The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

    Since we all know The Elder Scrolls VI still a ways off, Virtuos and Bethesda have surprised adventurers with a remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

    We’ve seen this kind before – does this fourth adventure still have what it takes, or is it merely criminal scum?

    The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

    To clear the air, we only played the original Oblivion for about two hours – making this adventure especially new in our eyes.

    Oblivion has players starting their journey with humble beginnings, serving a sentence as a random prisoner.

    After being mocked by the cellmate across the hall, the emperor shows up and reveals a secret escape route in your cell. He and his men leave you to escape on your own as they head deeper into the catacombs below the prison.

    Its caves and tunnels serve as a tutorial, providing plenty of weapons and tools to try. Eventually meeting back up with the emperor, he gives you a mission to take his amulet to his heir.

    oblivion remastered game review

    He chooses you because he saw you in a dream, and that is enough for him. He is assassinated shortly after (spoiler!), so you can’t really refuse.

    His guard gives a lead to his heir, and players are sent out into the world after picking class, race, and primary skills. Out of the catacombs and back to the world, you find the Oblivion gates have been opening around the land. If players don’t help restore order and close the gates, everything will be lost.

    While Oblivion’s story is approximately 20 hours long, we had a playtime of 90 hours and didn’t do much of the story until the end.

    Oblivion’s greatest strength is that you can do whatever you want and go wherever you want!

    Loot, dungeons, bandits, side quests, random encounters, and much more await you in the lands of Cyrodiil. Every direction you go in Oblivion, there is something to do or something new to explore.

    For those looking for something more guided, each of the towns has its own branch of a Fighter and Mages guild, and the capital has an arena for people who just want to fight.

    Funnily enough, the Oblivion Gates of the title’s namesake are less than stellar to explore. The objective is always the same, but the layout changes, and things get messy as one progresses. While we did enjoy the Oblivion Gates early on, it got to the point where we actively avoided them.

    Problems tend to arise as one levels in Oblivion with enemies scaling along the player; it is funny to think that I felt stronger at level 10 than I did at level 20, as enemies end up with more HP and armor.

    Foes do have to make an effort to slow you down, but sheesh, some random courier on the road is taking four hits to kill with a Greataxe of Lightning!

    Speaking of Greataxes, you level up in Oblivion using weapons, magic, or equipment to get more experience in that specific skill.

    Axes are blunt, so one that levels up blunt enough will get a player level. When you level, you get to choose from a few core stats that grant more HP and Mana. This, in turn, lets you move quicker or provide more luck.

    As a result, to level skills, use them or find someone better than you at the skill and pay for lessons.

    This allows players to focus on what they want to focus on, but there’s a caveat: every magic skill is useful! Even a warrior will likely want some magical skill, even if it is just to Soul-Trap a mud crab in combat.

    Talking Oblivion’s combat, this is ultimately a Bethesda creation engine game; it just works (for the most part).

    There is no dual shield, which might disappoint Skyrim Dragonborn. Rather, players have one button that makes your weapon attack, holding to unleash a power attack.

    Another button is assigned to magic, done for healing or casting damage spells at enemies. There is a hot bar to quickly switch between spells and gear, but it only has nine slots – not quite enough when one’s a Mage. Only one summoned creature at a time, too.

    Despite these restrictions, understanding that Oblivion’s combat has limits will have players adapt, improvise, and overcome – and have an amazing time.

    One of the best parts of Oblivion Remastered comes with all of its included DLC.

    While exploring, we found a random castle and got the deed. From there, we found a wizard tower – and now own it. Both of these spots can be enhanced with cash, making them into proper homes or bases. The wizard tower in particular also lets players enchant gear and create one’s own spells.

    On that note, the enchantment system is straightforward: pick some gear, add a soul gem, and then pick the effect. It does cost gold, but making your own magical weapons is always a good time. While the Shivering Isles DLC is also included, we did not check it out for this review.

    Oblivion Remastered still has some “classic” bugs, including the signature “Can’t fast travel because enemies are nearby” chestnut that pops up when nobody around. NPCs also sometimes end up under the floor or can be found floating in the air, meaning one can’t access them to complete quests.

    One fun bug we encountered came from a random woman attacking someone in a bar that floods into the street, causing an all-out brawl to ensue. Not sure what triggered this kerfuffle, but the guards took care of the rest with lethal force.

    Unfortunately, the crashes every few hours were less than fun.

    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.

    The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

    Reviewed On: PlayStation 5 (A digital code was provided)
    Release Date: April 22, 2025
    Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
    Developer: Virtuos
    Publisher: Microsoft
    Aggregate Scores: Metacritic, CriticDB, OpenCritic

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