The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered review – Reigniting adventure the right way

Oblivion has always been one of my biggest “I’ll get to it” games. Skyrim’s one of my favourite games of all time, and I always wanted to play Oblivion too, but whenever the itch came up, it always seemed easier to install another 100 mods to make Skyrim prettier and do another playthrough. Thankfully, I don’t need to install loads of mods to make Oblivion Remastered look pretty, as Bethesda already installed one big one that does it for me: it’s a mod called Unreal Engine 5.

If you’ve seen any side-by-side comparison shots, then you know how huge of a step up this remaster is visually. With almost 20 years of advancement in tech, every inch of Cryodill looks gorgeous, with all of the reworked character models matching the new aesthetic. 

However, some of the visual character is lost with this more realistic look. The thing I always found most appealing about Oblivion is how bright and colorful it is. The oversaturated green of Cryodill’s rolling hills and bright blue sky made it feel like a fairy tale world, and while the new lighting system is very pretty, that vibe is diminished. That said, the hellish orange and desolate landscape of Oblivion itself looks better than ever. The first time I stepped foot in one of those towers and saw the violent spire of hellish energy relentlessly throwing itself at the sky, I had to stand there in awe of it for a moment before carrying on.

Playing this after playing Skyrim for 14 years is an interesting experience. I’ve heard plenty of discourse over the years about how Skyrim dumbed down several of Oblivion’s mechanics to make it more appealing to a mainstream audience, and I can finally see what those people are talking about. 

The speechcraft system is so much more engaging in this game, and it makes for far more interesting quests when you have to interact with it (even if Charm spells let you completely skip it). The same goes for enchanting and spellmaking, which manage to still be relatively simple while letting you dive deep into customizing your builds.

Speaking of magic, I much prefer Oblivion’s approach to being a mage, allowing you to wield other weapons alongside your spells, unlike how Skyrim makes it take up a hand slot. In Skyrim, trying to be a Spellsword never felt very viable or enjoyable, but it’s been my main build in Oblivion, and I’ve had a great time with it.

This remaster does highlight how far dungeon design has come in the years since the original, though. The vast majority of caves in this game are nondescript chambers full of a random enemy type, randomly connecting the same 10 or so different rooms for you to clear out and loot. While Skyrim’s overall quest design is less interesting, I very much appreciate how every random dungeon had some kind of story attached, even if it was just a couple of notes about how the bandits there hate their boss, it leaves me feeling less incentivised to just go out and wander the world in Oblivion, as I don’t feel like I’m going to just stumble upon any real adventures without getting a quest from an NPC in town first.

That said, it makes up for that fact by the quest design being much more engaging, especially when it comes to the various guild questlines. I’ve always heard how fun the Dark Brotherhood questline is in Oblivion, and now I’ve experienced them, I can say they are some of the most enjoyable assassination missions I’ve ever played outside of the Hitman series. It all contributes to this alive-feeling world that Bethesda used to be so good at creating, and I hope this remaster helps the team there reconnect with that feeling now The Elder Scrolls 6 is looming.

Disconnecting it from that context, Oblivion Remastered is easily one of the best remasters out there. In an era where Sony insists on remastering games that feel like they’ve just come out, to see something almost 20 years old brought into the modern era is a joy that has clearly won back fans who were drifting away after Starfield. If Bethesda feels like printing money, then it needs to move similar remasters of Fallout New Vegas and Morrowind up the agenda.