I Kind of Feel as though I'm weird...My Favourite Bethesda (developed) Games are.... Options

[ArtemisNoir]

Morrowind and Fallout 4.
I mean, many, if not most, people would consider these two games to be entirely antithetical to another. The thing is, I'm not fully sure why I respond in this way. Maybe because they're perhaps the most focused on narrative, which tends to be my strong preference. Granted, FO4, has its issues, and parts of its story most definitely aren't as well implemented as they could be, but, at the same time, the NPCs, and especially the companions, are the most fully realised of any Bethesda game. So... maybe that's it ??? Plus, given I couldn't make a mod, even if my soul depended on it, I enjoy the building elements of FO4 when I'm feeling creative, and the world is fun to explore.
Don't get me wrong, I genuinely enjoy: Oblivion, Skyrim and FO3, but none have ever grabbed me like Morrowind and FO4.

Any thoughts on the whole subject? I'm always at a loss in figuring out what makes me truly love a game. There's just something indefinable and elusive that simply clicks.

This post has been edited by ArtemisNoir: Feb 19 2023, 10:51 PM

[SubRosa]

My first Bethesda game was Oblivion. And I still love it. Both because it was my first Beth game, and just because it has come to epitomize what I look for in a game: the open world and freedom to create any kind of character I want, and to go anywhere and do anything in the world I want.

I have given up Morrowind. I have played it several times, all the way through. But the last time I tried, I just could not bring myself to do it. I think it is the NPCs that ultimately make it unplayable for me. They are not people. They are information terminals that I can use to access huge amounts of data. That is all. Even with all the limitations that the other games have, at least their NPCs feel like people to me.

And since I got Morroblivion working, I have been able to play Morrowind via the Oblivion game engine. That fixed the things I dislike about it. So for me that is the best of both worlds. I like Morroblivion a lot, and often go there with my characters of late.

I don't think I have a favorite Bethesda game. I enjoy Skyrim. I enjoy Oblivion. I enjoy Fallout 3. Those are certainly my top 3 of them all.

Fallout 4 is fun, but I really hate the main quest, and the way all the faction questlines are in actuality the main quest. You cannot do one without the other. So I never do them at all after the one time I did it as the Railroad. That and the load times between cells are just insanely long. Especially in downtown Boston. I took to listening to podcasts during loading screens, since they take so long.

OTOH it has the best crafting system yet. Junk items actually have value, because you can build a nuclear reactor with an old toaster, some silverware, and the radioactive blood of a mutant animal. I really like how you can upgrade weapons and armor in the game. It allows you to keep the same weapon you started the game with, you just keep updating it, along with your weapon skill, and it scales with you and the gameworld.

I like the Fallout games in general because of the twisted sense of humor they have. In other games gold and jewels are treasure. In Fallout the garbage of the old world is treasure. An old bottle of glue, a deflated basketball, an alarm clock, a tin can, etc... All are priceless artifacts worth killing over. Plus you can listen to the radio in the game and hear some equally darkly comedic tunes, and hear the DJ talking about your exploits.