Daggerfall Overall Rating: 11/20
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/3/6/49361479/1428180665.png?250)
Daggerfall is the second installment in The Elder Scrolls series. After creating a character, the player is shipwrecked and trapped in a cave by a rather convenient mudslide. But never fear! There is a tunnel that leads you through a dungeon fraught with beasts that are just weak enough for you to kill. Will it lead you to freedom? Yes. And then you can be on your merry way to exorcize the ghost of the fallen king of Daggerfall and save (or destroy) the kingdom.
Visual Design Rating: 2/5
The game did make improvements from Arena and one shouldn’t discount the creative quality that surrounds Daggerfall’s introduction. However, there were times when the art was taken a bit too far and made maneuvering through the gameplay introduction more complicated than it needed to be. One such example can be found in the “Name Thyself” screen.
The words “Name Thyself” – due to their large size – instantly draw the player’s attention. Since it is common knowledge that the eye is drawn to the largest or most poignant image, the pointless over-sizing of the title can prove confusing. The actual area to enter the character name is in the corner of the screen, while the “Name Thyself” draws attention to the center. I actually spent a minute clicking around before discovering the character naming box in basal text, much overshadowed by the title.
The developers again favored the yellow text for instructions, though this did not prove to be a problem since the text always appeared with a backdrop of either parchment tan or stone gray. They utilized a marvelous red to highlight chosen or important words, which was a nice touch.
Visual Design Rating: 2/5
The game did make improvements from Arena and one shouldn’t discount the creative quality that surrounds Daggerfall’s introduction. However, there were times when the art was taken a bit too far and made maneuvering through the gameplay introduction more complicated than it needed to be. One such example can be found in the “Name Thyself” screen.
The words “Name Thyself” – due to their large size – instantly draw the player’s attention. Since it is common knowledge that the eye is drawn to the largest or most poignant image, the pointless over-sizing of the title can prove confusing. The actual area to enter the character name is in the corner of the screen, while the “Name Thyself” draws attention to the center. I actually spent a minute clicking around before discovering the character naming box in basal text, much overshadowed by the title.
The developers again favored the yellow text for instructions, though this did not prove to be a problem since the text always appeared with a backdrop of either parchment tan or stone gray. They utilized a marvelous red to highlight chosen or important words, which was a nice touch.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/3/6/49361479/6253266.jpg?475)
The backgrounds and page headings were a bit too flamboyant for my tastes, but that is merely a personal opinion. Besides the “Name Thyself” screen, the gaudiness did not detract from the gameplay introduction.
Instructional Clarity Rating: 2/5
Daggerfall starts off with the character creation. You select your race, your class, and distribute your skills. Though the game does a better job of giving the player in-game information about races (Arena just gives players the name of the race and province with no description attached), Daggerfall shares its predecessor’s shortcoming: bulk text.
By themselves, the instructions were mostly clear. The problem arose in the way the information was presented. The player was forced to read through multi-paragraph “Tutorial Lessons” that presented the player with a series of steps to execute before the next lesson would pop up. Remembering what each button did was difficult, but remembering the buttons in order was next to impossible if you didn’t read carefully. Yet, after you clicked through the first tutorial lesson and realized you hadn’t read closely enough, there was no way to get back to the first tutorial. The problem could be remedied easily just by splitting the instructions into separate textboxes and allowing time for each instruction to be completed before the next appeared.
Instructional Clarity Rating: 2/5
Daggerfall starts off with the character creation. You select your race, your class, and distribute your skills. Though the game does a better job of giving the player in-game information about races (Arena just gives players the name of the race and province with no description attached), Daggerfall shares its predecessor’s shortcoming: bulk text.
By themselves, the instructions were mostly clear. The problem arose in the way the information was presented. The player was forced to read through multi-paragraph “Tutorial Lessons” that presented the player with a series of steps to execute before the next lesson would pop up. Remembering what each button did was difficult, but remembering the buttons in order was next to impossible if you didn’t read carefully. Yet, after you clicked through the first tutorial lesson and realized you hadn’t read closely enough, there was no way to get back to the first tutorial. The problem could be remedied easily just by splitting the instructions into separate textboxes and allowing time for each instruction to be completed before the next appeared.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/3/6/49361479/1428191497.png)
The order of the tutorial lessons also presented a bit of a problem. The subject of saving the game is not broached until the sixth tutorial lesson, which didn't appear until after I had already slain two monsters. If you die in the dungeon before you save (you press Esc and click on the Save feature), you have to recreate your character all over again.
The character creation was problematic – the basics were addressed, but the rest was left for the player to figure out on his or her own. For example, the skill distribution screen relied on the player’s understanding of acronyms and, though most of them were easily puzzled out (i.e. “STR” = Strength, “AGI” = Agility), some of the abbreviations were less obvious (i.e. “END” = Endurance, “PER” = Personality).
Lastly, the game difficulty was called “reflexes” and, after giving the player a long explanation of what they meant by reflexes, the player was given the choice from “very low” reflexes to “very high” ones. The concept was pointless; “reflexes” could have been replaced with “game difficulty” and the entire explanation done away with without losing any of the meaning.
The character creation was problematic – the basics were addressed, but the rest was left for the player to figure out on his or her own. For example, the skill distribution screen relied on the player’s understanding of acronyms and, though most of them were easily puzzled out (i.e. “STR” = Strength, “AGI” = Agility), some of the abbreviations were less obvious (i.e. “END” = Endurance, “PER” = Personality).
Lastly, the game difficulty was called “reflexes” and, after giving the player a long explanation of what they meant by reflexes, the player was given the choice from “very low” reflexes to “very high” ones. The concept was pointless; “reflexes” could have been replaced with “game difficulty” and the entire explanation done away with without losing any of the meaning.
![Picture](/uploads/4/9/3/6/49361479/9401644.jpg?507)
Appeal Rating: 4/5
The introductory dungeon is definitely compelling, even with the flaws in tutorial. Prefaced with a dark message from the emperor and plenty of monsters sprinkled about, the dungeon won’t bore you. It’s not hard to see why The Elder Scrolls gathered such a following. Almost every room hosts a monster that you can test your skills on and with the plethora of classes to choose from, there are many different skills to try out.
Length Rating: 3/5
The length didn’t pose any noticeable problems since the player is given monsters to vanquish in nearly every room. The only possible downside is the many, many rooms in the dungeon. While they make gameplay more interesting, if you’re a fastidious gamer, you’re going to be there a long time. If you stick to the main corridor and only open doors when no other choice is available, the tutorial length will be much shorter. Naturally, this all comes down to the gamer’s preference.
Conclusion
Daggerfall is an attractive game. Its role playing aspect tied with the drama of adventure makes it a worthy member of The Elder Scroll series. The game does make some improvements on Arena, though in the end, the game struggled with instruction delivery. Regardless, the game is still worth playing, even if only for the array of classes and races.
The introductory dungeon is definitely compelling, even with the flaws in tutorial. Prefaced with a dark message from the emperor and plenty of monsters sprinkled about, the dungeon won’t bore you. It’s not hard to see why The Elder Scrolls gathered such a following. Almost every room hosts a monster that you can test your skills on and with the plethora of classes to choose from, there are many different skills to try out.
Length Rating: 3/5
The length didn’t pose any noticeable problems since the player is given monsters to vanquish in nearly every room. The only possible downside is the many, many rooms in the dungeon. While they make gameplay more interesting, if you’re a fastidious gamer, you’re going to be there a long time. If you stick to the main corridor and only open doors when no other choice is available, the tutorial length will be much shorter. Naturally, this all comes down to the gamer’s preference.
Conclusion
Daggerfall is an attractive game. Its role playing aspect tied with the drama of adventure makes it a worthy member of The Elder Scroll series. The game does make some improvements on Arena, though in the end, the game struggled with instruction delivery. Regardless, the game is still worth playing, even if only for the array of classes and races.
Images belong to Bethesda Softworks, LLC