The original did have a lot of varied and interesting quest ideas, and some of the graphics still hold up now - dawn breaking over the mountains and reflecting off a lake looks even better in higher resolutions. The problem is more that there’s about a billion identikit dungeons which only contain level-appropriate loot, so you never find anything really exciting, and of course the leveling system is completely busted so every fight is a slog everywhere you go. Felt so limited compared to Morrowind, too - MW might have been a completely broken sandbox, but at least it was open enough to break.
I don’t really feel that the main problem with Oblivion is how it looks.
There’s a mod that fixes leveled item rewards (by always giving you the best version): https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivionremastered/mods/99
While Morriwind is considered as one of the best TES titles, its absolutely not beginner friendly and will scare most casual players.
The combat system with invisible dice rolls is a joke at the beginning and its extra annoying. The dialogue system is overwhelming and complicated and there are basically no tutorials to explain the in-game systems. Some quests are not very well explained and without reading/watching a guide you will ty to solve the task via trial/error, or will search for a cave entrance about 360 steps after the fifth big tree on the west side of the riverbank. Also the UI is not very intuitive. Its truly for hardcore RPG players.
On the other hand Oblivion is a more plug and play experience. Quest markers, easy to understand systems, voice acting and nice interface. Its a watered down version, sure. The level scaling is also a weird design choice,but its just as iconic as MW.
Maybe something insane can happen one day were Bethesda works with OpenMW and does the same deal with the UE5 wrapper for a Morrowind remaster.
The visuals of the remake are quite good I must say. But I’m also still looking forward to Skyblivion, the community made project. Not to say the remastered version is just about visuals, but I feel that Skyblivion will feel more special with more care and attention being put into it.
Glad I’m not the only one. That said when Skywind finally drops I’m planning to take literal days off from work.
I heard about skyblivion once the remaster released and will definitely wait until that comes out for a comparison. You guys know if it’ll be free?
It’s a mod ultimately so it’s free but you need the games underlying it (Skyrim + the older one). There’s guidance in each project’s FAQ that talk about which versions are ideal
Okay cool! I figured it would be a massive mod, I’m sure there’ll be a way to donate to the devs
I don’t know that there is. They regularly run charity streams and donate their own money to other causes, so I don’t think they’re hurting. They do frequently ask for people who can help with the work though, they always need file cutters. Turns out fully voicing a largely textual game is a bit of an undertaking!
Oh snap, I dabbled in audio design in college and have some good equipment. I may check em out and lend a hand if they need. Thanks for the heads up!
This genuinely made my day. Wealth beyond measure, Stache.
I never got to play Oblivion first time around, and its tempting.
It felt janky then, and every video I’ve seen of the remaster reminds me of that same jank.
It’s literally almost the exact same game but with UE5 graphics on top.
But strangely, that what makes it charming. It still feels like replaying the old game only with graphics that don’t make your eyes bleed.
AFAIK, Bethesda did two good things at once. Made a proper graphical refresh of one if their best games and gained experience with UE for the next game.
Yeah, I fully expect their next game to be like this too, Creation Engine and UE on top.
Given that it has all the dlc included for $50 it’s kinda worth it.
I know you could have just played it in 2010, but it’s been 19 years since its first release. I know i did and I was in my early 20’s so that makes me pretty old now…
On a side note I am not playing this until later. Instead, I have given my time to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which has been incredible so far. I haven’t actually purchased a game in probably a year due to being broke, but I traded some games in for this and took a few days off to play it while kids and wife are at work lol. I was happy it lived up to my expectations since it’s mostly miss these days.
Is it good?
The visuals are good, but it’s really buggy. Expect to look up quests online to find workarounds, or possibly to have to restart if parts of the main quest get stuck.
Recent example: I had map markers for some towns & locations show up at the wrong places, and quick traveling put me high up in the air, so I died of fall damage. Had to look up the location online.
Other example: a quest character didn’t continue at one point, so I had to look up how to finish the quest online. It worked fine after that, but without looking it up I couldn’t have finished.
Both of these were in early parts of the main quest, and at least the latter seems quite common. Seems like they spent as much time fixing bugs as they’re known to do - none at all. I’d suggest pirating the game - Bethesda is a terrible company anyways, so it’s probably the morally correct choice no matter what.
I was a huge fan of the original, and I have to say, they did a great job with this. The things I enjoy about it may not matter to you, though.
It feels like the original Oblivion, by all accounts. For me, that’s not a big thrill, but I wasn’t a big fan of the original.
It’s nice to see people being able to revisit the joys of their youth, though.
