Favorite Main Series Elder Scrolls Game?

[TheRippaMan]

Morrowind, hands down. It hasn't aged well in many areas, and there are quite a few things that I have a problem with that Oblivion and Skyrim have fixed, but it's all about the package. The level scaling isn't as gimped and ridiculous as it is in Oblivion. The factions and guilds are more realistic and compete against each other. There are more possibilities with spell making and enchanting, and you can levitate.

Morrowind was simply an excellent, timeless title. While Oblivion and Skyrim are well done, Morrowind, as someone above me has posted, is in a league of its own -- unique, compelling, exciting.

[KingFeraligatr]

Morrowind apparently, with Skyrim behind it. Don't really care for the other games.

[DaemonLion]

Morrowind is my favourite TES game and not just because it's the game that got me into the series.

While the combat mechanics are dreadful and despite the graphics leaving something to be desired, the environment, general atmosphere, and the great story all had me immersed in the world of Morrowind far more than the subsequent games.

Another aspect I like about Morrowind is the lack of fast travel by way of simply selecting a location on the map. While frustrating at times, it helped for immersion and helped me fully appreciate Morrowind. As for Oblivion and Skyrim, I can't help but abuse the hell out of the fast travel systems - you won't see me willingly installing mods that disable fast travel

Overall though all the TES games that I've played (III, IV, V) are all great games.

[Cassandra]

Oblivion is my favourite at the moment. I haven't actually played enough Morrowind to say if I'd like it more or less.

Ah, the good memories when I hear that Oblivion soundtrack...

[Unionhack]

Oblivion's my favorite too! Still hasn't changed after all these years. The soundtrack is still one of Jeremy Soule's finest works if you ask me.

I have been having a hankering for some more Skyrim recently, though.

[Chaos the N'wah]

Morrowind, it still draws me in to this day despite the fact that the things that make it a game are so outdated and clunky.

Oblivion is second just for the memorable/nostalgic moments (playing it back after years of not doing so). Trekking through prison sewers, the siege of Kvatch, any of the guild quests, getting lost in the Shivering Isles as things slowly go from happy and bright to horrific as the sun sets and you pass the border...and the trees looks like they want to eat you
Skyrim's great, it just doesn't leave a big impression on me (it might be because I'm older or that Skyrim's the most recent)...I say that as I'm still playing it..right now....

[Crawldragon]

This is a really tough question for me because if I'm honest I like all of the games in the series for different reasons. I grew up with Morrowind; it's the game that made me love video games. It's a great fantasy game. The problem is it hasn't aged well, and I find it increasingly difficult to go back to as time goes by. It's probably the best game if you're the kind of person who likes to mod, though, because it's much easier to just kind of put stuff together than in Oblivion or Skyrim.

After that I played Arena, and I love Arena. Like, I'm one of the few who thinks that Arena still holds up even today, because it takes all of the elements that you need for a great fantasy game and boils them down to very basic mechanics while at the same time making it very clear that its monster encounters are not screwing around. Oblivion was kind of a letdown for me because the world it took place in was much more standard Western fantasy and a lot less alien and original than Morrowind, but it's actually very solid as a game. Skyrim was the first game I ever played that took place in something that felt like a real world, and I love to get lost in the world of Skyrim, but I was and still am kind of disappointed by the central mechanics. I have more fun futzing around in Skryim than I do actually playing it.

So that just leaves Daggerfall, the one that I keep coming back to. Often when it comes to RPGs how much I like it boils down to how willing I am to start the game over again, and for how slow and buggy and frustrating it can be, I can't not love Daggerfall. It's an unmatched experience even to this day with fun and exciting mechanics, an incredibly deep magic system, a challenging learning curve, and some of the most hilarious [&@%!] I've ever seen in my life. Only in Daggerfall can you buy horses off the shelves in a general store. Only in Daggerfall can you break into a house and interrupt a couple in the middle of an incredibly awkward bedroom moment (diplomatic language). Daggerfall is the game that established the Daedric Princes and the Nine Divines, who they are and what they do, and first codified the hierarchies of lesser Daedra. Daggerfall is the only game that ever answered the question of where bound souls go when enchanted weapons break. And Daggerfall is the only game I know of where you can start with a book full of racist jokes in your inventory. Daggerfall is a game with balls of steel and a sense of humor, and I love it to death.

Although Daggerfall doesn't have M'Aiq the Liar. Snark on, you glorious [&@%!].