Even though it isn’t the most popular entry in the series,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionis regarded by some as the bestElder Scrollsgame ever made. The Bethesda-developed fantasy RPG was one of the most revolutionary titles of the seventh console generation. When it came out in 2006 on Xbox 360 and Windows PC, it left a major impact on the open world genre.The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion’s large, interactive environments, combined with its cutting-edge graphics,blew many fans’ minds back in the day. Since they couldn’t be achieved on last-gen hardware like the PS2, they were considered very advanced for the time.
These days, however,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionno longer looks that impressive. The game’s graphics have aged poorly, and its NPC AI is so notoriously bad that it’s become the subject of countless internet memes. In order to bringOblivionup to modern standards, a group of passionate modders have been attemptingto remake the game withinThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.This mod, aptly calledSkyblivion,has been in development for quite some timeand, although it looks really impressive, it’s missing one major feature that could detriment it considerably.
The Skyblivion Remake Won’t Include One Major Piece of Content at Launch
Skyblivion Will Contain New Features in Addition to Most of the Content from TES 4: Oblivion
For a mod that’s being made entirely by a team of volunteers,Skyblivionis a very ambitious project. The developers of the remake aim to not only recreate everything that’s present in the originalOblivion, they intend to add new features, as well. Certain regions inOblivion, such asthe city of Leyawiin, are receiving new locations inspired by Bethesda’s concept art for the game. Meanwhile, more than 20 new tracks of music are being created for the remake, including some new dungeon exploration and boss fight themes. On top of all that, the user interface ofOblivionis also getting a total makeover inSkyblivionto modernize it more. Many of the quests, textures, and environments in the game are even being rebuilt from scratch to take advantage ofSkyrim’s Creation Engine.
TES 4: Oblivion’s Expansion Packs Won’t Be Available in Skyblivion at Launch
As exciting asSkyblivionsounds, there is one catch to the project: not all of its planned features will be available at launch.When theSkyblivionmod comes out later this year, it will not include any of the content fromThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion’s two expansion packs,Knights of the NineandShivering Isles. The developers ofSkyblivionoriginally aimed to release this DLC content alongside the base version of the mod, but it appears that they still need more time to complete it.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion’s expansions are dramatically different in terms of scope. WhileKnights of the Nineonly features a relatively brief set of story missions,ShiveringIsles includes enough contentto fill up an entire game. The latter of the two DLCs, which came out in March 2007, contains more than 30 hours of new, open-ended quests, and it’s widely regarded as one of the best expansions of all time.Shivering Islesis an integral part of theOblivionexperience, so a remake of the game can’t be considered complete without it.
If Bethesda’s Rumored Oblivion Remake Includes Shivering Isles, It Could Have a Big Advantage Over Skyblivion
The absence ofShiveringIsles could prove to be a big disadvantage forSkyblivionin the long run because, if rumors are to be believed, Bethesda is working onan officialThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivionremakethat’s supposedly coming out this year. If this remake truly exists, and it includesShivering IslesandKnights of the Nineon day one, then it will have a major leg up overSkyblivionin this regard. Since the fan-made remake won’t contain either of these DLCs at launch, some gamers may prefer to play the officialOblivionremake instead, just to get the complete package.
