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What are your memories of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?

M

MrOogieBoogie

BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
This was my first major open-world game, so naturally it blew my mind back then (11 years ago!). That first view:

oblivion-first-view1.jpg
Click to expand...

I could not believe my eyes. The immersion was through the roof. One of the first games I remember just gawking at the scenery. Besides The Witcher 3 I had never put more time into a single-player game.

I'm sure today it's a clunky monstrosity, but it'll always remain a pivotal gaming milestone in my mind.
 
V

vareon

Member
Traversing from Imperial City to that first story city to the east, I think. It was the first time I was mindblown by the sheer size of a game.
 
J

Jaraghan

Member
It was my first massive open world game too OP. When I exited the sewers and saw mountains in the distance, the massive Imperial City behind me... I was at a loss for words. And when I climbed the mountain only to see MORE, I couldn't believe it. Truly mindblowing for me.
 
xVodevil

xVodevil

Member
My memories are... well it was killing my poor old PC :D
Still somehow I managed to play it till the first Oblivion Gate...
 
L

Lucumo

Member
Really boring main story and terrible decision to let enemies level with you. It was probably the first AAA game I quit early (after doing the Dark Brotherhood quests) and never completed.
 
daninthemix

daninthemix

Member
Same as everyone else. My first open world. Emerging from the sewers = mind blown.

Then that wonderful music.

Must try it again at 4K one of these days.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
Played it when it first came out on 360, I was amazed. Beat it with over 100 hours of gameplay.

Played it again years later on PC, realized that I was hugely betrayed by my nostalgia. Game was basic and ugly as sin.

Mods helped a ton but they could only do so much, definitely a game that hasn't aged well.
 
A

ActWan

Member
I really liked getting a house in each town and the thieves guild quests.
It was probably my first big RPG.
 
U

UpDownLeftRight

Banned
Being a wall scaling, water running, skooma shifting thief. I'm pretty sure I was the bad guy actually. Never really even bothered with the oblivion gates and sided with all the worst people.
 
S

SoundPulse

Banned
Stop right there, criminal scum.

I enjoyed it when I first played it, but I just couldn't get into it on every subsequent attempt to return to it. The Shivering Isles were cool as heck, though.
 
W

waitwhat42

Member
My first Elder Scrolls game, first Bethesda game, one of my favorite games of all time.

I remember playing the opening half hour of the game on a 360 kiosk at best buy and being blown away by how incredible it looked and that moment of getting out of the sewer and being able to wander around the open world.

I got it when it released on PS3 and put in hundreds of hours.

So many fond memories.
 
H

HylianTom

Banned
Modding the hell out of it. Playing Oblivion gates over and over again so that I could get my favorite enchantments. Hunting for nirnroots. Enjoying the later Thieves' Guild quests.

My favorite character was a non-magical, non-melee ne'er-do-well sniper. Acrobatics, athletics, alchemy, stealth, marksmanship, speechcraft.. trying to figure-out how to solve quests without being able to fight fairly was really fun.
 
S

Stone Vagabond

Banned
I remember freaking out when I was in line to buy this, because I was sure the cashier wasn't going to let me buy an M-Rated game. Then when I got home to actually play it I hadn't realized how massive and open the game was. I puttered around for awhile, quietly in awe at the scale of the game and the killed a guard for his stuff. I had to put the game down after seeing that ominous "The gods will remember that..." message pop up.
 
B

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
2 steps forward, 1 step back.

Visuals and gameplay were massively improved. World design, questing, factions, and progression took a hit from Morrowind.
 
B

batfax

Member
I was mostly just excited as a die-hard Morrowind fan, and I was pretty impressed at the graphics of the world (even if, well, the people still looked like potatoes) though I had a way harder time getting into it. A lot of the annoying bits really weighed on me, especially the less hand-placed loot and enemies running around in top-tier armor when I was used to that stuff being legit amazing to find. With a few mods I eventually made my way through though. Flawed game but still pretty fun.

The game really came into its own with the Shivering Isles expansion though. Loved that thing. Way more entertaining world to explore and story and quests.
 
K

kogasu

Member
Probably my first truly open world RPG. I look back on it fondly even though I'd probably have more problems with it today. I'll love the music forever though. Also item dupe glitch was fun lol!
 
P

Patch13

Member
Oblivion was my first Elder Scrolls game. I decided to make a bard who was a bit of a coward, but who could maybe get out of a jam with potions. I didn't really understand the leveling and scaling system, so I made camp and leveled too often and the world wound up scaling past my abilities, even when augmented with potions.

So I'm trying to get between towns and I run into a bandit with obsidian gear. I run. The bandit follows. I run past a bear. The bear follows. So does a daedra. I quicksave and quit.

... and I never get back to that character. My bard is frozen in time on the hard disk of my old xbox, eternally pursued by a ridiculously scaled parade.

A friend later pointed out that the 'right' way to play was to specialize in stuff that you don't intend to focus on, so that you never level and the world never scales. I'm glad they fixed that in Skyrim ...

(Note: I remember reading an article in which a games journalist had a similar experience; some of my memories have been entagled with his account.)
 
S

selo

Member
Cool graphics,odd stiff faces, horrible and annoying hell stages (forgot the name). Didn't enjoy this game very much, skyrim was alright though.
 
M

Metal Sev

Neo Member
Exiting the dark and damp sewer and being greeting with that gorgeous view really.

It was my first real open-world RPG, and I still consider it one of my favorites today. It holds a certain charm to it that I can't put my finger on. I still play it occasional to relax and lose myself in that world. I find it a somewhat theraputic game if that makes any sense at all.
The world and scenery is all just so calm and peaceful (as long as you avoid Oblivion gates that is lol). Not to mention the incredible soundtrack. I just love the game, despite it being very flawed.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Better gameplay than Morrowind, graphics were mindblowing, music was gorgeous....the world was kind of fantasy 101, and everything other than gameplay and music was a downgrade from Morrowind.

Dark Brotherhood was boss as hell though. It found it kinda bad back then, but I kind of like it a lot now. It's no Morrowind or Skyrim though. I'd LOVE a HD remake.
 
G

gogosox82

Member
It was graphically impressive at the time and the gameplay was better but everything else just wasn't as good as it was in Morrowind. I think the enemy level scaling pissed me off the most. Bandits walking around with Deadric gear was just ridiculous and should have never happened. Really loved the dlc (outside of the horse armor). Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles were great expansions.
 
B

bonesmccoy

Banned
First impression? I was amazed. I roamed the countryside, slapping things with my sword, and couldn't believe what Bethesda had built.

Then I visited the capital city and ... couldn't believe what Bethesda had built. Considering that my last TES game before Oblivion was Daggerfall, I was pretty disappointed.
 
F

Fata1moose

Banned
I found the streamlining in the College of Winterhold and Companions was the right move in Skyrim coming from Oblivion. Those questlines were dragged out by some tedious shit. The Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion is far superior however, fun plot line with far more memorable quests.
 
Giolon

Giolon

Member
My memories are getting trapped in a painting with paint trolls that regenerated health faster than I could damage them and that could kill me 2 or 3 hits. Then, looking up online why I was so fucked and how combat was so hard all the time and learned that if you make your character intuitively (I want to be a warrior, so I want to make my major skills melee weapons and heavy armor), you are permanently gimping your character and will continue to get weaker as you level up compared to the auto scaling of the enemies.

I said fuck this and never went back. Didn't play Skyrim until last year because of it (which I love).
 
C

c0Zm1c

Member
Oblivion could very well be the game that got me, specifically, into the exploring aspect of open-world games. I had played a number of other open-world games before then, but nothing as grand, detailed and alive as this. But the most memorable thing about it is probably Jeremy Soule's music.

Renekton said:
Memories: PC not strong enough, low FPS, need upgrade
Click to expand...

This too. I played it first on Xbox 360 because my graphics card at the time couldn't handle the game well above minimum settings; exploring a huge open world in thick fog doesn't make for a great experience!
 
C

capitalCORN

Member
Giolon said:
My memories are getting trapped in a painting with paint trolls that regenerated health faster than I could damage them and that could kill me 2 or 3 hits. Then, looking up online why I was so fucked and how combat was so hard all the time and learned that if you make your character intuitively (I want to be a warrior, so I want to make my major skills melee weapons and heavy armor), you are permanently gimping your character and will continue to get weaker as you level up compared to the auto scaling of the enemies.

I said fuck this and never went back. Didn't play Skyrim until last year because of it (which I love).
Click to expand...

There's a quest item that makes the trolls one hit kills...
 
Giolon

Giolon

Member
capitalCORN said:
There's a quest item that makes the trolls one hit kills...
Click to expand...

The paint thinner? If that's what you're talking about, it killed them about 80-90% the way, but IIRC there was only enough paint thinner around to kill like 4 of 6 trolls in there.

It also happens that looking up the leveling tables at the time, I was at the level where the monsters make one of the biggest jumps in health and damage output, and already had a badly gimped character.

Either way, I had such a shitty time with that game ~(30 hours before I ended up in the painting), I just decided it wasn't worth it. I also hated the Oblivion gates and going into the hell dimension to close them. That game is just a series of "what the fuck is this? Who thought this was a good idea?" decisions.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
I screwed up my character because of the counterintuitive leveling system and ended up fighting Uber powerful roadside bandits with my unspectacular character. Then I decided to just lower the difficulty to minimum to just get to the ending. I never agreed with how this game got showered with all the GOTY awards.
 
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