A handful of hours into The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, I find myself standing in a village that has haunted me for years. Steeling myself, I walk down a cobbled path towards an all too familiar inn, noting the way the enhanced graphics of the remaster make this settlement look even more quaint and unassuming than it originally did. But of course, I know there's much more to this place than meets the eye.
When I encounter one of the locals, they're just as unfriendly as I remember. "You're not welcome here, stranger", a woman says with a threatening tone, at once making it clear my presence is not appreciated. Every person I speak to expresses a similar sentiment, but I can't let their hostility get to me. I have a job to do, and I'm not leaving until it's done. Even when I know what's to come this time around, the atmosphere of this small village still makes a chill run down my spine, and the steady build up to uncovering the sinister secrets it hides is just as effective as it ever was.
Longtime players will likely know I'm talking about Hackdirt, a village that's a stone's throw away from the city of Chorrol. A search for a missing Argonion brings you there, but it quickly takes a very dark, twisted turn that's seared itself into my brain. Returning to the notorious location several years later has only reaffirmed my belief that it's one of the best side quests in the entire RPG.
Warning: spoilers for the A Shadow Over Hackdirt quest.
Not so warm welcome
Despite how unsettling the quest is, I could hardly wait to relive it in the remaster. I came to Bethesda's beloved RPG much later than most, having first stepped into Cyrodiil around seven years ago in 2018. While I was the perfect age for Oblivion back in 2006 – being around 13 - The Sims 2 and its many expansions completely dominated my attention. Skyrim ended up being the game that gave me my first proper taste of the Elder Scrolls universe in 2011, but thanks to my sister – who grew up playing the series – I was eventually convinced to try out the adventure that preceded the Dragonborn's. With my sister acting as my guide, I followed instructions that led me to the infamous A Shadow over Hackdirt questline in the original game, and all these years later, it's pretty wild to be repeating every step to experience it again in all its remastered glory.
It all begins with the daughter of an Argonion merchant in the city of Chorrol called Dar-Ma. When she suddenly goes missing during a routine trading trip to Hackdirt, it's up to you to try to track her down and find out what happened. Of course, it's also possible to just find yourself in the village without any sort of prompting – such is the explorative nature of Oblivion – and if you're a bit nosey, you can find yourself wrapped up in the Shadow over Hackdirt questline, too. But there's something about the build up of uncovering the truth of the village through the search for Dar-Ma that just makes this quest so unforgettable.
Ask anyone in Chorrol about Hackdirt and you'll get the same answer: it's not the kind of place you want to visit. Everyone being so unapproachable speaks to that, from the disgruntled innkeeper who talks of revenge and mysterious figures known as "the brethren", to the woman who initially greeted me with a glacial welcome, there are no friends to be made here.
The cut of your Jiv
Even so, there's one local man I have to ingratiate myself with right away: Jiv. Thanks to his comical name and potato-like appearance, Jiv became the butt of the joke between my sister and I back in the day, but the fellow has had quite the glow up in the remaster – it's weirdly like seeing an old acquaintance who looks far better than you remembered.
Using Oblivion's signature persuasion mini-game, it's not long before I'm in his good graces and set up a clandestine meeting after dark to learn "the truth" about Hackdirt and find out where Dar-Ma is. Walking through the street in the dead of night in the remaster is like something out of Resident Evil 4, with all of the villagers ominously heading inside a small chapel as I go to my secretive meet-up.
But the spooky vibes dial up all the more when Jiv points me towards an underground network below Hackdirt, with entrances connected to every home. He then reveals that the residents are basically part of a weird cult who worship the decidedly creepy "Deep Ones" – figures who live in the depths – and Dar-Ma is being held down there.
Then only one more step remains: I have to go down below, and it's a very eerie place to be. Honestly, if you've yet to do this quest yourself, stop what you're doing right now and get on it, because nothing rivals the experience of venturing under Hackdirt and hearing the unsettling whispers that snake through every tunnel – which is all the more enhanced thanks to the remaster.
My return visit to Oblivion may not be as steeped in nostalgia as it is for many others, but I'll always have some sentimental attachment to the RPG because of the way I experienced it through my sister's guidance – even if she did fiendishly lead me to one of the most disturbing side quests very early on in my adventures.
I've been having the best time rediscovering everything in Oblivion Remastered because of that sentimentality, and after my jaunt back to Hackdirt, I'm sure the village and its residents will continue to haunt me for years to come.
