The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is the best version of one of the greatest classics in the genre. Even with some dated elements in the remaster, it remains a top-tier RPG and a true masterclass in how to properly remaster a great game. It preserves the core essence of the original while adding extra “flavor” and “crunch” in key areas.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has single-handedly restored my faith in remakes and remasters, allowing me to experience a true classic for the first time that I’d simply have never played otherwise. Tweaking the original game slightly but leaving many of the quirks fans have grown to love strikes a near-perfect balance between old and new.

I have not minded the opportunity to step back into Oblivion at all. It’s a big, beautiful adventure with some truly exceptional, memorable moments. The world of Oblivion alone is a perfect recreation of the Dungeons & Dragons descents into hell from my tabletop days, and I had such a rush of nostalgia playing that through again. It has made me feel old to reflect on the fact that it’s a 20-year-old game and I swear I remember playing it new like it was yesterday, and nostalgia always comes with some rose-tinted glasses, but yes, I haven’t minded having the opportunity and excuse to play this again at all.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered isn't just an exceptional nostalgia trip for fans of the original, but also the perfect way for new players to experience one of the most influential RPG's of all time. With improvements across the board while still keeping the excellent core intact, Virtuos has delivered the perfect remaster.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered does what every great remaster ought to: it recaptures the fun and silliness of the original, quietly removes some underlying flaws, and makes the whole experience look as beautiful as memories seen through rose-tinted glasses.

In the end, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is well worth experiencing for veterans of the title and hopefully the rest will see what all the commotion is about.

Some minor technical issues aside, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is everything a fan of the series could ask for, whilst also giving newcomers the best version of the game.

Overall, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered brings plenty of welcome changes to the original formula while still maintaining the quirkiness of the original game. This is a prime example of a loving remaster: improve the original concept without veering away from it completely. It's not completely perfect, since it still features some of the glitchy nature of the original game, like asset pop-in. Nonetheless, "perfect" isn't what fans want out of Elder Scrolls. They want exploration and fun, and that's exactly what you get from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

By the Nine Divines! Oblivion Remastered has descended upon us like a Daedric miracle—and it’s nothing short of divine. In a timeline where Bethesda can be a wild dice roll, this one’s a critical hit, thanks to the combined efforts of Bethesda and Virtuous. This isn’t just a visual upgrade—it’s a heartfelt tribute to Cyrodiil itself, lovingly reforged with modern-day sorcery.

You have to go into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered with the right level of expectation - especially if you’re a newcomer.

Straddling the line between remake and remaster, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a compelling reminder that the original was pretty magical, despite its almost endearing flaws. There’s little doubt that this new version goes a long way to making a great game even more appealing to newcomers, without making it unrecognizable to longtime fans. Short of an entire, from-the-ground-up remake, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is the ultimate version of a genuine classic.

Oblivion Remastered is a gift for fans, a new way to discover one of the biggest RPG in video game history.

This updated version of the classic RPG features significantly improved graphics, atmospheric lighting, and a modernized UI, while retaining the charm and depth of its original world. However, it inherits the same bugs and design flaws from 2006 and suffers from technical issues like poor performance and frequent loading, making it a nostalgic but imperfect experience.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is not just an opportunity to revive a classic; it's a revival thought out with respect and passion, adapting it to contemporary demands.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is not the perfect remastering, but the way it manages to take you back to one of the most acclaimed RPGs in history makes you overlook its weaknesses to enjoy everything that made it legendary.

Dozens of hours later, I have to conclude that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster is—and remains—a fantastic game. The frustration from crashes or poor performance quickly gives way to nostalgic enjoyment. That feeling of wanting to complete just one more quest or self-imposed task still holds strong after all these years. Oblivion might not be the best game of 2025, but it will probably be the one I spend the most time with this year.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is one of Bethesda's finest releases. If you loved the original, rest easy knowing that Oblivion Remastered is almost exactly the same as you remember, now beautifully refined in the Unreal Engine. If it's your first time in this world, I encourage you to approach it with an open mind. Although dated in some ways, Oblivion is still one of the best open-world RPGs ever made.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is an excellent stopgap until The Elder Scrolls VI hits the scene. New players and fans alike shouldn’t hesitate to visit Cyrodiil.

In all, Oblivion Remastered is exactly what I hoped and wanted it to be. It feels like an authentic representation of what OG fans love about the game, with the graphics of a more modern entry. It balances between being a remake and a remaster, and for the most part, keeping the original heart of Oblivion, bugs and all, was the right choice. Though some UI elements and those bigger quest bugs certainly show the age of the original game, Oblivion Remastered is a game I know I’ll be playing for weeks, months, and years to come.

Still flawed and even with some wasted opportunities, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is an excellent opportunity for old fans to enjoy the game in the best possible way and serves as a great first step for newcomers.

A remaster can only make a 20-year old game so modern without becoming a remake. Oblivion Remastered makes the old game beautiful, far less clunky, but it's still the old game at its core.

It's rare for a game to deliver the same mind-blowing impact two decades apart, but The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered pulls it off effortlessly. While the core gameplay remains unchanged, it's just as engaging and relevant in 2025 as in 2006—proof of how ahead of its time Oblivion truly was. The visuals, however, have been completely overhauled with Unreal Engine 5, giving the game a stunning new identity that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of the current ninth-generation titles. Oblivion is how you make a game, and Oblivion Remastered is how you remaster it.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a love letter to one of the most charmingly chaotic RPGs ever made. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t try to be. Instead, it embraces its jank with open arms, wraps it in beautiful new visuals, reminding us why Cyrodiil still holds a special place in RPG history.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a great remaster of the original Oblivion. Virtuos Games and Bethesda’s decisions to use Unreal Engine 5, add new aesthetic content, refine some of the original’s UI, and update core systems to today’s standards are great to see. While the classic bugginess, jank, and rough edges remain, they’re not enough to prevent me from investing another 80-or-so hours into replaying this classic Elder Scrolls game.

Virtuos and Bethesda nailed it in preserving the spirit of the game, but they could have gone further in fixing structural flaws. If you're a fan of Tamriel's adventures, you'll smile at every bug and laugh at every bizarre conversation between NPCs, so don't expect a flawless experience in here.

Oblivion's importance to the history of not only RPGs, but modern video games, can't be undersold. It's a game that deserves to be enjoyed by a modern audience, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a great way to do that. Issues with the game that were slightly annoying in 2006 are maddening in 2025 and may turn off new players, but for millennials who still talk about The Dark Brotherhood, it's a lovely nostalgia trip through one of gaming's best RPGs.

I want to stress that despite all I’ve said, I do still like Oblivion Remastered. This has been a largely middling review because the game is middling by today’s standards, but it’s still a mostly successful remaster. Many of the things I’ve complained about couldn’t reasonably have been fixed without significantly more work, and I can’t ignore them entirely…but they certainly don’t mean that I’m not having fun. Ultimately, I believe that a person’s enjoyment of this remaster will depend more on their nostalgia for the original or desire to experience a foundational title than on the game’s quality in its own right. But I do think that the game has enough merit to be worth the effort – don’t expect it to have entirely stood the test of time.

Certainly, the single-player open-world RPG has evolved a lot in 20 years. Even if The Elder Scrolls IV remains an incredibly rich title, various elements remind us that we are indeed facing a software released in 2006. But what we must not forget is that Oblivion was ahead of its time and that it still has serious arguments in 2025. Virtuos' love letter to Bethesda's work is in any case very strong: it's beautiful, it's intelligently renovated and it remains faithful to the soul of a creation that marked its time. Nostalgics, you have every reason in the world to answer the call of the Blades. Newcomers, it might be time to let yourself be seduced by this old grimoire beautifully reissued, especially if you have the Game Pass: you might find a bewitching formula.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered delivers beautiful visuals and nostalgic charm, faithfully preserving the original's quests and world. However, its dated gameplay, poor performance, and frequent bugs seriously hinder the experience. A love letter to longtime fans—but for newcomers, it may feel clunky, frustrating, and overshadowed by more modern RPGs.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is still a good game, like the original was all those years ago. The excitement of wandering the open world of Cyrodil is still there, getting into shenanigans with goblins in caves, doing away with the undead coming through Oblivion Gates, and getting into thievery and tomfoolery across the great unknown. There are meaningful changes to how skills work and how to read the world, making it the cleanest and smoothest run through Bethesda’s great RPG yet. However, it is bogged down by the change in art style, where fidelity disappointingly removes any colour or substance that was once found. A blemish on one of the greats. Much like an old car that’s been plodding along a little too long, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered mostly still runs, and a new coat of paint helps some, but don’t be surprised by the sensation of feeling like things are going to fall apart at any moment.

When it released in 2006, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was an excellent game. Nearly 20 years on, it's still good — but it's certainly showing its age. This remaster makes it look incredible given how old it is, but its antiquated gameplay and numerous bugs still exist.

There’s no doubt that this is the best way to play Oblivion, and it surpasses the original version in every aspect. However, if you’re not driven by nostalgia, you might find a game that feels more abstract than what Bethesda delivers nowadays—awkward to play, with systems that are perhaps more convoluted than they should be, and packed with numerous, many, quite a lot of bugs. Fortunately, it’s far better written than any of Bethesda’s later titles, and its world remains as iconic as it is unforgettable.

Oblivion Remastered is a welcome reminder of just how special the 2006 RPG can be. Performance issues and tedious design elements aside, Virtuos and Bethesda deserve real credit for bringing Oblivion back in such a way that doesn't detract from the original vision, and the meme-worthy identity that it's fostered over the years. This is, arguably, the definitive Oblivion experience — or at least it will be, once the awkward wrinkles have been ironed out.