After completing The Elder Scrolls: Arena, I was somewhat satisfied with the outcome however the flaws was a little too much to bear; especially the convoluted storyline to go with it. I guess that what happens when ideas changed midway from a gladiatorial game to a RPG. So two years later, the second chapter was released titled The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, yet this time they have learned from their previous experiences. The game had a concentrated plot, great skill system and a vast land to explore that doesn’t punish you if you go rogue. So you can say Daggerfall is the game that Arena should have been two years ago as graphically it looks somewhat similar however its contents hits the nail on the spot.
The game, this time, is concentrated in High Rock and Hammerfell provinces of Tamriel – that is the top left of the map. And to those who only know the Elder Scrolls as Skyrim, it’s to the left of that. The land settled by the Bretons and Redguards that both have a somewhat turbulence history. The player will be sent to Daggerfall by the request of the mighty Emperor to free the ghost of the late King Lysandus and secondly, to discover what happened to the letter sent from the Emperor to the court of Daggerfall. So there will be a lot of politics, backstabbing, blackmailing and of course, combat to uncover the truth of why poor ole Lysandus won’t lay to rest.
So, almost like the first game, you set sail only to be shipwreck and your only saviour is a cave that you have stumbled upon. So the beginning plays out in similar fashion from the first as you need to escape the dreaded dungeon. Yet before you do this, you need to create your alter ego. Just like the previous game, there’s plenty of templates to choose from or alternatively, you can answer a series of questions thus letting the game make your decision based on your answers. Either way, the character creation is very satisfying as you can practically make any hero you like.
The game’s manual (for which I cannot recommend highly enough for you to read) stresses about playing it your own way. It goes on to say it’s your adventure and let you dictate the course of action. It also mentions to play out all scenes, no matter if it’s for the good or bad as there’s always a resolution. At first I thought this was some gibberish mess talk however I took it with a grain of salt and played out all my decisions, no matter how bad it was. And upon completing the game, I really have to say the developers Bethesda was right – you must play out your successes and failures as it really creates an adventure that’s worthy writing a novel out of it.
Granted at first, I played the game very safely however there was a quest given to me from the fighter’s guild (as I choose a ranger) to kill a tiger in some chap’s house. Don’t ask how it got there, just do the job. Easy. I rocked up to the house in some remote village and it was locked. Because thieving wasn’t my forte and needed to do this valiant quest, I bashed the door down and yep there was the tiger. I killed it, the owner was happy however the town wasn’t as I committed a crime – i.e. breaking and entering. I surrender to the guards (as I wasn’t that tough yet), pled not guilty (as it was part of the fighter’s guild quest) yet because of my social etiquette skills wasn’t exactly the best, I wind up being guilty – meaning my reputation got smashed. And that was only a couple of hours into the game.
Now if I have turned back time (by reloading a previous save), I would have missed all of that meaning, would I get the same enjoyment if everything turned out right? In short, no as it was actually more amusing trying to build up my reputation by doing crappy fetch me quests from merchants – it’s like saying welcome to real life you idiotic ranger. And because of this, placed me a more cautious approach when accepting another quest from this guild. Other examples where things didn’t turn out right was I got accused stealing a gem (I didn’t do it however it was a massive rep reduction…again), delivered a cloak as a present from a noble to another noble only for the recipient to die a horrible death (as the cloak had a demon hidden in it), I slept in someone’s bed to speed up time (the owners didn’t like that of course) so I was chased out of town by the guards, and caught lycanthropy among many, many other things.
So as you can see, the game is a complex beast that mimics everything you do – just like in real life. All because the game has a brilliant factions system where it practically monitors your actions behind the scenes. And believe me, there’s no right / wrong answer, just play them out, no matter how bad it seems. I give you an example of this: when I caught lycanthropy I need to kill an innocent every fifteen days or suffer a massive loss of hit points. I didn’t like doing this at all however a certain faction caught sights on me thus sending me a letter stating that the ‘Brotherhood’ will be my friend and understands my situation. And to gain their trust, I need to poison someone. I accepted the quest only to bail out at the last moment. And because of this I was hunted by the Brotherhood as well as the were-beast hunters. Now if I played the ‘safe’ path, I’m almost certain I won’t get as much enjoyment as I did being hunted.
And this wasn’t even part of any of the given quests this game has to offer. I think the total quests is around two hundred with the main about twenty or so. However there is a downside to the main quests only. Most of them arrives in the form of a letter addressed to you given from some person / thing that suddenly disappears. I dig that idea, especially when I’m in the big city however there were times I’m quite literally in the middle of nowhere and someone gives me a letter only to disappear…in the middle of nowhere. That somewhat spoils the immersion however what saddens me more is there are times where you hit a dead end, waiting for something…anything. Then off you do a faction quest only to get…you guessed it, a letter with a friggin time limit attached to it and yes, you are again in the middle of nowhere only to rush back to meet this mysterious person. And if you happen to miss this person, say goodbye to the main quest line – i.e. you can never finish the game.
Like all good RPGs, there a decent array of magic items / spells to choose from and because its class based, some will be out of your reach. Meaning that because my class was a ranger, I find it extremely difficult to join the mages’ guild therefore missing out on their services like buying / making spells and so forth. Why this is so is because the game’s philosophy is based on your character’s strengths. Meaning that if you are a fighter class, levelling up swords etc. will be a lot easier than levelling magic. Of course you can level up magic however it can take a very long time and because this ties in with your actual level, it’s wise to level your strengths otherwise it’s going to be a long ride.
Also, another feature I like are the artifacts as firstly, they are extremely hard to find thus normally forms part of a faction’s quest with a very high reputation score and secondly, no one can repair them. Meaning that if it get damaged over time, that’s too bad. I really like that concept as after all, they are items of power and thankfully, they can take a fair belting before it gets that far. All other mundane weapons can be repaired via the blacksmith however there’s a good chance you’ll locate a similar type therefore ditching the one you are using. Let’s put it this way – I have a decent collection of mithril items near the end that when any of them get worn out, it didn’t concern me at the slightest as I got a fair amount of them.
Whilst the gaming world is moving into 3D, sadly Daggerfall is stuck behind the eight ball with its 2.5D – meaning all the folks will look like cardboard cut outs. Yet the world renders in 3D with magnificent towers, majestic castles and wonderfully designed houses. There’s even a weather pattern that matches the time of year so in winter, expect snow and summer, rain. The sun will rise and set and at night, the lights flickers from the windows when night comes and so on. So all can be forgiven with its 2.5D people and besides, most folks do have some sort of limited personality – meaning they will all talk to you, if your weapon is sheathed of course. The only caveat here is that the dungeons are all mapped in 3D – other words, it’s close to impossible to read them effectively and because dungeons plays an important part, this can be a real nightmare.
Another neat feature is your character can be dressed up – that is, paper doll fashion. This is absolutely wonderful to those you wants to role play their character. Back to my ranger for instance, I wear evening apparel when visiting the nobles and combat gear when dungeon crawling, day wear for shopping and so on. Of course none of the clothing (other than magical ones) gives you benefits however it certainly adds immersion. And the lands itself, Hammerfell and High Rock, is so large that it’s close to the size of Great Britain. And unlike Arena, you can travel between towns however it will take a long time doing so. Yet there are fast travel options to speed travelling between towns and the lands are procedurally generated (which is a shame) however, considering the vast scope, it can be forgiven.
The sound quality is pretty decent however some are borrowed from Arena which is a little shameful yet they are still beautiful to hear. All played in midi format (which was hip at the time), they still are decent compositions. Only issue is that there’s extremely little voice acting therefore expect to read a lot. In saying this, there’s plenty of books lying about and it’s definitely worth your time reading them when you get the chance. And if you missed some of the chapters, there’s usually a library in most major cities that you can borrow books – yes this game is that awesome. So I highly recommend reading the books when you come across it as provides richness to the world. If you don’t, you will miss out in the integrities of the major players, especially when playing court politics.
The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall should have been the first game in the series as the entire package is concentrated with a common plot, not like the mess Arena displayed. Everything has its purpose, all interlocking with its marvellous faction system that keeps you on your toes until the very end. The game plays out politics tremendously well however it needs your input as well – meaning you need to put an effort reading the lore, play the waiting game (a.k.a. those mysterious letters) and generally make up your story as well. As the manual states in more or less words, Bethesda gave you the world filled with content however it’s up to you to play them out. Play your bit the way you want to play it and believe me, if you do it will be an unforgettable journey – only caveat is to watch out those timed missions otherwise the game can break, meaning you’ll never finish the main quest. But I guess that was your choice, right?
8.5 / 10