Oblivion Remastered Earned Its Second Life

I did not expect a 2006 game to be my favorite release of 2025, but here we are. Oblivion Remastered is the rare remaster that understands what people actually loved about the original: not the graphics, the weirdness. The potato faces are gone, the jank is mostly intact, and that is exactly the right call.

The internet remembers Cyrodiil

Part of the fun this year has been watching a new generation discover the guard dialogue, the persuasion wheel, and the fact that every NPC in this world is one bad conversation away from a crime scene. The clips coming out of this game are genuinely funny, and this one made the rounds for a reason:

What holds up in 2026

The quest design is still ahead of most modern RPGs. The Dark Brotherhood line remains one of the best questlines Bethesda has ever shipped, and the Shivering Isles expansion is worth the price of admission alone. Combat is better than you remember thanks to the rework, and leveling finally makes sense.

I gave it five stars on my shelf. If you played the original, this is the version your memory already believes existed. If you never did, you get to walk out of that sewer for the first time — and I am a little jealous of you.

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