After many years in development, the port of Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall titled Daggerfall Unity has been completed and released as version 1.0.0.
Developed by Gavin Clayton and the team at DFWorkshop, Daggerfall Unity does pretty much what it says on the tin, porting the venerable and absolutely massive 1996 RPG to the modern Unity engine.
You may think this simply improves the graphics adding support for modern resolutions and aspect ratios, but there is a lot more on the menu.
Here’s a list of features that you can expect from Daggerfall Unity.
- Cross-platform without emulation (Windows/Linux/Mac)
- Retro graphics are boosted by modern engine and lighting
- High resolution widescreen with classic style
- Optionally play in retro mode 320×200 or 640×400 with VGA palettes
- Optionally overhaul the graphics and gameplay with mods
- Huge draw distances even without mods
- Smooth first-person controls
- Quality of life enhancements
- Extensive mod support with an active creator community
- Translation support via community mods
Especially mod support is a big deal, as you can very well imagine. Not only is modding a staple of modern Elder Scrolls games (and Bethesda games in general), but it helps make Daggerfall a bit less hopelessly janky.
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m saying it in an endearing well. The original Daggerfall was very much ahead of its time, and as such is riddled with bugs and design flaws that Bethesda never corrected.
Daggefall Unity combined with mods makes the experience considerably smoother, perhaps even survivable by modern gamers who don’t have superhuman levels of patience.
If you want to play Daggerfall Unity you can download it at its official website for free. You will need a genuine copy of the original game to play, but procuring it shouldn’t be a problem, considering that it’s free on Steam.
This means that you can experience a modernized version of the early history of one of the most relevant RPG franchises of all time without spending a dime, and that’s not a bad deal.
Considering how big the game is, it might even keep you busy a good chunk of the way toward The Elder Scrolls VI.
