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I freaking love this gaming franchise. Which game in the series would you say was the best? These are the mainline games only.
| Elder scrolls: Arena | 0 | |
| Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall | 0 | |
| Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind | 3 | |
| Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | 7 | |
| Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | 8 |
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
I suppose it's the same for me with skyrim. Oblivion to me seems basic af.
Plus the use skill = gain experience is definitely a better system then only gaining levels when you level your "class"
I wouldn't say Oblivion is more simple than Skyrim. Skyrim is simpler than Oblivion in the vast majority of its systems.
Oblivion has spell-making; Skyrim doesn't. Oblivion has more advanced enchantment; Skyrim doesn't. Oblivion has skills that affect gameplay; Skyrim doesn't. Oblivion has the persuasion wheel; Skyrim doesn't. Oblivion has Attributes; Skyrim doesn't. In Oblivion, you can literally equip a character with gear enchanted with enough "Fortify Personality" that practically nothing in the game will attack you; Skyrim doesn't have that sort of thing. Skyrim, in my opinion, is far more simplistic than Oblivion.
In terms of complexity, I would rate the games, from most to least complex: Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Arena, and the last two are debatable. It could be argued, for example, that the spell-making system in Arena is more complex than Skyrim's lack of one.
I will agree that Oblivion's level-up system was trash. Luckily, there are mods for that.
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.