each character has their own schedule of working, sleeping, traveling and socializing and will look for food when they’re hungry or drink alcohol if they’re addicted. They’ll even go so far as to break the law to acquire their needs if they’re desperate enough which may result in legal consequences if they’re caught by the guards. All of this will happen continuously throughout the world even if the player is not there to experience it personally. In theory this should be more immersive than Morrowind's static AI since it’s more realistic, but having such a complex system also means there are more things that can go wrong. Indeed there are entire youtube channels dedicated to all the weird situations the Oblivion and Skyrim AI finds itself in. The game almost becomes a joke at that point as the characters will keep playing their part with the most sincerity while something outlandish happens around them. It’s like going through a disney ride and realizing some of the animatronics have stopped functioning but the other animatronics keep performing like nothing has happened. It just kind of ruins the magic you know? Seeing the radiant AI struggling shatters your immersion much harder, and much more often, than the fact that all Morrowind NPCs just stand in the same place all day. By attempting to make it more immersive they just ended up with the opposite result. I have now realized that I would much rather play a less realistic game that manages to suspend my disbelief than play a game that attempts to emulate real life as much as possible. I also finally agree that Morrowind might be the best game in the Elder Scrolls series and I am eager to see what it still has to offer.