The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is, for a lot of people, myself included, a genuinely astonishing release that couldn't have been further from our 2025 bingo cards. The fact that Oblivion is not only playable on modern hardware in 2025 but has also had a major visual facelift as well as numerous gameplay enhancements is as baffling as it is genuinely incredible. Being able to bathe in so much nostalgia as I roam the wilds of Cyrodiil is a pleasure I'm extremely grateful for, and I can't wait to see what Virtuos and Bethesda cook up next.

However, as much as I do really love a lot about Oblivion Remastered, it is not without its flaws. In fact, there is one major flaw that has prevented me from truly enjoying my time with the game, although not so severe that I'm forced to put it down. This flaw has been discussed ad nauseam, especially as it has proven contentious within the community, but I feel that, while it is to the detriment of Oblivion Remastered, Bethesda could actually use it to great advantage with a potential Fallout 3 remaster that is surely on the horizon.

Oblivion Remastered's Altered Art Style Is Bad

It Drains Away All Of The Color

One of Oblivion Remastered's biggest changes from the original is its new art direction. As the game was built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, it now sports a more densely detailed and inarguably photorealistic visual style that, I suspect, many will prefer. However, as much as this change does make the game look objectively more realistic, I strongly believe it ruins not only the original game's wonderfully ethereal aesthetic but also the more fantastical nature of this world torn asunder by demonic gods.

The vibrancy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's art style, in combination with the heavy use of bloom, made Cyrodiil feel like a peaceful and wondrous place to explore, with lush green forests and rolling verdant fields adorning the beautiful landscape. That worked in contrast with how the Daedra were changing the world, as well as the harsh, barren, and blood-red Planes of Oblivion you explore throughout. However, Oblivion Remastered's muted color palette removes that contrast completely as it makes Cyrodiil look as washed out as Fallout 3's Washington, D.C.

Gone are the vivid greens and luminous landscapes of the original Oblivion. In their place, Oblivion Remastered offers muddy hills and monotone flora, a move that feels as pointless as the live-action Lion King's instance that reality is as washed out and boring as its lifeless CGI visuals. Of course, Oblivion Remastered retains the weirdness of the original game in some aspects, such as its colorful race designs and NPCs, but even this isn't enough to save the game from the complete absence of the color and life that made the original so unique, vibrant, and fun.

Fallout 3 Would Benefit From An Art Style Change

It Is Far Too Muddy And Gray

While the muted visuals are one of Oblivion Remastered's many flaws - it is riddled with issues that can make it a hard game to enjoy at times - it is the most contentious one. Some people will prefer its more muted and realistic approach, and I completely understand why. Unreal Engine 5's visual uniformity gives any game made within it the same identifiable realistic sheen that so many people believe is the future of gaming. However, I'm sad to see color slowly drained from AAA gaming, especially when it was so prevalent back in the GameCube and PS2 era.

Of course, while the use of Unreal Engine 5 robbed Oblivion of its visual identity and soul, it would be perfectly suited for another Bethesda game: Fallout 3. Unlike Oblivion - despite being released two years apart - Fallout 3 is a muddy, gray, and brown mess, visually, of course. It lacks the verdant valleys and lush greens of its fantasy counterpart, and trades them for a truly dusty, barren wasteland with a penchant for gunmetal gray environments, lots of concrete rubble, and a smattering of dirt-clad NPCs wearing colorless armor or an assortment of brown leather.

We need a Fallout 3 remaster, and the use of Unreal Engine 5 could be to its advantage in a way that it simply wasn't with Oblivion Remastered.

Bar an official confirmation, it seems like we're definitely getting a Fallout 3 remaster eventually, if not sometime soon. The series has been languishing somewhat, even despite the series, thanks to a lack of recent releases and any new titles likely releasing several years from now. We need a Fallout 3 remaster, and the use of Unreal Engine 5 could be to its advantage in a way that it simply wasn't with Oblivion Remastered. While The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion certainly needed visual enhancements, I'd argue Fallout 3 needs them even more.

Fallout 3 Remastered Should Be A Bigger Graphical Leap

It Would Benefit From A More Photorealistic Style

Fallout 3's world may be somewhat fantastical with its ghouls, irradiated bandits, and super mutants, but it is otherwise largely grounded in a semi-believable retro-future set within our own world. This is in contrast with Oblivion, which is set within an entirely fictional fantasy world that's nothing like our own. As a result, Fallout 3 can get away with utilizing Unreal Engine 5's photorealistic capabilities and overwrite its original art style without sacrificing anything meaningful or important. Simply put, Fallout looking photorealistic wouldn't be out of place.

That's not to say that I want a remaster to change Fallout 3's best features, in the same way that Oblivion Remastered didn't alter even the most beautifully bizarre bugs and aspects of the original experience. However, I don't think it would be as controversial for a Fallout 3 remaster to look substantially more realistic and muted, especially when the original game's color palette was already entirely lacking in color. While we have seen color pop up more frequently within this universe, such as in 4 and 76, Washington, D.C.'s urban sprawl accommodates the bleak gray tone regardless.

I'm definitely excited for a Fallout 3 remaster, even if it will suffer from the problems Oblivion Remastered faced, especially when it comes to being too familiar with the base experience. I also completely believe that Virtuos and Bethesda should continue using Unreal Engine 5 for Fallout-specific remasters. However, I hope that if Bethesda chooses to remaster any more Elder Scrolls games, as it has with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, that it either chooses a different engine or prioritizes color, style, and tone over bland realism.