The Elder Scrolls is one of the biggest Western RPG series in the industry, with classic titles like Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim all defining the genre at the time of their releases. Now, fans are anxiously waiting for more news on the newest entry, The Elder Scrolls 6. However, players have quite some time to wait, as very little has been shown of the game beyond a brief teaser as Bethesda is currently focusing on its new sci-fi RPG Starfield. While this is undoubtedly disappointing for fans of the series, it does make now the perfect time for Bethesda to consider remastering Morrowind.
Morrowind was the third entry in The Elder Scrolls and was originally released back in 2002 for PC and Xbox. The game was a big step forward for the series and laid the foundation that Oblivion and Skyrim built themselves on. The game was also a technical marvel on the original Xbox. It was a massive title to have running on a home console, even if Morrowind did have to restart the Xbox now and then to run properly.
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The Elder Scrolls series has changed a lot over the years, with a gradual trend towards simplifying its systems in favor of being more approachable to new players. Fans of the series have differing opinions on how positive the changes have been, but recent entries have maintained the same spirit that Morrowind established alive. Morrowind went to great lengths to shift the focus for players off of its main questline and onto players exploring and finding their own stories within the world instead. The shift was incredibly popular, with players reveling in the natural openness of the world and the control they had over their experiences in the game. This design philosophy was also helped by Morrowind having a range of great NPCs and side quests for players to discover and sink their teeth into.
The game's design also led to Morrowind being a more demanding game than its predecessors. Players aren't given quest markers for where to go, but instead, have to listen to directions given by NPCs. Players are free to build their characters however they want but can run into encounters that they are simply too ill-equipped to conquer. These design elements can make the game feel more punishing for new players, but it also makes Morrowind much more rewarding for players who are looking for a more challenging experience. This is why many fans still hail Morrowind as the best title in The Elder Scrolls, and why many players return to the game now. Its unique design has made Morrowind worth playing in 2021.
With The Elder Scrolls 6 over the distant horizon, now is a fantastic time to release a remaster of Morrowind. Not only would this help tide over fans of the series while they wait for the newest entry in the series, but it also would help new players try out the game, which could be very important. There is tons of unique mythology in Morrowind that is not featured heavily on other games in the series but still has a large impact on the worlds of Tamriel. Having players be able to explore the lands of Morrowind more easily on modern hardware would be a great way for players to expose themselves to this mythology.
There has also been a lot of speculation regarding how big of a role the Dwemer will play in The Elder Scrolls 6 after Todd Howard reportedly requested that The Elder Scrolls Online not delve into the race's history. This is another big aspect of the universe that is explored in Morrowind. Morrowind goes so far as to lay out just about every Dwemer theory, so remastering it now would do a great service to help players get ready to learn more about the Dwemer in the future. There have also been rumors that The Elder Scrolls 6 will be more mechanically complex than Oblivion and Skyrim, which could lead to many more fans of the series becoming interested in a similar experience offered by Morrowind.
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Like all of Bethesda's RPGs, Morrowind has a massive library of mods available for players to download and modify the game in certain ways. Many of these mods are graphical improvements that can make the game look more modern for players, but there are still elements that could only be touched up a full remaster of the game. A remaster of the game could revolutionize how players look at the game and could solve a lot of the complaints about the experience that have persisted in the community over the years.
These changes could be things like tweaks to how quickly the character moves so that it doesn't feel as slow or rebalancing the speechcraft system that many players find to be overly punishing at low levels. The remaster could also allow players on consoles to download mods for the game, similar to how Skyrim: Special Edition did for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This could be a massive move for the Morrowind modding community, as a remaster of the game would bring more interest to the community while having their mods available on console would also allow them to reach a much larger player base.
There is no way to know exactly what Bethesda will all do with The Elder Scrolls series going forward, but hopefully, the company is looking at ways to bring it to fans beyond just the newest entry. Even a remastered collection similar to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition on next-gen consoles would be a very welcome release. Either way, for PC and Xbox players Morrowind is not going anywhere in its current state, and it will be very interesting to see how the game continues to influence the series going forward. Hopefully, Morrowind's influence will be embraced no matter where The Elder Scrolls 6 ends up being set, but only time will tell.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind is available now on PC.
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