Oblivion Remastered has to be one of the best surprises of this year. Being a big fan of High Fantasy, this game was a treat to enjoy.
Being released in the spring, this felt like the perfect game for such a season. The screenshot above shows why here. This is a section of the Cyrodil map near the center of it and this is just a small pond here. The water lilies and the flowers are just so magical in this new version of the game here. I just had to take some time to take screenshots.
The Elder Scrolls Games, specifically Oblivion and Skyrim are games where you can just relax and enjoy the scenery. It is a great game just to engage with when one wants to just explore over following a linear set of objectives.
I have written about why I enjoyed playing Oblivion Remastered. I was bigger fan of Oblivion over Skyrim. I thought that Skyrim was a game which, while great, was too earthy for a fantasy game. I like the color and graphics of Oblivion. The new remastered graphics show why remastering these games is so important for preserving the efforts that brought these games to us gamers.
In an age where many video games just seem like a waste of money, this is a great achievement in here to get the industry back on track, so it is more vibrant in here.
The gameplay was already of great quality and the remastering helped to refine it.
However, the graphics have given the muddy looking yet colorful game another lease on life which is what they were trying to achieve with this edition.
In comparison to the original version, I think that the strongest aspect are the mountains. In the image above, one how much better looking such mountains are in comparison to the original version.
The one thing that I will give the original version is that it has brighter colors. There is this browness in the grass in the Remastered version which makes it look more like Skyrim in comparison.
When it comes to Weye right next to the Imperial City, there is something truly beautiful about the rustic country buildings in the evening light here. The flowers on the vines on the stone walls also provide a beautiful color contrast here.
The Remastered edition’s ability to render shadows really elevates the graphics. While the color is desaturated and not the best, I like how the nearby NPC’s clothing is interacting with the shadows and light in a complex way here.
It is during the night that I think the remastered edition’s color palette start to surpass the original versions. The lighting effects are greatly improved in the Remastered version have a softer presence, which I think helps to elevate the night especially in cities such as the Imperial City, and other urban areas.
While the color scheme isn’t really what I wanted, I think screenshots such as those above, explain why people keep coming to Oblivion even after playing Skyrim. There is something that the game manages to capture in the natural environment of the game.
This game had many pretty entries but this remastering of Oblivion is among one of the best I have seen.
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