Phrasemaker

It’s not a drill—The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is back, with a vengeance. And about 100 extra gigabytes of ambition. “Remastered” might be in the name, but don’t let the restraint fool you. This is less your usual upscale spit-shine and more a scorched-earth renovation. Bethesda has kicked the door to the Shivering Isles wide open, and they’ve brought Unreal Engine 5 as backup.

After months of leaks and fan whisperings louder than a Redguard in full plate, Oblivion Remastered officially dropped on April 22, 2025, with a “surprise” launch stream that surprised no one. What did surprise people? The size. The price. And the fact that it still kind of feels like the same weird, charming, half-broken masterpiece that shaped a generation of RPG fans.

So what’s actually changed in Cyrodiil—and what hasn’t?

A New Coat of Pixels

The first thing you’ll notice when you fire up Oblivion Remastered (after the 115GB download finishes digesting your hard drive) is that the game looks… different. Not just cleaned up, but reimagined. This isn’t a new texture pack stapled onto 2006 geometry. Every asset—every face, fish, and funny-looking tree—has been rebuilt from scratch.

The game now runs on Unreal Engine 5, which means dynamic lighting, redesigned character models, new combat and ambient animations, and menus that no longer look like they were designed in Excel 2003. NPCs have fresh lip-sync tech and new voice recordings, too—though don’t worry, their delivery is still hilariously awkward. Some things are sacred.

Gameplay Tweaks: The Good, the Bad, and the Weirdly Familiar

The remaster plays it safe where it counts. Bethesda and Virtuous (the studio handling the update) are calling it “Oblivion’s brain, Unreal’s body”—and yeah, that tracks. Core gameplay systems haven’t been replaced, just massaged into something vaguely modern.

You can sprint now. The third-person camera has a reticle. Leveling is inspired by both Oblivion and Skyrim, which basically means bunny-hopping your way to godhood is still on the menu. But the lockpicking and persuasion minigames? Still the same inscrutable carnival games from 2006. The devs know what you’re here for, and it’s not polish—it’s personality.

Mods, Cheats, and Console Witchcraft

Yes, the tilde key still opens the command console. Yes, you can still summon 100 cheese wheels into a chapel. Mods, however, are in flux. The good news: the remaster’s DNA is still Oblivion, so modding is very much on the table. The bad news: your old load order won’t just slide over. Expect modders to scramble as they retool and repack for the new format. It’ll be a mess, but a glorious one.

Specs and Storage: Bring a Big Bag

If your rig is older than Skyrim, you might want to sit this one out. The remaster asks for an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5 10600K, 32GB of RAM, and a GPU beefy enough to light the fires of Mehrunes Dagon. And 125GB of space. Because nostalgia is heavy.

So… Is It Still Oblivion?

Oh, absolutely. Oblivion Remastered is like finding your childhood home exactly as you remember it—just with better lighting and fewer bugs. Except actually, there are still bugs. But that’s part of the charm.

It’s big, weird, endearing, broken in places, and lovingly overdone in others. In other words: Bethesda didn’t make a new game. They remade your memory of one.

And yes, they’re selling horse armor again. Because of course they are.