The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

Daggerfall is a genuine gem of it's time. Unlike the other TES entries, it feels like an immersive sim first and a RPG second, for better and for worse. -Gamplay- Daggerfall is the blueprint that every other Elder Scrolls game since has followed. Leveling is done by improving skills through use rather than just killing endless mobs. The character creation system allows you to prepare your build early on or let you create a character to immerse yourself. The freedom to pick and choose what stats, skills, reputations, advantages and disadvantages you begin with allow every new character to feel unique, even if there's some easy exploits in the custom class creation (High Elf with critical paralysis weakness and the "U" key resetting the point imbalance on stats). The combat, in the original DOS version, is clunky, janky, and fully RNG dependant. You hold the button, swing the mouse, and the game rolls the dice for whether you hit or not, then rolls for damage. Arena and Morrowind follow the same logic, and from Oblivion onwards, was abandoned for a more intuitive "if it connects, it's a hit, roll damage" -The World & Immersion- High Rock feels geninely to scale unlike the entire re…

Review Score: 10/10 Listen to me carefully Vanilla dagger fall is super dated In its base state, this game is a literal headache to play. It looks like complete ♥♥♥♥, the visuals are severely dated, and the default combat controls will make you want to throw your monitor out the window. Trying to fight enemies when you can't even turn your screen fast enough to face them is a full rage in itself. You will get incredibly mad at the smallest, jankiest mechanics before you even make it out of the first dungeon. and i dont mean it lightly you will die several time in the spawn area due to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ controls BUTTTTTT. If you take the time to mod this game specifically installing Daggerfall Unity, fixing the controls to feel modern, and slapping on mods that give it that nostalgic, clean N64-like graphic aesthetic without being to old this game transforms into absolute beauty Once it is actually playable, you realize the core concept of this game is mind-blowing. It is a true, deep, actual RPG in a way modern games just aren't anymore. The sheer scale of the world, the freedom to do whatever you want, the political factions, and the deep character mechanics are unmatched compared to n…

10/10.

I bought this at Compucentre back in the 90s when this came out. I'd played TES: Arena and it sucked me in. This was something else. The scope, the freedom, I mean, back then, was unheard of. This also started Bethesda's reputation of releasing buggy messes. This was... on another level... right after Internet became a thing. Patches, a couple of MBs in size, took hours to download and broke more than fixed things but it didn't matter. You could play the game as you wanted. Roll a guy with 100% magic absorption, no mana regen, join the mages' guild, create an AOE damage spell that could heal you as well with splash damage and just aim at the floor and run around, that was the ♥♥♥♥. Game was broken in all imaginable ways. I played this again almost 30 years later with the unity mod that makes it look better AND adds in MOUSELOOK and I was pleased. The mechanics are dated but oddly, still beats AAA ♥♥♥♥ that comes out today. If you're into retro genre defining video games, this is it. This brought back memories of better times.

This game is a masterpiece in every sense—though perhaps not by today's standards. Instead, you could play versions 4 and 5; the fourth one has already been remade, and the fifth is set to get a remake too. D;

This is truly something unique, and something that may not get captured ever again. It is a product of its time, a special blend of RPG and 90s madness well worth delving into. That being said, the DOS build is infuriating, and feels like piloting a drunken ship across a sea of sand. I spent my time with it, but I find Daggerfall Unity to be a much better alternative. If it's authenticity and nostalgia you're after, there are plenty of mods for the Unity build to compliment that itch.