The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review (Kiodin)
Oblivion is still surprisingly good and I’ll try using this review to highlight some important things a player might be considering about playing this game on recent times.
1)You can use mods, but you don’t have to:
When I was planning my most recent play of Oblivion, I though it would be necessary the use of mods. I’ve delayed starting this game for a while because of this - since Oblivion is not easy to mod as Skyrim is. Truth is that I’ve started totally vanilla and stayed that way through the end of a 100h campaign and I can say that this game holds up pretty well without any mods.
The game is still beautiful, the art is incredible, the whole visual is still appealing somehow. Mechanics works pretty well and etc. I know mods can improve a lot of things but I think modding Oblivion is not a requirement to enjoy the game today.
2)You should play on first person perspective:
That goes for every Bethesda games mostly. Third person is janky and not cool. It works for when you want to see your character and that’s it. If you want to play a third person game I suggest going for another game. Oblivion is a first person game and this is a game change thing for me.
3)Keyboard and Mouse are game changes:
I was always a controller guy and I had a lot of fun playing Oblivion on my old PS3 back in 2010, but that was there. Playing with KM is so much better that I can’t even tell and this is something that can totally change how you feel the game. And it’s not only about using hotkeys and having a more free control of the camera movement. It’s about just everything! Even the bad menu navigation that were based on consoles works better with KM in my opinion.
4)Some builds works better than others gameplaywise:
The best mechanics for me is sword and shield, magic and not so much playing stealthy. That tip works for Skyrim as well. Playing a stealth build works nicely in some way, however, the mechanics are a bit dated for a stealth game - and also makes exploring dungeons way too long and a bit boring in my opinion, specially compared to newer entries on stealth mechanics over the past 15 years. So, my tip for making the best of the gameplay is playing with magic plus/or weapons and shield and going wide open exposing yourself in combat.
You can actually do what you want and playing stealthy can be a lot of fun as well. It works in the end! Just consider what I am saying specially if you feel that the game is dragging. Also, because I didn’t try all the possible builds as well so I’m just saying what I feel rather than try to set some rules here.
5)The combat feels like “Doom or Quake” and it’s awesome:
The combat is way more fast paced than Skyrim - and that actually depends on your build as well. Playing with a no armor mage I felt I was like the doom guy shooting magic instead of a gun, and it was awesome. On another play I tried sword and shield with heavy armor and it was way slower, but even so, more arcadish than what I feel when I play Skyrim - which is slower and heavier.
That said, for me the most important thing to note is the timing of the enemies attacks. It is way more easier to dodge compared to Skyrim. Which makes running around and dodging multiple incoming attacks more manageable in Oblivion. And sometimes I felt like playing Quake, or Doom, for real. This makes the Oblivion combat fun and kind of unique, more closer to boomers shooters I think!
6)Pure mage is pure fun:
Playing as pure mage is unique in Oblivion due to the quantity of spells you have at your disposal. You can do just about everything with magic: you can walk over water, breath under water, become invisible, control other players and creatures, open chests, bring objects to your hand using telekinesis, create space on your inventory by increasing how much weight you can carry, detect others around using life detection, summon creatures to help you in battle, etc. Mix all that with alchemy options and I had the best experience as a mage ever in an RPG game. The fact that you have a dedicated and separated button to magic instead of equipping as a weapon helps as well since you can use enchanted weapons with magic in a more practical way. Skyrim has the dual cast benefit, which is absent here, but I think I prefer Oblivion way.
Oblivion has a spell efficiency mechanic that benefits no armor use. My mage wears common clothes, lol. What I did to deal with the no protection problem was using shield spells and later enchanting my clothes with stacking shield spells as well. You can be a truly overpowered beast playing as pure mage in Oblivion and it’s so much fun since you’ll use magic for everything, all the time.
7)Sword and shield play:
Later I did a play with a second character using a traditional sword and shield approach, but trying a custom class that included alchemy and restoration spells. The heavy armor makes the combat slower and you need to study the timing on investing attacks and raising the shields way more. It takes more attention and makes the game way harder. I think the sword fighting of Oblivion and Skyrim are still very good for a first person melee combat. It holds up pretty well and it is a different game than playing with a pure mage.
8)The dialogs are better than I was expecting:
There is tons of Oblivion memes on the internet regarding the fun dialog and AI. Bethesda tried what they’ve called ‘radiant AI’ for the time and it was a bit of marketing and a bit of a flaw because of not reaching the level of promising and ambitious it was intended. However, Oblivion is not a dumb game. It’s the opposite actually, since quests and story lines tend to have better explanations than what they did in Skyrim, for example. In Skyrim characters tend to be more direct to the point and this is a bit rough sometimes in my opinion. Oblivion has pretty decent lines and explanations and can be really engaging even on some small quests. That was something I wasn’t expecting so it was a nice surprise.
Conclusion:
Oblivion is still a pretty decent game that can be surprisingly good even on vanilla. Gameplay is up to date, visuals can be surprisingly beautiful sometimes, the text is decent, and exploration is rewarding. Highly recommended for anyone, because I’ve never felt as I was playing an old game, for real.
Rate: S = Masterpiece