This is just an update on the new The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered game that was released last week (April 22, 2025). The Remastered is doing really well, as the developer Bethesda announced that they have over 4 million players playing the game.

As you know, I hated the game when I bought it in 2006, because of the level scaling. It just sucked that when I’m level 20, everybody else is also at 20, so there was never a feeling of accomplishments. You can beat the game at level 1, basically (because the boss will be at level 1 also).

In an interview published yesterday (April 28) on Videogamer.com, the original Oblivion designer Bruce Nesmith said the “world levelling …. was a mistake.”

I agree, I hated this feature… and the same world scale also exists in the Remastered version. This just means that I’m probably not going to complete the game until they fix this problem. I’ve read that fans have made plugins to fix this leveling problem, but it seems like a lot of work to just make the game playable for me.

So, yes, I did dip into the game, via “the best deal in gaming” Xbox Game Pass, just to check it out. My god, the Remastered game looks amazing! I had to install the original 2006 version from GOG (on sale for $5), just for comparison. Comparing the game model for the emperor below, you can see a massive difference in fidelity and details.

The other very nice thing they added in the Remastered version is game controller support! I’ve been playing a lot of games on the Xbox controller, and it works better for me, because I like to lean back on my chair.

Plus, the game, at least on ‘medium’ setting for me, runs like a champ on my NVIDIA 3060 card. I should try and push it to ‘high’ to see if there is a noticeable difference. I don’t know how much more time I’ll sink into it due to the scaling leveling… but it sure does look very good.

It makes me very excited that the pending Fallout 3 Remastered… which is the next game that is on Bethesda’s schedule. Since they got Oblivion Remastered to work out so well, just imagine applying that same formula (new graphics, but with the logic and gameplay of the original game) on the old Fallout games! Let’s go!!!