Category: video-games

Bleaker’s Way in Oblivion Remastered: Beauty of the Small Village

Bleaker's Way in Oblivion Remastered Edition.
Bleaker’s Way in Oblivion Remastered Edition.

Bleaker’s Way in Oblivion was always one of my favorite places to visit. It is a nice little village nested in the hills leading up to Bruma. Unlike other places like Pell’s Gate or Weye, there is no major road which links it. It is simply there in the hills, hidden away from all the troubles of Cyrodiil. It reminds of places in Virginia, past the sprawl of the northern sections of the state. There is something so idyllic about it.

I think that this is why Oblivion still holds a strong place in my heart. When I go to small villages like Pell’s Gate and Bleaker’s Way, it gives me a sense of calm and serenity. While there are dangerous creatures wandering about, it seems that there are moments where one can simply smell the roses and enjoy them. Just as one would spend time outside in the real world, Oblivion allows us to take a breather and appericiate the world we are trying to save from the Daedra.

The beautiful landscapes of Oblivion Remastered Edition.
The beautiful landscapes of Oblivion Remastered Edition.

This is why the remaster is so important. It reminds that a cozy game isn’t just a pixel art game. It can be so much more and truly transcend its genre and give us a special world to explore.

Oblivion Remastered Success: Why it Matters to Gamers

Oblivion Remastered has been out since April and it is has been a great success. The game peaked at over 200,000 players on Steam and it also has been very active on both Xbox and Playstation platforms. It is clear that Bethesda Softworks has struck gold with Oblivion Remastered and it is revived interest in the game.

The Green Stain Cup in Oblivion Remastered Edition.
The Green Stain Cup in Oblivion Remastered. Even the smallest objects have been given intricate textures which brings out the colors.

The success of the game should be a sign that similar titles such Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, have an audience. That game is coming out in May and I expect that Oblivion Remastered will have an ability to share some of its success with that game. I think that Arthurian Dark Fantasy should be a great innovation on the stories. Tainted Grail will expand upon what RPGs are capable of showing in the visual art style.

Oblivion Remastered for people who haven’t played RPGs before is a treat. Many gamers who complain about Oblivion’s combat or leveling systems. However, they have to remember, many people have been born since 2006. Many people have gotten into gaming since 2006 also. Oblivion has gotten people interested in RPGs in a way that Skyrim did also.

I think that this is great for the industry.

The industry was in a state of stagnation for many years.

However, it seems that some energy is coming back to it.

All thanks to a revival of an old game.

When playing Oblivion Remastered, remember how it brought energy back to the gamers.

Gaming Journalism and the fall of Polygon.

It is not surprising to me that Polygon, one of the most infamous gaming sites on the internet is having major job cuts. The video game industry’s journalism side has always been a strange place. On one hand, it began as an offshoot of the computer nerd magazines of the 1970s. Many people who started writing for such publications, were nerds and not activists. They just loved computers as much as the software and programming nerds.

However, video gaming has changed and we now have tons of publications that are run by activists. Many of them wished to be on cable news or some left-wing internet news site. Instead, they settled on video gaming where they can spread their influence into this industry.

For a while, it seemed that their influence was not going anywhere. They popped up in every search result on Google or Bing. Gamespot and IGN had been successful and Polygon just represented the next stage of online gaming journalism. However, things are not that simple.

Why is it that these publications are cutting jobs like crazy?

It’s because they were not writing about video games anymore.

Every game that came from a big developer was basically a review that was ”sponsored” and not the person’s actual opinion. Even on YouTube, which was once a haven of truth, had become infested with corporate sites.

The reviewers became obessed with checklists of what the game represented to them instead of focusing on what made these video games, simply video games. Too many sites wanted to impose Hollywood on video games.

Video games have to be allowed to be video games. That means that not everything has to be politically correct. The nature of games is similar to that of animation, too much regulation gets in the way of the medium’s ability to express ideas.

What journalists need to accomplish is go back to writing about the games not about the politics. That what we want as gamers as the industry continues its changes.