Probably the only game I played where breaking the mechanics is actually encoded in the story. Pretty satisfying that basejumping the entire continent to stunt on the xenophobic slave-owners is an entirely valid experience. The hard cap on this is that Morrowind easily has some of the worst UX I've ever seen for a game in this era, the map is trash, the inventory system is a mess, and there's so. much. menu. clicking. All this combines with a doo-doo melee system and lackluster quest design to make the early game a slog to play, which is why I broke the game with some console commands and legal exploits. This is easily the best magic system in TES though, spellmaking + alchemy allows for a lot of creative and powerful ways to assert your magical dominance--basejumping, super fast levitation, instanthearthing, autoheals, etc. are totally possible if you know your way around.
Still, the real sell is the main quest, which is actually interesting and a decent look at religious prosecution, the ambiguity of prophecy, traditionalism, etc. with some nice epistemological moments thrown in. The sub theme of what delineates the coincidental from the supernatural is a totally unique thought for video games, as philosophy of religion is totally unexplored in pop culture despite how dominant religious modes of thinking are in our secular age. I mean, you may call yourself a secularist, but if "why do good things happen to bad people?" is a compelling question for you, you're still pretty much a theist. You do have to kind of draw all the philosophy of religion out though, as the actual dialogue and plot-by-plot moments only mention the actual meaning of what's going on in passing; it's thematics are best discovered on long, laborious walks both in-game and out-of-game than through digging journal entries or dialogue.
Ultimately, Morrowind is a game that requires a bit of digging and finessing to make enjoyable, but its such a unique experience with unique things to say its hard to be too mad at it. Patience and faith is the core to all religious experiences after all.
Still, the real sell is the main quest, which is actually interesting and a decent look at religious prosecution, the ambiguity of prophecy, traditionalism, etc. with some nice epistemological moments thrown in. The sub theme of what delineates the coincidental from the supernatural is a totally unique thought for video games, as philosophy of religion is totally unexplored in pop culture despite how dominant religious modes of thinking are in our secular age. I mean, you may call yourself a secularist, but if "why do good things happen to bad people?" is a compelling question for you, you're still pretty much a theist. You do have to kind of draw all the philosophy of religion out though, as the actual dialogue and plot-by-plot moments only mention the actual meaning of what's going on in passing; it's thematics are best discovered on long, laborious walks both in-game and out-of-game than through digging journal entries or dialogue.
Ultimately, Morrowind is a game that requires a bit of digging and finessing to make enjoyable, but its such a unique experience with unique things to say its hard to be too mad at it. Patience and faith is the core to all religious experiences after all.