Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
When compared to Morrowind, it's clear that Starfield is a massive devolution of the once iconic Bethesda RPG. And this was by design.
Now I actually had fun with Starfield. It (somehow) ended up being my most played game of 2023. But the game made so many design choices that were so baffling, they made me wonder why I even liked Bethesda games in the first place.
So I went back to my very first Bethesda game, a game that was also helmed by Todd Howard and exclusive to the PC and Xbox: the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. More than 20 years later, the island of Vvardenfell still feels like a much more immersive world than all of the Settled Systems combined. After combing through interviews with key developers, including Todd Howard and Michael Kirkbride, I cover the design choices that explain why Morrowind succeeded where Starfield failed.
To ensure I wasn’t blinded by nostalgia, and to make the comparison as fair as possible, I decided to do a few completely vanilla playthroughs on Xbox. So no mods. This is also the worst version of the game you can play in the current year. And this is also the first time I replayed the game on Xbox since the GOTY edition came out in 2003.
Now there are multiple ways to define immersion. Personally, I like the definition that an immersive work of fiction is one that maintains the suspension of disbelief. So the longer you can play without being reminded of the fact that you're playing a game, the deeper the immersion.
Spoilers for Starfield and Morrowind.
Sections
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Starfield is filled with invincible gods
01:28 Morrowind lets you kill god (up to three times)
04:22 Todd Howard wanted Morrowind to be smaller
05:12 Todd Howard wanted Starfield to be bigger
06:52 Starfield's biggest mistake
09:37 Morrowind feels bigger than it is
11:21 Limited fast travel is an adventure
13:27 The Settled Systems don't make sense
14:44 "Anything boring was automatically wrong"
16:56 Starfield lacks a strong identity
"Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Interview," IGN: ign.com/articles/2000/06/09/elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-interview
web.archive.org/web/20000817192746/http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/morrowind_b.shtml
"Morrowind: An oral history," Polygon: polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda
"Starfield’s 1,000 Planets May Be One Giant Leap for Game Design," The New York Times:
web.archive.org/web/20230901103514/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/arts/starfield-bethesda-microsoft-xbox.html
The Morrowind maps et al. came from the UESP and The Imperial Library: en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Maps
imperial-library.info/content/cartography
MinnMax: youtu.be/JDP8QvuXn0g?t=2172
Transit route map came from the UESP:
en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Transport
The Imperial Library translation of Game.EXE interview:
imperial-library.info/content/interviews-MW-team
June 2000 Interview by Game.EXE: web.archive.org/web/20150416013818/http://game-exe.org/index.php?n=Exe.Exe059InterviewMorrowind
web.archive.org/web/20161231203843/http://game-exe.org/index.php?n=Exe.Exe072CenterMorrowind
"The battle to control what's fact and fiction in The Elder Scrolls' lore," PC Gamer: pcgamer.com/the-battle-to-control-whats-fact-and-fiction-in-the-elder-scrolls-lore
"Clyde Cadwell's Tribunal Cover," The Imperial Library:
imperial-library.info/content/clyde-cadwells-tribunal-cover
Michael Kirkbride Concept Art for Morrowind: web.archive.org/web/20190331214015/http://michaelkirkbride.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art
MK Comments on Reddit: web.archive.org/web/20240122232013/https://www.reddit.com//r/teslore/comments/bs65z7/eurogamers_36_lessons_of_vivec_article_may_23rd/eollkt7
https://archive.is/W8fOw
#starfield #morrowind #toddhoward #starfieldgame #elderscrolls
Edited with Gling AI: bit.ly/46bGeYv
The ending of the words is REGRESSION.
When compared to Morrowind, it's clear that Starfield is a massive devolution of the once iconic Bethesda RPG. And this was by design.
Now I actually had fun with Starfield. It (somehow) ended up being my most played game of 2023. But the game made so many design choices that were so baffling, they made me wonder why I even liked Bethesda games in the first place.
So I went back to my very first Bethesda game, a game that was also helmed by Todd Howard and exclusive to the PC and Xbox: the Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. More than 20 years later, the island of Vvardenfell still feels like a much more immersive world than all of the Settled Systems combined. After combing through interviews with key developers, including Todd Howard and Michael Kirkbride, I cover the design choices that explain why Morrowind succeeded where Starfield failed.
To ensure I wasn’t blinded by nostalgia, and to make the comparison as fair as possible, I decided to do a few completely vanilla playthroughs on Xbox. So no mods. This is also the worst version of the game you can play in the current year. And this is also the first time I replayed the game on Xbox since the GOTY edition came out in 2003.
Now there are multiple ways to define immersion. Personally, I like the definition that an immersive work of fiction is one that maintains the suspension of disbelief. So the longer you can play without being reminded of the fact that you're playing a game, the deeper the immersion.
Spoilers for Starfield and Morrowind.
Sections
00:00 Introduction
00:18 Starfield is filled with invincible gods
01:28 Morrowind lets you kill god (up to three times)
04:22 Todd Howard wanted Morrowind to be smaller
05:12 Todd Howard wanted Starfield to be bigger
06:52 Starfield's biggest mistake
09:37 Morrowind feels bigger than it is
11:21 Limited fast travel is an adventure
13:27 The Settled Systems don't make sense
14:44 "Anything boring was automatically wrong"
16:56 Starfield lacks a strong identity
"Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Interview," IGN: ign.com/articles/2000/06/09/elder-scrolls-iii-morrowind-interview
web.archive.org/web/20000817192746/http://rpgvault.ign.com/features/interviews/morrowind_b.shtml
"Morrowind: An oral history," Polygon: polygon.com/2019/3/27/18281082/elder-scrolls-morrowind-oral-history-bethesda
"Starfield’s 1,000 Planets May Be One Giant Leap for Game Design," The New York Times:
web.archive.org/web/20230901103514/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/arts/starfield-bethesda-microsoft-xbox.html
The Morrowind maps et al. came from the UESP and The Imperial Library: en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Maps
imperial-library.info/content/cartography
MinnMax: youtu.be/JDP8QvuXn0g?t=2172
Transit route map came from the UESP:
en.m.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Transport
The Imperial Library translation of Game.EXE interview:
imperial-library.info/content/interviews-MW-team
June 2000 Interview by Game.EXE: web.archive.org/web/20150416013818/http://game-exe.org/index.php?n=Exe.Exe059InterviewMorrowind
web.archive.org/web/20161231203843/http://game-exe.org/index.php?n=Exe.Exe072CenterMorrowind
"The battle to control what's fact and fiction in The Elder Scrolls' lore," PC Gamer: pcgamer.com/the-battle-to-control-whats-fact-and-fiction-in-the-elder-scrolls-lore
"Clyde Cadwell's Tribunal Cover," The Imperial Library:
imperial-library.info/content/clyde-cadwells-tribunal-cover
Michael Kirkbride Concept Art for Morrowind: web.archive.org/web/20190331214015/http://michaelkirkbride.tumblr.com/tagged/my-art
MK Comments on Reddit: web.archive.org/web/20240122232013/https://www.reddit.com//r/teslore/comments/bs65z7/eurogamers_36_lessons_of_vivec_article_may_23rd/eollkt7
https://archive.is/W8fOw
#starfield #morrowind #toddhoward #starfieldgame #elderscrolls
Edited with Gling AI: bit.ly/46bGeYv
The ending of the words is REGRESSION.
