I’m Your Biggest Fan, You’re the Grand Champion!
The Elder Scrolls IV came out in 2006 and visually shows its age, but with the amount of content it had Oblivion blew every game out of the water that came out beforehand and every game for years to come until Skyrim, which I would say is still inferior to the fourth entry in the storied Western RPG Series. As per my profile I’ve been gaming basically since I learned to walk, beginning mostly on RTS’ that I could play with my brother and a few others, Diablo II, and the FPS’ that came out throughout the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Games that you could feel out and wouldn’t require a ton of worldbuilding because you just sort of jumped in and got to see what was there for you almost immediately. Oblivion though? That was an absolutely foreign concept to me. I remember my brother purchasing a copy of this game before we even owned a 360, I looked at the copy he bought, took it in my hand and fell backwards onto the sofa because I knew this game would blow me away. Everything I’d heard about it, trailers I watched on G4, and the wise words of my brother built it up and made it sound like the greatest game ever made and at the time for me it really was.
It seems like everybody knows about Oblivion now, giving a synopsis or encapsulating the plot would be rather redundant, much like doing so for Skyrim so I will spare the details on that but so much of this game has been engrained in my memory. The freedom to do basically what ever you wanted, kill almost any NPC, steal any item, travel to any biome, this was all absolutely insane to do in a fully fleshed 3D world at the time. The story of Oblivion is not necessarily one to write home about, but with the constant opening of the Oblivion portals and combat with the legions of the Daedric Gods, there was always something keeping you on the edge of your seat. Gamers forever will remember storming the gates of Kvatch and discovering the threat at hand, defending Bruma from the great horde, and watching emperor Uriel Septim meet his untimely end. Outside of the main story though was so much content, including memorable side guilds like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, side quests that transformed every idea you had of what was acceptable side questing content like the Painted World quest or appeasing the various Daedric Gods at their shrines, and excessive opportunities for modding.
Was Oblivion a game that came out the right time or was it truly that special? That is a question that will have to remain open for debate and conversation, but as someone who had experienced what came before and finally got his hands on TES:IV, it is a genre defining classic.
The Elder Scrolls IV came out in 2006 and visually shows its age, but with the amount of content it had Oblivion blew every game out of the water that came out beforehand and every game for years to come until Skyrim, which I would say is still inferior to the fourth entry in the storied Western RPG Series. As per my profile I’ve been gaming basically since I learned to walk, beginning mostly on RTS’ that I could play with my brother and a few others, Diablo II, and the FPS’ that came out throughout the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Games that you could feel out and wouldn’t require a ton of worldbuilding because you just sort of jumped in and got to see what was there for you almost immediately. Oblivion though? That was an absolutely foreign concept to me. I remember my brother purchasing a copy of this game before we even owned a 360, I looked at the copy he bought, took it in my hand and fell backwards onto the sofa because I knew this game would blow me away. Everything I’d heard about it, trailers I watched on G4, and the wise words of my brother built it up and made it sound like the greatest game ever made and at the time for me it really was.
It seems like everybody knows about Oblivion now, giving a synopsis or encapsulating the plot would be rather redundant, much like doing so for Skyrim so I will spare the details on that but so much of this game has been engrained in my memory. The freedom to do basically what ever you wanted, kill almost any NPC, steal any item, travel to any biome, this was all absolutely insane to do in a fully fleshed 3D world at the time. The story of Oblivion is not necessarily one to write home about, but with the constant opening of the Oblivion portals and combat with the legions of the Daedric Gods, there was always something keeping you on the edge of your seat. Gamers forever will remember storming the gates of Kvatch and discovering the threat at hand, defending Bruma from the great horde, and watching emperor Uriel Septim meet his untimely end. Outside of the main story though was so much content, including memorable side guilds like the Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild, side quests that transformed every idea you had of what was acceptable side questing content like the Painted World quest or appeasing the various Daedric Gods at their shrines, and excessive opportunities for modding.
Was Oblivion a game that came out the right time or was it truly that special? That is a question that will have to remain open for debate and conversation, but as someone who had experienced what came before and finally got his hands on TES:IV, it is a genre defining classic.