The Oblivion remake dropped a few weeks to the excitement of many Elder Scrolls fans across the globe, including myself. As someone who first discovered the Elder Scrolls world through Skyrim, a re-make of Oblivion, which, having spoken often to those who experienced the original Oblivion days, has a far more interesting vanilla story, I was excited at the chance to experience this era of Elder Scrolls lore for the first time.
My experience initially left me with mixed feelings, however, which I admit come perhaps from expectations that in reality I shouldn’t have had going into this game. For weeks now, I’ve read and listened to many people forewarn us first-timers that this game isn’t Skyrim (which of course, it can’t and shouldn’t be in its current state), but there was perhaps some part of me that hoped for an inkling of similarity to a game I regularly return to as a source of comfort and familiarity. Barring my own admitted unrealistic expectations, here's how my first few hours went:
Waking up in a cell or as a prisoner in the imperial dungeons set the scene for an interesting start to my character’s lore, and felt very familiar to the start we experience in Skyrim, when we wake up on a cart headed towards our execution. Meeting the emperor in the way that we do, as an obstacle in his escape route, is a fast-paced start that engages the player quite effectively. It raises crucial character-building questions as to who your character is, which is of course helped by the step-by-step character-building that is embedded in your flight from your cell with the emperor. Choosing one’s class, god sign, and details in this way was very immersive, and helped set the stage not only for who your character is and their back story, but sets a course for who they will be.
In my character’s case, I styled him as the ancestor to my first character in Skyrim; a Nord warrior who lost his way in the world prior to his capture, and someone very much willing to grasp at a second chance at freedom - whatever the cost. The trek through the dungeons gave me a glimpse at the combat, and to my dismay, the option to dual-wield seems to be non-existent in this game.
My dreams of wielding two weapons and playing a berserker-type character crushed, I made my way to where the Emperor and his Blades were and attempted to help defend the man who openly (and perplexingly) admitted to seeing me in his dreams. Being handed the Amulet of Kings sets one’s character up on a date with destiny, but as with any good open-world title, the urge to ignore becoming the Hero of Kvatch and explore this new world was too hard to resist.
Upon exiting the sewers, my first instinct was to explore the crown jewel of the Empire, so I began to wander the streets of the Imperial City, rags and chains on full display. It is here where I found Oblivion’s confusing persuasion mechanic for the first time. After several minutes of trying to make a vendor drop his prices through humor or flattery, I realized that my rags were very light on coin, and all I could afford was a pair of leather boots. Sporting my now fully covered feet, I did the thing that any reasonable individual would do to earn some income; I threw myself into the pit of the arena.
The arena was certainly one of the parts I was most excited about in this game, both as a concept in terms of gameplay, as well as an opportunity to build on my character’s lore. I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint, as after betting on my first fight (and winning), I threw my character head first into becoming a pit dog, and rising to the ranks of blood-letter in the process.
It was at this point that I met the Gray Prince, the arena’s champion, and after finding out that he too was a fellow who fell on hard times and had looked to the arena to find glory, I decided to help him find information on his birthright by going on a quest to Crowhaven in his stead. While I won’t put any spoilers in here exactly, it’s safe to say that completing this quest has an interesting twist in terms of the arena quest line as a whole and is well worth doing for those looking for a bit of a shock to the system.
Upon helping divulge the Gray Prince’s past to him and eventually becoming Champion, my character was set to seek his next distraction. This would ultimately lead me to join the Fighter’s Guild in Anvil, where my character’s blood-letting skills have so far been put to good use under the watchful eye of Azzan, the head of the Anvil chapter. The plan right now is to finish this storyline and rise through the ranks, adding to my character’s notoriety until he has a CV worthy of becoming the Hero of Kvatch. Right now, however, the realms of the Daedra can wait.
Aside from exploring a couple of dungeons and caves, this is where my character’s story stands, and I have to say I’m quite happy with it’s trajectory so far. As a gamer who heavily values both immersion and freedom of choice, my first few hours in Oblivion have highlighted aspects of this game that, despite it being Skyrim’s predecessor, leave the player with the ability to take a more open-ended approach to building one’s character. You are simply plopped in the world without excessive guidance and allowed to make your own way, without all the lights leading you to the next main story objective right away.
It might have taken a minute, but I also have to say that whilst this is a world I’m experiencing for the first time, there is a sense of familiarity to this game that, like Skyrim, gives me a sense of homecoming when I boot it up. The Elder Scrolls world has been an escape for me since 2011, and having yet another realm to explore in a more modernized fashion has been a welcome addition to the downtime I spend gaming. With ample mods already on the way too, I expect that some of the wonky features that perhaps I’d like to see changed (like the strange sprinting dynamic, which a mod for already exists) will be easily remedied and I’ll be able to fully focus on getting to explore the world and stories the province of Cyrodiil has to tell.
In writing this I did also want to add myself to the voices reiterating that this is not Skyrim, so for those expecting a simply more dated approach to it’s successor, then this game is definitely not that. Bethesda has very clearly and intentionally left the majority of elements from the original game to give it the same, independent feel, and while I myself was disappointed as perhaps not seeing some similarities or upgrades that might’ve perhaps made sense for a more modernized version of the game, comparison is well and truly the thief of joy. I am now resolved and excited to carry on my character's journey with an open mind, exploring the game for what it truly is and immersing myself in the lore of a world that I’ve only read about up until this point. Onwards to the planes of Oblivion.