If you’ve already dipped your toes into the original game, then you’ll notice a variety of impactful changes the team brought toOblivion Remastered.It would be foolish to ignore the immense graphical overhaul the game received as the most apparent upgrade, but there are a few more subtly hidden changes that you’ll want to dig into.
Whether you’re a master of persuasion or prefer to run into every engagement with your sword swinging, you’ll notice significant shifts in your gameplay experience. From quality-of-life changes to reworking outdated gameplay systems, the best changes from the original in Oblivion Remastered will blow your mind.
10Graphics/Facial Expressions
Let’s address the elephant in the room first, as the clear graphical upgrades are worthy of praise. In addition to the updated environments, the facial reactions and movement received major overhauls, removing the janky, sometimes motionless expressions in key moments.
You’ll notice characters reacting withShockmuch more often, as their eyes widen, eyebrows raise, and their mouth forms an oval shape. It’s nice to be able to read emotions more clearly, and the attention to detail brings the characters to life like never before.
9Origins In Character Creation
After you’re done selectingthe best race for your Oblivion Remastered character,you’ll notice an extra layer of choice: your origin. Not only does your origin help to better immerse yourself in the role-playing aspect of your character, but it also modifies your base attributes.
For example, the Anequina Khajiit origin gives 40 Strength and 30 Endurance, while the Pellitine origin gives you 30 Strength and 40 Endurance.
Selecting your origin is an immersive addition that helps you put a personal touch on your character as you lean into their skills and specializations.
8Default Button Layout Changes
If you played the original game, you’ll notice significant changes to the button layout, which may be disturbing your muscle memory. One of the biggest default changes is that theB/Circle button now crouches by defaultinstead of opening your inventory menu.
Luckily, the shortcut wheel is improved as well, with better responsiveness.
If you’re not a fan of the new defaults, you may easily switch them to your liking, but it’s nice to see Bethesda lean into more typical RPG control schemes for this remaster.
7The Leveling System
If you made the mistake of selecting a useless major skill in your first run of the original Oblivion, then you know how painful it can betrying to pick locksfor hours to level up. Luckily, the leveling system has been completely changed, as you now get experience from minor skills, instead of just your major skills.
Furthermore, at each level, you can freely assign points to up to three Attributes, rather than being forced to follow the pre-determined level-up amount that the original used.
6Better Menu/Map Sorting
If you’ve played the original on PC and are doing the same here, then sorting was never much of an issue thanks to the ability to scroll with your mouse. However, on console, a poorly managed pack was incredibly frustrating in the original, butOblivion Remastered brings new sorting options to your menu and map.
Most notably, you may sort the different types of fast travel locations (forts, towns, etc.) and include or exclude certain categories for your viewing pleasure. This should also help to make performance a bit smoother once you unlock most of the points of interest in Cyrodiil.
5Addition Of The Clairvoyance Spell
The Clairvoyance spell from Skyrim’s sole purpose was to lead you to your destination, as a sort of breadcrumb trail guide if you were struggling to find your way.Clairvoyancewas also added to Oblivion Remastered to eliminate your chances of getting lost while out on a hunt.
Even if you don’t need this spell to find your way around Cyrodiil, it can still beuseful as a guide out of caves and other dungeons once you reach the end.Simply select an objective outside your current location, use Clairvoyance, and follow the trail to the exit.
4HP Regeneration
Another excellent quality-of-life change is the ability to regenerate your HP outside of combat. If you’re not familiar with the original, typically your best options to heal were sleeping, visiting wayshrines, or using potions, which were either inconvenient or expensive.
Thus, Oblivion Remastered allows you to regenerate your HP when no enemies are nearby, so you’re able to’t just run away and regain health while enemies are pursuing you.
3Empty Container Labels
Another Skyrim quality-of-life upgrade makes its way into Oblivion Remastered, as empty containers are now labeled as such, eliminating the chance of repeatedly checking containers you’ve already looted.
While it might not seem like a major deal, given how many lootable objects there are in the game, saving even a few seconds here or there will add up. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of dud containers, so you’ll still come across many boxes and chests that may as well have nothing inside.
2Difficulty Tabs Vs Slider
Oblivion Remastered ditched the old-school difficulty slider bar of the original in favor of five distinct difficulty settings: Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master. While this is immensely helpful for understanding exactly how difficult you should expect your game to be, there are some noticeable kinks.
The most significant jump seems to happen between Apprentice and Adept (though you may argue that Adept to Expert is the biggest jump). Apprentice-level foes will die in one hit, while Adept enemies can kill you if you’re not careful. Similarly, Expert-level foes represent a huge difficulty spike from their Adept peers.
1Persuasion Minigame Color Coding
The Persuasion minigame in Oblivion Remasteredwasn’t completely overhauled, as it kept the absurd charm of the original. However, the different speech options are now color-coded (after choosing every option once) to indicate how each selection will be received.
Green and blue options indicate favorable dialogue options, while red and bronze will be disliked. While it’s a small change on paper, the ability to glance atthe wheel minigameand quickly decide on your selections accelerates the process andmakes leveling Speechcraft much more efficient.
