The line between a remake and remaster isn’t always clear. At first glance, one might assume that the recent re-release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a remake, but in fact, the developers behind this project insist that it is a remaster. After roughly 50 hours of playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, I can safely say I understand where they are coming from.
Underneath the surface, this is still very much the Oblivion you know from 2006. It’s as wonderful of an experience to play now as it was back then, if you can stomach some of the serious technical issues. Regardless, the sudden release of Oblivion Remastered is easily one of the most welcomed surprises of 2025.
An Old Adventure Made New Again in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Oblivion Remastered combines old and new tech to craft something that’s familiar yet fresh. With its new coat of paint, the province of Cyrodiil still proves to be among the best open worlds in gaming. Even on the game’s medium graphics settings, it’s hard not to take in the beauty of the modern visuals.
The game’s world is still quite immersive and feels more alive than many more recent offerings. Oblivion always ensures the player’s attention is occupied. It seems nearly impossible to run out of things to do. One can easily wander aimlessly around the map and still find many different distractions along the way.
One of the best ways of enjoying Oblivion involves setting a goal for your character and seeing where that leads you. With a healthy amount of emergent gameplay, you may be pleasantly surprised by the journey. The inherent structure of the game lends itself to some unintentionally funny moments that make for great memories.
It’s a strangely relaxing time that’s easy to get carried away by. As such, it’s not unusual to boot up Oblivion and play for a short period of time, only for three hours to fly by. Cyrodiil utterly enthralls me in a way very few game worlds are capable of.
Be Anyone, Do Anything
For the vast majority of my playtime, I took on the role of a Khajiit thief in the search for immense wealth. After delivering the Amulet of Kings to Jauffre, I largely ignored the main questline and went about my own business. There was never a shortage of things to do as I searched for riches.
Having forgotten the fact that I had fought some vampires days earlier and contracted Porphyric Hemophilia, I myself became a vampire only a day after becoming the arena’s grand champion. Instead of reloading an earlier save and curing myself, I decided to live with the consequences of my negligence.
These moments make Oblivion such a special game. It’s a role-playing sandbox that allows players to form their own stories for their characters. You can choose to invest as little or as much time as desired, and it will always be worthwhile.
That being said, most of you will likely invest as much time as possible thanks to how addictive the game is. If you somehow get bored with one character, why not just make another? The possibilities are nearly endless.
A Bottomless Sea of Content
Oblivion can keep many players occupied for hundreds of hours, but quantity is worth nothing without quality. Shockingly, much of Oblivion‘s content is actually worth experiencing. Sure, exploring repetitive caves and Oblivion Gates will become tiring after a while, but many of the game’s quests are incredibly memorable.
If you aren’t sure where to start, simply join a guild and follow one of their questlines. These require a significant time investment to complete and will point the player to many locations across Cyrodiil. From there, the content will flow to an almost overwhelming extent.
Walking in almost any direction will yield some sort of reward. Cryodiil offers many opportunities to go off the beaten path and find hidden places or stories you never knew about. If you love reading, Oblivion will keep you occupied with all of its books. However, if all you want is some adventure, you can’t go wrong with this game.
Additionally, Oblivion Remastered includes the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine expansions. So, there’s no need to worry about the value of this game’s price tag. For $50 US dollars, this is a steal for how much game you get.
Living a Fantasy Life
What’s more, Oblivion does a fantastic job of selling the illusion of a living world. NPCs will go on with their daily lives without regard to the player, even if their schedules appear a little strange sometimes. These schedules, however, play a vital role in immersing the player, almost as if there’s an odd little soul in every NPC.
Hilarious quirks such as the guards having superhuman senses or the absurdity of how the persuasion system works may shatter the illusion somewhat, but there’s a reason why people look back at these elements fondly. In many ways, these janky elements are a side-effect of the game’s ambition.
The cracks of this virtual world may be more than visible, but it’s all so endearing. It’s difficult to ever get tired of wandering around Cyrodiil, even without a specific task in mind. This is an effortlessly replayable game that never feels like it can truly end. It’s always easy to find a reason to keep on playing.
Whether your goal is to simply amass wealth or go on an epic journey with your custom ‘Punch Mage’ class, Oblivion is happy to provide you with countless hours of entertainment. It’s truly a game that’s better than the sum of its parts, and wildly impressive with how it accommodates so many different play styles.
Oblivion Remastered Is a Technical Mess
While Oblivion Remastered retains much of the janky charm of the original release, there are some less charming technical issues. Perhaps it shouldn’t be too surprising, as this was stitched together by combining the game’s original Gamebryo engine and Unreal Engine 5. However, that does not excuse the current state of the game.
If users with high-end hardware are having a difficult time running the game smoothly, the challenge is only more monumental with a modest rig. Noticeable stutters are largely unavoidable, and in general, outdoor areas provide poor performance. Odd tweaks, such as manually disabling Lumen from within the engine’s configuration file, may prove necessary depending on your hardware.
Crashes don’t occur frequently, but they aren’t exactly rare either. Of course, Elder Scrolls games aren’t especially renowned for their polish. In fact, they tend to be rather infamous for a lack thereof. It should not be unreasonable to expect a remaster of a classic title to provide a more stable experience, though.
If it weren’t for these problems, I’d have no trouble recommending Oblivion Remastered to anyone. Unfortunately, those with weaker hardware or a low tolerance for stability and performance issues may want to pass for now. However, the core experience is so much fun that some may be able to forgive these shortcomings.
A Worrying Sign
Nonetheless, this continues a worrying trend of diminishing optimization within big-budget titles. I am usually vehemently against enabling frame generation, but I did so just to record some smooth gameplay footage for this review. While I still ultimately had a blast, Oblivion Remastered very much pushed my tolerance for these problems near its limit. It’s frustrating to see a reliance on AI technology to compensate for a lack of optimization.
I had many similar problems with the PC port of Rise of the Ronin a couple of months back, but at least Oblivion Remastered contains some truly beautiful visuals. I’d like the standard to be raised when it comes to performance on day one, especially since I adore the effort and passion on display here. The poor frame rate seen here isn’t the fault of the player who chooses to use four-year-old hardware or a PlayStation 5.
As Good as You Remember
On a more positive note, Oblivion Remastered introduces several enhancements that go beyond cosmetics. Among these is a revamped leveling system, addressing one of the most common complaints with the original game. With each level-up, twelve virtues can be assigned to three attributes of the player’s choice.
Individual attributes can only receive a maximum of five virtues per level-up, which I’m sure will devastate the min-maxing dreams of some players. The Luck attribute is an exception to this, however. It can only be increased by one point, although it requires four virtues to do so. So, be sure to choose that one carefully.
By around level 16, my desired attributes outside of Luck were at their maximum, and progression largely became focused on grinding my Major and Minor Skills. Fortunately, the experience was far from stale by this point. Even when the progression begins to slow down, Oblivion makes it hard to get bored.
This new system is quite easy to understand, but it doesn’t interfere with the game’s role-playing elements. Instead, it helps with crafting the precise character of your imagination. Additionally, the game’s UI has received a much-needed touch-up and is now much easier on the eyes.
Better Than Before
On top of the progression and UI, much has been done to address the game’s feel. For instance, combat provides considerably more feedback now. Enemies now involuntarily react upon impact instead of standing in place and calmly awaiting death. It’s a welcome upgrade, but what’s here still doesn’t match up with the best real-time combat systems found in other RPGs.
This is still a game where stats take precedence over a player’s skill. Considerate preparation goes a long way and becomes increasingly necessary as the player progresses throughout the game. Unless you love quick-saving frequently, don’t expect to prevail with an empty inventory.
Outside of combat, the remaster still finds other ways to improve the game’s feel. The third-person camera isn’t simply a novelty anymore and can be a completely viable way to play the game. Additionally, the player’s movement animations are somewhat more natural now, although not perfect by any means.
With all this considered, Oblivion Remastered comfortably succeeds in updating a classic. It goes above and beyond the average remaster, perhaps redefining what constitutes a great one. The execution is not flawless, but it’s a stunning achievement nonetheless.
Oblivion Remastered Proves the Worth of a Classic
There’s an undeniable magic in simply wandering around the province of Cyrodiil. Of course, the game still shows its age in numerous ways, but it’s easy to see how impressive it was back in 2006. It’s simply that good.
Despite the technical shortcomings, the fact that Oblivion is still so enjoyable to play is a testament to its timeless charm. In many ways, its quirks add to the experience instead of detracting from it. From the awkward NPC interactions to hilarious unscripted moments, Oblivion is never a boring time.
While users with lower-end hardware may want to consider sticking to the original release, this is an incredible update that fans of The Elder Scrolls otherwise don’t want to miss. Whether you’re tired of sinking countless hours into modded Skyrim or just want to see what all the fuss is about, Oblivion Remastered is more than worth your time.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is currently available to purchase digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam. Alternatively, the game can be experienced on Xbox Series X|S and PC by the means of Game Pass. For more reviews, be sure to keep an eye on Final Weapon!
Disclaimer: Bethesda provided Final Weapon with a copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered for review purposes.
