Vintage Realms of Gaming’s Blog Reviews – Elder Scrolls Anthology for the PC!
Elder Scrolls Anthology released in 2013 for the PC, that don’t surprise me, they Bethesda didn’t do console games till the third Elder Scrolls! Anyway the collection is in the in a plastic box cover with all five Elder Scrolls subtitles on the front (not on plastic but on front of the box which you can see through plastic) and those five Elder Scroll game chapters are ARENA, DAGGERFALL, MORROWIND, OBLIVION and SKYRIM!
And the original covers of the game can be seen on the back of the plastic to remind you what they originally look like (yeah unlike the all info on the back is printed on the plastic and not on back of box)
When you get the plastic off of box (which box look more like a book case holding a book of the fantasy world history in Tamriel that’s been discovered and founded by Bethesda since 1994, up until 2013, well of course they discovered more since the release of the Anthology such as Elder Scrolls Online which was in the work in 2013, and released within the following year, now Elder Scrolls Online is set release on the latest generation home consoles this year in 2015, Xbox One and Playstation 4. And its most likely Bethesda will discovery more pieces of history in the fantasy world for years to come, or perhaps sooner)
The collection when it came out, it was $79.99, and months later i got it for $59.99, $20 less. Since the release i honestly thought the Anthology will be a limited time only, but now days online or at Walmart i discover the Anthology for $29,99. WOW!
Okay back to talking the collection!
Like i said the Anthology looks like a book in the case, now once you remove the book out of the case, its looks like a book based on ancient history, in fact the whole thing does actually! It a book a the all five Elder Scrolls games on CD-Rom’s or DVD Rom’s., plus each page have its own chapter with a description of that chapter and with the screenshots giving you the idea what the game looks like, plus it have interesting artwork that’s been well detailed for what each chapter represents! And last, the Anthology have maps for all chapters, including the complete map of Tamriel!
Now i’m going to explain about the details for each chapter and compare the Anthology versions of each chapter to each original chapter formats and describe them as best as i can!
Chapter 1: Arena
The game the started it all by the fourth quarter of 1993 and released as early as 1994. Arena was a tough start in the Elder Scrolls series because of time limitations and plan changes from Bethesda’s original ideas. Bethesda Software where a small time company at the time, they were fans of many dungeon crawler computer RPG’s such as Ultima Underworld. Arena was first released on eight 3.5 Floppy Discs and it came with a nice box and instruction manual, than later they released an enhanced CD-Rom version with FMV clips and voice acting, than they make a Deluxe Version of Arena!
Now in the Anthology collection format for Elder Scroll Arena is on a CD-ROM disc! On the disc included in Anthology collection is the pre-installed DOSBOX version that will run on a modern Windows operating system without any trouble! Now here the drawback of the Elder Scrolls Arena in Anthology collection, they don’t have the enhanced CD-ROM version on the Anthology CD-ROM version, just the original floppy version! I don’t know what the deal is here, it would be nice to have both versions (or all including the Deluxe Edition)
Elder Scrolls Arena the original DOS version is available for a free download on the Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls website, but it does require a DOSBOX emulator to run game, and like the pre-installed version in the Anthology collection, the download version you have to set the proper settings on DOSBOX to run the game smooth, that can be a pain in the ass! I mean the plus side about the downloadable one is free, but the headache can kick in for some who have little experience with DOSBOX settings. The pre-installed one on the Anthology is like getting a pre-installed DOS game for modern OS’s from GOG.com or Steam.com! Now lets move on with Chapter 2!
Chapter 2: Daggerfall
Daggerfall is the direct sequel to Arena, Daggerfall was being worked on since the release of Arena since early 1994, Daggerfall was released in August of 1996 on a CD-ROM disc, unlike Arena, Daggerfall had plenty of time to make a successful RPG, and with two years of work, it was an improvement! Daggerfall uses a better gameplay engine (XnGine) than the Arena.
Daggerfall didn’t come out with multiple version this time, but in the Anthology collection it also came on CD-ROM disc with a pre-installed DOSBOX version. And once again Daggerfall is also freebie from the Elder Scrolls website, and just like Arena, the downloadable version of Daggerfall needs a DOSBOX emulator, and like Arena, actually configuring the DOSBOX settings manually to run Daggerfall can be more complex than Arena, because Daggerfall was originally a CD-ROM version, and its even more of a headache too! But at least for the Anthology versions of both Arena and Daggerfall, you don’t have to do any of that manual configuring crap! Let now move on!
“Before i get into Chapter 3, there’s a few games that are missing in the collection, during the following years since Chapter 2 and before the release of Chapter 3, Bethesda did two spin offs, at first i thought they were expansion packs for Daggerfall, but they were just stand alone spin offs. those to are “An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire” and “The Elder Scrolls Adventure: Redguard” which weren’t included in the Anthology set, Why not? I don’t have an answer to one yet, the Elder Scrolls website haves a page for both spin offs, but no game download for either spin off, well hopefully they will at least fix that soon. Alright now lets move on to Chapter 3″
Chapter 3: Morrowind (DLC: Tribunal, DLC: Bloodmoon, Morrowind: Game of the Year Edition)
Morrowind was released for Windows OS’s (on two CD-Rom disc’s) and for first time being on a console exclusively on Xbox (on one DVD-Rom disc) in Spring of 2002. There’s lot of gameplay mechanics change since Daggerfall. With a new graphics engine called the GameByro, a new composer Jeremy Soule (who’s been composing the Elder Scrolls series since), and gameplay style, a new first person to third person option, more custom characterization options for each race, and much more!
Its also the first in the series that got expansion packs exclusively for the PC, “The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal” released in fall of 2002 on one CD-Rom disc, and “The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon” released in Spring of 2003 on one CD-Rom disc (a year after Morrowind released)
In the fall of 2003, a Game of the Year edition was released for PC and the Xbox, the PC version is on four CD-Rom discs includes Morrowind, Tribunal, Bloodmoon and a Elder Scrolls Construction Kit, and one the Xbox version of the Game of the Year edition if features Morrowind and the two expansion packs (which is the only way to play the packs on Xbox) on one DVD-Rom disc.
Morrowind: GOTY Edition can be purchasable on Steam
The Anthology collection features the Game of the Year edition of Morrowind on four CD-Rom discs (which is the biggest number of discs out of the five chapters), plus a Steam downloadable key so you can have access in either direction! Now Chapter 4.
Chapter 4: Oblivion (DLC: Knights of The Nine, DLC: Shivering Isles, Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition)
Oblivion was originally released in 2006 for the PC and Xbox 360 console on one DVD-Rom disc, there’s was a collectors edition for both ports with a DVD as Bonus Materiel, and it other extras like the Imperial City coin of Uriel Septim, and book on Cyrodiil (which is where Oblivion is set in).
The new generation of gaming was already beginning, and Oblivion used an updated GameByro engine, and it many new features instead of reading every bodies dialog, you can listen to other characters voice when talking to them. The game engine was more targeted towards the High Definition of gaming! Withing the year later, a Playstation 3 version of Oblivion was released on one Blu-Ray game disc! Within the release of Oblivion, the game had minor Downloadable content like horse armor on both PC and Xbox 360, there first big expansion pack was the “Knights of the Nine” available for $9.99, and later a bigger expansion pack the “Shivering Isles” available $29.99, then within the the two years since the release of Obilvion, they released a Game of the Year Edition of Oblivion on two DVD-Rom discs for PC and Xbox 360, and on one Blu-Ray disc for the Playstation 3.
Which the GOTY edition only haves the two biggest DLC’s like Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles, and not the other stuff, which i thought it was stupid not have everything!
In 2011 Bethesda released a special 5th Anniversary of Oblivion which the PC and Xbox 360 version have the two previous Game of the Year edition on two DVD-Rom discs, and a Bonus DVD that came with the original collectors edition, and i think the PS3 version of the 5th Anniversary edition came with twos discs, i’m not about the PS3 version of that one! But what’s still stupid is the other DLC did not came with this edition either. The 5th Anniversary came with a silver tin case with a plastic cover, plus it came with a smooth map of Oblivion. I also think the 5th Anniversary is a warm up for chapter 5.
And of course like the Morrowind GOTY, Oblivion GOTY can be purchasable on Steam, there’s actually a GOTY+ Deluxe of Oblivion on Steam which haves every DLC this time, and that’s awesome.
In the anthology collection Oblivion GOTY edition is on two DVD-Rom discs, and plus like Morrowind it also haves a Steam downloadable key. Now the final chapter of the anthology.
Chapter 5: Skyrim (DLC: Downguard, DLC: Hearthfire, DLC: Dragonborn, Skyrim: Legendary Edition)
Skyrim was released on November 11′ 2011 (11-11-11) for the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Bethesda haves a brand new game engine for their game called the Creation Engine which unlike the previous GameByro engine, the new Creation engine is less complex and doesn’t require a lot of data like their previous engine! The gameplay mechanics improved more than ever. They had three expansion packs, Downguard, Hearthfire, and Dragonborn. Then in June of 2013, Elder Scrolls released a Legendary Edition of Skyrim (which is also known as the GOTY Edition) for all three platforms on one disc.
In anthology collection, Skyrim Legendary Edition is on one DVD-Rom disc. Its also available on Steam, and like GOTY versions of Morrowind and Oblivion, Skyrim Legendary Edition also haves a Steam downloadable key.
Well that’s the Elder Scrolls Anthology collection from Chapter 1-5 on PC!
I will try to get into more of the details for each chapter, this article is mainly about the Anthology collection, and comparison with other media formats for each game.
Pros: Awesome collection, the bookcase and book is very well decorated, with all maps, the book haves an interesting detail of art, pre-installed DOSBOX games of Arena and Daggerfall, Steam downloadable key for Morrowind GOTY, Oblivion GOTY and Skyrim Legendary Edition.
Cons: Lack of CD-Rom or Deluxe Edition of Arena, Lack of the two spin offs Battlespire, Redguard and Travels.
Now days the Anthology can be found as low as $29.99, so i totally recommend it more that ever at a low price as that!
That’s all there is to it, thank you very much for reading, please do like, subscribe to my Vintage Realm's of Gaming Youtube channel or join my Ultra Maniac Gamer page on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Steam! Until next time! So long everyone!
Jason Dixon logging out!
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