Daggerfall Unity

Daggerfall, like the other games in The Elder Scrolls series, takes place on the fictional continent of Tamriel, in which the player can travel between the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell. Like all The Elder Scrolls games, the player does not have to follow questlines or fill specific character roles, allowing the player to play the game how they see fit.

The game features over 15,000 cities, towns, villages, and dungeons for the character to explore, which gives the player many options when buying a house. In addition to exploring the world the player can join a number of guilds, orders, and religions; all with unique quests and tasks for the player to do. Joining and contributing to these organizations will allow the player to gain ranks and gain a reputation in the game world, which affects how non-playable characters (NPCs) and other factions view the player. One special feature in Daggerfall is the ability for the player to create their own spells using the game's spell-creation system, which is unlocked by joining the Mages Guild; allowing the player to create custom spells with varying effects, the game will automatically generate the magicka cost of the spell based on the power of effects chosen.

Daggerfall is set in the Iliac Bay, between the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell. The player is sent here at the Emperor's request, in the year 405 of the Third Era. He wants the player to do two things: First, the player must free the ghost of King Lysandus from his earthly shackles; Second, the player must discover what happened to a letter from the Emperor to the former queen of Daggerfall. The letter reveals that Lysandus's mother, Nulfaga, knows the location of the Mantella, the key to resurrecting the first Numidium, a powerful brass golem created by the long-lost dwarves. Tiber Septim, the founder of the Empire, previously acquired the Numidium from the dark elves of Morrowind and used it to halt the aggressive expansion of an elvish faction in the distant past.

Seeking to return the Numidium to the Empire's control, the emperor wants his spy to force Nulfaga into revealing the location of the Mantella so that the Blades can finish the reconstruction of the machine. Through a series of mishaps and confusions, the letter fell into the hands of an orc named Gortworg. Not knowing what the Mantella is, Gortworg consults Mannimarco, the King of Worms (the leader of the Necromancers). During this time, the Underking, who originally destroyed the first Numidium because of its misuse by Tiber Septim, is recuperating deep within a tomb of High Rock after expending so much energy destroying it the first time.

Work on The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall began immediately after The Elder Scrolls: Arena's release in March 1994. The project saw Ted Peterson assigned the role of lead game designer. Originally titled Mournhold and set in the province of Morrowind, the game was eventually relocated to the provinces of High Rock and Hammerfell, in Tamriel's northwest.

By mid-1994 Daggerfall was the new name. Developers at first planned to connect it with Arena and one or two more games as done with Might and Magic: World of Xeen, but Arena's experience-point based system was replaced with one that rewards the player for actually role-playing their character. Daggerfall features an improved character generation engine, one that includes not only Arena's basic class choices, but also a system that could allow players to create their own classes and assign their own skills, with an option to pick GURPS-inspired bonuses, disadvantages, or disabilities.

For Daggerfall's launch on September 20, shipments of around 120,000 copies were delivered to stores. The game surpassed Bethesda's internal estimates and became an immediate hit: more than 100,000 copies were sold within two days of release. As a result, supplies were depleted at many retailers. While a second printing of Daggerfall was shipped on September 24, Next Generation reported at the time that "this shipment is expected to be considerably smaller than the first due to production limitations".

In the United States, the game debuted in fourth place on PC Data's monthly computer game sales chart for September 1996. It secured sixth place the following month, before dropping to position 16 in November.