If you’re a concerned friend or family member reading my posts to see if I’m dead, don’t worry: I’ve just been playing the hell out of the Oblivion remake that shadowdropped earlier this week. The 2006 original was truly groundbreaking for its time, and its update nearly 20 years later serves to modernize it with revamped gameplay, remade visuals, and more. Nowadays, though, Oblivion is known more for the memes. There’s a reason “Oblivion NPC” has become shorthand for awkward interactions.
The original’s attempts to create smarter, more independent AI often backfired, making every NPC in the sprawling province of Cyrodiil eccentric and borderline detached from reality, which wasn’t helped by the stilted and uncanny delivery of many of the voice actors. (The story goes that each actor recorded their lines in alphabetical order, devoid of context or even the knowledge of which character the line is for.) Luckily, it seems the AI code wasn’t touched even a bit in the transfer to the new engine, and showcases of classic Oblivion jank in the new package are already going viral.
Even the bloopers are left in. One particularly infamous line from the original, wherein the voice actor pauses, excuses herself and redoes the entire line again made it through completely intact – with new lip syncing this time, seeming to indicate it was wholly intentional.
If nothing else, the “charm” of Oblivion is definitely being preserved. With the soul of the 2006 original still at its core, the Oblivion redux isn’t just the best remake in recent memory but one of the best RPGs I’ve played recently in general – and unlike the policies of some gaming companies, returning to this classic won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
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