Bethesda Softworks today officially revealed and launched The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, after days of leaks. And from what they've revealed, I'm very excited to give it a go. It's even Steam Deck Verified right from the get-go.
Morrowind modded in OpenMW is actually quite fun to play, the main thing I’d really appreciate in a remake would be getting rid of the D20 system for a more modern hit mechanic. Striking time and time again an enemy only to never do damage is so frustrating.
Absolutely, €55 is like a completely new Tripple A title.
Free however is a bit much to ask, but maybe €15 complete including the original, and €5-10 as an upgrade.
I agree, which is why I actually linked the SteamDB page for the original GOTY edition, to show the occasional €3 price.
And you can see the increase in price from 15 to 20, although it’s still €15 when I visit the Steam page?
Sorry, deleted my comment because I didn’t think anyone saw it yet. Looking closer this appears to be a consequence of them changing the names of the original oblivion. Looks like it messed with SteamDB. Checking the page for the deluxe edition shows it was always $20 (which SteamDB is wrongly interpreting as the price for the base game).
So in this case Bethesda did the appropriate thing and tried to clarify the original is the 2009 edition and I rushed to get upset at them for something they didn’t do.
OK Thanks for clearing it up, when I saw the graph I thought it was some sort of cheap trick to make the remake look less expensive.
Glad it was just a mistake.
However just to be clear, the 2009 game of the year is not JUST the original, it also includes the 2 expansions.
Deluxe also includes Morrowind and Skyrim.
ack-tually… that’s a separate Elder Scrolls Summer Bundle. The “base” GOTY version has Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles included, and then the “Deluxe” GOTY version adds all the smaller horse armor tier micro-transaction DLCs too. (that AFAIK you can’t buy separately any more?)
I agree the remaster looks good, but it’s very vanilla like naturalism and a bit boring IMO.
The original had a distinct style, which you may like or not.
Although the remaster can be argued to be objectively better, in that it is more accurate and detailed, the original however was more artistic, I think which you prefer is a matter of taste.
This is my main complaint with the remake so far. Original Oblivion was bright and vibrant, which stood out due to the obsession with brown-filtered “realism” in games at that time. Trees almost looked like they were painted with pastels.
The colors in the remake are noticeably toned down. It still looks great, but it lost that dreamlike quality that sold Oblivion as a fantasy world.
I haven’t seen how they handled the Shivering Isles yet, but if they managed to make the Plane of Madness boring then I’ll be more than a little annoyed.
You underestimate the amount of effort people put into shaders, models and texture packs.
Also, that the creation engine, as justifiably maligned as it is, is a magnificient piece of software. It came out during the era of the first unreal engine, but still works to make modern technical masterpieces like Starfield.
Oblivion uses Gamebryo. Creation is Skyrim and later games. That might seem pedantic since it’s a newer version of the same engine, but one of the major reasons for the rename was Bethesda ripping out the Gamebryo rendering code and replacing it with their own, more modern renderer.
The modders have still done amazing things with Oblivion, but they’re limited by the ancient Gamebryo tech. Postprocessing shaders, high-poly meshes and texture upscaling can only do so much, especially on a 32-bit engine that can use at most 4 gigs of RAM (2.5 gigs if Bethesda didn’t set the LAA flag and the end user hasn’t installed a 4GB patch).
Ha. Years counted for more back then. Remember, this was back in the day when graphics technology made a qualitative leap every few years. Nowadays things have stabilized and the focus is on boosting framerate and pixel count, but back then each generation was a monumental leap forward in fundamental rendering tech.
Absolutely, I know I programmed 8 bit graphics in assembly on the C64, and played with the custom chips of the Amiga in assembly too. fun times 😋
I was pissed that you couldn’t write off computers faster than 3 years, because in 3 years a computer was completely obsolete IMO, as in basically useless. Up until at least around when the GeForce 256 came out in 1999. After that 3 years was still old, but not completely useless.
Nowadays things have stabilized
I agree, nowadays it doesn’t matter much (IMO) to have a GPU that is a couple of years old. Admittedly I only use QHD/1440p. To render the same in 4K requires a 2.4 times more powerful GPU.
But oh boy when Voodoo, Voodoo2 came out, and then TNT, TNT2 and GeForce. Those were a lot of major upgrades in just 3 years. (1996-1999)
I’m still on dual 1080p monitors and a machine that’s more than a decade old and was mid-tier at best when brand new. I’ve only upgraded the GPU and doubled the RAM, yet it still runs basically everything at an acceptable framerate. Hearing that would boggle the mind of my younger self, who struggled for days to get Neverwinter Nights (the Bioware one, not AOL - you know you’re old when you feel the need to specify) to run at more than four seconds per frame in outdoor areas on a fairly new machine.
Alternatively enjoy the original experience at a fourth the price, available as game of the year edition that includes expansions.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/22330/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV_Oblivion_Game_of_the_Year_Edition_2009/
Or buy on sale for only 3 Euro!!
https://steamdb.info/app/22330/
€55 Euro for just a graphics remaster is bullshit IMO.
The original is also required to enjoy Skyblivion, the fan-made remake with much more love and care put into it, when it comes out later this year.
Oh it’s finally releasing as a finished game?!
Why do you think Bethesda threw this out the door with no warning? It’s their last chance to milk oblivion before more competent people step in
Yes, it’s about to be released as well! Skywind is not extremely far behind, too!
Morrowind modded in OpenMW is actually quite fun to play, the main thing I’d really appreciate in a remake would be getting rid of the D20 system for a more modern hit mechanic. Striking time and time again an enemy only to never do damage is so frustrating.
If Bethesda handles SkyWind the same as SkyBlivion I am actually quite stoked to play a UE5 version of Morrowind…
They announced a 2025 release date back in 2023, and as of the last video update a few months ago it seems they’re still hoping to hit it.
Don’t feed the parasite folks!
This should have been a free upgrade to people who already own the game already.
The remastered version is also incompatible with the 32,000+ mods that have been made for the original version.
Absolutely, €55 is like a completely new Tripple A title.
Free however is a bit much to ask, but maybe €15 complete including the original, and €5-10 as an upgrade.
deleted by creator
I agree, which is why I actually linked the SteamDB page for the original GOTY edition, to show the occasional €3 price.
And you can see the increase in price from 15 to 20, although it’s still €15 when I visit the Steam page?
Sorry, deleted my comment because I didn’t think anyone saw it yet. Looking closer this appears to be a consequence of them changing the names of the original oblivion. Looks like it messed with SteamDB. Checking the page for the deluxe edition shows it was always $20 (which SteamDB is wrongly interpreting as the price for the base game).
So in this case Bethesda did the appropriate thing and tried to clarify the original is the 2009 edition and I rushed to get upset at them for something they didn’t do.
OK Thanks for clearing it up, when I saw the graph I thought it was some sort of cheap trick to make the remake look less expensive.
Glad it was just a mistake.
However just to be clear, the 2009 game of the year is not JUST the original, it also includes the 2 expansions.
Deluxe also includes Morrowind and Skyrim.
ack-tually… that’s a separate Elder Scrolls Summer Bundle. The “base” GOTY version has Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles included, and then the “Deluxe” GOTY version adds all the smaller horse armor tier micro-transaction DLCs too. (that AFAIK you can’t buy separately any more?)
Also don’t forget that the original version has mods that make it look as good, if not potentially better, than this one.
Let’s not get too crazy, there are some graphics mods but Oblivion will still look like a PS3 game at best
I agree the remaster looks good, but it’s very vanilla like naturalism and a bit boring IMO.
The original had a distinct style, which you may like or not.
Although the remaster can be argued to be objectively better, in that it is more accurate and detailed, the original however was more artistic, I think which you prefer is a matter of taste.
This is my main complaint with the remake so far. Original Oblivion was bright and vibrant, which stood out due to the obsession with brown-filtered “realism” in games at that time. Trees almost looked like they were painted with pastels.
The colors in the remake are noticeably toned down. It still looks great, but it lost that dreamlike quality that sold Oblivion as a fantasy world.
I 100% agree, I liked the original graphics, the remake while it is pretty, is also a bit boring IMO.
I haven’t seen how they handled the Shivering Isles yet, but if they managed to make the Plane of Madness boring then I’ll be more than a little annoyed.
You underestimate the amount of effort people put into shaders, models and texture packs.
Also, that the creation engine, as justifiably maligned as it is, is a magnificient piece of software. It came out during the era of the first unreal engine, but still works to make modern technical masterpieces like Starfield.
Oblivion uses Gamebryo. Creation is Skyrim and later games. That might seem pedantic since it’s a newer version of the same engine, but one of the major reasons for the rename was Bethesda ripping out the Gamebryo rendering code and replacing it with their own, more modern renderer.
The modders have still done amazing things with Oblivion, but they’re limited by the ancient Gamebryo tech. Postprocessing shaders, high-poly meshes and texture upscaling can only do so much, especially on a 32-bit engine that can use at most 4 gigs of RAM (2.5 gigs if Bethesda didn’t set the LAA flag and the end user hasn’t installed a 4GB patch).
Oh boy how time flies…
But wouldn’t that mean it’s made by the Elders themselves?
Ha. Years counted for more back then. Remember, this was back in the day when graphics technology made a qualitative leap every few years. Nowadays things have stabilized and the focus is on boosting framerate and pixel count, but back then each generation was a monumental leap forward in fundamental rendering tech.
Absolutely, I know I programmed 8 bit graphics in assembly on the C64, and played with the custom chips of the Amiga in assembly too. fun times 😋
I was pissed that you couldn’t write off computers faster than 3 years, because in 3 years a computer was completely obsolete IMO, as in basically useless. Up until at least around when the GeForce 256 came out in 1999. After that 3 years was still old, but not completely useless.
I agree, nowadays it doesn’t matter much (IMO) to have a GPU that is a couple of years old. Admittedly I only use QHD/1440p. To render the same in 4K requires a 2.4 times more powerful GPU.
But oh boy when Voodoo, Voodoo2 came out, and then TNT, TNT2 and GeForce. Those were a lot of major upgrades in just 3 years. (1996-1999)
I’m still on dual 1080p monitors and a machine that’s more than a decade old and was mid-tier at best when brand new. I’ve only upgraded the GPU and doubled the RAM, yet it still runs basically everything at an acceptable framerate. Hearing that would boggle the mind of my younger self, who struggled for days to get Neverwinter Nights (the Bioware one, not AOL - you know you’re old when you feel the need to specify) to run at more than four seconds per frame in outdoor areas on a fairly new machine.