Before Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind there was Daggerfall, the second entry in what has become a household name for fantasy RPGs. The original is available on Steam and GOG, though 23 years later we have a modern remake in the form of Daggerfall Unity which brings in modern graphics, controls, QoL improvements and mod support (as well as Linux and Mac support).
I didn't really get into TES until Oblivion, has anyone played Daggerfall and/or have any opinions about it?
I've been messing around with it for a minute. It's dull and repetitive, honestly. And kind of obnoxious without a magic regen mod. All quests have timers, you see, and it takes about 8 hours of resting after each fight to heal to full and recover MP. The dungeons are way bigger than they need to be, and each and every one is a randomly generated labyrinth filled to bursting with monsters. You're playing find-the-needle-in-the-haystack and can probably afford to get into 10 fights before you fail the quest you're on.
All of the stuff i like best in daggerfall is iterated upon in later titles to be better - especially spell creation. I hear the story is interesting later on, though.
I really want to love it, but gameplay-wise it's got little in common with later TES games, and there's still plenty of things functionally broken about it. Probably my favourite gaming / let's play youtuber is Many A True Nerd, and even he gave up after three episodes. I think it's worth checking out that series for a decent overview.