225.6 hours played
Written 12 days ago
The original version of this game honestly holds up better than the remaster imo, for a few key reasons:
1. The remaster is basically in the dark ages of modding right now as of June 2025, the date of this review. There are mods for the game, which are awesome, but no mod manager has been created yet. Sooooo that's a massive issue right out of the gate, largely due to-
2. The remasters insistance of UE5 visuals baked on the LOOOONG dated Gamebryo engine. Which, as I've heard, is horribly optimized for performance. And the remaster is exceptionally bad at performance right now.
3. The price is better. Admittedly 50 bucks is better than 60, or god forbid EIGHTY, but I was planning to get the remaster for the summer sale. It's 20% off. 20% off a game with no mod manager and shit performance, I'm keeping my hard earned money thank you very much. If it were 50% off or preferably more I MIGHT have gotten it. Might. The original GOTY deluxe edition is only 20 bucks, runs infinitely better, and has DECADES of mods and a rich history behind it all.
4. Ok now, this is gonna be a hot take. I think the visuals of both the original and the remaster are pretty good in their own right. However, I LOVE the "painted world" aesthetic of the original to death, which the remaster does not have AT ALL. But that isn't exactly a bad thing per se. Just a different visual style.
5. Even minor things like physics, the original does better! If you cast a powerful enough shock spell, anyone hit with it will be sent flying 20 meters across the sky! In the remaster...they just kinda...drop dead....realistically....yeahhhh...I really don't like how they botched up the physics in favor of "rEalIsm!!"...in a fantasy game no less!
6. Now yes, the original absolutely has aged poorly in some aspects. The character models are notoriously ugly, but a key part of Oblivion's charm nonetheless, but there are even worse things, like the leveling system and unbalanced enemies as a result of the leveling system. My biggest gripe with the original was the combat. You always kept getting randomly staggered while enemies move way too fast, and combat generally consists of blocking following by circling the enemy and spamming attack while preventing them from being able to. Power attacks don't stagger enemies unlike in Skyrim, and honestly don't even do that much more damage! The magic system, while MUCH better since you can make your own spells, is also really flawed, and I don't mean the absolute fun you can have in making broken shit, but I mean the unfun aspects, like the strange balancing of certain spells causing them to be underpowered as fuck, (why do bound weapons only last FIFTEEN SECONDS by default? Where are the "on target" Absorb Health spells?!) and some levels of spells not even being present on mages, so you have to make your own. (Drain Fatigue has Novice, Apprentice, and Expert variations, but no Journeyman spells? WTF??)
Initally I was attracted to the remaster, hyped even! Because it seemed to have finally fixed the combat system and made many QOL changes, enemies even reacted to your attacks, which the original didn't have! But then, the issues kept growing. And growing. And growing!
I actually went back to my modded original game, and honestly, I had LOADS of fun there! And it actually made me stop...and realize....why did I want the remaster again? C-Can you even CALL it a remaster?! It looks more like a reMAKE to me! Generally the rule of thumb for all Elder Scrolls games is this: If there is something you don't like or something you want for whatever reason, a mod will fix/create it. If it doesn't exist, someone out there will make it. Tbh, I really wish we didn't have to mod our games to fix things like performance or crappy combat systems that really don't hold up today, but alas, that's kinda how it just works, pun very much intended. But yes, the modding community has done great strides in fixing a lot of issues I have with the game, including the combat, thanks to a recent mod. It's FAR from perfect, even in my modded setup, and could use much improvement, but it feels SO much better than vanilla! And hey, if you can appreciate the vanilla game, warts and all, or even genuinely enjoy the original combat system, that's not a bad thing at all! I do appreciate the vanilla game for what it is, and my first experience was Oblivion on the Xbox 360, and I had an awesome time there! Unfortunately, due to my experience with the game, I don't think I can ever go back to pure vanilla. Mods have spoiled me.
The best part about the remaster was actually making me appreciate the original version all the more! Who would've thought?
Oh! Here's something the remaster doesn't have! There's a mod for the original Oblivion where every time a guard says "You have my ear, citizen" they will literally give you one of their ears!
...as an alchemy ingredient, but honestly, that's even funnier!
Humor like that is something we need in games today.
TLDR: Remaster bad, original good, don't waste your time with the remaster and just get the GOTY deluxe edition, you won't regret it