What Is The Color Of The Night?

[Secunda]

Twelve years later, The Dark Brotherhood remains one of the most memorably crafted Questlines in Oblivion-and possibly one of the best Questlines in any other game, ever.

My experiences of it are surely not unfamiliar to anyone that has also joined this Guild. I still want to share my thoughts because I’m just so impressed with the quality of the Dark Brotherhood and I hope that my experiences also resonate with other people!

After pouring just over 100 hours into Oblivion (for now), I was all fired up to write a review for the game here on Steam. Or at least to collect my own thoughts in writing because that’s what I love to do.

Suffice it to say that I’ve been immensely enjoying this game. Especially with all the incredible mods that enhance it for contemporary players. I’ve been aware of Oblivion since it was first released, but 2018 is the first time that I’ve actually ever managed to play it, particularly in its GOTY edition. Indeed, Oblivion is the game that has gotten me interested in the Elder Scrolls series; for this reason alone, it may very well remain one of my dearest favourites.

But when I completed The Dark Brotherhood, that’s when I knew I had just experienced something truly special.

I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. There’s a distinctly compelling feeling as you enter the eerie Abandoned House in Cheydinhal for the first time. Oblivion excels at sparking and sustaining your sense of adventure throughout the game, and you realize how brilliantly this pays off when you’re standing just outside the entrance to The Dark Brotherhood’s Sanctuary.

Bathed in a malevolent red glow, the massive stone door is inscribed with images of a skull, a handprint, and a motherly figure brandishing a knife while she is surrounded by five skeleton children.

Your morbid curiosity is piqued. You feel the crackle of anticipation as you approach the door. Then you hear that question. And your answer seems to come from the blackest depths of your mind, the secret shivers of your soul, the burning pulses of blood coursing through your veins. Entering the Sanctuary marks the beginning of your grim journey.

These are some of the sensations that The Dark Brotherhood manages to evoke. And it accomplishes this by focusing on four key elements that make up this unforgettable experience:

Story

The premise of The Dark Brotherhood is already intriguing enough: unintentionally (or intentionally) murdering an innocent NPC in cold blood earns you a chilling visit from Lucien Lachance.

He’s the Speaker of The Dark Brotherhood, which is “a remorseless guild of paid assassins and homicidal cutthroats” as he puts it. Lachance presents the first instance of excellent writing throughout this Questline: he’s the perfect blend of mysterious and deadly which ensnares you into wanting to know more.

Lachance offers you the tempting opportunity to join The Dark Brotherhood, which is more than anything “a union of like-minded individuals.” You can interpret that as you wish, but your initiation task is clear: use your newly acquired gift, The Blade Of Woe, to assassinate the harmless old man Rufio who is staying at the Inn Of Ill Omen.

Some (tragically) accept Lachance’s offer while others (foolishly) refuse it. Should you choose to devote yourself to the Night Mother and to Sithis, you will eventually find the Sanctuary. As you get to know your Family members, train, and complete assassination contracts, disturbing rumours of a traitor in the ranks haunt the cold, stone hallways and sharpen the blade of poisonous doubt.

Just like the very best stories, The Dark Brotherhood is a story which you can only really experience once in all its full, glorious effect. In fact, I wish that I could forget it just in order to experience it all over again!

I’m happy that there’s the fantastic expansion mod The Return Of The Dark Brotherhood. It offers additional quality writing, assassination quests, and Sanctuaries which all combine into a worthy sequel that you should certainly play.

The Dark Brotherhood story is truly brilliant because it makes you interested, keeps you engaged, and empowers your character. Then it cheerily rips the rug from right under you, thanks to the amazing plot twists.

Honestly, there’s enough story here for The Dark Brotherhood to be its own standalone game. And I do want to let Bethesda Softworks know that I would totally buy that game in a heartbeat...

Characters

The members of the Family subvert all your expectations about behaviour within a secretive underground cult that worships the avatar of evil and the Void.

They are easily the most interesting characters you will encounter in the entire game. They are warm, friendly, enthusiastic, and supportive. Their personal histories are unique and moving, especially in relation to how your own character is welcomed with open arms.

Antoinetta Marie was my favorite member, followed by Vincente Valtieri, and then Ocheeva (and I guess also Teinaava if you include the optional Shadowscale assassination). Just like any cult member, all these characters are fanatically devoted to The Dark Brotherhood.

Yet none of this is presented you in a way that comes across as oppressive or even overtly disturbing. That’s the real trick, you see.

Firstly, I found the voice acting to somehow be above par here in comparison to the rest of the game, despite the same actors being used. Secondly, I thought the dialogue was more emotional and thought provoking than anything in the Main Quest (although Martin does have his interesting moments).

Finally, I really appreciated all the dark humour interwoven throughout the dialogue (think along the lines of HK-47 from Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, meatbag). Naming an assassin cult The Dark Brotherhood implies plenty of unspeakable acts, but it is almost as if the writers still didn’t let themselves take things too seriously. There’s a fine balance between appropriate gravitas and cynicism for the situation. It helps keep you on your toes, as well as keep you motivated instead of feeling understandably gloomy about it.

The Family members will tell you many things. How they say these things is almost as important as what they are actually saying: from mildly unnerving statements to outright perverse, shocking, and bloodthirsty proclamations, the characters will all say all things in their usual pleasant manner. It’s all so subtly wrapped up in witty dialogue and intelligent interactions that you could be forgiven for letting the true horror of the dark humour go over your head.

Without being too spoilery, the Family is so endearing that some amazing modders have even created mods that offer...adjustments...to a certain pivotal event. As great as the other Guilds were, I was never all that emotionally invested in the members. I considered those Guilds to be more about self-serving advancement and less about the broader consequences (with the epic exception of The Ultimate Heist).

But The Dark Brotherhood succeeds in making you feel like you are indeed a member of the Family. A bond of trust and affection is built between The Dark Brotherhood characters. The fact that people care this much about them-in a sidequest, no less-is an impressive testament to tremendous quality.

Essentially, The Dark Brotherhood goes notably above and beyond what you’ve come to expect from Oblivion. It is recommended that you join this Guild last and complete the Questline just before starting Knights Of The Nine. Regardless of how many hours you’ve been playing, The Dark Brotherhood will charm and surprise you whenever you decide to complete it.

Gameplay

Since this is my first play through of Oblivion, I haven’t specifically built a character for Light Armor/Thief/Assassin/Mage. But this Quest definitely made me wish I had!

While The Dark Brotherhood favours stealth-oriented character builds, I appreciated being able to make use of and improve on skills which I hadn’t really used that much before this Quest. I like that Oblivion unabashedly makes you use all of your character’s skills to some extent.

Playing through The Dark Brotherhood suddenly transforms the game into a kind of tribute to stealth classics such as Thief and Hitman or even Dishonored and Assassin’s Creed. Fulfilling your contracts means that you can use spells like Ghostwalk or Cloak to disappear from view. You should also make use of good old fashioned shadows. You need to sneak around, of course. You must consider your choice of weapon and method. You have to stalk your prey in order to determine the best time to strike. You are required to use strategy and planning to advance your position within the Guild.

Then there’s the Assassinations themselves. They are highly clever, challenging, and just as unforgettable as the story. Playing through The Dark Brotherhood has you staging an “accident” involving a hunting trophy; helping a target fake his own death by using a special poison; paying homage to Agatha Christie by attending a party where all the guests are searching for a chest of gold while being systematically murdered by you; and ensuring that the Imperial Watch Guard Captain’s retirement is decidedly permanent. And these aren’t even the most exciting plot points!

The context of this gameplay has enough variety in theme and approach so that you never feel bored and always feel like a badass. Best of all, completing specific terms of the contract grants you bonus items, spells, armor, and enchanted jewelry (plus an awesome special “bonus” when you complete the Questline).

All these elements result in perfectly executed gameplay.

Immersiveness

Oblivion is already a breathtakingly massive and immersive game. The Dark Brotherhood is considered to be relentlessly immersive in its own right.

The Sanctuary is the rotten, shadow-shrouded foundation of seemingly light and beautiful town of Cheydinhal. Your first steps into the Sanctuary are met with lively triumph amidst stark reminders of death and failure: whistling wind, claustrophobically low stone walls, crypts, coffins, and dozens of skulls displayed in the hallways as gruesome trophies.

As you prowl around, you can see that the candles barely pierce the gloom. Family members eat, read, train, chat with each other, and eventually retreat into their rooms. A lonely, pale white light slices down into the Sanctuary, revealing the well passage that leads back up to Cheydinhal. Strangely enough, you won’t want to always leave the Sanctuary right away. Sometimes you’ll want to simply linger.

There are definitely mods available that further improve the Sanctuary and the Armor/Robes (such as the awesome Dark Brotherhood Elite Armor). But even in its vanilla state the atmosphere is excellent and entirely immersive.

Interestingly, I also experienced that several times during Assassination contracts, the weather would be stormy and appropriately dark. Combined with the haunting musical score, this created a very appropriate atmosphere. I don’t know if this is scripted or not. But it adds an air of authenticity to the events.

Taking on the role of a Dark Brotherhood Assassin feels preordained and exultant. The Dark Brotherhood is a striking, visceral gaming experience. It is Oblivion’s black soul gem in the rough. And it is without question my favorite part of the game.

If I listen intently, I can almost hear the sinister voice whispering that damning question now:

What is the color of the night?

And I shudder at that fateful response:

Sanguine, my Brother.

[BASS GOD]

Capital!

[فاطمة]

I will admit the Treasure hunt party was one of the funniest things I've ever done in games. I managed to sail right through it (I never knew I could be so casually evil!) convincing everyone I was their friend while constantly thinking up new tactics to seperate and kill each one in a new way that would somehow implicate another person in the house, which can be elaborate and take time, like stealing items from one npc and planting them on another after poisoning them. (for some reason in Oblivion I actaully treat it like a real world situation that has serious consequences for being caught, idk why, don't even care in skyrm, probably because the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ guards see everything, like skyrims chickens.)
The dark brotherhood is not my favorite group, but the quests in Oblivion are undeniably fun and unique. requiring a lot of careful planning, time management, weapon management, and understanding of the games mechanics to pull off more elaborate murders.

[deuceyd]

The only response I shudder at is when the pizza man says he dont deliver

[jwf702]

Sanguine my Brother

[Jules]

Great post. Lucien Lachance is quite simply the best character in the series.

[Brandybuck]

Just to keep things in perspective, there are fifteen quests that are in no way associated with each other. Just another murder with a tiny twist to get a bonus. The actual "story" is just three quests. One in the middle and two at the very end which tries to tie things up. You don't even meet the bad guy until the end.