The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

Returning to Cyrodiil is a delight. Oblivion Remastered takes everything Bethesda did right in the fourth chapter of The Elder Scrolls and updates it to make it as enjoyable today as we enjoyed it almost 20 years ago. Faster load times, a redrawn world for increased visual impact, new lines of dialogue and gameplay improvements are the foundation of a very powerful experience that includes all expansions and DLC for hundreds of hours of enjoyment in Cyrodiil, Oblivion and the Realm of Madness.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a phenomenal achievement that hits so many highs. It’s an overall fantastic and unforgettable experience. I’d honestly go so far as saying it is now THE best title in the Elder Scrolls franchise (at least until Morrowind receives the same treatment)

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is an awesome nostalgic adventure that recaptures most of what I loved about the 2006 original, while sanding down many of its roughest edges. The result is a fantastic open-world RPG that’s aged quite well, with questlines and stories that are better than I remembered, modernizations (like the slightly improved leveling system) that remove some of the friction of the original, and loads of opportunities to make this adventure whatever you want it to be via the plentiful freedom afforded to you. On the downside, not enough has been done to make this thing significantly less buggy than it notoriously was back in the day, and some choices – like the enemy scaling and procedural Oblivion levels that become dull fast – have not been improved, which feels like a squandered opportunity. Even so, I never expected to so thoroughly enjoy replaying through this uniquely goofy RPG, and I am so, so glad I took this walk down memory lane (now with the option to sprint down it).

Bugginess and strange character design choices keep Oblivion Remastered from being excellent. Tipping the scales from “good” territory into “great” are the levelling and gameplay improvements. It resembles a remake. Even with new memory leak issues, Oblivion remains a timeless masterpiece, and this remaster ensures its legacy will live on. Oblivion was born nineteen years ago, but for all these years, it has ruled our dreams.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster is a faithful refresh of a classic that still holds up. Not a remake, but a visual tribute that invites both veterans and newcomers to get lost all over again.