The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Turns 16 Today

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind released back in 2002 and was instantly hailed for its stunning open-world RPG experience. It was first released back on PC, and then made its way over to the Xbox a month later. Now, thanks to Xbox One's growing backwards compatibility list, it's available for this generation with significant improvements to its graphics, its framerate progression, and its overall performance. But even with the rough mechanics, it continues to be a beloved installment in the iconic Elder Scrolls franchise.

Though Skyrim is the most recent in the title, and Oblivion is a tough contender, Morrowind will always hold a special place in my heart. It had an atmosphere that Oblivion was lacking, there was an accumulation of immersion that made looking past the technical ugliness that the third game in this franchise offered not only doable, but incredibly easy. At least after a little finesse. The graphics, the sound, the combat mechanics ... all arguably messy. So with all of that said, what about this game made it so damn good?

Learning the skills and how they interconnected, learning the star signs, actually stopping to learn the lore - all of these formulated this much bigger picture beyond sloppy mechanics. The way it was all interwoven made it easy to ignore what usually is considered gamebreaking while diving right into an immersive world state.

It's one of those games that many absolutely loathed when they first tried it out. It definitely doesn't hold the player's hand, and it requires a lot of thought and strategy throughout its entirety. Too often players would pick a class that doesn't suit their play style, or get completely turned around in an area and become frustrated, but that was - ironically - also a huge appeal to this game. It forced you to explore, to get better, to learn your style. Once that initial confusion and discomfort was worked through, the game took on an incredibly different experience.

What made Morrowind a gaming treasure is its hidden beauty. The lore locks, the abilities to learn and master, learning the histories of a specific race and how they relate to others in Tamriel. The religious aspect, the importance of learning patience and diligence, all of these are what made this game what it was when it first released 16 years ago, and it's what makes this games till talked about to this day.

Basically, this is an RPG that has earned its place in gaming history for being the treasure that it continues to be to this day. If you haven't had a chance to play it yet, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is available now for Xbox, Xbox One, and PC. Happy birthday! And thank you for all of the memories!