Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered Switch 2 Review

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is one of my favorite RPGs of all time from Bethesda Game Studios. It has its own charm that lets players enjoy the goofy animations and weird character designs. Despite the fact that it is pretty old- it came out in 2006- it is the best one in the Elder Scrolls series.  After almost two decades since the release of the original game, Bethesda released a surprising Remaster of Oblivion last year, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fast-forwarding another year, Bethesda has now released the Remaster version of Oblivion on Switch 2. It is great to see such a great title on a Nintendo console. This is our review of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2, developed by Virtuos and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Story and World

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered portrays the same story as the original game. The Daedric Realm of Oblivion is on the horizon, and players take the role of a Hero of Kvatch to prevent it. The Emperor Uriel Septim VII finds himself in strange dreams where he sees the Hero of Kvatch. During his final moments before he is assassinated, he meets the hero and warns him about the incoming dangers. Just like the original game, players start in the Imperial Prison, where they meet the Emperor for the first time. During the tutorial segment, you get to make all the important choices for your character. It includes selecting a Race, a Birthsign, and a Class.

The world feels and looks incredible, even on the Switch 2 device. The whole landscape looks surreal in Unreal Engine, which definitely makes new players think that it is a new game. All of the main cities and locations are redone, all characters are redesigned, and most of the interactable characters have new voice lines. All of this makes the exploration more fun in Oblivion.

Gameplay

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered is an open-world action-adventure role-playing video game. Similar to the original game, you can freely explore the world at your own pace. You can choose to follow the main quests to start pursuing the main storyline, or just explore the world to find valuables, meet characters, and fulfil side quests. One of the first things that you will notice different from the original game is the UI design. The UI design is completely different and more like Skyrim. It is to help new players browse the menu, inventory, navigate the map, switch quests, and more.

Furthermore, there are no permanent Health, Fatigue, and Magicka bars in the bottom left corner of the screen. Instead, the bars are separate and only show at the respective cost at the bottom of the screen. In addition to the UI changes, there are some system changes as well. The biggest change is the rework of how Skills level up. Unlike the original game, there is no min-maxing. Now, all skills grant you XP toward the main level. Upon reaching the main level, you can sleep to inherit 12 virtue points into any three main attributes. So, if you like sneaking, not only will it increase the Sneak skill, but it will also give you XP for the main level, which you can then utilize for main level-ups.

The rest of the gameplay criteria are pretty much the same. However, the Switch 2 Deluxe Edition does have exclusive item sets that you can earn through the new quests.

Combat

Oblivion combat is just a nostalgic masterpiece. You cannot go wrong with it, and all the veterans like it as it is. Well, I am pretty happy that the Devs stuck to the original combat mechanics instead of redesigning it from scratch. However, there are some new additions to the combat. The main change that you see from the get-go is the enemy’s reactions on hit. Every time you hit an enemy, it will react realistically. Moreover, there are new animations for swinging weapons, blocking, and shooting arrows. All of these new animations make the combat feel more dynamic. The aiming for bows and spells for ranged combat has been improved in the remaster as well. Last but not least, the enemy movement speed is also adjusted for a more balanced combat experience.

All of these changes are to modernize the combat system in Oblivion Remastered while maintaining the classic experience. It definitely helps the players feel more immersed while fighting against enemies, rather than just swinging the blade left and right with no reaction.

Switch 2 Performance

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered itself is a great RPG to play and experience. Although the Steam Deck has an advantage of providing smoother frame rates, the Switch 2 provides better resolution, making it much more appealing. At first, I was worried that the performance might be all over the place, but that is not the case. Despite the game being locked at 30 FPS in both Handheld and Docked modes, it plays flawlessly. Moreover, the ability to use the mouse mode with Joy-Con 2 is also fun and responsive.

Sound and Visual

The sound and visuals of Oblivion Remastered are probably the most prioritized factors by the Devs. As it is a Remaster, not a Remake, it makes sense. The whole remaster of Oblivion includes a full graphical overhaul with modern rendering techniques. It includes a ray tracing feature, new world and character textures and models, and more. The first time I saw Cyrodiil in the Unreal Engine, it just wasn’t looking like the original. Everything is so polished, sleek, lush forests, vast meadows, snowy mountains; it all felt like a new world to me instantly.

The Devs also revised the NPCs’ behaviour with an improved AI to make them feel more alive to the players. They also have some new voice lines, and their mouth animations actually match the words. You will also get to hear some new ambient sounds for the environment. Overall, the Devs did a pretty amazing job in redesigning Cyrodiil and its characters.

Verdict – Score 9/10

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Remastered is the exact same masterpiece as before, just with current-gen visuals and reactions. You get to experience the amazing storyline and adventure all over again with better world design and detailing. However, it does not mean that there aren’t any bugs in the game. There are numerous bugs, but most of them are funny and will make your day. Moreover, the performance of Oblivion Remastered can be a bit unsatisfying. Personally, I think 30 FPS for a single-player action-adventure RPG is fine and enjoyable. If you are looking for a fun and engaging RPG to play on your Switch 2 device, then Oblivion Remastered is a no-brainer.