(This is a repost from gorisgarden.com, the original French version can be found here)

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Prepare, traveller, to step into the 90s.

In those days, 256MB sounded like 1TB today, screens were strangely curved and cubic, and video games were laughed upon and only played by nerds and outcasts. Before the mass phenomenom of modern games, narry a few wandered the virtual worlds on computer screens, worlds such as those of Duke Nukem, Monkey Island, and of course of DAGGERFALL.

Venerable ancestor in the family of the Elder Scrolls series, Daggerfall came long before Skyrim, Oblivion and Morrowind. The second opening in the series, it was this game that lay the true basis and systems still used by its heirs.

For its time, the game was a monster. Huge – as vast as a real world country – with over 15.000 towns and villages to roam and labyrinthic dungeons to crawl, it promised the player to start a new life, away from the cruel realities of the real world, and full of the even more cruel realities of Daggerfall. (Maybe it targeted masochists ?).

Until recently, the game was playable mostly with DosBox, but since the last day of 2023 it is now available in a brand new version using the Unity engine. Now fully powered by open source, thanks to Interkarma, the game runs perfectly anf smoothly on modern machines in full 1920*1080 screen resolution : splendid.

If one didn’t knew, one could think the game is just a new hardcore indie release, it looks little bit like a Minecraft total overhaul RPG mod, with the same kind of lighting and similar textures, which is quite enjoyable. To tell the truth, it might not run so well on limited hardware, as Unity can be heavy. The trick to run it on older machines is to remove lighting options and scale down on the screen resolution.

Anyway, for a nearly 30 years old game, the result is impressive.

Audio is, of course, dated. And MIDI-like tracks might be hard for some delicate ears, but the tunes are quite dreamy and immersive for some. (Dungeons however, are terrifying and skeletons tend to shout out loud in some horrible MIDI screech). As for graphics, it is a mix of 2D pixelated sprites for characters and low-poly 3D elements for buildings.

A graphical revamp mod is available, weighing more than 10 gigabytes which is roughly 20 time the original game’s size…). The D.R.E.A.M. pack, using AI scaled sprites will make your experience more enjoyable if you prefer smooth game over blocky pixels.

If you’re used to computer RPGS of the era, Daggerfall actually plays quite differently. Instead of gaining EXP points by slaying monsters and completing quests, your character gains levels by using his major skills enough. Technically it is possible to go through levels just by selling and buying, talking and convincing people, thus raising your speech craft and mercantile skills, but let’s be honest, it gets old fast.

On the other side, it uses a first-person view and pen-and-paper style character sheets, and all of the bestiary of classical RPGs is here : orcs, imps, skeletons, all the good old bad guys are here.

While the game is not as rich in natural environments as Oblivion or Skyrim, the liberty you get is much greater than in the other games in the Elder Scrolls series. You can choose to break the main quest forever early on, and just go on with your life. After all being a hero is not everybody’s dream.

Tourism is quite worth the time, as the game is set around the Illiac Bay which features many unique landscapes : jungles in Totambu, deserts of sand and of rocks, tundra, mountains or typical European style cottages, there is a lot to be seen in the many kingdoms of the provinces.

The possibilities of life-sim are vast, as you can join religious orders (cults with naked women, it seems it helps in recruiting), take on loans in banks, defend your case in court when caught by the authorities , and even buy a ship and sail the high seas, for all the sailors of this world.

Like all Elder Scrolls, Daggerfall is a host to many mods and additionnal content created by dedicated users. Unity is no exception, and new mods have already been produced, such as the Archaeologist’s guild, or mods adding bandit camps in the wildernesses of High Rock and Daggerfall. Some mods also add content to cities, which are mostly proceduraly generated, except for regional capitals which are truly amazing in scale. Sentinel’s castle for example even has an indoor tropical greenhouse which I invite you to visit.

Other mods add environmental and survival elements to the game, like calories and climate if you’re into ultra-realism, which will surely add some challenge to your travels.

All in all, the game is far from a museum artifact, and is actively updated by its dedicated fanbase. The subreddit r/DaggerfallUnity is well alive and full of support. The latest trend there seem to be how to get the game running on Android devices, so it might be worth it having a look. (For some people : forget about it, this type of game is a surefire way to get motion sickness and vomit on your keyboard, so don’t even think about trying it on a small screen.)

Much could be said about the game. If you liked Twilight part 2 (just joking guys…), you’ll be happy to know that you can become a werewolf, a vampire, or even a “wereboar” in the game ! The UESP is, as always, the best resource to learn all the secrets of the game

Tutorial : installing Daggerfall Unity