The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review - Still the Same Old Oblivion
When the world collectively gathered to watch a Bethesda livestream a few weeks ago, we knew we were in for something big. Sitting in the waiting room, listening to the Oblivion OST playing in the background, it was no secret what we were about to be told. The whole world knew an Oblivion remake was coming, and still, the excitement we all felt when it was announced live was a thrill like no other.
Since that moment, Cyrodil has been a hub of adventure once again, with some gamers returning there from their youths, and many others venturing over for the very first time. But whether you are a returned adventurer or brand new to the tale, the stories we all tell are ones of wonder. And jank. So much jank.
Oblivion: Remastered is pretty much the Oblivion, you remember. It’s just a bit smoother with much better graphics. Combat has been refreshed to make it feel a little better, and the UI has undergone a makeover to bring it in line with modern games, whilst keeping the Oblivion aesthetic we love. Along with some quality of life updates, the game definitely feels newer, but mostly it has remained true to the original, warts and all… and to be honest, I don’t know if that’s good.
Oblivion is famous for its jank, which seems like a weird thing to say, but it’s true. Yes, it’s a great RPG game with a sprawling living world and interesting quest lines, but what has continued to be most celebrated over the years since its launch isn’t any of that – it’s the jank. The stilted voice acting, the clumsy animations, the ridiculous NPC AI; this is what we remember, and all of these quirks are present in the remaster.
At $85 AUD, Oblivion is priced pretty heftily. Though that’s a price some deem worthy for the nostalgia trip, I’m unsure if gamers new to Oblivion would appreciate the price point, only to enter a game that’s riddled with bugs. For the returning adventurers, it’s a wonderful trip down memory lane, but I don’t know if new players would appreciate the “charm”, especially when that charm is, in all honesty, poor optimisation and performance. Some bugs are pretty funny, like witnessing someone stand in front of a guard and repeat the line “I don’t know you and I don’t care to know you” 20 times. Others, like your character’s body and face being two different colours, or the main story quest getting totally stuck, are much less funny. And for $85, I’d expect a re-release of a 19-year-old game to have at least fixed some of the things wrong with it.
If you can move past the bits of the game that are a bit broken, Oblivion truly is a wonderful tale to unravel. Unlike Skyrim, where you were undoubtedly the main character of the story, Oblivion focuses on Martin Septim, the Emperor’s secret bastard son. Voiced by the legendary Sean Bean, Martin must rise to become Emperor and save Cyrodiil from the looming threat of the invading Daedra. And you, as the player, are also there. The story of Oblivion is cool because it doesn’t revolve around you. You facilitate the story and help battle the bad guys, but ultimately, if you died, the story would continue on without you… Just maybe, not as easily.
Though the main quest is definitely worth playing through, where Oblivion shines is in the seemingly endless adventures you can have just by exploring the world. Every time you load the game, anything can happen; you’re never going to run from point A to point B and have the exact same experience. One time, a wolf might spawn and kill you, or an Oblivion gate might block your path and force you to battle swarms of daedra. Another time, you might get waylaid by bandits or run into some Elven ruins to plunder. The overworld really feels alive in this game, and it’s one of the reasons people are able to so easily sink hundreds of hours into it.
Other than the sheer amount of content, something else that makes Oblivion so replayable is the side quests. The main story quest is iconic, but I feel like (with most Bethesda games) the side quest content is where the game really comes alive. Side quests in Oblivion are so wonderfully varied, and each one has multiple outcomes depending on the choices you make.
In one playthrough, you might try to help a man and his sons reclaim their farmhouse, and if you succeed, you might get a bunch of gold and warm fuzzy feelings. In another, the sons may die at the farmhouse due to your shit combat skills, and their father will withhold the gold from you and use it to pay for their burial instead. So you might get annoyed and kill that man where he stands. Then you may go to prison and have to break out, murdering a bunch of guards who stand in your way. And of course, if that happens, you won’t be able to visit a city for a while, so you’ll have to clear out bandit camps so you have a place to sleep at night. And then maybe the Dark Brotherhood will visit you because they hear you’re a cold-blooded murderer. And you might venture down a path of darkness, betrayal and evisceration for the rest of your life… all because you couldn’t keep two bozos alive from some goblins. You know… hypothetically. Definitely not speaking from experience or anything.
For all its quirks, Oblivion: Remastered is an iconic gaming experience that truly offers gamers a way to play their own unique adventure through Cyrodiil. The remaster delivers a visually gorgeous rendition of the game we loved in 2006, and a fantastic opportunity to relive our nostalgia in 2025 and beyond. There’s a reason this game is so beloved, and the Remaster opens wide the doors of opportunity to gamers old and new to experience all it has to offer.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
