Oblivion Remastered - So Glad I Waited!

I've been playing the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered this week, and I am LOVING it. This is really my first time getting into Oblivion, and I'm extremely excited to be able to experience the game for the first time with this updated version.

It's not exactly my first time, but it is my first time getting invested and enjoying the experience. When Oblivion first came, it simply wasn't the game for me at that time. Years before I had completely bounced off of Morrowind. I bought Morrowind when it came out on the Xbox, and thought I'd love it, but...well, the XBOX version was definitely not the version to play (the loading times sucked all the fun away), and I realized at that time that I simply wasn't into the western style of RPG video game.

Years later when Oblivion hit on the 360, I thought I'd give the genre another chance. I played up until closing the very first oblivion gate and stopped. I just wasn't enjoying it. I didn't like the way the game looked. The combat was so slow and clunky. The menu interface was a mess. And, most of all, the style just wasn't to my liking. At this time I was still way more into Japanese developed RPGs and games.

It wasn't until Fallout 3 on the 360 that I really feel in love with this kind of game.

And now, nearly 20 years later, it's been so fun getting into Oblivion!

First of all, the game looks amazing. Gone is the Vaseline-smeared globs of pastel colors of the original. I know some people liked that look, but its never been my thing. The overuse of primitive bloom lighting made everything look muddled to me. The update graphics make everything feel so much more alive and detailed. And the new lighting! My god! I've already spent way too much time just walking around and looking at stuff. Additionally, the new character models look great - as in, they no longer like Muppets with potato heads.

The combat also feels so much better. The enemies actual react when getting hit! How novel! The combat has more impact, and the new dodging animation/action adds so much to the game. Additionally, the movement speed has been increased, and you can now sprint! The game is faster paced, and I appreciate it.

Another big improvement is the 3rd person camera and movement. I prefer to play games in 3rd person, and now that POV doesn't feel like an afterthought.

One thing I always did love is the music, and to me it sounds better than ever. I'm not sure if it's been remixed or remastered, but maybe the modern consoles just have better DACs or something. It just sounds better. And that's true for all the sounds, dialog and sound effects in the game.

I've also read that they've re-balanced the automatic enemy scaling and leveling up systems, making them a bit more balanced in favor of fun and player agency. I can't speak to that in any detail, because I don't have enough experience with the original to say otherwise, but so far these systems feel good.

I know some people are tired of remasters, but I'm not one of those people. I will almost always enjoy playing better versions of games I've loved in the past on modern consoles, or being given the chance to enjoy a better version of a game I didn't like in the past because of one reason or another.

I'm sure I'm going to sink a ton of hours into this game, and I can't wait to get even more invested in the world, story, lore and setting.