If you’re anything like me, Oblivion holds a special place in your heart. You spent hundreds of hours wandering Cyrodiil’s adventure-plenty countryside, trading blows with trolls and getting side-eyed by NPCs who all sounded one conversation away from a nervous breakdown. It was weird, it was wonderful, it was wildly ambitious… and now, it’s back. Shadowdropping out of nowhere last week, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered storms onto the scene with a gorgeous new look.
Virtuos and Bethesda have teamed up to give the game a new coat of Unreal Engine 5 paint while keeping its 2006 Gamebryo engine bones intact. The result? A remaster that looks like a modern release but still plays, stumbles, and charms like the original. And honestly, that’s kind of perfect.
Let’s start with the obvious: Oblivion Remastered looks magnificent. The forests of the West Weald now glow with golden-hour lighting, thanks to Unreal Engine 5’s stunning real-time illumination. Every single asset has been redesigned from scratch, which means trees sway more naturally, mushrooms look like actual fungi instead of plastic toys, and character models have been given long-overdue facelifts. One fun touch I loved was the new tactile animation for picking up ingredients like flowers from the environment. It’s small, but it’s satisfying and shows attention to detail.
Visual upgrades to character faces are some of the most transformative changes in the overhaul, with many NPCs receiving complete remodels, making them nearly unrecognisable but far more believable. Gone are the bizarre, balloon-like visages of the original, and in their place are distinct features, expressions, and textures reflecting the character’s background, race, and social status. Whether it’s a weathered merchant, a noble with refined features, or a skooma junkie scarred by past conflict, the new models inject personality and realism. This enhancement supercharges the character creation system, allowing you to go gaga with one of the most gloriously grotesque and versatile monster-makers in RPG history.
While Oblivion Remastered is a visual triumph, it’s not without its quirks. Lighting and shading bugs occasionally rear their head, such as flickering shadows, glowing eyes in dark interiors, or oddly overexposed faces during conversations. Thankfully, most hiccups are fixed by simply leaving the room or giving the game a quick reload. It’s more annoying than game-breaking and highlights a lack of polish.
Audio’s had a bit of love, too. Ambient soundscapes help bring Cyrodiil to life in new ways, such as wind in the trees, insects buzzing by, or the drip of water in an Ayleid ruin. We’re lucky enough to get new voice lines, especially for different races, giving NPCs more individuality. Don’t fret, the classic awkward pauses and “is this character having a stroke?” dialogue cadence remain intact. Even Tandilwe’s infamous double-take dialogue error made it in. Still lovable as ever in all the right ways.
The narrative remains unchanged. You’re a nameless prisoner thrust into a world-ending crisis after Emperor Uriel Septim VII, voiced by the ever regal Patrick Stewart, is assassinated. What follows is a sprawling journey through Cyrodiil’s cities, caves, and Daedric planes to close the gates of Oblivion and restore order.
The main quest is still serviceable, but the side quests, particularly the guilds, steal the show. The Dark Brotherhood is as twisted and delightful as ever. The Fighters and Mages Guilds still offer long, satisfying arcs. Of course, the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions are bundled in, adding even more cheesiness to the experience.
But with faithfulness comes a downside, and many of the original game’s quest-breaking bugs are still here. In my case, Savlian Matius got stuck in a courtyard during the Battle for Kvatch. He just stood there, repeating the same line that we had to clean out the empty courtyard we’d just murdered five Scamps in. Quest issues like this are still far too common, especially in the main storyline. It’s baffling and frustrating that they weren’t fixed in a remaster of this scale.
Let’s be honest with ourselves. Oblivion was always a little bit of a beautiful mess when it comes to the mechanics, and the remaster embraces that spirit while making thoughtful tweaks. The levelling system now blends elements from both Skyrim and the original Oblivion, making skill progression a bit more logical. Yes, you can still bunny hop non-stop to grind for Acrobatics — bless.
Combat has received a decent overhaul. You now get proper hit reactions, more fluid animations, and satisfying sound effects when your sword connects with a skeleton’s bony skull. The third-person camera is dramatically improved too, now including a crosshair, and it feels way more usable, similar to Starfield. A contentious but welcome addition in my books is the ability to sprint. While I understand purists will hate this change, it does improve the quality of gameplay and moving around the vast world. Lockpicking and persuasion mini-games look nicer, even if they are still needlessly confusing for new players.
That said, this has been the first time I’ve personally played an Elder Scrolls on a console, and the performance on PlayStation 5 using Performance Mode isn’t as smooth as you’d hope. Frame rate drops are frequent when entering a new area and during large-scale battles. This was noticeable early in the game at the Battle for Kvatch, which chugged hard when the screen filled with enemies and particle effects. It’s playable, but far from console expectations.
One genuinely cool feature is the ability to play the opening sequence before the full 100+ GB install is done, great for impatient console players who just want to mess around in character creation and create an absolute monstrosity of a high-elf mage immediately.
Oblivion Remastered is a paradox. It’s an enormous visual leap forward that still feels like a 2006 game under the hood. To be frank, that’s a huge part of its charm. If Virtuos and Bethesda had scrubbed out all the weirdness, including the stiff animations, rag-dolling bodies defying physics, and bizarre facial expressions, we’d have lost the soul of Oblivion. It would’ve become another overproduced fantasy RPG. Instead, this remaster lovingly preserves the quirks while offering a much-needed modern wrapper.
Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that some of the biggest issues, namely quest-breaking bugs and performance on console, should’ve been fixed. When a 19-year-old game gets a full remaster, you kind of expect not to get stuck behind an NPC who’s forgotten how doors work. If you want a perfectly tuned modern RPG, look elsewhere. If you want to revisit (or experience for the first time) one of the most delightfully odd, ambitious, and memorable RPGs ever made, with stunning visuals and just enough modern upgrades to make it palatable, then The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is almost perfect because of its imperfections.
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.
