Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

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Indeed, in its original form, Oblivion lacked any facial hair adornments among its characters. The character creator was beardless, and there wasn’t a mustache to be found across the vast landscape of Cyrodiil. Adding beards to some NPCs didn’t significantly alter the core gameplay experience of Oblivion. Intriguingly, even with enhanced graphics, many characters I encountered during my journey still gave me an uneasy feeling. This quirk might be disconcerting to some players, particularly when compared to the remaster’s stunning visuals; however, for me, the essence of Oblivion lies in its unique, sometimes unsettling character models, a trait that game director Todd Howard referred to as “charm” during the reveal stream.

Virtuous’ team appears to grasp the unique appeal of Oblivion, as seen in their remaster. They’ve skillfully preserved Bethesda’s distinctive quirks while modernizing some of Oblivion’s outdated aspects. Purists might find areas for criticism, and newcomers might be puzzled by some lingering quirks, but Oblivion Remastered offers a sensible balance. The visuals have been entirely redesigned to leverage Unreal Engine 5, yet the characters still lack lifelike quality. The combat animations have been revamped, but the fights are generally subpar. The streamlined leveling system maintains the class structure, but it’s significantly less likely to get stuck. The interface and menus have been streamlined and updated, but the iconic map screen remains unchanged from the original. Overall, Oblivion Remastered effectively straddles the line between familiarity and novelty.

The most striking aspect of Oblivion Remastered lies in its visually stunning presentation. With Virtuous and Bethesda Game Studios leveraging the power of Unreal Engine 5, it stands out as the most technologically advanced game Bethesda has ever produced. The game boasts impressive dynamic lighting, vivid skyboxes, a broader color spectrum, and hyper-realistic textures that give it a polished AAA feel expected from current-gen games. This upgrade is also noticeable in the character models, as NPCs are intricately detailed – you can even see individual strands of hair on their beards and pores on their faces. However, the realism clashes slightly with the somewhat strange facial expressions and dated animations, especially when they open their mouths. Yet, this peculiarity is part of what makes Oblivion so unique, and it’s abundantly present in this remaster.

One significant aspect that contributes to the discomfort is the instantly recognizable voice acting from the original game. Fortunately, Virtuous and BGS decided to preserve much of the original voiceovers, including Wes Johnson’s powerful voice that echoes throughout. They even chose to keep some of the unedited mistakes that were part of the initial release. However, a few new voice actors have been brought in to re-record lines for various races. Given that just a handful of individuals recorded dialogue for hundreds of characters, this is understandable. Yet, I occasionally find myself yearning for the original voice acting. The revised delivery of “Thank you, kind sir” by beggars, for instance, seems off to me, and the shift in voices has become something I associate with awkwardness. It’s a bit disheartening that Virtuous retained the mistakes but altered this particular delivery.

It appears that the majority of the sound effects are similar, with flares and restorations sounding quite alike. However, they seem somewhat mismatched when combined with the updated visual effects and technology. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but it feels odd to make such significant changes to the overall presentation while keeping those older-sounding sound effects unaltered.

It appears virtuous individuals appreciate the enchanting quality of the revamped Oblivion, as it preserves the distinctive ‘Bethesda quirkiness’ yet subtly modernizes certain outdated gameplay aspects from Oblivion.

Beyond just the updated presentation, significant changes have been made to Oblivion’s combat, camera perspective, and character progression systems. The new melee attack animations add a touch of style, the bow is now easier to aim, enemies now react realistically to attacks instead of making generic noises, and a sprint button has been added for improved movement during both combat and exploration. These changes harmonize well with the third-person camera option, which, while not perfect, is significantly improved from the original version. The game’s leveling system has also undergone a revamp, providing a more forgiving experience for casual players.

2006 saw me immersed in Oblivion’s grandeur, yet its real-time combat left much to be desired even then. Fast forward to 2025, and the lack of impactful, meaty blows in melee encounters is glaringly apparent compared to other first-person, action-packed games. The majority of melee skirmishes reduce to a repetitive cycle of blocking, stepping back, and counterattacking, with enemies constantly pressuring my advance. In 2006, the ambitious nature of Oblivion softened this flaw, but in 2025 it’s harder to ignore.

Fortunately, the array of tools at my disposal and the flexible leveling system provide a modicum of relief. When I grew weary of wielding my sword, I opted for my bow. As fatigue set in from raining arrows upon my adversaries, I sought solace in my spells. And when even magic lost its charm, I summoned skeletons to do the fighting for me. It’s not a refined approach, but at least it prevents combat from growing monotonous.

In contrast to Skyrim’s leveling system, I’ve often found myself drawn to the one in Oblivion. Choosing a class at the start and focusing on specific skills gave my characters a more defined role, making gameplay feel more purposeful. In Oblivion, my characters had unique strengths and weaknesses, which I leveraged to progress. The remaster allows you to choose or create a class with key skills that rapidly boost leveling when trained, while still permitting the development of secondary skills. This encourages a playstyle tailored around your class, yet offers flexibility if you wish to diversify later in the game.

The remaster also retains some unusual abilities like Athletics, which enhances jumping height, and Speed, which boosts movement speed. I found myself pouring points into Speed out of curiosity, rendering the new sprint button unnecessary as my character seemed to move faster than my horse without it. Most notably, these modifications make it less likely to create a poorly-designed class and become stuck at a levelan issue I encountered frequently when playing Oblivion as a child.

In a nutshell, Oblivion Remastered has some technical issues, but compared to other Bethesda RPGs, it could be significantly worse. During my 20-hour playthrough, there was one crash and a few visual anomalies, particularly with lighting – for example, unusual reflections and shadows. The performance on my 4080Ti has been satisfactory, but there are occasional frame drops in the open world. Unfortunately, the Steam Deck version struggles, despite being verified for it. The graphics are blurry, the frame rate frequently dips below 30fps, and it experiences regular hiccups. I wouldn’t advise playing on the Steam Deck unless you have no other choice.

Refashioning or enhancing Oblivion is an unusual project. On paper, it seems that The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim surpasses it in almost every imaginable aspect. Skyrim offers superior combat, a more visually unique world, focused dungeon design, nuanced voice acting, and undoubtedly, characters with a better appearance. However, if Bethesda Game Studios and Virtuous Studios were to reconstruct Oblivion from scratch with the aim of rivaling or surpassing Skyrim, they would have missed the mark. The raw charm of Wes Johnson’s growl, “THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!”, can’t be recaptured or replicated. The Roxey Inn loses its essence without the nonsensical chatter that greets you upon entering. In fact, I’d contend that Oblivion wouldn’t be Oblivion without its puzzling persuasion mechanic, which I still can’t fully grasp even after almost 20 years. These imperfections lend Oblivion personality, and when they are smoothed out, what remains is a rather typical fantasy role-playing game.

For approximately a decade, YouTuber Bacon_ has been showcasing the distinctive appeal of the game Oblivion, often compressing the entire experience into brief, under 15-second clips. This content has become iconic and memorable in the gaming community. Recently, Bacon_ has reenacted these classic clips using the newly released Oblivion Remastered, and they maintain their original humor and strangeness. While this may seem like a minor detail, I believe it demonstrates the deep respect Virtuous has for Oblivion. The remaster manages to preserve enough of the original charm to make it a worthy update of one of Bethesda Game Studios’ most cherished titles.

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2025-04-25 00:40