Which game in the elder scrolls franchise was the best?

Fuck the whole franchise, where's #6? It's been more than 11 years.

Oblivion. The older games gave the player much better control over their character's stats, so the experience was more immersive by default. Morrowind in particular had some very interesting creatures and venues that the newer games simply forgot.

Oblivion struck the best balance between old-school jank and new-school friendliness, though. You could explore the world and the hell gates without constantly worrying about stamina, but you also still felt that sense of progression and things mattering.

Then Skyrim destroyed all that by locking your character down and removing most of their stats. No more jumping across rooftops or casting Kill Everything, now you have to play a dumbed down walking simulator.

It doesn't matter which Elder Scrolls game is your favorite, though. Just make sure it's not Skyrim.

Oblivion and Skyrim are really the only ones that hold up to modern playthroughs. I would probably feel differently if I had played any of them growing up though. I've only started playing through the series in 2019 when I first played Skyrim.

Oblivion and skyrim. They're the only ones I've played. I would often fall asleep to the skyrim menu music.

Oblivion. Morrowind is objectively better but it's hard to get into if you didn't grow up on it. Oblivion though oh golly I live Oblivion

My list of the games, from best to worst, is
1. Morrowind
2. Oblivion
3. Daggerfall
4. Arena
5. Skyrim

Note that there is a rather large gap between Daggerfall and Arena.

Also, yes, I do think that Skyrim is worse than Arena. The only thing of any substance in either of those games is the combat, and Arena's combat is considerably superior to Skyrim's.