So, now that I’ve finished both Daggerfall and Arena, do I still stick to my earlier claims that I preferred Elder Scrolls: Arena?
Yeah, pretty much.
The last dungeon in Daggerfall really was impressive. It took that sheer size that is pretty much synonymous with the game and created some really neat setpieces. Upside-down temples, pyramids hanging in midair, some sort of weird thing involving enormous hollow crossbows and floating swords…it was neat stuff, without the enormous frustration of the typical Daggerfall dungeon. The map still wasn’t really of much help, but it’s a familiar issue at this point.
Still, everything that was an issue before with Daggerfall remained an issue. The map was still an impediment, instead of the goad to progress that it was in Arena. The scattered bits and pieces of plot in Daggerfall didn’t really add up to a satisfactory conclusion compared to Arena, which is kinda strange considering the depth of the setting and the complexity of the scenario were pretty impressive. I like what I saw, but still didn’t have that “oh, let’s see what’s over HERE!” feeling that I had all the time in Arena. Running through all those corridors was fun, but right to the end they felt like a set of corridors arbitrarily hanging in space, and I truly, truly missed the good ol’ Dungeon-Master-style blocky dungeon grids of Arena.
(Combat was still fairly satisfying; but then again, Daggerfall combat basically IS Arena combat, albeit with mouselook. No reason it wouldn’t be satisfying.)
Yes, the multiple endings are a nice touch. I liked how it was set up, too, where you were forced to decide which faction to give incredible, world-shattering power to. The game did a good job of showing both the strengths and the warts of pretty much every faction in the game. Even ol’ Uriel Septim VII didn’t come off perfectly, considering he basically sent you into the region under false pretenses. Granted, the choice doesn’t really matter, since the Morrowind writers decided to come up with a scenario where all the endings (somehow) happened simultaneously. But I was still surprised to find myself considering the choice a bit.
Pity that the endings themselves are unimpressive. They’re really just a few images in a “turning book” CG animation, accompanied by muddy, bored-sounding narration that makes King’s Quest 5 sound like Pixar work. I wish they could have done a follow-up to the truly impressive FMV(!) opening, which still ranks as one my favorite bits of the game. I also wish that there had been a bit more of a “conclusion” to the factional elements outside of the main plot: hitting the top rank of the Mage’s Guild (for example) nets you little more than a quick blurb about how you were elected Archmage. Raising faction rank in Daggerfall is a pretty arduous affair; at least SOME work could have been put into rewarding players for it!
(Though, then again, Arena didn’t have any factions at all.)
Did I see all that Daggerfall had to offer? Admittedly, no. Yes, I did try out the spell, item, and potion makers; the potion maker was superfluous, but the item maker and spell maker were genuinely interesting, fun tools that involved real decisions and real tradeoffs. But I didn’t get involved with either the thieves’ or assassin’s guilds. I didn’t become either a werewolf or a vampire. I never visited a witches’ coven, nor did I summon any daedric lords. I missed visiting several regions, and (of course!) only saw a fraction of the dungeons. There were things I missed, and I probably saw more of Arena than I saw of Daggerfall.
Still, I saw enough of Daggerfall to mostly agree with the majority opinion that it was a fascinating, welcome, and yet very flawed experiment. It was truly huge in both ambition and scope, and it was clear that their developers and designers were flying by the seat of their pants in a way that Bethesda has never really done since. Even without the staggeringly immense overworld, it still features the most jaw-dropping, shockingly enormous cities, towns and dungeons that we will likely ever see in a game. You really can’t conceive of how huge cities like Wayrest, Daggerfall, and Sentinel are until you’ll run through them yourself. Everything else will just seem a bit…limited…in comparison.
But I think I’m ready for something that’s more carefully designed, more focused, and deliberately crafted. So farewell to Daggerfall. On to Morrowind.
Leveling Criticism 