Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
Seven long years after announcing The Elder Scrolls VI at E3 2018, Bethesda finally releases… The Elder Scrolls IV. No, that's not a Roman numeral typo — the storied RPG developer finally ran out of platforms to re-release Skyrim on, so has snuck out this remaster of 2006's Oblivion to fill the ever-widening gap.
And why not? The fourth core Elder Scrolls game remains a beloved classic, with the original version still enjoying a loyal fan base nearly two decades on. Thanks to platforms like Steam, Oblivion has essentially never been unavailable, which has helped its legend grow, but the downside is that it does look every one of its 19 years old – an eternity in gaming terms. Oblivion Remastered fixes that by giving the whole of Cyrodiil — the region of the continent of Tamriel where the wider series takes place — a lustrous makeover.
Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Cyrodiil has never looked better.
The key thing is that this is only a remaster, rather than a remake. Co-developed with Virtuos, a studio specialising in remasters and ports (it previously helmed the NieR: Automata The End of YoRHa Edition release for Switch, and the Spacer's Choice Edition remaster of The Outer Worlds), Oblivion Remastered's improvements are almost exclusively centred on its visuals, although it does incorporate the Knights Of The Nine and Shivering Isles expansions of the original release for a definitive package.
Otherwise, this is the same tale of fallen imperial lineages, doomsday cults, and hell dimensions penetrating the mortal veil it's always been — a captivating high fantasy lark, and one certainly not hurt by a voice cast including Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, and Terence Stamp, who add a fair bit of gravitas to proceedings. However, bar a couple of quest lines packed into the Deluxe Edition, the content is unchanged. Thankfully, the nigh-infinite side stories, guild missions, and other narrative ephemera that emerge as you explore make each player's experience wildly different from any other's — even returning fans are likely to get a different experience to the last time they played, just from making different choices.
The remastering is truly something to behold, too. Rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, Cyrodiil has never looked better. Character models and landscape details have been completely redesigned, animation is improved (down to small details like accurate lip-flap movements for even incidental characters' speech), and a new real-time lighting system adds atmosphere to everything from glorious open fields to dank dungeons. The world feels more alive, with more wildlife scurrying around, and a frankly daunting draw distance that means far-off points in the open world beckon to players like never before.
The only mechanical changes are limited to quality of life improvements, bringing Oblivion slightly more into line with baseline expectations in 2025. A few UI tweaks and adjustments to character creation are welcome, but changes are mostly oriented around movement and navigation – you can sprint now, and can still walk slowly if over-encumbered with items you've hoarded along your adventure, while the "clairvoyance" spell (which guides you to your next objective with a trail of light) is added in from Skyrim. Character levelling is also a bit more straightforward, and the auto-save system is more generous.
In being little more than a digital lick of paint though, almost all of the more frustrating elements of the 2006 version remain in place. Oblivion's lockpicking system is both overly common and incredibly frustrating (reload those generous saves frequently or waste dozens of lockpicks), a "persuasion" system to win over supporting characters remains inscrutable, and crafting potions or recipes still makes little sense. Plenty of basic systems are never adequately explained to players, and while some may prefer the opportunity to experiment and figure things out for themselves, it does mean that Oblivion isn't as accessible as Skyrim was.
Oblivion Remastered brings an undisputed classic up to modern visual standards, but it still feels like a two-decade old game – for better and worse.
