RPGS – Page 3 – My Game Reviews

Oblivion Remastered Vs Original Oblivion’s Graphics

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a game that has often been long in the shadow of Skyrim. In many ways, Skyrim overtook the attention of the middle child, Oblivion, and took away its toys.

The 2011 Elder Scrolls Game, Skyrim, which takes place in the homeland of the Nords sold over 60 million copies. A game which sells that many copies isn’t simply a success, but it has an imprint on gaming culture. The game has been so dominant for so long that Bethesda has struggled with finding a plan to develop a sequel that would be able to surpass it.

Skyrim with its better graphics and more streamlined experience allowed for it greatly surpass Oblivion. Many gamers enjoyed Skyrim without knowing that there have been four separate games in the Elder Scrolls Series before Skyrim. For many players, Skyrim is The Elder Scrolls.

The Imperial City in the original Oblivion. — The Imperial City in Oblivion’s original version always seemed to be a bit too gray in its style.

Oblivion was always the dark horse and was obscure for many years. The Remastered Edition brings Oblivion back into the spotlight. It also shows what the contemporary Video Game industry is now missing in its spirit. That spirit is what made so many classic games. Now, the video game industry is simply unable to build anything that can truly surpass the older generations of games.

When one compares the original Oblivion and Oblivion Remastered, one can see that Oblivion and Skyrim were merging in the new version.

Saliith training in the Arena in the Imperial City area. — Saliith training in the Arena in the Imperial City. Notice how the columns of the building they are training has more distinctive details, allowing for the city to have an even more Greco-Roman look to it.

While the older version of Oblivion was more colorful, Oblivion Remastered is more similar in style in both graphics and its UI to Skyrim. In the screenshot above, one can see that the game has a more desaturated look in comparison to the older Oblivion versions.

The walls surrounding Bruma seem like they could right at home in Skyrim. One city that it reminds of in Skyrim is Whiterun or even Solitude.

OC Oblivion Heartlands. — How the Heartlands looked like in OC Oblivion 2006.

As you can see in the screenshot above, the original game had a more colorful look in comparison.

The Orcs in the original game had deeper tones of Green as shown here.

The Original look for the Orc Race in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006).

Compare that to the graphics here:

The New Look for the Arena Light Raiment in Oblivion Remastered (2025).

These are same pieces of clothing here. The big difference is the realism of the cloth and the colors. Unlike in the original version of Oblivion, the colors in the Remastered edition do not have the dark blue shade. The raiment in OC Oblivion looks like someone dipped the clothes into a blue dye. The blues are very dark while in the Remastered edition, the blues seem to be more realistic and also have some dirt on them.

Another area of comparison is that of the Imperial City, which has the most NPCs in the game.

Imperial City in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006).

The greenery and bluish tones of the Original Oblivion seem go well with each other. The main area which changes this look is the lighting and how shadows are rendered in the game. Unreal Engine 5 is a true leap in being able to provide more depth and details to shadows. However, what this does to the game is gives it a more realistic look which makes it seem more historical in a sense.

Imperial City in Oblivion Remastered Edition.

As you can see, lighting makes all the difference here. The game now seeks to make The Elder Scrolls less like a Tolkein style game and more like more recent games such as Elden Ring and Avowed. Some of this trend towards darker lighting seems to be a product of both technology and cultural changes as a result of Skyrim’s dominance in the RPG genre.

The thing that is most striking about the differences between versions is the sky is more realistic and more desaturated. Having this change in how shadows and lighting being rendered in the game has taken away some of the color that was prominent in the OC Oblivion.

Imperial City Talos Plaza Oblivion Remastered

The Remastered version is faithful in reproducing the locations of the original game. However in one aspect of the Imperial City that caught my attention is the addition of these blue tinted shingles on buildings in the Talos Plaza District in the Imperial City. In my opinion, this is a great addition to the game and helps bring out more color to the city.

The original game’s Imperial City was more grayish in its style and I see that the shingles having a color now makes it more interesting now.

These changes show the how the Video Game industry has improving in the realm of fidelity and made a leap into almost photorealistic graphics.

What Oblivion Remastered accomplishes is being faithful to the original game while updating some aspects of the gameplay. I think that the success of the release alongside newer titles is a testament to Oblivion’s excellent design, music and overall atmosphere.

The beauty of Weye in Oblivion Remastered Edition (Geforce Now)

There are some locations in Oblivion Remastered which are so beautiful one has to take a screenshot before moving on to their next objective here. I think that the greatest aspect of Oblivion in the original version was the graphics around the Imperial City. I would always go on the bridge going towards Weye, a small hamlet with an Inn and man’s farm with some flowers on the stone walls surrounding it.

Weye Oblivion Remastered — The beautiful cottage of Weye right at the bridge which goes to the Imperial City in Oblivion Remastered edition.

This cottage outside the Imperial City represents what I love about Oblivion. It is a game which understands how to utilize its environment to make it truly inviting to the player.

With the usage of Unreal Engine 5, the game looks better than ever. As I have stated in previous articles, the game is not the same painterly look as in the original game. However, now Oblivion has a more lived in look rather than this painterly, almost Monet style of appearance.

I think what I just love about it is how cozy it is.

Cozy games have generally been seen as the domain of the casual gamer.I think it would great to see more people in the Gaming industry attempt to give players an ability to breathe. Not all games have to be full of nonstop action.

Too many games are about being realistic but boring. Oblivion Remastered manages to accomplish being an exciting game with new graphics which truly flesh out Cyrodiil.

Comparing Oblivion Remastered Arena and The Classic Arena

The interior of the Bloodworks in Oblivion Remastered. — The interior of the Bloodworks in Oblivion Remastered .

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered’s Arena storyline looks better than ever and here are my impressions of this classic storyline.

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered edition is selling like hot cakes and I have been enjoying it. This is a game of my teenage years and when first got into Role Playing Games. Unlike Skyrim, I consider the Elder Scrolls

I have been taking screenshots of multiple areas of interest in the game just so that I can analyze what the graphics and how Bethesda has been improving the way the game looks.

I think that one of my favorite locations in the game is the Bloodworks located in the Imperial City Arena district area. It is a nice and compact map and there, one can enter the Bloodworks underneath the Arena building.

The Arena plotline is one of my favorite in the game due to its compact nature. I love gladiator style games and Oblivion’s plotline here in the Arena is right for me.

Oblivion Remastered Light Raiment Woman — My Nord Character wearing the Arena Light Raiment. Here you can see how it fits on my female character.

When you compare the graphics of the original game and this remastered version, you get a sense of color that once missing in the clothes in Oblivion’s gamebyro engine. The one thing that bothers me about the game the most is that the color palette of the game is not the same now. The colors that were brighter and more painterly in the original game are currently missing in favor of greater realism in the game.

One can also see that the people in the stands of the arena are not as visible in Oblivion Remastered. They are more in the shadows and the fog rather than standing out like a sore thumb here. There is also a neat addition of some shade for the spectators of the Arena combat. The Arena also looks more intimidating, like in a sense its place of savage entertainments. I think it is going to be one of the standout graphical enhancements to the game.

The entrance to the Arena in Oblivion Remastered edition.

The Arena in Oblivion Remastered is much better than the original Arena. In the original game, the arena did not have this look as you can see above.

The Arena in remastered version of Oblivion Remastered is more reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum. The way how the lighting looks here makes it seem that the Arena is in Hammerfell, land of the Redguards and not the center of Septim Empire.

I think that the Arena in Oblivion is a great showcase of the shadows and lighting of the new version.

As you can see here, the arena in the original game did not have the same lighting. New graphics technology that is available in Unreal Engine 5 gives a new life to the Imperial City Arena.

Here is my Orc Barbarian in the Arena. The costume lacks a certain color variety here and is only in one dark shade of blue and some browns. Oblivion Remastered simply brings out the clothes out more in the clothes in the game. The Orcs also look more realistic in this game also. Some players prefer the older versions of the Orcs and I have mixed feelings about it. However, with the move to Unreal Engine 5, modern graphics were going to change some of the races.

The Classic look of Oblivion's Imperial City. — The Classic look of Oblivion’s Imperial City

As one can see in these images, Oblivion was originally a more a painterly game. The transition towards a higher quality has made the game in the words of one user I saw on YouTube become more like: A Roman Empire style Simulator Game. I can see that comparison makes sense, especially when one looks at the screenshot below with my warrior standing victorious after a match with combatant in her light armor. This game looks gorgeous in my opinion.

My Nord Warrior stands victorious in the Imperial City Arena.

I played a couple matches and the experience is much better than in the original game. The lighting, effects and the gameplay all match into a cohesive whole.

The Arena hallway in Oblivion Remastered Edition.

I think that the remaster adds alot of character to the Arena. It was always the most interesting part of the game for me other than the main quest. I just love the gladiatorial combat in the game and I wish that Bethesda would put more of this into Elder Scrolls VI.

As players continue their exploration of Cyrodill, I highly recommend taking a look at the Arena questline in this classic game.