THE ELDER SCROLLS GAMES ORDER SERIES

The questlines of Oblivion (especially the Dark Brotherhood questline) are a significant improvement on Morrowind, and they comprise one of the game’s greatest strengths. When your weapon touches an enemy’s hitbox, you always hit, and spells can no longer have a chance to fail. The combat and spellcasting mechanics keep the depth of Morrowind, while wisely putting aside the RNG in combat. Oblivion is probably the most nostalgic Elder Scrolls game for me, and many of its elements hold up today. The wizard’s towers of House Telvanni, once mysterious and inaccessible to a flightless nobody like Daeron (my primary character in Morrowind), became an amusing pretension to him when he claimed the title Archmage. Enemies once frustrating and impenetrable, would wilt under the pressure of spell and blade. In part because of the awkward combat (made more frustrating at lower levels), optimizing stats and growing in power became an engaging throughline. That said, Morrowind managed to make progression compelling and meaningful. You couldn’t go an hour without experiencing the unsatisfying feeling of watching your weapon clip through the enemy character model, only to hear that telltale swishing sound: a miss. Combat was an ill-conceived mishmash of first-person action and random dice rolls, ala D&D. Conversations were similar to browsing through a Wikipedia article, clicking on various links to get plot details and lore. Morrowind was also buggy, awkward, and clunky as Hell. Initial interactions with the game should light up the synapses in your brain with countless possibilities. In determining whether TES is for you, that idea should be exciting. Be anyone, do anything, and go everywhere are all phrases associated with TES (including in its marketing).

THE ELDER SCROLLS GAMES ORDER SERIES

But something that might not come across to those unfamiliar with the series is the way your customized character interacts with the world around them. Those who appreciate the fantasy genre, RPGs, and Bethesda’s other work (the Fallout series, for example) all have good reasons to give The Elder Scrolls a shot. But if you’ve never played an entry in the series, it’s worth asking a simple question: should you? Who is The Elder Scrolls for? If you’re an Elder Scrolls fan already, or you’ve played the games and determined whether they align with your tastes, splendid! You’re ready for the article. Now, before digging into the meat of the matter, let’s talk about you. This article goes through the main entries in the series (sorry Redguard and Blade fans), discussing its world, its quirks, and its idiosyncrasies. But as I grew up, I began to see the flaws and little imperfections that helped define the series. It comprised a major part of my childhood, sparking my imagination and giving me a vast, fascinating world to explore. The Elder Scrolls is a personal series for me.

The elder scrolls games order