Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - The 2024 Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
- With rumors practically confirmed that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is receiving some sort of remake or remaster, this felt like a good time to fire up the 2006 classic and see how it holds up. This review looks through the lens of a potential remake and what I'd hope to see change or stay with what seems to be an inevitable re-release.
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I just paid 3.18 for this game 😂 do I feel like I underpaid for this fantastic game? Yes. Do I feel guilty? No. 👍
These days its funny how some of the best games are still better then a lot of new games of the same genre. Only difference is graphics. But Oblivion will immerse you more then starfield even tho its graphics are much older. So it does not matter. A lot of people don't realize it but they actually have no good reason to spend 70$ on a new game while they can basically: Play the best games in the world, for almost no money at all.
Don't feel guilty. Who ever sold you the game set the price tag, not you lol. My buddy is like this. He keeps saying he doesn't like older games only new ones. Then is repeatedly disappointed with the new ones. My buddy is missing out.
Oblivion is going on 20 years old. There's no reason a game that old should cost more than $10 or so. You did alright!
.99 cent for me. my pph is 0.00055 cents per hour
@@9nxt good deal!
I was 15 when Oblivion came out, and it was my first RPG. It completely blew my mind. I could believe games could look that good and be so huge. It will always be my favourite BGS game
Yeah, it was just about the last good (note: Failout 3 is ok-ish IMHO and Skyrim bores me actually, just like Fallout 4 and Snoozefield...I guess I've become picky over the years, because IMHO Oblivion is the best of the bunch!) Badthesda-Game!
Oblivion never looked good
@@dreamingflurry2729 Same. Skyrim has some improvements like better wildlife, dual wield and channeled spells (but even that with the caveat of the 2-hands-restriction), but Oblivion is better where it matters. Dialogue (no NPC just spouts a single line repeatedly), environment, exploration, factions, not every quest leading into a dungeon, ...
I'm sorry to hear that.
Same here!!!! I was 15 and it came with my ps3 & changed my life forever 😆
This game changed what I thought games could be. It blew my mind!
Same!
Back when BGS innovated. As a kid and young teen the npcs having lives was crazy
Morrowind did the same for me as a teen. Couldn't believe how big the world was. As I've gotten older and replayed it, I've only noticed more and more detail, especially in the lore and mystery of the world.
Facts
Are you ok now?
I went into Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion blind in 2006. It was unlike anything I had ever played at the time. Really thinking of doing another playthrough this year. Still wondering how the remaster will be different from the Skyblivion project coming in 2025.
I heard the remaster was a false rumor
@@Palendrome it isn't false because the entire xbox lineup was leaked a few months ago.
@@Palendromeit was literally in a court document
In 2025 Skyblivion will be coming out in 2026. In 2026 it will be coming out in 2027, an so on.
Never coming
When this game first came out I was obsessed with it. I completely ignored everything in my life and only played Oblivion. One of the best rpg's imo.
i was like 11 when i first played it. it was seriously like crack for me
It was my first RPG. I got so hooked, my parents went out of town for the weekend, my gf at the time begged me to come over. I told her I was sick, ordered pizza and didn’t even leave my basement
This game took me to another world.
It's time and place will always stay with me.
This is one of the games that made the first few years of the xbox 360 magical.. this game really felt like a huge leap when it came out.
Good that's more like it.
I would buy in a heartbeat, this was my first bethesda game.
Me too!
same, and I couldnt have chosen a better game.
"what do you want? Breton trash!?"
"Hello there!" 🙂
Same
Blew my teenage mind back in 2007. And that view the moment you exit the sewers is burnt deep in my mind.
What a masterpiece. The level of charm this game still has is unparalleled. For me it was the first game that truly felt like a real world in which you could live in and do whatever you want. The NPCs are a huge part of that, they're not just quest givers standing in the same place the whole time but real people with their quirks and daily routines. Also young me was so invested in this game that he never really noticed that the whole game was voiced by eight people 😂
I love Oblivion. The world building is still amazing, with each city having its own unique architecture. The fact that it's so easy to mod lifts it to whole new level - I've written quite a few mods myself. I'm now in the process of reinstalling the game and updating the mods prior to starting a new campaign.😃
Oblivion is Jeremy Soule's best work. It not only enhances the tone, it was fundamental to building the vibe
Personally I prefer neverwinter nights. Oblivion is a little one note.
Kotor soundtrack
As much as I love oblivion, Skyrim ost is leagues better imo
@@TheSpartanBluesnooe
It wasn't
Shivering isles is my all time favorite dlc. Spending time there is literally borderline therapy to me... that's where my favorite oblivion memories were made to say the least, and that's probably the world I've spent the most time in hands down. You're missing out and I hope you enjoy it one day
It was the first dlc I ever played (as it came out when I was very young) but omg it was fantastic and to this day its still my favourite ever dlc
It was basically a whole other elderscrolls game
Still my all-time favorite game expansion DLC and I haven't played Phantom Liberty for Cyberpunk yet.
The Dark Brotherhood questline in Oblivion is legendary 🔥
My first Elder scrolls, the sense of scale & beauty when you escape those sewers is iconic. Look forward to the remaster.
One of my favorite games of all time. Hope they get Jeremy Soule back for es6 and definitely some different writers
Big facts, the games will age poorly without him.
His music is part of the soul of ES games. Any ES without Jeremy Soule's music simply will not be as good as one with his music. Hope they bring him back to cook up another evergreen masterpiece for ES6.
Unfortunately doesn’t seem likely. There were sexual misconduct allegations and he has been radio silent ever since. Doubt Bethesda would hire him again
Yeah, I think he's done, heard about that, too@@ignorantrelish
Inon is great in his own right, but I'm not sure he can capture Elder Scrolls the same way.
The only issue with Oblivion was the level scaling system, the rest of the game (yes even the NPC face) still hold well and I would say it adds to the charm of the game.
Yup, for a game from 2006 its still beautiful, and the quests/writing is one of BSGs best
The game is super dated nowadays, the main point is the gameplay that is horrible
Even the level scaling is easily overcome. For its naysayers, mostly Skyrim Only nuts, it is far more in depth than holy moly you raised yourself to godteir by only working a smithy.🤔🧐
"Hail!"
"No."
Level scaling is Oblivion's biggest issue, but there are a lot more issues.
Randomly appearing Oblivion gates were randomized. When you entered a gate the game would choose a random Oblivion World from seven possible maps. Other gates would open to a specific one of the random Oblivion Worlds while quest specific gates like Kvatch and the Great Gate had their own unique maps.
Say that 3 times fast. 😂
That’s one of the few things that I did not like about oblivion was the fucking oblivion gates. I know that they were an essential part of the story obviously but I dreaded going into them. I only played the main quest once and that’s all I need 😂
@@mikevandemark1993they are definitely annoying. However, if you start going into them at later levels like 20+ you can make a fortune from the amount of daedra armor and weapons that are dropped from xivilia and dremoras warlords. Plus if you have 100 alchemy there are alot of great ingredients you can make potions out of. Unfortunately once you own all the houses and unique weapons and armor from shops money becomes pointless
I miss that high fantasy setting. The bright, vivid colors. This sense of awe and wonder while you explore. The quests and different guilds you can join. It was and still is like no other game. I love Skyrim for its dark fantasy... But I want to go back to this type of elder scrolls
the game that got me started in Elder Scrolls and RPG's in general. Goated, thank you soo much
Matty, I just learned how to mod Oblivion for the first time. It was easier than I thought. You are MISSING OUT on some of the great mods for the game like Better Cities (almost doubles the cities in terms of size) and Unique Landscapes, which overhauls a large portion of the more generic parts of Cyrodiil with unique environments, makes exploring a joy
Do you have a video or something you can suggest so i can jump into modding the game myself?
@@VisceralllJust search in TH-cam "oblivion mods" and look at the links for the mods in the description for each mod video
@@Visceralll It's extremely simple, really. Literally just a quick google search "how do i start modding oblivion" will give you the info you need.
@@Visceralll Modding oblivion is VERY similar to modding Skyrim if you’ve done it before. There’s also mod lists like Skyrim where you can download them with just a click. If you decide to add mods manually (through an MO) there are some videos you can find online by simply searching. Installing essential mods like blockhead that can’t run through a Mod Organiser is literally as simple as dragging and dropping them into the game root folder. They also have instructions under the mods themselves for installation.
@@Visceralll look up "Through the Valleys" modlist by PushTheWinButton. It improves oblivion in every way, while keeping the original soul of the game alive.
I remember back in 2006 this game was absolutely nuts, the footwork combat, the physics, the real time lightning, magic working even with weapons, the npc routines and voices (Wes Johnson GOAT), the graphics (bloom and hdr were all the rage) and music, the mods... The innovations back then were out of this world. Too bad they couldn't really do the imperial province (and capital) justice (both technical and lore), but they did wonders with the expansions. The only real downside was the bonkers level/enemy scaling. Still play it in 2023, still find new stuff.
One of my all time favourite games. Still holds up today
In 2006, this game was mind-blowing. I had no idea that games could be this deep. I really hope it gets a full remake and not a simple remaster.
One of my favorite aspects of Oblivion, other than quests of course, is the graphics. Are the textures itself great looking? No. But, the style of it combined with that beautiful soundtrack just unlocked a sense of beauty for me that I have yet to see in many games.
I will always have a soft spot for this game. I got a 360 when it first launched and having this game come out a couple months later truly felt like the first next gen game to me and I was completely hooked.
Oblivion and KOTOR are the 2 biggest reasons I fell in love with games as a kid and never looked back. Such a time of innovation. So many great memories.
Same, amazing games
I loved KOTOR so much I still have my original Xbox and the two disk copys of KOTOR 1&2.
I’m so glad you mentioned the combination of sound, look, and feel that Oblivion provides to the player! That’s why I personally fell in love with the game, over 10 years ago.
I hit a very bad period in my life, lost my home and spent several years living on the street. When I pulled myself together, with a job and place to live had an accident that put me on my back for approximately 6 months. Had no resources and was going stir crazy. A good friend dropped an xbox 360 and a copy of Oblivion off with me. I played it for 6 month's straight. I hadn't gamed since becoming homeless and was absolutely amazed at this game. The sheer size of the world and people. The depth of gameplay. The graphics (very simple by todays standards but top notch at the time). Have been and will continue to do a playthrough every year since. If/when it is remade or remastered will try the new version of course but whether it is or is not successful will continue to revisit the game that saved my sanity (possibly my life). Good vid
I had a similar experience, lost everything due to bad decisions and ended up in a shitty house share, the only thing that got me through it was locking my door and immersing myself in oblivion on my shitty borrowed tv, the only way i could stop thinking about my shitty life and actually relax for a few hours. Hope things are better for you now my friend
@@ScottyDnB Much, thank you
Was my first BGS game and is still the most sentimental experience of all their games in my memory. I have played through it 6 times including once last year. I go through it, fallout 3, and new Vegas, as well as the mass effect trilogy every couple years.
Matty your work ethic is incredible. Back to back videos across ALL your channels. It’s commendable and inspiring🙏
He has more than 2 channels?
All work & much play!?
Even after finishing skyrim on my first playthrough and acknowledging how great it was I also knew right then that oblivion was still my favorite bethesda game. the tone and deeper rpg mechanics just sink me into the world may more.
Jeremy Soule's dad was my middle school band teacher. His passion for music definitely came from his dad. He was an incredible teacher
Playing oblivion when it released was peak gaming memories, getting lost and enjoying it. I downloaded it this past weekend to play it some more.
My friends and I used to say "It's called Oblivion, because that's where your social life goes when you start it up."
The graphics aged poorly but that story is like fine wine 🍷🤤
My favourite elder scrolls game this.
Reason being was the quests, story, and rpg elements.
For example, leveling up aerobatics and just going around jumping haha!
Key memory!
Good timing, was about to fold laundry, but instead I get to procrastinate and watch a new Mr Matty video.
I've played oblivion in graphics it may have aged poorly. However, in story its still amazing, and the graphics, even tho it havent aged well , give it its own personality and humor
Oblivion will always be in my hall of fame. My first ES game was Morrowind but my dog got ahold of it and tore it to shreds, my brother and I were so sad. When we started seeing news about oblivion that’s all we could talk about but we never asked for it because back then you couldn’t just ask your parents to buy you something without earning it first. Come Christmas Day we got a present that we instantly knew was a game, we unwrapped it and lo and behold ‘twas oblivion. We still have the picture of that moment today, my face was like 😲😲😲😲
Still play this from time to time on my old ps3. This, fallout, champions of norrath, and runescape were my middle school/highschool years, and i still play all of them.
First RPG I’ve ever played and still the best to this day!
This game is so playable even today. Its a shame Bethesda has lost that magic.
This was BGS at the height of their powers/wizardry. Yes, the class/skill/magic mechanics were dumbed down from Morrowind…but the graphics, environments, world building and design were legitimately cutting-edge for a 2006 game. Still a perennial favorite of mine.
And yes, I unapologetically love Oblivion’s dungeon designs. The vibe and atmosphere more than make up for the randomness/meandering of the stitched-together tiles.
I'll never forget escaping the sewer and being blown away by the graphics back in 2006. 😅
This game has aged perfectly, it's a great reminder of how great games used to be! and i still play it vanilla to this day and never regret that
I do love this game but I feel somehow it's aged even worse than morrowind and even daggerfall
My favorite Elder Scrolls! I really really really really hope they do it justice with the remaster/remake
Oblivon is my THE favorite game of all time. People tend to say Oblivion didn't age well but most of the things people give harsh time for (character model, wacky voice acting, radiant AI, etc) were what made Oblivion so charming. To sum it up, Oblivion is a fantasy cartoon whereas Skyrim is a period drama. What worries about the possible remake is Bethesda's current obession on realism. Realism is boring. Do you think you will enjoy Shivering Isles if it looked more "real"? I don't think so.
Things that can be improved is the leveling system and dungeons.
Well with all the mods you can make oblivion par with most modern games anyway, especially with Oblivion reloaded
Oblivion is my favourite game of all time. I love to explore Cyrodiil from the Jerall Mountains to the Topal Bay. But I honestly think a fully voiced Morrowind remake would be a better use of resources by Bethesda.
Oblivion blew me away when I first played back on 360 in 2006. The music, the atmosphere, world building, the lore, the factions, even the menus. It was all so well done. I loved the little stories every time you leveled up. I loved the spell crafting and I liked how it did enchanting over how it was in Skyrim. You're missing out not playing Shivering Isles. It😊 is my favorite Bethesda DLC ever. I loved how different it was from the main game, with the island split between Mania and Demetia. Definitely my favorite RPG of all time.
Great game with a great DLC, Shivering Isles. However yes it aged a bit, but could be worse. It still looks decent at the same time, the mountains and towns. One game I am working on, Test Drive Unlimited for 360, has aged poorly but could be worse this is for the 360 version. The racing is still fun and time trials. There was this one time trial where you had to get it done in under 22 minutes or a little more so that was lonnnnggg but I got bronze for it.
I was wondering: The people who are working on SkyBlivion (the Oblivion remake with Skyrim engine) for the past like 10 years - were they absolutely devastated to hear that there may be a proper remake in the pipeline? Or does it not really affect them?
given the “quality” of bethesdas work these days, i have a feeling the mod will be more popular in the end lol
@@pisscvre69 sounds like is being outsourced anyway.
I hope that Bethesda at least won't try to stop the SkyBlivion project like some companies have done in the past when releasing remasters.
We'll all be on death's door before any of those remake mods ever get completed.
@@pisscvre69 Yes that is true. Starfield was a massive letdown, and 76 was...well you know. I do still hope they can deliver, but if not - at least we have a backup!
I like that fade away 16:50 from the game character to your face 😂
I have a couple questions for any veteran ES4 players. Do I have to carry around every key that I’ve used to unlock doors or can I ditch them once the door has been opened? My inventory is full of keys and it’s slowing down gameplay. Do all the oblivion gates close once the main story is finished or do they stay open forever?
A masterpiece, no question or doubt in my mind.
I love the idea of Oblivion. I hate the leveling and scaling system. It frustrates me, so I've played it a bit over the years but never really delved in. Are there any recommended mods that do a good job of fixing it?
PushtheWinButton has a guide of his mod's and other recommendations on his "through the valley's" page on nexus.
You mentioned Skyblivion, and it just reminded me of how hyped I am
In 2006, My friend was telling me about this new game he was playing in 4th grade. He was talking about going to a hotel after killing someone, sleeping and then a guy came to him to ask him to be in the dark brotherhood. And I was like, “you chose to do that stuff? It wasn’t part of the story?” And he said “yeah you can do whatever you want.”
So I convinced my mom to buy it for me. I couldn’t believe video games were capable of letting you do WHATEVER you wanted 😂 it was literally a magical experience for me learning that there’s more to video games than my dads old SNES.
who else remembers using modio to edit savegames 😂😂 9999999999999 stamina and magicka in oblivion on xbox 360
I’ll say this till they put me in the ground.
If oblivion came out the same day as Skyrim with the same tech, oblivion craps all over Skyrim.
Oblivion is their peak. The only game they have made that was actually a step up. Skyrim was the first dip into mediocrity they got rid of so much that was unique to Elder Scrolls. They can't make anything better because they lost the plot in favor of easy money
Originally played Oblivion (TES 4) on the xbox 360 when it was finally released 6 months late and finally got to enjoy it with its quests and lore (Morrowind, tes 1, tes2), then there were the guide books which were like large enjoyable bibles of the game, there was also the scenic country walks which were so relaxing and fun. Mods made it even better. But, I also recall, Beth refusing to add GamePad control support for the PC, so I had to use a pinacle gamepad add on program which then alowed me to finally enjoy it on PC.
Tried Oblivion (tes 4) on PC now in 2023, the graphics are too poor for today's 8k/4k large 80 inch displays. GamePad still is not working the way it should. Beth should of fixed this by now - to work at least like it did on xbox 360. Then tried it on Xbox 2, it is only available thru the old ported games, but, it does work except the picture quality is so so. So I hope they release Oblivion as a newer version for 4k displays with fully functional GamePad control.
But, then there's Todd H. from Beth who play tested the new 2023 game StarField (20 years in the making- per Todd) on an old 1080 display, lol.
Come on Todd get with the times.
Then there is SkyBlivion (Oblivion remade into Skyrim), which looks great, if it ever releases, but its been over 10 years in the making, so who knows.
What a great video 🤙 the nostalgia trip was so welcomed
The leveling in this game is what has always kept me from playing it. Who wants to become significantly weaker as they progress through a game? Theres a reason only 1 ES game had this crap leveling system. It is total garbo
I was 13-14 yrs old at the time. Still one of my favorite game ever. I don't know if people realize that in 2006 this game was something unbelievable. The first GDR with that type of freedom and one of the first games to have an npc daily routine. Probably Bethesda's pinnacle of quality.
They don't make em like this anymore!
I recently listened to the soundtrack. Go good, brought back so many memories. My first Bethesda game.
Never played Oblivion when it originally came out but as soon as I loaded it up on the Series X, I immediately understood why it’s such a beloved RPG. It was many people’s intro into BGS games back when they peaked as a company.
I'm playing it right now with the Through The Valleys mod collection on the Nexus. It's basically Vanilla+, and makes the game feel and look the way I remember it being.
The only mod I added on top of it was Enhanced Camera, always a must in Bethesda games.
I kind of like that there was no crafting and enchanting required getting into the mages college. The crafting skills in skyrim are really tedious to grind and level. Nobody reasonably would need to craft hundreds of weapons and armor needed to reach level 100, so to reach those high levels, you will almost certainly need to grind if you want to craft the best items in the game. Oblivion doesn't have the same crafting mechanics, so the best items are generally hidden around the world, and not in crafting menus.
Skyrim i get bored of without mods but oblivion i never get tired of. Its so charming and unique and broken lol
I would love to see a game where they maybe even focused on the arena, but definitely expanded on the arena.
I played oblivion 3 years ago for the first time after playing every bgs game since fallout 3. Still tremendous
I remember being excited whenever I found the Unicorn. Riding the Unicorn while wearing the “Knights of the Nine” armor was surreal. The Oblivion gates were hell, though (no pun intended, lol).
Patrick Stewart was great (as usual) in his brief role. The calmer music tracks, in particular, were excellent. The game world was beautiful at the time, especially when you first leave the sewers at the beginning. Sheogorath was a riot. Overall, a lot of great memories.
This is one of the games that defined me as a gamer. I was about 10 when it released and it instantly had me hooked. It will forever hold a special place in my heart and I will keep replaying it for years to come.
hey Matty, it looks custom made but just thought I'd ask if there's a way I could get a painting like you have behind your in your setup! :)
When I played this on my 360 when it was first released I was completely blown away. I freaking love this game
One of the best OST for videogame I remember.
My most memorable merchants are the RE4 guy with his "whatcha buyin", and Oblivion's Edgar's Discount Spells with his "you don't want the best, you want cheap'
I recommend Through the Valleys - PushTheWinButton's Vanilla Plus Modding Guide. It is the overhaul that sticks truest to Vanilla and definitely fixes the level progression and enemy scaling. Oblivion is perfect with it, does not feel like another game and could have launched with it. You don't have to install all the mods in the guide, but Ascension is essential.
Honestly they should just Remaster Skyrim. With all the mods and new tech available they could really take it to a next level.
It's one of my favorite games to this day... so excited for this remaster/remake!
I have nothing but good memories of this game. It's the game that got me started with modding, the game had a HUGE modding community for the time. It's probably responsible for kickstarting Skyrim's modding success altogether.
I bought it too for 3 bucks and I haven’t played since like 08 and I do love the fact you can still use your magic with blade and shield on I love this game.
I wasn't as excited for this until I heard Unreal Engine 5... and yesterday I was looking into UEVR... so getting both Oblivion remade AND get to play it in VR? Sounds good!
i am excited to play both skyblivion when it comes and the oblivion remake if/when it comes, i love oblivion dearly but it is a bit janky to run the og on a modern pc. i am super excited to see both teams versions of updated oblivion!!
Oblivion will always be my favorite Rpg. There have and will be many rpgs with new graphics and modernized systems, but nothing compares to the nostalgia of Oblivion, and unlike returning to some old legacies for nostalgia, Oblivion hits the spot just right every time.
I loved Oblivion. I can't tell the amount of times I played through the game. After so many playthroughs, my only gripe is everything capped at level 20. Once you hit level 20, you had access to the beat armor and weapons in the game which made the rest of the game a joke.
Oblivion was my first BGS game and the one that made me fall in love with BGS RPGs. I bought the game 4 or 5 years after it came out since I didn’t have a computer powerful enough to run it until then. I remember one of my friends in elementary school talking about how much random stuff he could do in it and it intrigued me. I went into the game having no idea what to expect and was blown away by the sheer amount of freedom and stuff to do. I had never played a game that wowed me so much at the time and from there I catapulted into Skyrim, then the Fallout games, and now Starfield.
Oblivion was the game that started it all for me, and I’m going to be doing another full playthrough here soon once I get to a good stopping point in my Starfield playthrough. It is such a good game, and it’s especially great on Xbox with FPS boost and 4K. Though the game isn’t perfect, it will always hold a very special place in my heart.
If we ever are to get a remake/remaster, I wish they will tone down the ennemy scaling or if they don't that the make the leveling system more lenient like in Morrowind (no arbitrary 5 trainings per levels and no attribute multiplier block when you get the level up pop up).
even then the stats don't do much anyway, unless you are abusing stacking elemental dmg it just feels bad to play in combat
Oblivion is still in my top 5 favorite games
I remember my dude was the road runner at the end of my time on this so long ago. I really liked the level system.
This is my favorite game of all times, probably also because of the time of my life during which it came out (I was 14). We had no internet so everything I discovered myself and thought it was so mindblowing.
I'm actually curious to see if someone remakes this game inside of Starfield once the modding tools are made available for that game. This one and all of the other Elder Scrolls games and Fallout games, actually. I'm just curious to see how what the community does with everything once they have all of the tools necessary.
Oblivion is my favorite Elder Scrolls game by a long shot. I cannot praise it highly enough.
Capital!
Matty I thought I remembered you talking extensively about the shivering isles, or was I thinking of another oblivion DLC?
I honestly can’t wait to jump back into this one. I haven’t touched it since I completed it in like 06 or 07 and never played the dlc.
The biggest thing people forget about Oblivion, is that at launch it crushed high end PC's in a way that Starfield only dreamed it could. One of the most used mods was one called "oldblivion" that allowed old-school GPUs without DX9 support to run the game. It looked as bad as Morrowind, but it played lol.
I beat this game for the first time last summer and it's fantastic! Aged like a fine wine
I remember my friend telling me all about this when I was like 11 because his dad was playing it and I remember getting the guide book first and being blown away by how much there was to do and then I remember the very first thing I did was go and get fin gleam form underwater 😂
I tried playing Oblivion almost 10 years ago, as I'd never played it. I spent the better part of a day modding it and still felt it had aged poorly, so I can't imagine how it would come across now. Morrowind is still unique enough and has so many deep RPG elements that I actually feel it has aged better than Oblivion.
Oblivion holds a special place in my heart, and it's probably the game I have the most nostalgia for. When it came out, I was in high school, and from the time they showed that first trailer for this then next-gen game off, I couldn't wait! As someone who loves the fantasy genre, and had had fun with Morrowind on the Xbox, I was stoked. And then it came out just in time for my birthday in 2006 (March 20, my birthday is the 19th). So after my parents learned that it didn't ACTUALLY have boobs (ah, those modders!), and were convinced that was the only reason for the M-rating, they bought it for me for the PC, along with enough RAM and graphics to work well. I thoroughly enjoyed it all...even the balloon-faced characters and 5 voice actors (something that Starfield has definitely improved since even Skyrim!). The soundtrack was (and still is incredible), and even though it is still clearly that awkward middle child of the series, they introduced mechanics like the Radiant AI and automatic schedules that have only improved over time in their games. I'm not a fan of shooters, so I've never been a big Fallout fan. Of course, Skyrim perfected many things that Oblivion introduced, even though Oblivion's create-your-own-class strategy is better than what you get in Skyrim. Played through the Shivering Isles, and it was great!
When it comes to voice acting, I would like it if they applied some AutoTune type effects to NPCs. In other words, you could use the same voice actor, but tweak the voice to be lower or slower or higher or something so that random NPCs would sound slightly different.
I'm not talking about AI here. Just some basic sound modulation to make your town guards have more variation.
Oblivion is a feeling of comfort. It is the feeling of sitting comfy in my chair with a blanket over me during cold winter days with the many choices laying at my fingertips, calming music, the feel of a familiar controls, goofy faces, and a world that feels like a nostalgic home.
It might feel dated in some ways, even a bit repetitive, and can be exploited. However, where Morrowind grabbed my attention, this one pulled me down the rabbit hole. So much lore, mystery, and fun stories to see play out. It is more filled out, and easier to get into. Skyrim improved many systems. Even so, oblivion really stands on its own as a pillar of the series. It might be almost 20 years old, but it still feels like a timeless game to me.