Not as good as I wrongly remembered.

[Desna]

Goes to show how game evolved in the past decades,

ESO is really bad. Graphic overhaul is nice, but the combat, enemy AI, Story is all below average. There's no weight or feeling of impact to any attacks, the AI gets stuck on terrain all the time and get confused if they can't reach you via regular pathing. And let's face it the story was never it's strong point... thinking about it i don't know what it's strong point ever was... I guess the open world aspect was new and exciting back then, but it really shows its age, this feels like an alpha for the mmo.

[wirednight]

Oblivion was never my favorite Elder Scrolls. It doesn't have that special story of Morrowind and it doesn't have the better mechanics of Skyrim. It's kind of something in between where Todd wasn't sure what to do, so he plunked down this thing that kind of doesn't know what it wants to do. It's not a bad game, but it's certainly not the best in the series.

[GTCv Deimos]

ESO: Elder Scrolls Online. Just, heads up.

But, yeah. I'm... probably not getting Reblivion, and that's due in part to me remembering the OG game pretty well. Don't get me wrong, Oblivion was a MASSIVE technical leap in simulated worlds during it's time. It's a classic and a classic for a good reason.

But with that having been said, I think many TeS fans do have their rose-colored glasses on when they think about Oblivion, because for all it's technical marvel, it had a lot of shortcomings as a game. The combat, level scaling, samey dungeons, straight-forward plot, all lead to what I felt was something of a bland experience. I also got really annoyed with the game, because Oblivion leaned in on LotR iconography, REAL HARD (and, I mean... just take a glance at the ad banner on Steam :P). It felt like they used this as a marketing crutch to bring in new fans who weren't familiar with TeS at the time.

In many ways, I regard Oblivion as more of a tech demo, than an actual game. It wasn't until Skyrim came along, and focused more on the world and game itself that I felt TeS was fully realized for the modern age. Skyrim had a much stronger, unique identity, and a world that I felt was much more enjoyable to inhabit.

Of course, that's just my personal take, and I'm sure others may have kinder feelings towards the game than I do/did, plus I know this remaster retuned some things, I'm sure it does better than the OG version. Still, this release was one of the worst-kept secrets in gaming, and I think a lot of Skyrim fans really whipped themselves into a frenzy over a game that was kind of peas and porridge at the end of the day.

*edit* @ Wirednight: yeah, I feel the same way. Morrowind... it's a rough game. I'd dare call it pretty janky, even for the time. But I found the world and plot a lot more interesting, and Morrowind was an interesting, alien place to occupy, and it was kind of a nice counter-balance to Oblivion. It'd be nice if we got a proper revisit to Morrowind (and not just in ESO). We're probably not going to get anything anytime soon, but this is Bethesda. If there's one thing they're good at doing, it's making us re-buy the same game, over and over again >.>

[Nakatomi]

At the time it came out on Xbox 360 I don't think a lot of players had played Morrowwind I myself hadn't. But to pay a game that was open as it was and quests galore that's what made it special for most to actually have an adventure game that would take away hours of your time.

Yes it wasn't the best bug less game it had issues but man at the time of Xbox 360 Vs PS3 it was a great time to be a console gamer.

[Null]

The combat was never great, but I don't think a game has to have good combat to be a good game. I think this is a very good game with strengths that lie in other areas: interesting map design and layouts of areas that are really fun to explore and run around in, cool music, fun quest lines.

[Messsucher]

Side quests were great, combat really bad.

[Bagi]

The combat has a lot more impact in the original Gamebryo game engine. Remaster is not Skyrim lightsaber mode hot knife through butter...

But it's no where near as impactful feeling and looking as the original. Combat wasnt great in the original, but what it did have has definitely been downgraded with the remaster. Guess the cost of losing the Havok physics API, for better and worse.

[Malus Lupus]

Well, I mean, back in the day i LOVED it but it has aged even if this remaster looks better. Those of us who spent a lifetime back in the day remember the game through rose colored glasses because it was awesome on release. I got this and am playing for old's times sake since I have not touched the original in 13 years.

[Sailor Gloom]

while oblivion has some strong suits it was more of a product for the time, the physics in an open world game like that was impressive for the time and radiant ai was pretty special with only other game doing that being Stalker. Nowadays though the whole package feels a bit dated especially if you have gotten heavy into skyrim modding.

[an entire Roman legion]

wrong game

[minisith]

The quests and dialogue is great in this game. The stats and perks for this game is also great which Skyrim dumbed down like they did to Oblivion compared to Morrowind.

[BluntWrap]

Games 19 years old bro, idk what you expected. It was amazing for it's time, if you thought it'd be just as amazing or as good as games from today.. again it's a remaster. With some few minor changes. Some which were unnecessary like the gender change but it's 2025 so here we are. Taking away the stats from the sex you chose seems silly but i guess some people don't like to be forced to play male or female. Or like being called male or female.

[minisith]

Originally posted by BluntWrap:

Games 19 years old bro, idk what you expected. It was amazing for it's time, if you thought it'd be just as amazing or as good as games from today.. again it's a remaster. With some few minor changes. Some which were unnecessary like the gender change but it's 2025 so here we are. Taking away the stats from the sex you chose seems silly but i guess some people don't like to be forced to play male or female. Or like being called male or female.

Mod it back in. There was other changed made to the game too. All changes is to increase sales period. None of the conspiracy BS.

[antonio.sumic]

Gamebryo engine was better for combat. I loved the impact when I block with the shield. Attacks were so-so. Skyrim made it worse... I would prefer it if they left the same feel like original Oblivion.

[Kanarek]

Originally posted by Desna:

Goes to show how game evolved in the past decades,

ESO is really bad. Graphic overhaul is nice, but the combat, enemy AI, Story is all below average. There's no weight or feeling of impact to any attacks, the AI gets stuck on terrain all the time and get confused if they can't reach you via regular pathing. And let's face it the story was never it's strong point... thinking about it i don't know what it's strong point ever was... I guess the open world aspect was new and exciting back then, but it really shows its age, this feels like an alpha for the mmo.

In 2007, Oblivion felt fantastic. In 2024 and 2025, the game shows signs of aging, I think. But the truth is that I'm close to being fully sated with the game, so this seems to be a factor in perception of the game as well. The genre really hasn't evolved for over a decade (first-person action RPG), as far as I know, so TES games stand as one of the best games to this day.

Besides, this remake changes the original so much that it's no longer the same game.

Anyway, OP's points seem generally valid to me.

[Robot Joe]

morrowind was a fluke. their only game with an intriguing story and world building. they really shouldn't have let kirkbride go