The Elder Scroll II: Daggerfall Short

Released in 1996. The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall is a great representation of Bethesdas design. Massive, ambitious but full of bugs. The game world is huge with 100s of towns, dungeons and castles to explore.

Issues with the game mean that quests can't be completed due to a target disappearing or a location mislabelled. The player can also find themselves falling outside the level.

Dungeons are the most frustrating part though. Their confusing design, large area and difficult to use maps can mean that you can be stuck for hours finding your objective. Also without the right spell you can even be trapped. This means that having some sort of spell casting is required and so those wanting to play pure warrior or archer will have a difficult time.

Despite these issues I can still recommend you giving this game a go. Many of the staples that made the series great are here. Character customisation, guilds, spell crafting and more provide any number of ways to approach the game. There is also a degree of re playability as quests, maps and dungeons are randomised. Combat can be frantic whilst wielding a blade and encourages different play styles from spell casting to archery.

You can download the game yourself from elderscrolls.bethesda.net.