A Look at Morrowind (with a few mods) - Part 1

With all the vampire content I have been releasing, I think it is about time to look at another classic game I love. While my opinions on modern Bethesda Game Studios are rather negative these days, there was a time when I did like them. It was when they put in effort making in their games, they were willing to be creative even if it risked alienating a casual audience, and had competent writers. The game in question is one of my favorite games of all times (Top 6 if I were to be exact) and I credit it for making me realize the genre of games I prefer over all others: RPGs or role-playing games.

What game is this?

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

We begin with a quote by Zurin Arctus, a character from Daggerfall. The quote itself introduces an idea and notion that the main quest of this game follows but we will leave that discussion for another time. 

There are many ways to interpret that last line on ignorance of the role the player character will play whether it be in the context of this game alone or the future of the region as depicted by future games. Personally, I prefer interpreting the line to be in the context of this game since I am not too fond of Skyrim and the novels that depict the region.

Pay attention to this line, dear reader. It will be significant later on.

The first NPC that the player encounters: Jiub. As the first Dunmer we encounter, Jiub's presence introduces the player to the Dark Elves of Morrowind. He asks for my player character's name which I will reveal later.

Like the intro cinematic, his line here indicates that the player character is a prisoner being shipped off to Morrowind.

That line justifies why the player cannot engage in conversation (though in reality, it is because the player's actual character has not been created yet).

It is rather funny that TVTropes lists this as an accidental innuendo. The immature parts of me can see where they are coming from...

Aren't you in a bad mood?

So are you!

Now this guy is chill. I can respect that. By the way, I am using the Morrowind Overhaul (MGSO) mod by Ornitocopter since I want an overall graphic overhaul (and lack the time to custom pick my graphical mods) to get a different visual experience than the vanilla game: 

http://www.ornitocopter.net/morrowind-overhaul/

EDIT: Updated with a new link to the Morrowind Overhaul 

https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/36945/

I forgot to take a screen-cap of his prior line so here it is: "You've finally arrived but our records don't show from where." This sequence is done to allow the player to choose their race (like Dunmer, Argonian, Khajit, Nord etc.).

The graphic overhaul does look good. It does not displace the vanilla buildings in my memory but it is not an unpleasant difference from the vanilla game.

Ah... Socucius... Many times I have visited you for this moment.

Class creation (something Skyrim got rid off for some reason). I will not be showcasing the other methods of class creation to the reader since I want to make a specific type of character. The reader is free to search for videos or walkthroughs that depict the other methods.

I will not be revealing what I made until later. However there is another matter familiar to players of Oblivion.

Birthsigns. There are quite a lot of them with different effects, positive and negative. I will reveal what I will be using for this series: The Lady. It is a useful Attribute boosting sign.

Here is my character. Anna Valerian, an Imperial Adventurer born under the sign of The Lady. Skilled with the Long Blade and Restoration magic while capable of wearing Light and Heavy armor with knowledge of Lockpicking that has served her well before her prison sentence.

The release papers.

And now for an exploit because I can. With the inventory screen ready, the player can click on this valuable platter and place it on the ground.

This causes the guard to react accordingly. However since the platter is not in Anna's inventory, the guard cannot confiscate it and the player is then free to take said platter. I know this is immersion breaking but cut me some slack, I am not trying to actively role-play here for now.

Here is a room that the player is free to loot. Before we do that though...

There is this key to snatch up. Same exploit as before though make sure the platter or any other stolen goods are not in your inventory. The tutorial messages that pop up in the previous room and the outside area are not shown here to expediency.

• Upon handing over her release papers, Anna receives her first task: Deliver a certain package to one Caius Cosades in Balmora. 
• Depicted here is this game's dialogue system which is essentially a list of topics. This system does require a lot of reading and become a mess when more conversations come up. 
• However, I prefer this over voice acting simply because a lot of details on the topics can be dished out and a lot more personality can be indicated through the wall of text if one were to read through it. Voice acting often results in dialogue becoming shorter and less detailed hence why I prefer this system. Still, it does take some getting used to.

Here Anna meets Fargoth. Many first time Morrowind players are bound to run into him first and for good reason.

Talking to him about his ring allows the player to return his ring to him. This raises the disposition of Fargoth and more importantly, Arrille, the Altmer in charge of the nearby Tradehouse which makes haggling a lot easier.

Remember that key from before? This is what it unlocks. But before that, there are some stumps to look into.

Here is a third person view of Anna. I will say that I like that bit of hair that hangs over her.

Anyways, back to stumps. Some of the stumps near the lighthouse contains valuable items like silverware, gold or even this axe.

Now back to the warehouse.

While the loot can be random, the stuff here is quite valuable for selling at Arrille's Tradehouse. Especially if you befriended him.

Before Anna moves on, it is time to chat with this Imperial. Vodunius Nuccius. His little advice is notable for being different than the stock advice.

Now to meet with Arrille.

Take note of some of his topics. The tips he has are valuable for new players.

Do not forget to have a chat with this Dunmer lady. Take note of what she says here, it could come in handy in the future.

If the reader has taken the dagger from that one room in the Census and Excise building and became curious about its owner, this is him. He has a sidequest for the player: Find Fargoth's hiding place and rob him. Since Anna does need some spare cash as a fresh adventurer, she takes it.

The amount of dialogue in this game is staggering. Talking with the right NPCs will open up a lot of exposition and explanations on the region, its politics, religions, factions, customs and more. While this may not be the best way to bring forth exposition, it does flesh out the world and brings more life into it. I love it.

Do not forget to speak to Elone here for directions. She has advice on how to reach Balmora, either by silt strider or by walking. Both are viable options though in-universe, the recommended approach is silt strider.

Like Arrille, Eldafire here recommends checking out the nearby cave of Addamasartus.

As one may tell, I picked the lore friendly foliage since the other versions clog up the area with too much foliage.

To sum up Anna's inventory, she has a stolen Iron Longsword, a mix of Chitin and Steel armor and a common robe to cover up the mishmash of armor types.

Here we witness the inept wizard performing their most basic behavior: failing.

This is Tarhiel. Wearing the Colovian helm (or rather hat). Who happens to be dead. To sum up how deceased he happens to be, I will resort to Monty Python:

• In fact, he has passed on. He has ceased to be. He's expired and gone to meet his maker. 
• He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace. If the game had not allowed for burial mechanics, he'd be pushing up the daisies. His metabolic processes are now history. He's off the twig. 
• He's kicked the bucket, He's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible. 
• This is an ex-wizard.

• The 3 scrolls containing the spell in question on Tarhiel's corpse are called the Scrolls of Icarian Flight. 3 guesses on what they do and flying into the Sun does not count. Aside from that, he has a valuable Iron Sparksword which can be useful for handling undead or Daedra (since they can only be harmed by silver or magical weapons). 
• This requirement for special weapons to handle certain threats is a good feature since it ensures that the player has to prepare for such encounters (though nothing at The Witcher 3's level of prep work for monsters since all this amounts to here is to keep at least one magical weapon in your inventory at all times).

• The combat in this game is often touted as its biggest flaw. There is some technique involved (like moving in a certain manner to change the method of attack from a chop to a thrust or slash but most of the times, the player will miss their target. The inability to hit the target can be attributed in-universe to the enemy dodging or the player character being hopeless inept with the weapon they wield. It was this mechanic that taught me the value of weapon specialization in RPGs (and the value of reading stats in RPGs) since prior to this game, I never bothered to use the weapons my character was skilled at, resulting in many pointless deaths.
• Admittedly, this can be a problem for some players (with several claiming Morrowind to be irredeemably bad for this combat system) but it also has a benefit since it depicts the player's skill progression better. For instance, the player may start out being an average sword wielder which translates to being able to hit enemies at times though due to not being an expert, enemies still can dodge one's attacks. As they improve more and more when the game progresses, they become so good at wielding their blade until enemies become unable to dodge their attacks, leading to them being pounded upon by blow after blow of the player character's attacks. 
• Thanks to this progression and the learning experience I got from this combat system, I came to like the combat system a lot.

This is one flaw of the MGSO mod I can point to. Normally, it would be easy to find this corpse here but the mod adds in way too much grass that it obscures the corpse. Said corpse happens to be the corpse of an Imperial tax collector who went missing. Since most did not like him, they did not care for his absence.

Even the guards do not seem to show that much concern over Processus Vitellius. At least they do suggest reporting his death to Socucius.

Here is a tidbit; the player can skip this quest entirely by lying to Socucius about the money still left on Processus's corpse which makes sense since it makes it appear that brigands killed him for his money. However the reward for solving the murder is a lot better and as part of Anna's character, she would not lie about such things.

Time to ask Anna's good friend, Fargoth, for leads on the murder. Immediately, one comes up about a girlfriend though not before noting how much people in Seyda Neen disliked Processus when he was still alive.

Before going to see said girlfriend, it is time for Anna to check with Darvame Hleran, silt stider caravaner and the person who Vodunius is friends with. Unhappy in Morrowind, eh?

He really is unhappy here in Vvardenfell and offers to sell the player a cursed ring in return for enough money to afford passage to Narsis. Anna, being stuck on Vvardenfell and wanting to help, offers to buy the cursed ring. With her skills of persuasion, she may even get a better price for it.

Now to meet with Processus's girlfriend, the lighthouse keeper who comes through with plenty of information on suspects (or rather suspect). She also makes a request to the player.

Armed with said knowledge, Anna... heads up the lighthouse to find out where Fargoth's hiding place is, as suggested by Hrisskar.

Here is a view of Seyda Neen as the sun sets.

And here it is, in the dark. Also, look there. A Bosmer trying to sneak around while holding a torch.

He eventually walks into a small mud pool as the crosshair here indicates.

Before Anna goes to take the gold, she makes her way to a shack facing the pool. A shack belonging to one Foryn Gilnith. The same one mentioned by Thavere Vedrano. If the reader wonders why Anna is so injured, I will ask the reader a question as an answer: What is the fastest way down a small lighthouse?

Confronting him causes him to openly admit to his crime. Foryn claims that Processus was corrupt and skimming money from the people to spend on fancy clothes and jewelry. Even if what he says is true, it does not change the fact that he committed murder rather than make some kind of report to the proper authorities (even if the authorities here are Imperials). So, Anna responds appropriately.

Time to put down this murdering s'wit.

Sword versus fist. Sword usually wins unless you are fighting a master of fisticuffs which Foryn is not.

Here is the ring. It happens to be an exquisite ring too. Players here can choose to keep the ring (for enchanting), sell the ring or return it to a grieving woman. It is rather obvious what Anna would choose.

Before that, it is time to loot Foryn's shack (which can serve as a player home since the hammock is usable and the containers do not reset). This book is among his former possessions.

Returning the ring nets Anna 2 standard health potions. Hopefully she recovers from Processus's murder.

• This quest highlights the notion that not every local is content with the occupation of Morrowind by the Third Empire.
• The frustrations of one local towards the conditions of the occupation and perceived slights eventually led up to the murder of a tax collector.
• This causes the chain of events that leads to the local's execution and the emotional pain of losing a loved one for another.
• Despite what the player does here, nobody but the law wins. The people will remain disgruntled while the authorities will remain ignorant over the slights they commit. Though in this scenario, Foryn may not be the best judge of the people's opinions over the occupation.

Before continuing on, it is time to check on the hollow tree stump in the middle of the mud pool. Looks like Fargoth has chosen a poor hiding spot.

Now to return the money to Hrisskar. Feels wrong to rob Fargoth like that but money is money.

Now it is time to head to Addamasartus like the two Altmer people in town have been suggesting.

If the reader/player had not been paying close attention, the cave is home to hostile smugglers. Once again, proper allocation of skills ensures Anna got in more hits that this person here.

This is a door leading to the rest of the caverns and a good place to stop this look at Morrowind. Join me next time for more looks at older classics no one looks at anymore.