Oblivion The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Retrospective

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Oblivion? One of the most boring games I've played. Usually I solve sidequests in games and then go to the main story. In Oblivion I was so bored with side content that I went to the main story to finish it ASAP and then uninstalled the game without regretting it. Couldn't bare playing that game more than I did. Nothing, and I really mean nothing, kept my interest in it.

Morrowind - one of the best games ever, a material for top 10 RPGs of it's decade
Daggerfall, Battlespire, Redguard - sorry but... numerous things annoyed me in those and I could never ever replay any of them
Arena - never played it so dunno
 
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Easily the weakest game of the series.
 
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For my part, I like Oblivion better than Morrowind - but Skyrim is FAR ahead of both of them.

All TES games before Skyrim were quite incomplete in one way or the other, if you ask me. Skyrim is the first TES game that successfully combines all the different pieces into a truly cohesive and consistent whole.

Still far from perfect, though.
 
For my part, I like Oblivion better than Morrowind - but Skyrim is FAR ahead of both of them.

I'm with you on that. I enjoyed Morrowind and both the official expansions. But I never had a desire to revisit that game and I still don't.

Anyway, I'm glad I checked this forum as about 3 weeks ago I started a brand new play through of Oblivion. I'm about 35 hours into it with my custom Battlemage.

I have the game modded pretty good this time around. My first playthrough of the game back in 2006 was just the vanilla game. Most of my mods center around UI improvements. They make the game so much more enjoyable by providing better levels of feedback and efficient ways of carrying out repetitive actions.

I am using DarnifiedUI, a mod that puts a mini map on the main screen, a mod that improves the alchemy interface, and a mod that allows you to ctrl and shift-click through barter transactions and inventory management (that mod alone, while not very glamorous, is quite awesome).

The remainder of mods I'm using affect visuals. Water effects. Underwater effects. Seeing through windows when inside an interior cell. Things of that nature.

All that said, I am also use Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul as the sole mod that changes gameplay. I am glad I'm using it as it truly does give a much better sense of character progression.

Like many other before me, if you played vanilla oblivion that's one thing, but the game is substantially improved, feels almost like new (except for the visuals) in some respects.
 
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Oblivion's been getting most of my attention throughout the summer months, despite the releases of D:OS (which I've been looking forward to ever since it was announced) and R3.

I've been playing Oblivion heavily modded, though most of the mods have to do with GUI improvements (some of which without I don't think I could have stuck with the game all summer) and a few immersion type mods such as seeing through windows from inside a cell -things like that. Aside from those kinds of mods, the only gameplay changing mod I have installed is OOO - which as you might know changes the difficulty of the game in several ways, adds a few quests, and includes a collection of other mods which also change gameplay in various ways. It's a great mod.

I've been trying to figure out just why I'm so hooked on the game now, many years later, when my first play through back in 2006 was so, 'meh.'

I think it's a combination of, 'I've Changed' + something sort of 'clicked' and as it relates to the Elder Scrolls series in general I sort of 'get it' now more so than in the past.

I was always a big fan of strong narrative RPGs such the Ultima series, Gothic series, Divinity series, and so on. Elder Scrolls, with its 'sandbox' trademark is something that I struggled with a lot more to appreciate. But somehow, this play through of Oblivion has made me appreciate the concept much more. As a result, I would like to revisit Morrowind and even Skyrim once again.
 
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