The Elder Scrolls VI is coming. Slowly, but it is. We all dearly miss this series that’s already way older than many of the people playing it nowadays, so we should perhaps look inward to look for some great TES moments that we might have missed.
What better time than now, or the four years that we’ll have to wait in line, to read about the best and worst games in the series to get you ready for TES VI? Note that this is about the single-player RPGs, so The Elder Scrolls Online is not part of our rankings here.
11. The Elder Scrolls: Arena
I know I’m a big meanie for putting the oldest game in the franchise in the lowest rank, but this is actually a great achievement for the series. How many franchises can boast that every single sequel in its catalog has managed to outdo the original?
Arena, even with the help of some neat fan-made mods, looks and plays very dated nowadays. Still, it was a revolutionary thing back in the day — and one that you can still enjoy for some of its merits and archeological value.
10. The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall
Daggerfall greatly improved upon its predecessor in terms of graphics, scope, and size. Though ancient, Daggerfall remains one of the games with the largest play area in gaming history, although you’ll probably get bored before seeing one-tenth of the whole thing. I’d call Daggerfall too dated to play nowadays if you’re not a game history buff, but you can experience a much prettier version if you get the Unity remaster, which I totally recommend.
9. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion – Knights of the Nine
Oblivion’s first expansion begins with some dumb and repetitive design choices that might end up causing a bunch of players to give up on it, but those who brave through the great filter are in for one hell of a treat.
Knights of the Nine invites players to go through the trials and tribulations of knighthood, and it turns out it’s actually a pretty fun ordeal. Also, one of the things that always bothered me about Oblivion was the lack of a direct confrontation against a villain. Yeah, sitting back while a dragon goes on a kaiju fight against the Devil isn’t that awesome, Oblivion. Luckily, KON more than solves that problem.
8. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion – Shivering Isles
Remember when I talked about a confrontation with a cool villain in the entry above? Well, Shivering Isles is all about going after a mad god in an equally mad world. This one is filled with memorable moments worthy of Morrowind, but the star of the show is the main quest. One of the quarrels one can have with Oblivion is the lack of open-endedness, but you won’t find that here, as your decisions will finally impact the story.
7. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – Dawnguard
You can never do wrong with vampires and werewolves. Both had been a staple of the series for a while, but now they take center stage in the main plotline. The main story is fun, but even more fun are the Werewolf and Vampire skill trees that you can now unlock and explore to quench your thirst.
6. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim – Dragonborn
Before there was Bloodborne, there was Skyrim’s Dragonborn. It teased a great confrontation with someone capable of rivaling the Dovahkiin, and we got that, but the star of the show, in my opinion, was the Lovecraftian elements. Skyrim is gorgeous, but I find the environments a bit repetitive. Dragonborn solves that in spades by taking us to new area filled with eldritch horrors that will likely stay in your mind, as you slowly lose it to madness.
5. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind – Tribunal
Tribunal, the first expansion for Morrowind does away with the massive and beautiful areas of the main game. It makes up for that, however, by inviting players to solve an engrossing conspiracy whose setting is based on classic TES concepts. It’s a short but sweet experience that you should totally get into if you like the original Morrowind, as it raises the overall difficulty and expands upon its challenges.
Important note: do not install Tribunal as soon as you begin your adventure in the original game. This will create a high chance of powerful ninjas showing up to kill your character whenever they go to sleep. This is not a joke.
4. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind – Bloodmoon
A hero arrives at a snow-covered island to go on a werewolf-hunting adventure. Bloodmoon isn’t Skyrim, but only because it doesn’t take place in Skyrim. Morrowind’s second expansion more than sows the seeds for what would become Skyrim by sending players to a darker adventure in a Norse mythology-inspired land. If you love Skyrim and want to experience a “demake” of sorts, this is the one for you.
3. The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
Well, there’s not much left to say about this one. I mean, there are a lot of people talking crap about it on the Internet, but they write their negative reviews while on their coffee breaks from their 500+ hour-long playthroughs, so do those even count?
Skyrim is a massive success, a game that has remained popular for over a decade, and one that so many claim is the strongest entry in the series. I disagree, as I’m not a fan of how it hand-holds us throughout the main quest, but who am I to say that this is not the ultimate TES experience for you?
2. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
Even though Skyrim blew its numbers out of the water a few years later, Oblivion was the breakthrough game for this series. Oblivion made not just the series, but RPGs in general, the hot new mainstream thing.
Back when it came out, Oblivion looked better and brighter — thanks, absurd HDR — than any other game on the market. Oblivion looked like an impossible feat for a console, but it was the real deal. Moreover, It featured a more console-friendly approach to its combat and overall gameplay than its predecessor, which sacrificed some depth but allowed Oblivion to put the Xbox 360 on the map as a serious threat to the PlayStation 3.
1. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
Even though many might contest my decision, I must rub salt in the dissidents’ wounds by stating that this wasn’t even a close one. Though old enough to drink in the US, Morrowind remains not just one of the best RPGs of all time, but one of the best exploration games ever — an achievement it simply did not owe us.
If you ever feel like taking a break from the main quest, you can just walk in a direction — any direction. It’s ok, as you’ll surely stumble upon some underground area where you’ll have an unforgettable adventure and likely get a cool new item. Morrowind doesn’t take players by the hand and never fails to reward the adventurer inside you. The combat might be a bit dated by today’s standards, but it also features the deepest gameplay in the series, making it a perfect marriage between clunky and fun. We may never ever get anything quite like Morrowind, and the world is a sadder place for that.
