Gameplay changes Oblivion Remake Should Make from Original

Summary

  • More variety in the dungeons is needed, as well as more deliberately designed dungeons

  • An overhaul of the leveling system would prevent min-maxing and boring attribute increase farming

  • Fans don't want more overpowered bandits, so adjustments to enemy levels would be needed

With the latest leaks of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion remake and its release date reportedly falls around June 2025, Elder scrolls fans are holding their breath for the return of one of the divisive games in the legendary open-world fantasy sandbox series. Rather than a remaster, that Oblivion remake is being rebuilt from the ground up in the Unreal engine and will likely implement significant changes.

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The leak has seemingly revealed few details of the expected changes, but after nearly two decades of discussion about Oblivions triumphs and failures, there is broad agreement on what should be kept in an Oblivion remake and what should be reworked.

Greater Dungeon Variety

Dig beyond just caves, mines, forts and Ayleid ruins

Dungeon delving is one of Oblivions central game loops. In other words, stumbling upon an underground gauntlet and looting it for its treasures is something players should find themselves doing quite often.

Unfortunately, there are only around four types i Oblivionwith only a few unique exceptions: mines, caves, Ayleid ruins, and abandoned dungeons, and their layouts can also seem quite copied. More variety and deliberately handcrafted dungeons would be a big improvement.

The leveling and progression system

Save players from themselves

As the player levels up their character in Oblivion, their attribute increase is tied to the skills they trained during their journey. Paired with Oblivions level scaling, this can create a situation where the player is at a high level but has subpar skills. Many players end up compulsively taking actions that lead to the “perfect” +5 attribute increase or intentionally design builds that place favorite abilities in the minor skill category, rather than major.

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Because of this, many consider Oblivion's leveling system to be the worst in the series. A simple solution would involve directly tying skill enhancements to attribute boosts. Levels may be staggered between a certain number of attribute increases, and for the player a reason to use inns and beds, rest may provide a skill leveling bonus (or perhaps regular rest may be a prerequisite to level skills in the first place).

Enemy level scaling

No more super-rich ebony-armored bandits

A classic complaint that has been leveled against Oblivion (but not at Skyrimwhich shares this mechanic) is that its leveling system makes the game extremely difficult and immersion-breaking at high levels. After hitting a certain level, the player will begin to notice common bandits strutting around with insane amounts of hit points and glass or ebony gear that could make them for life, if only they had the foresight to pawn. all in.

These bandits start appearing everywhere, even in places the player had visited. The Oblivion remake should take a leaf out Skyrims book and level some enemies and areas selectively, though, unlike Skyrimdungeons (especially those that have been cleared) should have a chance to repopulate with new, scaled (up or down) enemies.

The feeling of combat, weapons and HP mushrooms

Soak up all the pleasure

At the time of its release, Oblivions battle felt visceral, especially compared to that of Morrowind's dice-and-chance-based implementation. Today, the lack of reactions shown by the NPCs, fluid melee attacks, and stiff archery animations make its combat feel dated. New technology and animation techniques can easily make animations look and feel lifelike Oblivion remake, including those seen during battle. The weapons that were mysteriously absent (crossbows, melee staves, spears, and throwing weapons) could also make a triumphant return.

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Leaks have suggested that Virtuos will rework archery (in both first and third person). The Oblivion remake should also address the fact that increasing difficulty was largely due to increasing an enemy's hit point pool, turning them into “HP sponges”. At the very least, their hit points should be capped. Even better, the difficulty can be scaled in a more nuanced way or expressed through progressively smarter combat AI.

The Persuasion minigame

Make a better impression during negotiations

Oblivions attempt to gamify persuasion feels very much like a first draft and is a blunt reminder to the player that they are playing a video game. In addition to destroying immersion, it is completely nullified by the charm spell, which requires a single button press and has zero consequences for use.

The answer is not to remove the language skill or a way to improve disposition with NPCs but to replace it with a minigame or system that makes more sense. An abstract representation of player-NPC banter could still work, but something along the lines of Starfields persuasion system would be better, though it would require a lot of new writing and voice acting.

A Lore-accurate Cyrodiil & Imperial City

The jungle of Cyrodiil, the east-west divide and the city of a thousand cults

Fans of Morrowind familiar with the Imperial City and Cyrodiil were confused and disappointed to find that the once jungled and wild seat of the Sundered Kings had been turned into a generic imitation of The Lord of the Rings'Middle Earth. This major Elder scrolls retcon will be remembered by very few fans today, and such a wild departure from the source material is unlikely. However, the possibility of a lore-accurate Cyrodiil is too compelling not to mention. At least the remake can officially restore the missing city, Sutch.

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Radically changing the stereotypical European fantasy landscape of swamps, rainforests, an East-West geocultural divide (Colovia and Nibonay), and a jeweled thousand-island imperial city filled with cults and religious diversity, as originally envisioned by the Pocket Guide to the Empire, 1st Edition, would be a headline-grabbing and change that would go down in game development history as legendary development. Virtuos, the studio behind the remake, was able to benefit from its remaking experience Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eaterbecause that game also takes place in a jungle.

Large-scale battles should be large-scale

Tamriel's last stand against otherworldly demons should be more than a skirmish

The Elder Scrolls series has always centered around a lone adventurer, sometimes accompanied by faithful companions, and their exploration of the world. Large-scale battles are not what the series is known for. However, there are moments in Oblivion which truly calls for a conflict of epic proportions.

Bruma's defense against the Great Oblivion Gate (or any coordinated confrontation with an Oblivion Gate for that matter) is depicted as fighting between some Daedra and a handful of city guards. With today's technology, a more impressive display is certainly possible, even if it would involve perspective tricks of signage.

NPC AI and presentation

The meme-worthy NPCs will always live on in the original

For many fans, the ultimate appeal of The Elder Scrolls 4 lies in the unhinged, potato-turned NPCs of Cyrodiil's towns, cities, and settlements. Their quirky brilliant AI, jerky ragdoll physics and unintentionally hilarious dialogue (delivered between a cast of four or five voice actors) make Oblivion what it is. Perhaps worst of all is the lack of beards on male NPCs.

Although it's a buzz-kill to admit, everyone tries to redo Oblivion and catching this very specific rant would end in failure. A clean break from memes and creepy expressions would benefit the remake, and there's no reason they should have to lose their original bright personality and charm. The original release will always be around (unless Bethesda decides to pull the digital plug), and nothing can take away those memories of those glitchy, eerie casts from the fans.

Inventory UI/UX for mouse and keyboard

Or at least separate implementations between PC and consoles

As clean and unobtrusive as the non-menu interface is, the inventory and alchemy interface Oblivion was obviously designed around consoles, and as such is a pain to navigate for PC users.

While the “you olde” style of UI could remain, with its charming, medieval portraits and icons, the navigation of spells and item lists should ideally be different between PC and console, or at least allow players to customize the layout.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion The remake is reportedly in development and will be released in 2025.

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