The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is a masterpiece that all gamers should play.

Its only flaw is the bugs. Even if you are a purist like I am, please use at least a basic bug fix mod. This game, even with all the patches Bethesda released throughout 2002-2003, does not function correctly. For example, the entire pickpocketing mechanic does not work and will basically always fail even if you max out the stats for it, and this is clearly not intentional.

If you are playing this game for the first time, I would recommend that you disable the two expansion packs, Tribunal and Bloodmoon, in the launcher before you start. Then, once you feel like you've got the swing of things, enable them. The expansions were clearly designed assuming that most players would have a lot of time in the game before installing them and as such they confused me as a newcomer since they didn't add any sort of level or story progress requirement to access expansion content. By enabling the expansions later in your file once you understand the game, you can prevent the expansion content from disrupting the onboarding of the game.

These are really the only two things I recommend new players learn about this game before going into it. I genuinely believe it's a masterpiece despite all of the asterisks to have the most smooth experience. This game will require patience, it has a lot of friction, but it wouldn't be a masterpiece without that friction, and I think it's a required experience for anyone who wants to know what a pure role-playing game is like, and how to let the player have freedom without trivializing the world and without insulting the player's intelligence. Now buy the game and go have fun.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is incredible journey through a dark fantasy world that is brimming with life in a dark world. I found the game challenging at times due to it's age and lack of a detailed quest marker system but that also made it stand out to me and required the player, me, to really dive into it's world and interact with it's characters. I had to listen and read every quest dialogue, read signs to navigate it's world. I got lost, I stumbled upon unique items, took on random quest, made allys, fought enemies, and joined multiple factions. Getting lost made for memorable experiences and ones that will stick with me.

I highly recommend Morrowind to seasoned adventurer that want a true RPG experience. One that doesn't want just a bit of your attention but demands your mind to be engrossed in its world.

While the game shows its age on some mechanics or UI elements, it remains to me a classic and a must-play. It is without a doubt the most unique entry in the series with how it portrays every aspect of its universe: people, religion, culture, landscapes. The world feels alien and hostile at times, but it can also feel very soothing, peaceful and welcoming. For lack of a better word, and despite its dated visuals, it's what I call immersion.

Gameplay wise the game is much closer to what was being made at the time in the cRPG space, so you'll find elements that most would consider dated like the sheer uselessness of your character at low skill level or actions being chance-based, but it's easy to adapt. Don't go unprepared, earn money, train your lowest skills. Because of the harsh begginings, Morrowind has in my opinion the best zero to hero progression of the modern entries. There's also little level scaling making it even more satisfying. Sure there's also a ton of exploits, but if you aren't seeking them you won't become a demigod in a flash.

Before Bethesda started streamlining as much of the later entries as possible to reach a broader audience, Morrowind featured some things that might seem superfluous or useless to many but are important to me. Do we really need a pauldron slot? Was separating axes, maces, and one handed swords necessary? Did we really need so many spells that the vast majority of players will never use?
But to me role playing isn't just numbers deciding what skills I pick, it's about my character's journey. If I am deciding to invest into axes and my character is terrible with everything else, that's something. If I want to mix and match my pauldrons, it's also more agency for me. Delving into a dark dungeon? Good thing I learned the "Light" spell... Maybe losing spears, mysticism, some spells, having consolidated skill categories isn't dramatic, but to me it's just taking choices to play the way I want away.

The quest design is quite weak compared to the two later entries (three if you're reading this in 2050), they're pretty much just a pretense to make the player explore the game's rich world. The hand placed loot, often outside containers, ensures exploration is always satisfying.
Soundtrack is always excellent, and the Nerevar Rising theme was so good they couldn't help but make it the leitmotiv of the series.

Story wise this is to me the most interesting game in the series. The game delves into religion, false gods, uprooted ancestral people, slavery... and the events that happen in the game are quite important to The Elder Scrolls universe at large.

If you take the time to invest and immerse yourself in the game, it's without a doubt one of the best games on PC.