Tangible Changes and Technical Aspects

[Squidfest]

Hi. Lotta stinkers in this thread. Anyways, I felt like doing something helpful so here's a list of things that effect gameplay that have changed from the original

The leveling system

Previous titles in the series before Skyrim limited your ability to increase your Attributes based on which skills you leveled contributing to the level up. For instance, if you got your level up from only using Speechcraft, in Oblivion and Morrowind you could only choose to spend your level-up points on relevant attributes. This meant that you couldn't easily round out your character without doing a bunch of grinding.

Remastered changes this by giving you 12 points (called "Virtues") every level that can be spent on whatever you wish. Luck costs more to level than anything else. You can spend these points on any three attributes, but none of the points spent can exceed 5 in a single stat.

UI functionality

In the original Oblivion, there was no enemy-detection on the compass (and the compass itself was very small). Most of the inventory menus were represented by pictographic tabs at the bottom of the screen, and the map and quest journal options were mutually exclusive.

All of these UI issues have been fixed. Skyrim-style NPC pips, hotkeys for the map and the inventory, and better sorting options are all present. The menus are more legible and informative as a whole.

The combat AI

AI pathing has been improved somewhat in this iteration. In previous games, NPCs would get stuck on terrain quite regularly, and would make to attempt to avoid getting hit with projectiles.

In the Remaster, the AI will attempt to outmaneuver the slow-moving projectiles and tends to avoid getting stuck on clutter.

The world

One of the complaints about Oldblivion was that the game shipped without properly-generated LOD. You couldn't see most places from a high vantage point, trees would pop in when you got close, etc.

Remastered has fully developed (and quite pretty) LOD that communicates a very broad world when you see it. Trees, cities, and landmarks are visible from vantage points and don't mysteriously pop in on approach.

Voice acting

Don't panic! They're all still there! It's a part of Oblivion's charm that there was a small handful of recognizable voice talents doing an absurd amount of heavy lifting. Most of them (including the iconic Wes Johnson) are still intact. New voice actors who you will recognize from their roles in other Bethesda titles have been integrated to certain NPCs when applicable to broaden the amount of voices you'll hear.

The Sprint Button

I know, it seems silly, doesn't it? But it makes a world of difference! In every Elder Scrolls game prior to Skyrim, there wasn't an active "sprint" button; instead, the default move speed was walking, and moving at a faster pace consumed stamina and constituted "running". Because of this, in Morrowind and Oblivion in particular, the Speed stat became very important to the core gameplay loop. While it is still helpful in the Remaster, it doesn't feel like it's an utter necessity.

Closing Thoughts

This list, naturally, omits the numerous visual updates the game has received, because that's the elephant in the room and obvious from the screenshots.

All in all, I am thoroughly enjoying the game and it is genuinely wonderful to explore Cyrodiil again with all these tweaks to enhance my experience. I hope this helps you make the decision on whether or not you want to buy the Remaster or just wait for Skyblivion!

[fren]

Don't forget to mention the infinite loading screens that force you to restart the game.

[Squidfest]

Originally posted by fren:

Don't forget to mention the infinite loading screens that force you to restart the game.

Haven't encountered those in the remaster yet, thankfully. Sorry to hear you're having problems, hope they'll patch it soon!

[Lamp]

Yeah I'm stuck on infinite loading screens that sit at 1 FPS and max out my CPU. PC is *way* above recommended specs.

Was able to actually play yesterday but it ran like ♥♥♥♥- on a 4090 and an i7-10700.

[CodeRedAlert]

Yeah I just got an infinite loading screen when leaving a fort dungeon back to the overworld. It's a remaster, but I can see it still has the old annoying Oblivion bugs.