The Elder Scrolls – My Game Reviews

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is one of the standout games of 2025 Graphics

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.

The Original Oblivion still looks beautiful in 2025

The Imperial City in The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion — The Original Oblivion still looks incredible.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion got a remastered version in April of this year. It was quite a treat as the game has given what I consider to be my favorite version of the Elder Scrolls a boost in visibility. A game that was in the shadows of the massive titan of Skyrim, was now getting in its place in the sun

After I played the Oblivion Remastered, I went back to original Oblivion and I was impressed still with the graphics. They have aged in some areas but I think what is most important is that the game has is the style of the graphics. This is an area that many groundbreaking games tend to have issues with having a timeless style as they are so focused on impressing people who want to benchmark their computers not think about the artistic style.

The Imperial City vantage point is from Bleaker's Way. — The Imperial City vantage point is from Bleaker’s Way.

The village of Bleaker’s Way is larger than most of the equivalent villages in Skyrim. Its location is quite angelic in a sense. It is nestled in the hills, hidden away from any major buildings. However, you get great views of the imperial City from these screenshots that I have taken. This is just a great place to take screenshots. This is what the game is great at here. Skyrim seems to have improved upon it but I love Oblivion’s vistas more. I think it’s because Skyrim is more in line with browns and its greenery is closer to Riften which is much further to the South. Skyrim does not have a great variety of greenery within its snowy and cold climate. However, it’s just too earthy for me, probably because it just doesn’t look as good in a game.

Oblivion has the right style to me.

The Heartlands were always the best looking part of the game in my opinion. While all the other regions have their charm, it is in the center of Cyrodil where the game really shines here. It makes sense as this where the player would first see the incredible environments of Oblivion after leaving the dark areas of the sewers. This is what makes Oblivion so unique in the sense of games at this time. Many games were becoming brownish in the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 generation era. Oblivion stood as a symbol of Arthurian color in a sea of browns and grays.

The village of Bleaker’s Way, even in the original version is so beautiful to glance at. You want to take time just to glance the rustic beauty of the houses and colors of the flowers. It is truly a place that one can touch grass and enjoy the roses.

Even closer up, the Imperial City and water gives off such majesty.

Even with its rustic simplicity in some of the villages, Oblivion has a style that is timeless and makes cherish it every time I keep playing the game even if Skyrim is technically more sophisticated than it.

There is just something about the style that keeps it interesting to players in our age.

The Demonic Realm of the Oblivion Gates: Oblivion Remastered’s Incredible Graphics and Style

In comparison with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Oblivion is very different game in its style. Skyrim takes in a time of change, and it seems that the Septim Empire is no longer the great juggernaut that it once was. It is a time of the Nords reawakening to their ancient imperial past and the Imperials are finding themselves in an age of much greater competition than had existed in Oblivion.

The catalyst of this imperial decline and turmoil? The Oblivion Crisis caused by the Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of Destruction. Unlike the other Daedric Princes, he is blatantly a chaotic and vicious entity and the amount of damage he caused by his armies descending upon the Septim Empire can’t really even be seen in the game. However, if we were to think about it realistically within the confines of the lore and culture, the Oblivion Crisis severely weakened the whole empire, causing the Mede Dynasty to come to power and the metaphysical strength of the empire gone and various Mer and Beasts rising to power in their various realms.

Unlike the Dragons in Skyrim, the Oblivion Plane of Mehrunes Dagon is a land of contrast with the land of milk and honey in Cyrodiil in spite of the bandits and the dangerous creatures walking around in that area.

When you enter the Oblivion Gates, the graphics of the Remastered Version showcase the power of the original design with a new coat of paint.

Many games do not even come close to how powerful this demonic realm appears to the player, especially in the new version.

Here is a gallery of photos showcasing the immense weight of the Oblivion Realm.

While it does not have much color variation, the details in the Remastered version are incredible; this is also only on the GeForce Now version. On more powerful computers, the quality must be even higher. The Oblivion Gates are huge contrast to the world outside; everything is twisted and vicious. Even the plants seem demonic and more akin to violence than giving life in this realm. There are no butterflies, no flowers, no lilac pads of any kind. It’s just black rocks soaring into the sky with rivers of lava everywhere.

This is a truly unique experience. It makes you understand why saving the world outside the Oblivion Gates is so important. Unlike the Dragons which are so easily hit by arrows in Skyrim, the separation of the Oblivion Gates from the regular world helps to provide the importance to the mission of the hero in this story.

There is nothing greater in Oblivion than being able to close those gates and reenter the world of Cyrodiil knowing you are standing against the forces of Mehrunes Dagon and engaging in a great struggle of survival.

It is what makes the game interesting and have the weight that has kept it fresh for so many years after its original release in 2006. Oblivion Remastered show that age on a video game can truly make some great wine that everyone wants to enjoy.