For those of you who were not into gaming at the time, or who maybe were not around at all when the original Oblivion RPG was released in 2006, know that it was a total game changer for the industry. For many years afterwards, every single RPG that was released got compared with Oblivion, with nearly every title falling short of the high bar it set. In a lot of ways, it was the Baldur’s Gate 3 of its day. Yes, there were other 3D RPGs at the time, and we even got to play Bethesda’s Morrowind as far back as 2002. But there was something magical about the fairytale-like graphics and massive open world of unlimited choices that made Oblivion special. Even when Skyrim and all its DLCs released years later in 2012, there were quite a few people who still preferred the colorful, fantasy setting of Oblivion to Skyrim’s more realistic, grayer world.
At GiN, Oblivion was awarded the coveted Game of the Year crown, something that just about every other publication or industry awards show also gave it. Many of its add-on adventures like Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles also picked up awards. And the title made headlines again when it moved to consoles from the PC, which at the time were the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. It was one of the first titles where I put multiple hours into it (the save games tell you how long you have played). I ended up with over 800 hours of playtime, which is over a month of time spent just playing that one game. Needless to say, Oblivion was a masterpiece.
But as good as Oblivion was, all things come to an end, or so we thought. The graphics were stellar at the time of release, but eventually aged out, even when just compared with Skyrim a few years later. Also, many of Oblivion’s mechanics were kind of primitive compared with modern RPG systems. After a few years, most of us thought that the days of Oblivion were over. So, leave it to Bethesda to surprise us with a stealth launch of a completely reworked and remastered version called The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which was released for the PC on Steam, the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 with almost no fanfare. Somehow, this incredible RPG is back in a big way.
Now, right off the bat I will say that even the reworked Oblivion does not stand up technically to almost any modern title. Yes, it looks good, but it’s far from photorealistic. And yet, I don’t think that really matters. The developer tasked with the bulk of the remastering work, Virtuos, did a great job of making Oblivion visually stunning once more. The environments are never going to look photorealistic like other modern games, such as South of Midnight or Kingdom Come Deliverance II. But remember, realism was never Oblivion’s thing, even when it first came out. Instead, it crafted a fantasy world that is more akin to a storybook type of setting than anything we see in real life. It was magical in that way, and the magic has definitely returned.
I admit that there is some nostalgia at play in this review, but the original game almost always earned impressive scores regardless of platform, so there is little reason to think that the remaster wouldn’t. In any case, I was surprised at how downright giddy going through the Imperial Prison sewers at the start of Oblivion again made me. There I was one more time, being charged by the emperor, who is voiced by none other than Patrick Stewart, to take the Amulet of Kings and find his secret heir just as he is murdered by demonic assassins. When I popped out of that final sewer gate and emerged into the world of Oblivion proper, I did what I always do. I sat down there on that little nearby pier overlooking the lazy river and wondered about why my character was there, what their motivation was and how I would play the pending adventure.
I love that Oblivion was one of the first games to give players so much choice about their actions. At the time, most plots were set on rails, even for RPGs. But Oblivion literally lets players go in any direction and do whatever they want. And here is another secret: regardless of which way you go or what you do, you are going to find adventure, places to explore and very likely quests that need resolving. Yes, you can head straight to Weynon Priory to drop off the amulet right away, but that is far from your only choice. And given how amazing the world of Oblivion is, it’s probably not the best one either. That is why I always sit down there on that pier and think about my character, so that I can role-play from that point forward based on how they would act. Very few games let players do something like that.
And here is another weird thing about Oblivion, every time I have come up with an odd backstory for my character, the title seems to play along and presents me with adventures and choices that follow that. It did so again for the remake. For example, this time around I was playing an Argonian. Slavery is still around in some corners of the Empire in Oblivion at this time, so I envisioned my character as someone who rescued fellow Argonians from slavery, murdering any Imperials or elf slavers who got in his way.
His name was Shadow Hides-His-Arrows, which is a testament to the fact that he normally conducted his raids on slaving camps at night with darkened arrows for stealth. I used the assassin template which was modified to have every Stealth skill in his major group. I called the build a Pathfinder. And so, my character was not that impressed with the emperor, and basically thought the talk about Oblivion breaking through to our world was just Imperial nonsense. I took the Amulet of Kings but had no intention of following through on the quest to drop it off.
Now, there was no way I could sell the Amulet of Kings given that it’s the most famous gem necklace in Oblivion’s entire world (the game won’t actually let you sell it because it’s a quest item, but that played into my role-playing). It would be like trying to pawn the Hope Diamond after a museum heist. So, I decided to join the Thieves Guild to find a way to eventually fence it for at least a few gold pieces. I did all the early thief missions, plus some independent thievery (one of my favorite activities in most RPGs). I built up enough of a nest egg that I was able to afford that infamous waterside hovel in the Imperial City down by the waterfront. It’s tiny, sure, but it’s technically a capital city address. And it’s a perfect place for a thief like my character to lay low. I was doing well, living large for an Argonian on the run, reached level five and had forgotten all about the silly emperor, his stories and his quest.
Then, on a long walk to meet my fence one night in snowy Bruma, I was loaded down with a fresh batch of stolen turquoise rings, silver plates, fancy russet suits and pilfered wine, looking forward to earning some coins and also paying off some of my obligations to the guild so that I could be promoted. And then, an Oblivion gate dropped out of the night right near the road. The evening sky turned bright red, with lightning streaking across it. Some low-level demons rushed out to claim the land. Now, being naturally curious, Shadow touched the gate and got transported to Oblivion where I had to use all of my stealth and archery skills to make it to the central tower and close the portal.
Suddenly, Shadow realized that everything the emperor told him was real. If I did not act, the forces of Oblivion would invade Tamriel and all would be lost, including the Argonians. I didn’t even bother to fence my loot that night, although I did drink a whole bottle of stolen wine to try and calm down. After that, I did a U-turn and hightailed it to Chorrol to drop off that magic amulet and see what I could do to help save the world.
So, even though I was playing a character who was actively avoiding the main quest (and having a pretty good time doing that), Oblivion eventually put me back on the core path without twisting my arm. My point is that you can play Oblivion any way you want, and it does a great job of responding in kind. Not many modern titles can make that claim.
A few things have changed in the Oblivion remake compared with the original. For starters, both the Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles expansions are part of the core game. The leveling system has also been tweaked. In the original Oblivion, you had to level your major skills in order to gain a new character level, which made progressing kind of slow. In the remake, all of your skills count towards character levels, so doing pretty much any activity from talking with a merchant to walking down the street is going to eventually contribute to boosting your character level. Also, not all weapon damage is based on strength now. Bows, short swords and dagger damage scales with Agility, which is perfect for my stealthy archer build.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a wonderful game to play again for longtime fans or for first time players if they have never experienced it. Newcomers will likely appreciate the more simplistic systems found there and the limitless choices. And, of course, veteran players will love revisiting what really is an amazing open world. I don’t know if I will spend over 800 hours with Oblivion once again, but I will admit that I did stay up playing all night more than once, something that I have not done in a very long time.
The Oblivion remaster is available on Steam for the PC, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Oblivion really was a magical title and world when it first launched, and with the extremely impressive remaster, that magic has been conjured one more time. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy it.
Developers: Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuos
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox Series X