Oblivion is the videogame definition of "accidental genius". If you dissected everything that's wrong with it, it would look like a mess of game... and it is, but Oblivion is a sui generis case where the good absorbs you so much (I can still play it any day and spent 7+ hours messing around the same way I did 15 years ago) it brainwashes you into thinking the bad is part of the experience. You know it's not true, but you can't help but believe it when much more recent, ambitious and technically apt games today that have way more budget struggle to be as fun as this 16 year old decrepit buggy ass game.