Oblivion – My Game Reviews

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.

The Imperial City Sewers in Oblivion Remastered: A Testament to Great Environmental Storytelling

The Imperial City Sewers in Oblivion Remastered Edition.

The Imperial City is one of my favorite places in Oblivion. When the Remastered Oblivion was released in April, I went straight into the city, trying to see what had been changed by the people renovating the game. I was happy to see that the Imperial City got a much needed change in its style and I was taking screenshots everywhere I was walking in the metropolis of the Septim Empire.

There was another aspect of the city that I enjoyed from the original game. This was the sewers of the Imperial City, which Bethesda had put so much effort into. In comparison to most games, Bethesda seems to remember that cities have infrastructure and have an inner life beneath their streets.

While the Imperial City Sewers may seem like a boring place, I think it makes a big impression on me. That Bethesda would spend their time putting effort into the Imperial City sewers, and give it a sense of verticality and not just make them into linear areas, is a great way of giving more depth into the Imperial City as a character.

When one thinks about cities in Video games, they tend to revolving more around the player and do not seem like livable places. However, in Bethesda’s games, they have managed to build cities that seem inviting to the player without revolving around them.

The sewers are a city onto themselves and that is saying something about the design of the Imperial City. When one enters through the gates of the sewers, one is treated to underground world where sewage and all various creatures and bandits are coexisting with one another in the bowels of the empire.

Some people say that the game starting in a sewer hurts the game; I actually say that it improves the moment when you exit the sewers and see the Elven ruins in front of you. It shows great contrasts in the colors and the mood there. You go from a place of confinement into a place filled with the possibility of adventure. It that feeeling which makes us want to explore the world and not follow the main quest.

Bethesda is really great at getting us to care about such environments and Oblivion Remastered could give us a taste of what’s to come with The Elder Scrolls VI.

This is what was missing in a game such as Skyrim. The cities in that game were simply too small and I felt like even the big cities were lacking an inner nature. The sewers of the Imperial City seem to imply a history beyond the player. There is infrastructure which keeps cities running and Bethesda manages to simulate it.

Imperial City Sewer Openings in the game.

The sewers beckon to the player like an underground realm of Hades. It is remarkable how the developers made such an effort at bringing to life a place that people do not go to. It is important to understand how the nooks and cranies aspect of Bethesda’s games is what makes them special as role playing games.

Their environments is their strength. When I go into any Bethesda game, I notice how they tell great stories through the cities and environments in those games.

Oblivion Remastered gave me what I wanted to have in a game. I did not want a linear experience that was on rails. I want a living, breathing world full of possiblities.

Bethesda knows how to scratch that itch that no other developer can. That is why the Elder Scrolls series is a truly special among gamers.

Oblivion Remastered’s Censorship gives an opening to Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon’s beautiful women.

beautiful-liliana-in-tainted-grail-the-fall-of-avalon

The Oblivion Remastered Edition has been censoring women. While these changes are small, it is clear that Bethesda Softworks is still going through the process of ”cleaning up” its games. If you compare the screenshot of my character on the left and the screenshot of a drawn woman in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, it is clear that there are two trends happening here.

Having Intimacy in Bethesda Games

Originally, Oblivion was rated ”T” by the ESRB in America. However, after mods in 2006 were taking the clothes off the female characters, the game was re-rated as “M” or mature. The same thing happened to other popular games such as GTA: San Andreas. The video game industry was much bigger than it had been in the 1990s but it was still under the cover. Many people were not paying attention to it.

However, it was clear that the transition of themes relating to relationships between characters began to change between Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, where there is a clear shift in how Bethesda approached the issue of player choice and how they could interact with characters of the opposite or same sex.

Fallout 3 had many brutal and sensous characters. However, Fallout 4 was a strange game that did not repersent a progression of the mythos but more of a regression. The sequel was more about domesticity stolen than anything else. The game starts in the Pre-War suburbs of Boston and the all the beauty of domesticity and family life are broken by atomic bombs being dropped on America. Fallout 4 however refuses to allow the player to be anything but a mother or father searching for their son.

This trend meant that Bethesda did not want to make attractive women characters anymore. Any hint of any intimacy in the games was taken out and instead it was hidden behind violence and better shooting mechanics.

The charm that made the Bethesda games simply unique was taken away from the games.

What Tainted Grail can bring some beauty back into games

While this is only a small section of the game, having the image of a woman that is beautiful in a game is enough to garner some outrage in some circles. However, among gamers who think with the heads, are going to be okay with it. That is what matters here. They shouldn’t be trying to appeal to people who have no interest in playing video games. In my previous article on Tainted Grail, I say that it has the potential with becoming the next Skyrim. With the genre being so stagnant, it is clear that there is something needed in order to get to be needed to revigoriate it.