TL;DR: While Skyrim's popularity has eclipsed the earlier Elder Scrolls titles, and Bethesda recently gave Oblivion an Unreal Engine 5-powered facelift, Morrowind, released all the way back in 2002, continues to receive transformative mods. Players who prefer isometric RPGs might want to experience it from a new perspective thanks to a couple of recent add-ons.
YouTuber Mehrunes Mike recently posted a lengthy video showcasing a mod setup that turns The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind into an isometric game. While the conversion isn't flawless, it works surprisingly well.
The zoomed-out perspective comes from OpenNevermind, a camera mod that began as an April Fool's joke in 2022 but later received a serious release. Users can control the zoom level and seamlessly switch back to the game's default first-person mode.
Impressively, the mod also phases out walls and roofs when entering interiors, just as in traditional isometric RPGs. The experience somewhat resembles switching camera angles in the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins.
Mehrunes Mike demonstrated the mod's effectiveness in various situations by recording a run through the entire main quest and every Dwemer ruin. Overhanging objects like trees or rocks occasionally obscured the camera, and picking up small objects sometimes required returning to the first-person view, but Morrowind is mostly playable in the new perspective.
The game's original art direction also holds up surprisingly well, even though Bethesda didn't design the art to be viewed from above.
To bring the experience even closer to Baldur's Gate 3, the YouTuber created a custom user interface mod. It moves the inventory to a grid at the bottom of the screen, combines the health bar with an always-visible character portrait, and shifts an enlarged minimap to the top-right corner. It's currently unclear when Mehrunes Mike plans to release the new UI.
To install OpenNevermind, start by installing OpenMW version 0.48 or later. Then, download the mod archive and follow the instructions on the developer's GitHub page. Despite Morrowind's age, the OpenMW platform still receives multiple new mods each week.
Much of the Morrowind modding community's attention likely surrounds Skywind, a full remake of the game using the tech from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Although in development since 2012, Skywind still lacks a release date. However, the team regularly shares progress through lengthy gameplay videos.