I Played the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster and Wow, Nostalgia Hits Hard

✨ The Oblivion Remaster Is Finally Here—And It's Gloriously Janky

If you’ve ever wanted to relive your preteen RPG obsession but with 2025 visuals, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remaster is your moment. Bethesda (yes, that Bethesda) just dropped the glow-up we didn’t know we needed, and I’ve already spent a solid 90 minutes knee-deep in rats, ruined sewers, and radiant AI—and lemme tell you, it’s exactly the chaotic energy I remembered.

🔥 Instant Vibes, Modern Graphics

Let’s start with the obvious: this remaster looks stunning. The team (shoutout to Virtuos Paris) brought Unreal Engine muscle while keeping the OG Creation Engine running behind the scenes. Think of it as: Unreal is the body, Creation is the brain. That combo gives us beautifully lit forests, remastered UI, and NPC faces that don’t look like cursed wax dolls—but still somehow feel like Oblivion. It’s uncanny. In a good way?

I fired up the remaster on a beast of a rig (NVIDIA 4090 flex), and yeah—it chugs at ultra settings, especially with ray tracing cranked. You’ll probably want to go medium unless you’re okay sacrificing frame rate for eye candy. Pro tip: DLSS helps big time. Also, it’s Steam Deck verified, which is a win for us on-the-go gamers.

🎮 Gameplay: Same Weird Charm, Just Shinier

Oblivion’s opening escape-from-prison sequence? Still there. Still moody, still cramped, still full of rats and janky combat. But now, the lighting slaps. You swing your sword in a cave, and shadows actually move with you. It’s wild. And yes, the moment you step into the open world? Still hits like a dopamine nuke. Iconic.

Combat’s been touched up but let’s be real—it’s still Oblivion. You’re swiping, hoping hitboxes do their job, and enemies sometimes feel like balloon animals. But there is a third-person mode now that doesn’t make you want to cry, which is a win. Movement and animations are still weird though. Classic Bethesda.

⚙️ Performance Is... a Mixed Bag

Performance-wise, it’s a little all over. Expect frame dips in forested zones and some truly weird lighting bugs. (Think NPCs randomly glowing or dark patches that don’t make sense.) Turning ray tracing off helped smooth things out, but this is still a heavy game. Even my RTX 4090 was sweating during big outside areas.

Also, this might break some hearts: no mod support right now. With the engine blend they’re using, it’s a little too messy for mods—at least at launch. Fingers crossed for future updates though, because Oblivion’s modding scene was everything.

👶 A New Era of Players

Here’s something people forget—Oblivion came out nearly 20 years ago. Whole Gen Z humans exist who were literal toddlers when it dropped. This remaster isn’t just fan service; it’s a way for an entirely new audience to experience Elder Scrolls for the first time, and honestly? That rules.

Bethesda knows Elder Scrolls VI has to be massive. Getting younger players familiar with Oblivion helps build that hype. So whether you’re returning for nostalgia or diving in fresh, this remaster feels like a love letter to everyone who ever got lost in Cyrodiil.

👀 The Little Things

• NPCs still glitch into walls and rocks. Charming or annoying? Your call.
• Dialogue? Still full of awkward gems. And yes, you can still overhear the most random stuff mid-walk.
• That sun-drenched open-world morning light? Pure serotonin.
• Dogs. Still very good boys. Still randomly roaming towns. Iconic.

🧡 A Beautiful Mess That We Love Anyway

The Oblivion Remaster is weird. It’s clunky. It has lighting bugs and janky combat and faces that sometimes slide into the uncanny valley. But it’s also nostalgic, gorgeous in the right places, and bursting with the kind of “so bad it’s good” charm that made the original legendary.

Bethesda didn’t reinvent the wheel—they polished it, slapped it in Unreal, and reminded us why we fell in love with this chaotic world in the first place. If you’ve got Game Pass, there’s literally no reason not to try it. And if you’re a newcomer? Welcome to the most gloriously broken RPG you’ll ever adore.

Stay locked in for more retro reboots, glowing graphics, and chaotic RPG vibes at Woke Waves Magazine. ✨🎮

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