The Elderscrolls 4: Oblivion

Whoa, I finished this game.  I don't know if it's my girlfriend or what, but I finally finished it after two years of buying it.  Really, it's a good game for cinematics and I think that's why its on CNN's list.  Like I trust CNN for anything newsworthy these days.

Oblivion was put out by Bethesda Softworks, or Bethesda Game Studios like about 3 years ago.  There was some controversy when a young woman retextured the female body to be bare chested.  The agency that handled video game ratings were in an uproar.  And really, this whole thing should tell you why having ratings on video games is a hypocrisy (actually, I think the ratings exist to prevent Censorship, but censorship is still censorship).   The game ended on a high note; but the Empire that Uriel Septim's ancestors built is in danger of crumbling.

The best part about the game is that it can be modified by its players.  Both Oblivion and Morrowind are the only PC games that have the distinction of actually being modified by its players to produce unique game experiences.  There are many outfits available for the game for free for download, and there are many overhauls.

The Mods I use are Robert's Male Body and Exem's Eye Candy body (soon to change to Robert's female body), Ruin-Tail's Tale, Battlehorn Castle, The Knights of the Nine, Shivering Isles, and Spell Tomes.  I was thinking of getting Kvatch Rebuilt but being the Earl of Battlehorn Castle and the Crusader of the Nine is more than enough, thank you. I have never played a vampire, however.  I really do not like vampires.

This is Bethsoft's second best game, mostly because on how it handled mods or plugins.  The story isn't all that great, and the quests are something to be desired.  But the game still lets you be what you want to be.  That's the whole point of the game in the first place, and why there are player-made mods.

A game built on that philosophy that lets you do what you want to do in the World is probably the best thing a company can do.  BethSoft should continue to make games that are capable of being modified by the players.  However, alas, no more single player CRPGs.  The ES are the last of the single player as MMOs are the in thing now.  TES V is going to be an MMO, and MMO's are harder to be modified by player content than Morrowind or Oblivion.

That's the last I'm saying about it.

DAGGERFALL

The Largest CRPG in the history of CRPGs has been finally released as a free download! Daggerfall is the third best CRPG in history, not because of its quality; but because of it's QUANTITY!

What makes Daggerfall the best? Daggerfall had the largest land area in any Virtual Reality game designed since Castle Wolfenstien; any CRPG that came after puts so much into quality that they haven't been able to quite . . . surpass . . . the sheer size of Daggerfall. Set in High Rock in the Elder Scrolls-verse, there were many little villages, towns, and big cities in Daggerfall; allowing you to explore all of High Rock. Whats more, Daggerfall is such a big place there is no guarantee that you'll see it all when you play it.

Daggerfall also is one of the last games to use to the Wolfenstein-Doom engine by Id Software (which has been acquired by Zenimax Media -- the parent company behind Besthesda Softworks). Being a 540 MB game, and with a land area of about the size of New York State, it is a prime example of what you can do with the Wolfenstein-engine.

So, what does this have to do with Morrowind and Oblivion? Actually, both games are small, puny places compared to Daggerfall. And there was more they were planning to do with Daggerfall. For instance, it was originally planned that the Main Characters can have sex with NPCs . . .

Daggerfall is the best CRPG available for free. It beats all of the other games that have come out. Including World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs. The shear size of the CRPG is overwhelming. Since then, Bethesda has released Morrowind and Oblivion. Of the two, I believe Morrowind has the best imagery, and Oblivion has a good storyline. Both are capable of expansion by fans due to a construction set.

In fact . . .

Anyhow, I enjoyed Daggerfall. In what other game do you get to play a werewolf? :) Okay, Morrowind, but that is only after you get the Bloodmoon expansion! :D