Oblivion Remaster Borrows Skyrim Features for “Best of Both Worlds”

Today, after many leaks and a few teasers, Bethesda officially revealed The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: Remastered. Not only did they unveil the project, but the game is also out now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. Gamers can re-experience Oblivion or enjoy the story for the first time with this visually enhanced take on the iconic Elder Scrolls entry. But the visuals aren’t the only updates in this remaster. As many fans hoped for, the Oblivion remaster will also upgrade UI and other features to give the game a smooth, modern polish, while retaining its classic charm. And yes, this includes some inspiration from Skyrim.

The Oblivion reveal showed off plenty of side-by-side comparisons from the original game and the remaster to showcase the stunning visual updates. Developer Virtuous shared an overview of their approach to the remaster, including work to make the game “more friendly to gamers with modern hardware.” Naturally, that meant updating more than just the visuals to help smooth out gameplay, while staying true to the original story of the game. While we’ll have to dive in to see how well the remaster tackles this, the initial overview of what’s coming certainly looks promising. Much of the team at Virtuous shared their love of the original, which they brought to the remaster.

Along with visual changes, the game gets an update to UI/UX, audio, and gameplay mechanics. One of the big gameplay changes is in the approach to leveling, which will now feel a bit more familiar for fans who first experienced the Elder Scrolls games via Skyrim.

What the Oblivion Remaster Hopes to Borrow from Skyrim‘s Success

Given the longstanding success of Skyrim, it’s no big surprise that the developers revealed some updates to combat and leveling were inspired by the later Elder Scrolls release. According to the livestream, the Oblivion remaster borrows a few key upgrades from Skyrim to bring fans “the best of both worlds.” This primarily focuses on borrowing some elements from Skyrim combat and the leveling-up system, while still retaining some elements from the original Oblivion.

RELATED: 5 Things I Want to See in the Oblivion Remaster

This hybrid system simplifies leveling up, with players adjusting specific attributes using virtue points. While not a precise copy of the simple skill tree used in Skyrim, this feature does make leveling up feel similarly smooth and satisfying. Simply add points to increase attributes, improving your skills as desired. This is a big change from the technically unwieldy system of the original, which broke skills down into Major and Minor skills based on your character’s class. Streamlining to a more even playing field like that in Skyrim, where points in a shared pool can be applied to a skill of your choice, should make it easier for gamers to level up their character without needing a full tutorial.

Along with these level-up tweaks, the game also uses fully redesigned character models to make combat feel more realistic. In this area, gameplay looks a bit like Skyrim, but with a modern edge that even all those Skyrim re-releases couldn’t quite manage. Here, combat animations will feel even better with visual effects and combat effects, similar to what we saw in Skyrim, but even more modern and engaging. The side-by-side images in the live stream make it look even more exciting.

To really see whether this change delivers the “best of both worlds” as promised, players can dive right into Oblivion: Remastered. It dropped today, April 22nd, on PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PS5. It’s also available via Game Pass.