Morrowind really helped pull itself head and shoulders above the crowd by developing a realistically complicated world in such an unfamiliar setting that its players can’t help but explore every nook and cranny, finding new reasons to love it every time they play.

One of my ambitions when writing for a development team is never to have my plots compared to Jade Empire’s.

If Portal had done with elevators exactly what Mass Effect did, the game would be the stuff of legends, as its last remaining discs were ground into a fine powder, sold on the black market, and eventually snorted by Asian businessmen seeking to imbue their body with the power of fucking incredible.

I promise not to write about KotOR every time I write this column, but it really is a wonderful example of realistic character writing in games, and should, along with its sequel, be considered more carefully before we try to move on to a third installment in the series.

Plot twists and background stories are one thing, but to demonstrate realities in fantastic characters living in a universe where lightsabers are less interesting than politics?