So I was playing some Skyrim this weekend, and I finally realized some
of the reasons why it's just not quite as good as Morrowind.
1. The Dragon Battles
Battling a dragon should feel epic. You should feel elated and
accomplished when the battle is over. Unfortunately, in Skyrim, the
dragon battles feel tedious and tend to be either way too easy or way
too hard. I've actively started avoiding dragon battles because I just
don't enjoy them. However, I'm pretty sure that's going to hurt my
main quest progress soon, which brings me to my next point.
2. Main Quest Progress
I have no idea where I am in the main quest, what the last thing I did
for the main quest was, or which of my currently assigned quests have
anything to do with the main quest. I do not like this. Normally, in
TES games, I start, follow the main story for a while, then go off and
do my own thing for 10 or 20 character levels before jumping back into
the main quest line. I have now hit that point in Skyrim (for the
second or third time), but I have no idea where to go or what to do to
progress the main story. The fact that any quest that isn't deemed
miscellaneous is considered a "main quest" (according to the quest
log) seems wrong, since so many of those I would consider side
quests. The names and descriptions do very little to help know if they
are part of the main quest line (which according to The Internet, is
only about 12 quests). That brings me to my third point, and the first
time I'm going to directly reference Morrowind.
3. No Journal
I want the journal back. It was a part of Morrowind that I absolutely
loved. Not sure how I got a quest or who I got it from? Check the
journal. Not sure why some merchant is ripping me off? Check the
journal. Haven't played for a while and need a refresher? Check the
journal. Want to simply relive my adventures? I could sit back, break
out the journal, and enjoy the memories. I miss
that. Greatly. Speaking of people ripping me off...
4. Individual Reputation and Rapport
Remember in Morrowind, how if a merchant liked you, they'd give you
discounts and be more free with answering your questions? If they
didn't like you, they'd rip you off and not tell you a thing? The
reason they liked or didn't like you depended upon many things: what
race you were, how you treated them, your overall reputation, etc. If
someone didn't like you, you could even try to make them like you by
being nice or intimidating them into giving you what you wanted. There
were social consequences to your actions. There's nothing like that in
Skyrim. Of course, talking with people has changed dramatically.
5. Conversations with NPCs
I loved how, in Morrowind, when you were talking with someone, various
keywords would be links. You could click the link to get more
information on that subject or if you needed a quick reminder. The
more you spoke, the more options you had for subjects to ask about,
all individual to every NPC. If really felt more like a conversation,
even though you never saw what, exactly, you were asking. Now look at
Skyrim. You get a sentence, get a few ways to respond (often, not
enough choices for me), and that's about it. It is almost
*functionally* equivalent, but there's still something missing. Again,
it is just not as fun, and there's not as much consequence or reward
in speaking to people in Skyrim as there was in Morrowind. Speaking of
consequence...
6. Freedom and Consequence
When people talk to me about how open games are, how many choices they
can make, and how their choices have lasting consequences
(*cough*Fable*cough*), I just have to laugh a little to myself before
recounting the tail of that time in Morrowind where I got mad at a
main character, killed him, and was greeted with a prompt from the
game essentially saying "You've just created a meaningless world for
yourself. You can continue playing, or reload your game." The game
*let* me completely kill the main story line and, better yet, *let* me
keep playing! That, my friends, is an open game. That is being able to
living with the consequences of your actions. Freedom and
choice. That's TES in three words. Speaking of killing off main
people...
7. Scaling
In Morrowind, there was very little NPC scaling. Go somewhere at level
5 and get your ass handed to you. Go back at level 15 and put up a
good fight. Go at level 30 and wipe the bastards out. Discovering
somewhere that was too difficult and know, nay *vowing*, that you
would come back one day and utterly destroy them was extremely
satisfying. However, in more recent TES games (especially Oblivion,
but still in Skyrim) some NPCs scale. I recently went to a hold where
I killed every generic bad guy in one hit. The boss of that area wiped
the floor with me, no matter what I did. That seems unbalanced. Even
still, I'd be ok with that if I knew I could go level up and then come
back and crush him. While I might have an easier time, scaling means
that he will grow stronger, too (which makes logical sense, sure... if
I get stronger over time others would too, but this is where I'm
willing to trade real and logical for fun and destruction). It just
isn't as satisfying. There's a certain elation one gets from knowing,
absolutely *knowing*, that you are about to completely obliterate some
NPC you found while wandering around that had previously done the same
to you. Speaking of wandering...
8. Exploration
Exploring and wandering just doesn't feel as satisfying as it did in
Morrowind. The addition of quick travel is certainly part of that, but
even when I avoid using it, wandering just isn't as fun. Honestly, I
can't explain this one too well. I think this might just be a me
thing, and I'd be ok with that. I can say, however, that part of it is
the land of Skyrim itself.
9. Visuals
Skyrim just isn't as visually pleasing as Morrowind. I'm not talking
game graphics or anything like that. I mean the land itself, the
terrain, the scenes presented to the player. I know Skyrim is a
snow-covered, barren, desolate place. I still feel like it could have
been more visually pleasing and varied. Sure, I'm happy when I find
some forest area or a place with lots of color plants (which I
immediately harvest, and I must say, the decision to leave some of the
color of the plant after harvesting was a good move visually to help
offset Skyrim's natural blandness). I just feel like it could still be
more visually pleasing. This could be another thing that's just a me
thing, just my opinion.
10. Medium Armor
This is a minor nitpick, but I miss medium armor. For the first 30 or
so character levels, I was ok with just light and heavy, but now I've
grown to miss having that middle tier as an option.
***
These are all the things I can think of and remember at the moment. If
I think of more, I might release a part two. I honestly didn't intend
for this to be a list of 10, so please don't treat it like a top
ten. These are in logical conversational order for the most part, and
I have no idea which I'd rank higher than others anyway.
***
For disclosure and perspective, I should say that I do like Skyrim. It
just bores me faster and for longer periods that Morrowind did. I'll
admit I play both on Xbox, so I don't have or use user mods to change
anything (though I do have three official expansions for Skyrim). Even
if I did, I'm not sure I'd use them. I'm a bit of a purist when it
comes to games; I'm not much of a modder (with some
exceptions). Admittedly, I feel that Morrowind is the best TES game to
date, but I'm not closed minded. I waiting for the day when a better
TES game comes along. That day just hasn't come yet.