Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered introduced facial hair.

Indeed, the initial version of Oblivion featured no scruff whatsoever. There were no beards to choose from in the character customization, and not a single mustache could be spotted across the vast land of Cyrodiil. Including beards for a select few NPCs throughout the realm does not transform Oblivion’s fundamental experience. In fact, despite the addition of facial hair and enhanced graphics, half of the characters I encountered during my journey still appeared bizarre. For some, this could be disheartening—especially when contrasted with the remaster’s otherwise magnificent visuals—but for me, Oblivion wouldn’t be Oblivion without those awkward character models. It’s all part of that “charm” game director Todd Howard referred to during the reveal stream.

The team at Virtuous appears to recognize that distinctive Oblivion “charm” as well, because the remaster retains the best of the Bethesda quirks while carefully refining some of Oblivion’s more outdated mechanics. Traditionalists will surely find aspects to criticize, while newcomers may be puzzled by some of the quirks still present, but Oblivion Remastered feels like the most sensible middle ground. The visuals have been completely reimagined to leverage Unreal Engine 5, yet the characters still possess a peculiar appearance. The attack animations have been revamped, yet combat remains generally unsatisfactory. The streamlined leveling process maintains the class system, but it’s much less likely for players to become stuck. The user interface and menus have been restructured and modernized, while Oblivion’s signature map screen remains faithful to the original. Overall, Oblivion Remastered skillfully balances familiarity with innovation.

The most astonishing aspect is its visual presentation. Oblivion Remastered is truly breathtaking. Virtuous and Bethesda Game Studios have harnessed Unreal Engine 5, making it the most technically advanced game Bethesda Game Studios has ever launched. The dynamic lighting, vivid skyboxes, expanded color range, and hyper-realistic textures provide the remaster with that contemporary AAA quality players anticipate. These improvements are evident in the character models as well, with NPCs being intricately designed. You can observe the individual strands of hair in their newly grown beards and the pores on their faces, yet they still appear somewhat eerie. In many instances, the NPCs look even more peculiar when they speak. There exists an odd contrast between the lifelike visuals and the strange faces with outdated facial animations. However, that peculiar feeling is a significant part of what makes Oblivion unique, and it’s abundant in this remaster.

A significant component of this awkwardness is the recognizable voice acting, and thankfully, Virtuous and BGS have decided to retain most of the original voice performances. Naturally, Wes Johnson’s resonant voice resonates everywhere, and they even kept in some mistakes that were never removed from the initial game. Nonetheless, a few new voice actors were brought in to re-record lines for various races. This is understandable since approximately eight individuals recorded lines for hundreds of characters, but I find myself occasionally yearning for the classic voice acting. The beggars’ unusual intonation of “Thank you, kind sir” has been redone, and it feels… off. That awkward voice alteration has become ingrained in my mind, and considering Virtuous retained the original flubs but altered that one aspect is a bit disheartening.

From what I can observe, the majority of sound effects remain unchanged as well. Spells like Flare and Restoration sound nearly the same, but they feel somewhat misplaced when juxtaposed with the new effects and lighting technology. This isn’t detrimental, but it does seem odd to overhaul so much of the presentation while leaving those outdated sound effects intact.

Virtuous seem to understand that trademark Oblivion “charm” because the remaster keeps the best of the Bethesda jank intact while gently reworking some of Oblivion’s more dated mechanics

Beyond the visuals, Oblivion’s combat mechanics, third-person camera, and leveling structure have undergone substantial revisions. New attack animations give melee combat added flair, the bow is significantly easier to aim, enemies now respond to hits instead of merely grunting or growling, and the introduction of a sprint button offers increased mobility during fights. These enhancements mesh well with the option to use the third-person camera. Although third-person is still not the optimal way to navigate Oblivion, the camera option is greatly improved compared to the original. This is all complemented by a revamped leveling system that is more forgiving for casual gamers.

While these modifications to combat and leveling make Oblivion more accessible, its actual combat experience remains lacking. It does not deliver the impactful and weighty feeling that other melee-focused first-person games have successfully achieved. Most melee encounters rely on blocking and dodging between swings while your opponent assaults you. In 2006, this was forgivable due to Oblivion’s ambitious nature, but in 2025, it’s more challenging to overlook. This is slightly alleviated by the variety of tools available and the more adaptable leveling system. When I grew weary of swinging my sword, I transitioned to my bow. When I tired of bombarding my foes with arrows, I switched to my spells. When I got exhausted with the spells, I summoned some skeleton allies to fight alongside me. It isn’t a graceful solution, but at least it prevents the combat from becoming monotonous.

Despite its imperfections, I have always favored Oblivion’s leveling system over that of Skyrim. By selecting a class and focusing on specific skills from the beginning, I felt more incentivized to embrace a particular role. My characters in Oblivion excelled in certain areas while struggling in others, and that was perfectly fine. The key was to leverage those strengths to enhance my leveling experience. The remaster continues to allow you to select (or create) a class with several major skills that, when practiced, substantially expedite the leveling process. Every skill that isn’t a major one can still be enhanced and contribute toward leveling. This means you’re still encouraged to develop a playstyle centered around your class, but if you decide ten hours in that you want to explore Illusion magic, nothing holds you back from doing so. The remaster also preserves some of its more unusual skills and attributes like Athletics, which allows for higher jumps, and Speed, which simply increases movement velocity. Out of curiosity, I invested heavily in speed and discovered no reason to ever utilize the new sprint button since even without sprinting, my character appeared to move faster than my horse. More importantly, these adjustments…
make it significantly more challenging to construct a poor class and inadvertently lock your level—something I often encountered when I played Oblivion during my youth.

Oblivion Remastered does have a number of glitches, yet when comparing it to other Bethesda RPGs, it could be far more problematic. Throughout 20 hours of gameplay, I encountered a single crash and noticed a few visual anomalies, mainly concerning the illumination—issues like strange reflections and peculiar shadows. The performance has been satisfactory on my 4080Ti, although I did experience some frame dips in the open-world environment. On the Steam Deck, however, performance is quite poor despite the game being Deck Verified. The visuals appear murky, frequently falling below 30fps, and stutters occur regularly. I would not advise playing on the Steam Deck unless it’s your only available option.

Revamping or remastering Oblivion is an interesting pursuit. It’s a chaotic game that, in theory, was surpassed by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in almost every imaginable aspect. Skyrim’s combat is more advanced, its world is visually more unique, the dungeon architecture is more streamlined, the voice acting is more nuanced, and, undeniably, the characters appear much improved. However, if Bethesda Game Studios and Virtuous Studios had rebuilt Oblivion from scratch aiming to match or surpass Skyrim, they’d have lost the essence of what makes it special. You cannot recapture the magic of Wes Johnson bellowing, “THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!” The Roxey Inn lacks its charm without the nonsensical clamor of dialogues as soon as you stroll through its entrance. Honestly, I would argue that Oblivion isn’t Oblivion without its strange persuasion system that still mystifies me nearly two decades later. These rough edges contribute to Oblivion’s identity, and when they are polished away, what remains is a rather generic fantasy role-playing game.

There’s a content creator known as Bacon_ who has been showcasing that Oblivion “magic” for almost ten years now. In many instances, their videos encapsulate the entire Oblivion experience in less than 15 seconds. They have become iconic. Recently, Bacon_ has been recreating those clips within Oblivion Remastered, and they are just as humorous and bizarre as I recall. While this may seem minor, it speaks volumes about the dedication Virtuous holds towards Oblivion. Remastered successfully captures just enough of that magic to render it a commendable remaster of one of Bethesda Game Studios’ most cherished titles.