The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (PC, 1996/2015 (Unity ver.))

• Some traversal skills (flexible climbing skill, upgradeable running speed, upgradeable jump (length and height; athleticism affects jump height in Unity) and swimming (increased speed and endurance/stamina+ability to hold your breath though there are spells to help with this too), basic stealth) and spells (slowfall - can be used to glide jump like in Wonder Boy in Monster Land for example, jumping - 2x jump height, levitate - flight (Ultima Underworld; even works underwater here!), invisibility and shadow form (in-doors only version of the former), tongues - understand languages (make some monsters not attack, underdeveloped without mods though), flare and light - optional without mods, some stat boosts (speed, endurance (for underwater swimming), agility (stealth), luck (climbing)), water breathing and walking - the latter makes you swim faster underwater in dungeons)), Etiquette can let you pacify guards after comitting a crime (including murder; weird but funny)

• Some ability gating however the game is generally not designed with specific abilities in mind and you can access all these skills and spells very early (climbing, lockpicking or open spell (can use bash instead which is lock strength-based), optional slowfall (or higher jump spell or skill) use to reach some platforms sooner such as during a bounty hunt quest in a dungeon early on, levitation spell to reach some platforms (optional when it's not given to you temporarily via interactive objects in dungeons though), optional (?) water breath/walking spells (levitate also works) to get away from underwater threats or further into larger underwater areas), Being able to get levitate so soon makes some level design redundant and lessens the sense of ability progression

• Some backtracking into previous dungeons to progress

• Non-linear structure (can take on multiple quests at once and choose from a list at guilds or temples (Unity ver.), more of an open-ended fantasy life sim than a handcrafted sandbox; the main quest is also a partially non-linear chain of quests (four paths that eventually join as well as three shorter optional ones), sometimes there's an alternate path to a quest objective in a dungeon; can buy/make pretty much any spell from the get go if you save up some money for it, can choose between 7 factions to give the totem to in the end though there are only 4 different proper endings following the final dungeon)

• Save anywhere outside of dialogue

• Pretty detailed map feature, Compass, World map with three levels of zoom, Can place markers and input your own notes on dungeon maps (not the top down town maps or town building maps however, in the TD view town maps the game does color code shops, guilds and temples as well as place names at visited ones for you), 2D & 3D dungeon and building maps as well as a compass feature (zoomable and rotateable), Location browser on the map screen gives you a list of similar names if you remember only part of it, The dungeon maps show hidden doors (wall doors)

• Teleport beacon (Recall) spell and teleportation-like fast travel system (pick a location on the map screen and then select between these parameters to affect cost and time taken: speed (cautious or reckless), transport type (foot/horse or ship), rest at inns or outside; you'll then be teleported there and time will have passed off screen; can type in a location to fast travel to if you know its name). Recall can also be used while stealing inside a house to escape without an arrest attempt by the guards (which leads to a reputation loss), Can buy a ship for faster sea travel (expensive)

• Horse mount and wagon (they're carried with you like an inventory item which is odd but very convenient (press T while outdoors to activate the horse or horse+wagon), the horse speeds up fast travel and in-game movement+can jump and surface swim, the wagon is used as a stash - W or wagon icon in inventory)

• Fast resting with good options (can just start resting (pick until healed) and cancel it when you want to or specify the number of hours). Fast healing (including stamina and MP) from resting with Medical skill

• Notebook and quest log (active quests, finished quests, dialogue stored in it by the player, in-game messages (any notification, however this one isn't saved after quitting the game!); some issues with some info not being saved in it - see below)

• Some resource management (fatigue mechanic, limited air underwater, encumbrance/weight mechanic - can be edited with a mod, gold has weight)

• Can become a werewolf or vampire (the latter is not recommended for new players though)

• Day/night cycle with an effect on gameplay (house/shops/temples are open at certain hours, easier to steal during nighttime, special advantages and disadvantages can affect night- or daytime only, vampires)

• Can pretty easily run past enemies even in narrow corridors allows for exploring dungeons despite not being able to fight your way through them which creates some fun situations

• An enemy can sense you through a locked door and some will start bashing it open

• Basic dialogue trees/options (pick topics and pick between 3 tones (polite, normal or blunt) to alter how you say things - generic sentences rather than a flowing conversation)

• Some town-like locations within dungeons and some of the town castles connect to a dungeon

• Enemies also take fall damage and can be knocked off of ledges (and collision damage as well - if you knock an enemy into a wall it takes some damage from the wall too)

• NPCs will sometimes mention your deeds when asking about news

• Info mode helps with directions as you can look at a building from far away and have the game identify it

• Some decent switch and spatial awareness puzzles (direnni tower, sentinel dungeon though it's a bit tedious, totem cube, final dungeon's fire room w/ large skulls)

• Decent environmental hazard variety in dungeons (water, (non-death) pits, traps that push you off of a platform (one triggers when opening a door and there's a pit on the other side of the door), MP draining floortiles - usually at the bottom of pits, traps that damage you when run into or interacted with, some objects that cast spells on you, very rare poison trap,  teleporter traps; see for example direnni tower)

• Sometimes impressive world building (the game reacts to if you confront Queen Aubki about her betrayal of Mynisera during the emperor's courier quest - lowers your reputation with her and Daggerfall+she will send nightblades after you periodically to prevent you from snooping any further, nuanced portrayal of some of the factions (the supposedly good Mynisera isn't really, some royal family members are scheming against each other), can choose who to deliver certain evidence to for different outcomes to some quests)

• Factions can start sending assassins after you if you piss them off or if you're carrying the token in the finale

• Keep playing for as long as you like after the ending cutscene (not much to do if you've gained the highest rank with a guild though)

• Enemies can respawn (or spawn out of the blue near you when in the wilderness) while resting

• The Mages' Guild always restores your SP (MP) for free

• "Skill advancement for class" slider mechanic (an overly advantaged character levels up more slowly). Dungeons scale to your current level without mods so while it can be tempting to be able to level quickly it can make the game harder (it'll still be easier to beat most enemies at higher levels but some are hard at any level)

• Action-based skill and spell leveling (can also make use of a skill trainer but only up until 51% proficiency, cheaper at lower levels, it progressively takes more uses to level up a skill that you're better at). The sum of your primary skills+two highest major and one highest minor skill also determine your chance of leveling up the character itself

• Dice rolls affected by stats affect if you get hit and if you hit enemies - not just player skill (see Diablo or Secret of Mana). Going back and forth to physically dodge attacks is still very useful however (but otoh your Dodging skill trains slower if you do this)

• Huge world (41 provinces w/ 100+ towns, dungeons and temples each; mostly procedurally generated but the towns are still relatively well designed and some dungeons are pre-built with randomized loot instead; see below for problems)

• Some OP spells, skills and advantages

• Nearly all quests have time limits while you're doing them (can be modded away for the main quests) but you can do whatever you want between quests

• Escorted NPCs are handled like an inventory item (you see their portrait on screen but they're not there in-game)

• Unusually hostile NPCs (sometimes makes for funny moments but it's also inconsistent at times, even mid-conversation even if you didn't change your tone). Some NPCs also make racist comments towards you however their reaction is all based on reputation, personality and enchantments that affect reactions

• There are torches but they aren't necessary as the game doesn't get that dark without mods

• Fall damage

Unity:

• Fixes many bugs and adds a command console

• Unlimited save slots

• Magic item pop-up menu (U)

• Optional enemy infighting between different types

• Option to choose which quests to take on when requesting them from a faction/guild (still checks your rank)

• Option for alternate random enemy selection (uses a different seed for spawning enemies so kinda like a randomizer-lite for it)

• Click to attack option (random swing direction)

• Can auto-configure fast travel to most locations registered in the quest log (convenient quest log; also makes it easier to browse active quests)

• Improved location search function for fast travel on the map screen and you can view adjacent regions through it

• Acute Hearing, Adrenaline Rush, Athleticism were given an actual function

• Travel Options mod (time accelerated travel in the overworld as an alternative to fast travel - pick the fastest option in the FT menu and the game makes your avatar auto-run towards the destination while in-game)

• Max loiter (waiting) time slider

• Various mods

• Persistent dungeons mod (without this the dungeons reset when exited, spawning a new layout with new items etc.; )

Some notable cons:

• Pretty brutal beginning if you don't go for a warrior-type build

• Some control/interface issues (jump mode won't trigger if holding down jump when touching the wall (which makes you keep jumping automatically), the game doesn't show you what happened after using a switch in a dungeon - becomes a problem in direnni tower for example, the default attack controls are pretty bad, etc)

• Some trial & error (some puzzles, various mechanics, a teleporter beacon/anchor stays even if you go to a different part of the world - no warning, can get stuck by turning down a main quest, can't swim if you're carrying more than 50kg - can still use levitate underwater however, what to pick during character creation, etc)

• Stealth is often tedious and seems not really worth it. However, a decent invisibility true spell can work pretty well for a "fighter/mage" build as even if you're detected you can just circle strafe and various enemies will lose track of you again so that you can keep attempting to backstabbing them

• Some tedious aspects (the opened shortcut door to nulfaga in shedungent doesn't stay opened and all dungeon maps are forgotten after a certain amount of time even for the ones with permanent layouts, backtracking through direnni tower to medora - could've opened a shortcut after first finding her, level gated main quests, etc)

• Even NPCs that you've recently done quests for can turn hostile all of a sudden

• More expensive spells don't level you up quicker

• Some skills and spells suck

• Repetitive in some ways (not enough monster variety for most of the main quests, various repeated quests and some repeated dungeon and building layouts, skill grinding, etc)

• Some plot/world building oddities

• Can't check faction reputation in-game

• No real bosses

Playthrough - Video Review - Mini-Review

Influenced by: Ultima Underworld 1-2, probably Dungeon Master, Doom 1-2, possibly Shadowcaster, GURPS system, Vampire: The Masquerade (P&P), Quake

Influenced: Lands of Lore 2, possibly Operencia