I still remember when Bethesda released this game for free to everyone. I was hooked on Morrowind at the time, and I really was intrigued by the earlier games in the series, but they were difficult to find for a good price even by Morrowind's release. As such, being able to finally explore the very first game in the series, entirely for free, was incredibly appealing... except, Bethesda simply released the DOS version meaning you had to run it through DOSBox. While this wasn't a huge issue for me, it was a bit of a pain to get working. Thankfully, since then, the community released a patched version that ran without having to manually set it up in DOSBox and, eventually, Bethesda themselves re-released the CD version on both GOG and Steam. Now, these versions are the ideal way to play Arena.


The Elder Scrolls: Arena is virtually unrecognizable from the later, much more successful iterations in the Elder Scrolls franchise. While later games, even Daggerfall, would present much more of a sandbox experience to the player, Arena is a much more hardcore RPG dungeon crawler.

"Be who you want, do what you want" was not quite the mantra at this point. While the game is fully open world, the main objective is to build your character, upgrade your gear, explore cities/dungeons/open expanses in search of the fragments of the Staff of Chaos so that you can put an end to Jagar Tharn's usurpation of the Ruby Throne. That's effectively the heart and soul of this game. It's not about living another life, it's about good, old school fantasy roleplaying: that means, unlike most CRPGs, you're essentially free to pursue your goal however you want to, and with its charming Doom-era 90s 3D graphics, it's a joy to soak in the world.


However, this more direct goal actually creates what feels like a very rewarding, epic journey. It's far from Morrowind's "outlander becomes a god" character arc but it's still an adventure to undertake. Arena has very archaic RPG game systems that feel a lot closer to traditional tabletop RPGs (which makes sense, as Tamriel was one of the Bethesda employees' DnD campaign settings before they made this game).

This unforgiving game design forces you to pay close attention when you roll your character, and it also forces you to take every step with a sense of caution and forethought. This is a common trait of 80s and early 90s CRPGs but Arena is difficult even among its peers of the days.

You will almost certainly die at least once during your first attempt to escape the starter dungeon, especially if you attempt to explore all of its reaches. Nonetheless, if you take the time to do so, you'll have a good shot at finding some solid starter gear before entering the larger world. This sense of danger carries forth every time you enter a dungeon, though you'll inevitably find it easier to explore the dungeons the more you level up and improve your gear.


Even with my love for this game, I find it difficult to play these days. It is very rough around its edges and unless you're a fan of old school CRPGs and dungeon crawlers, you might likewise find it difficult to play. In other words: if you want to play Arena do not go into it with the mindset you have when playing any of the more recent games. Don't even go in with the same mindset as Morrowind, if you've played that one. You will be disappointed if you do that.

However, if you're an Elder Scrolls megafan like I am, or if you're simply a sucker for old school CRPGs and dungeon crawlers, you really do owe it to yourself to give it a good, long try. It's a great game in spite of its flaws and lack of signature Elder Scrolls vibes. There are some basic mods that you can get to do things like improve the controls, fix the fonts and so forth but by and large, you'll have to go for the flawed, vanilla experience. Nonetheless, it's worth it, no matter how far you get with it!