PS. Hetz need not apply
Well, apparently I haven't made my feelings clear enough, re: Morrowind!
HERE: OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I'll skip the jpg's of fireworks, shooting stars, and quoting from Starshifter's Emergency! post (especially the singing and dancing). Let's just say that I played it over and over, with different characters, guilds, and quests, until I'd drained it dry - just 4 or 5 (maybe, 6) months of obsessive play... I played lots of 12 and 18 hour sessions, and a few 24 to 30 hour events (sleep? I spit on the need for sleep!) :twisted: And several months ago, I played it again!
The "bad," first: if you have an XBox with a Thompson drive, or one that has difficulty with "complex" games - then you're going to (eventually) have long saves, loads, and occasional freezes. I loved the game so much that I played the first version of it, which was very, very buggy - on a Thompson drive - and was still totally addicted.
Another bad thing - the sword swinging is jerky looking, more like swatting and sticking, not very realistic, but the game was so awesome I didn't care at all. The spell throwing is spectacular, IMO.
The "experience building" can be a pain in a few places, but it didn't bother me once I figured it out. For example, I jumped into a Fighter's Guild quest in which I had to kill the inevitable "rats in a storage room." I went in there with a long knife and got my hat handed to me. I did a little more stealing, sold a little more stuff, got a better weapon, and killed the rats. I have lots of other tips that might be rated as mild spoilers, so I won't include them unless you ask.
It's the same with stealing anything with a person near it - then you have to build your stealth level before you can do it without getting caught. Just about everything you do can be built up, but you choose what you need, and just use it.
The main complaint I've heard is that the world is so large that there are places you have to do some tedious travel - although there are ways to quick travel with various guilds and travel "services" - plus using speed potions and magic - so I never had a big problem with it.
The great thing about the game is the absolute freedom to do whatever you want when you want. It's not that you have no direction - you always know what you CAN do, for both the Main Quest, and for any side quests and guild requirements - it's just that you can do anything, anytime (that you are capable of at the time). You can, eventually, build your own stronghold, use it as your base of operations - and even decorate it to your taste. If you need a storage room before that, you can take an unoccupied house, plant torches, skulls, and swords around, and store things in the jars and crates.
It also is beautiful - sometimes you just stand there and look at the sunsets, or the magic effects. It's also as challenging as you want it to be - some of the quests you can just stumble on can be very tough - but you can save where you want, reload and go back when you're stronger, if necessary. And some of the moments in the game are nothing short of epiphany quality - can't say more without spoiling it, but certain effects, achievements, etc., come with an incredible impact.
If you like open-ended, complicated, "action" rpg's - with choices of swords and armor, stealth, magic, etc. - then this will be your giant bucket of tea! :lol:
