The Oblivion Remaster has Leaked

The 15th of April, 2025

In those times of yore at the Grey Mare Inn, you were but a lowly whelp coming in out of the rain and storm into the hobbled-together inn on the far end of town. Renting a room for a night for a few gold, hearing the ravel of the people drinking in the tavern below from the safety of your locked room. After removing all your gear and placing it on the floor, you lay your head down on the bed to rest, and so your first day in this strange land of myth and magic comes to a close.

It’s been a great many years now since I first experienced such a thing. Oblivion is nearly 20 years old these days. What a game it was back then, and still is, but that brings me to today.

Oblivion is being remastered.

Obviously, this is huge for me because this is my favorite game I’ve ever played. I have mixed feelings about the lack of vibrancy of the graphics, but of course, I do; it’ll be impossible for me to approach this topic objectively because of my history with the game and how important to me it is. The greatest thing is that the original game is still there for me if I want to play it, and because of this, I’m going to go into this remake with an open mind. My intent is to accept new ideas and interpretations of that world that is so valuable to me. Much of the game’s media these days is overwhelming negativity, for this title, I simply won’t hear it. I intend to play this game with joy in my heart the same way I played the original all those years ago.

So what actually needs changing or improving? I can think of a few things in Oblivion that could use a bit of work; things that were not so easy in 2006, but would be now. I think some improvements I’d really like to see are character faces and facial animations. Among general graphical improvements, I feel like faces would be the biggest boon to this remake out of all possible changes. It’s rumored right now some changes are coming to stealth and blocking mechanics, and I’m sure lots of other small things are being tweaked. I think out of all of these things, the leveling system could most use change. Personally, I find the leveling in Oblivion to be fine, but I’ve noticed over the years it’s a point of contention for new players. I think removing those barriers is one of the most important things a remake such as this could do.

There’s also more frivolous things that I think are worth mentioning. One improvement I can imagine for this title is that the plugin content will finally be better integrated into the game. The player or faction house ones matter little to me, but Mehrune’s Razor is a real treat, and it’s some of the most fun content in the game. I think having Sundercliff Watch in the base game from the beginning in a way that players can all experience will be very cool. That is, of course, if the plugins and DLC are even included. If they are, I think this could be something to look forward to. There’s also the question of if they’ll include truly new content; I feel it’s doubtful considering how barebones the Skyrim Remaster was, but if they do, one of the things I always wished for in the original game was more things to spend your vast hordes of gold in the late game on. I’d be thrilled if we got such a thing!

There are lots of inherent things I’m excited for with this release simply by merit of it not being such an old game anymore. 64-bit support is obviously very nice. Oblivion had been sorely lacking gamepad controls for decades now. Right now, there is a mod to get it working, but in the age of PC handhelds, it makes the old version a bit inaccessible. I’m also really looking forward to achievement support on Oblivion. Oh, what fun it will be to get 100%.

One of my favorite things to do in Oblivion in times of old was simply walking around the world. Being immersed in the universe presented in the game, staying at inns to rest the night, having an ale at the tavern by moonlight, and riding off in the morning. As an adult with many more games to play these days, I find I don’t often slow down and play games like that anymore, but I hope this remake can expand the realness of the world the game presents. I hope it’s just as immersive as the original!

What are the risks of this remake? I think this is less bad than the Skyrim Remastered disaster, personally. This remake took a great deal of time to come out, and it’s very different from the base product. I think because of this, the impact to the modding community will be minimal. Oblivion has had a great deal of time to have mods published for it, and I think most anything that people really wanted to make has been released for years and years now. Since this remake is such a vastly different game, I feel that the community won’t be segmented and messy in the way Skyrim’s was. Though I must admit, I’m still slightly anxious. Maybe that’s goofy, but I kinda have this nebulous worry in the back of my head that somehow my favorite thing ever will be profaned in some way that makes me dislike it. That being said, Oblivion classic will never go anywhere. There is little to fear and much to be excited for, methinks.

I hope the players of this remake are diverse, and I hope Oblivion can find a new audience with this release. It’s a game that deserves playing, and I hope those younger than me will give it a shot.