Hello and welcome to Tea n’ History with your hostess, Felicia Angel.
And yet another reason why I love Steam…
Years ago, while searching through the computer section at Target I believe (or some store like it), I came across a game titled “The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition”. As I was going through a mild RPG withdrawal and decided that it was worth seeing how fun things could be, I decided that it couldn’t hurt and started the game.
While I never fully finished the whole game (life attacked me like the rabid beast it was, and by the time I tried to get to it again, the CD was corrupted or something…it didn’t work) I have always enjoyed the feel of the game and the characters within. Yes, most characters had the same voice actors and this one had no big-name people to speak of in a major role, but the only real major role was the character you created and how you got from one place to another. the world was big, bigger with the expansions, and you could easily find your way through or to just about anything, as long as you had some good things for health and magicka.
So yes, when I found it on Steam I got the Game of the Year edition and revisited the nostalgia of wandering around and trying to figure out what to do next while gathering random loot to sell.
During my time in the military, I had heard about Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and while I wanted to get it, the lackluster reviews, as well as not having enough disposable income for a laptop every year and instead settling on a model 3 years old and hardly able to take some of the games from then, I skipped it. When I did get a good computer, I ended up getting “Fallout 3” because I was once again in RPG withdrawal and wanted something interesting and new, so why not a nuclear apocalypse? On top of that, one of my older coworkers had his own computer with “Fallout 2”, and it looked fairly interesting.
In case you haven’t read before, I was not an old-school gamer. We have a few demo games, Mario Teaches Typing, and the first two MYST games. I only saw retro games when I was visiting a cousin, so I wasn’t that good at any of them.
Fallout 3 was wonderful, and I enjoyed the similar style of play, as it had really gotten me into the FPS, and now seeing the third person mode is never fun for me to play in…or shoot in, or just about anything else. While many gamers compared the two, I haven’t gotten to play one so I won’t, though I will say that Fallout 3 has the same replay appeal as Morrowind, as both have a huge open world and allow you to play whatever you want. Already played through as a magicka-wielding character? Play as a thief or warrior instead? Already blew through the Enclave with that mininuke and took all their stuff because you could, and are considered the Jesus of the Wasteland? Play through and use only melee weapons and be so evil you take out a whole colony of kids because it makes you money in the slaver business.
So far Bethesda has shown, at least to me, that they’re very good at creating games which have very decided RPG elements and will keep you entertained no matter when you finish it. Most fans of their games were introduced through the Elder Scrolls games, and for me, Morrowind is still one of the good ones to play and go through again and again, even if I never finish it fully.
So, for now, I’m off to cast spells, slay beasties, and get homework done. Because life does remind me of it being there like that.
Tea 'n History 