The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is a beast of a game in the best way, with a huge overall scope that essentially necessitates a review in progress. I’ve spent over 20 hours with the title since it was released earlier this week, and have barely scratched the surface of what there is to do in the world of Cyrodiil. The new release has something for all types of players, whether they’re returning fans who loved the eccentricities of the original, those who have only played Skyrim, or complete newcomers to the franchise.

I hadn’t been to the world of Oblivion for almost two decades, but I still instantly recognized some of the big improvements made in the remaster as soon as Patrick Stewart’s voice told me through a much more well-rendered face that he’d had visions of my heroism. The visuals are by far the most instantly noticeable changes in Oblivion, but they go much deeper than a fresh coat of paint. The balancing act between maintaining the original's odd charm and making modern improvements was a delicate one, but from what I’ve seen so far, it’s largely been a success.

The Biggest Changes In Oblivion Remastered

Bringing Modern Quality Of Life Changes To A Classic

The game overall looks and performs better this time around, with generally quick loading screens, gorgeously detailed environments, and a more streamlined UI that still keeps the general aesthetic of the original. Many things just feel better, too: players can now sprint, which is a huge improvement, combat is more realistic through added animations and combos, and there are new options like auto-aim. Frustrating elements of the original, like character leveling, have been adjusted and made much more malleable, helping it feel more like a marked improvement from the nearly two-decades-old original.

I did notice some performance differences between playing the title on an Xbox Series X. Things like grass still occasionally popped in on console, and performance in general seemed to struggle a bit sometimes, but I never experienced any of these issues on PC. In both versions, there were still some of the odd-but-amusing glitches of the original, like NPCs getting stuck and walking in place and absurd ragdoll physics consequences, but these broadly all fall under the umbrella of “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”

Maintaining The Charm Of The Original Oblivion

This Elder Scrolls Entry Requires Imperfections

The original Oblivion was - and I say this with a great amount of love - a mess. Line readings could be extremely odd, NPCs bugged in a myriad of ways, there were tons of exploit glitches, and much more, but since most of this wasn’t game breaking, it became an odd source of charm instead. If the development team had chosen to gloss over this and make everything perfect, it wouldn’t have felt like the same game, and the way improvements have been balanced with leaving oddities intact is largely well done.

However, the charming jankiness of Oblivion is also a double-edged sword. For every hilariously odd dialogue delivery and character stuck midair, some bugs actively impact players for the worse. I don’t just recommend players experience the game on PC for the aesthetics, but also for the availability of the console commands in case something goes awry. I was forced to use it after a main story quest character wasn’t spawning where he was supposed to, no matter what I did, using the tool to force the quest to progress.

While the bug I encountered isn't one that’s exceptionally well-known, I was still able to find the solution in an old forum post for the original game. This means that this potentially game-breaking issue isn’t anything new, yet nothing was done to fix it in the remaster. It’s very unlikely this is an isolated incident throughout the vast array of Oblivion’s questlines, and something players should consider before picking it up.

The Many Stories Of Oblivion Remastered

Cultists, Daedra, DLC, & Much More

The main storyline is robust and engrossing, with varied and engaging missions centered around the Mythic Dawn cult and the hellish Oblivion Gates that’ve cropped up that spit out evil creatures. Sometimes things can get a bit repetitive or backtracky, but for the most part it’s consistently fun to take part in, even more so than Skyrim’s story for me personally. There’s so much for players to do outside this, too, especially because Oblivion Remastered includes the Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine DLC, even with the standard version of the title that's available on Game .

Even as I was attempting to work through the main questline in a timely manner for the sake of a review, I tried not to lose sight of one of the biggest pillars of the Elder Scrolls’ charm: getting distracted by random nonsense. Honestly, I think it would go against the very essence of the game to focus solely on the main storyline when there is so much else to explore. This is made even better this time around by the fact that, thanks to its improved visuals and audio effects, the game is much more immersive than the original.

Final Thoughts On Oblivion Remastered - For Now

A Rich World Worth Exploring For New & Veteran Players

Those who are only familiar with Skyrim will find the world less sprawling, but in a way this helps enrich the experience, making the map more densely packed with fun distractions. It’s hard to go more than a few hundred feet without seeing something like a mysterious shrine or a mine with a hauntingly-cryptic name that calls out to you to investigate. On top of that, almost everyone has some kind of rumor to share, and many of the side quests take more unexpected turns than those in Oblivion’s successor.

It’s incredibly fun to just wander around, listening in on NPC conversations, making discoveries, and taking on odd jobs. There are many hilarious moments, both intentional and unintentional, and numerous impressive little details. One of my personal favorite pastimes has been stealing the keys off Mythic Dawn agents, which are established NPCs scattered across the world, and breaking into their homes to see - and steal - all their cult paraphernalia. There is so much minutiae like this to be found because of how established the entire world and its character are.

Even after living and breathing this game since it was released, I know I’ve barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. I’ve only just ed the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood and won my first Imperial Arena fight, have many different open side quests - including my own pesky case of vampirism to deal with - and many areas I want to explore. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered isn’t perfect, which is both a pro and con for the title, but it's still an extremely engaging world I’ve been thrilled to revisit under improved circumstances.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is available now for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and is included with Xbox Game .