Just about every gamer has it: that one series that they love through thick and thin, come hell, high water, or cell-shading. The reasons for loving any series are vast, and range from nostalgia to narrative, from characters to adventures, and just about everything in between. Indeed, thinking about your favorite series and why you love it probably says a lot more about you than it does about the series itself. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second if you asked me what my favorite game series is- Elder Scrolls, always and forever Elder Scrolls. And while there are several more design-focused reasons I love the series, my personal reason is the one that comes immediately to my mind. See, Elder Scrolls: Morrowind is the game that got me back into gaming. I had been a gamer as a child (NES/SNES/some PC gaming) but stopped playing video games altogether right around the transition from the N64 to the Gamecube (yes, I date my memories up until this point by Nintendo consoles). Several years later my then-husband got an Xbox and some games. I toyed a bit with Halo and wasn’t really grabbed. Maybe I’m just not a gamer anymore, I thought. But then… Oh, then… I found Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. I think my first time sitting down I played for 20 hours straight. And just like that, I was back in: I won’t say I moved on quickly from Morrowind (that’s a long game!), but once my appetite was whetted it was only a matter of time before I dove back into gaming headlong. And so, for all of the other amazing strengths of this series, it’ll always be close to my heart for bringing me back to my hobby (and, by extension, my career).
Of course, sentimentality isn’t the only reason to love the Elder Scrolls series! One of the things I’ve absolutely loved from the very first was the high degree of character customization the game gives to players. I don’t mean the ridiculous visual customization options in recent games (no, I’m not concerned about how far my character’s nose is from her lips, or how high her eyebrows are), but about the ability to level a character whose skills, abilities, and gear, are unique to my own particular playstyle and my unique path through the game. I start each new character in Elder Scrolls with a character type in my mind: this toon is rogue-like, she’s stealthy and prefers the shadows whenever possible, but she’s also highly charismatic and persuasive when she needs to be; this character is a warrior in the truest sense, all axes and heavy armor with no concern for pleasantries or polite courtesies; etc. In this way each play-through, and I always do several with different choices, is uniquely mine. Even though the narrative elements of the game- the quests, the story, the options for dialogue- are all fairly rigid, each Elder Scrolls game feels more “mine” because of the independence in character leveling and adventuring that games that have more rigid action/game levels but multiple endings.
So, I’m curious- what is your favorite series? Why do you love it? Or, which series has burned you… Silent Hill, I’m looking at you >.>
5 thoughts on “Playing Favorites: Why do we love certain Game Franchises?”
I’m with you, the Elder Scrolls series for all the same reasons. A close second is the Mass Effect series. Maybe add the Dragon Age, Fallout and KOTOR series to the list as well. All of them seem to give you great agency to your character. I love any game that does this. I think it also adds allot of re-playability.
Now for most burned I immediately think of the Monster Rancher series. One and Two were fantastic games but then it seemed the makers lost the plot and tried to make the games follow the anime instead of the great monster raising sim that were MR1 and MR2. Still hoping for another one like MR2.
Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy are my two, for many of the same reasons. FF7 was when I got pulled heart & soul into gaming, and Morrowind was also my first for falling back in love with PC games. It’s a mix of narrative, interactive worlds, and characters I love. It’s the same way I feel about sinking back into a good book (I reread my favorites constantly. It’s embarrassing how many times I’ve read the Harry Potter and Narnia series, really). No matter how much I love new games, those old favorites always feel like coming home.
The Legend of Zelda. Nostalgia plays a huge role in this one for me, but it’s consistently the (inevitable) announcement of a new Zelda game that makes me buy each generation of Nintendo consoles. Few games have lingered with me as much as games in this franchise, and the series was one of the first games I played to touch on some poignant issues (Majora’s Mask and themes of death, for example). I’ve been fortunate not to be burned by this series (yet), but I will say that I loved Twilight Princess if only for actually making Zelda a ruler and giving us Midna, one of my favorite Nintendo characters to date.
Ah! I love the Elder Scrolls series. I’ve played them all: Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and ESO. It’s a series that plays like a book for me, which is why I like it. I also love how much agency these games give you.
Elder Scrolls (minus the train wreck that is ESO) and Mass Effect are tied for first place with me. Final Fantasy used to be highest on the list, but I can’t really say that I have liked anything in that series since 8.