Oblivion Remastered proves I was wrong to give up on the original game 10 years ago, but I worry Bethesda has lost the magic that made Cyrodiil's open world RPG shine

Ten years ago, give or take, I finally broadened my gaming horizons beyond The Sims, Minecraft, and the latest Pokemon game, taking an interest in games such as Far Cry 3 and Borderlands 2. My older brother took note of this, and decided to sit me down in front of his Xbox One to show me his favorite game of all time: The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Unfortunately, this introduction didn't go as he'd hoped.

My newfound interests in gaming were tentative, and unfortunately, Bethesda's magnum opus just didn't do it for me. I vividly remember finding the sewers – the very first section of the game – tedious. The rats and mudcrabs were pissing me off, and I just wanted to get out of there. Once I did, I looked at my brother and said "Can I be done now?"

A resounding failure, I left Oblivion then and there and never touched it again. Fast forward to a few months ago, when The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered shadow-dropped. As a day one release on Game Pass, it had fallen right into my lap. Why not try it again?

I didn't even realize the way Oblivion had been within reach for all these years, beckoning me to it, until I spent days trying to figure out why the score sounded so familiar. As a kid, I must have spent hours every day hearing that music, as my brother played his favorite game on his Xbox 360. It was like stepping back into a long forgotten piece of my childhood, but now I was the one in control.

Now, after months of exploring Cyrodiil, I can't believe I gave up after the sewers all those years ago. I get it, my scope of gaming hadn't been broadened to massive RPGs yet and I couldn't appreciate a long-winded, barely-tutorial in a maze of sewers with pesky enemies at my feet. Now, stepping out of those sewers once again, now with many open world RPGs under my belt, I was entering a world of endless possibility.

Visiting the provinces

Oblivion Remastered isn't my first rodeo with a Bethesda RPG. Fallout 4 and Starfield prepared me for what to expect, but at the same time, I quickly realized I had done things backwards.

I'm well aware I'm in the minority of people who truly enjoyed Starfield and that Fallout 4 is a contentious debate among fans about whether it's an amazing installment to the beloved franchise, or is straight doodoo. I personally enjoyed it, but now looking back at both of these games, I see where they failed; how Bethesda tried desperately to recapture the lightning in a bottle that is Oblivion.

Oblivion is special. Cyrodiil has a sandbox quality to it that's difficult to find in any other open-world RPG. There are no invisible guiderails – I can just ride around on Prior Maborel's horse, do absolutely anything I want, and ignore the main quest. I think studios like Bethesda are afraid to provide that type of free reign to players again, worried too much about those who may critique the supposed lack of structure. When I look back at Fallout 4 now, I realize it's a game with a robust main quest accompanied by a large selection of faction questlines that still end up looping back into the campaign. Outside of that, random side-quests are far scarcer, with vaults the main source of exploration and story outside of the game's main framework.

Don't get me wrong, I love the vaults and the stories they tell. But why can't the factions provide their own contained stories like we get in Oblivion, rather than playing a crucial role in the endgame? I'm currently working my way up in the Thieves Guild and providing nothing of value other than being a menace to society, and it bears no consequence on the greater story of the game. There's even a random Khajiit at an inn who sends me on a hunt for stolen jumbo potatoes – where are the inconsequential quests of recent Bethesda games?

While Starfield provided self-contained faction questlines and a wider library of random NPC-assigned quests, the spacefaring RPG fell short in trying to replicate Oblivion's scope. Even I can admit that Bethesda bit off more than it could chew. The same enemy-infested facility existed on most planets, with the same terminals showing the same email exchanges in each. It felt lazy and broke the immersion. The difference with a game like Oblivion, or even Fallout 4 with its vaults featuring a unique nugget of lore within each, is you never see past the curtain.

Oblivion has Ayleid ruins and Forts that are arguably the same few layouts copy and pasted throughout, but I never know what to expect. There's more enemy variety, and no scattered pieces of lore that run the risk of being the same few exchanged messages over and over again.

Bethesda also shot itself in the foot with Starfield's whole "finish the main story first" bit. I didn't listen, and it kind of ruined any hope of going back and continuing to explore the game in New Game+. I've tried, but I keep thinking about all of the stuff I still have to redo. Oblivion takes the player experience into consideration in a way that seems to have faded, with Bethesda's RPGs becoming less of a massive playground and more like recess.

I can see myself playing Oblivion for years to come, and I still may not finish the main quest in that time – sorry, Sean Bean. Diving into Oblivion, albeit many years late, has allowed me to see just what everyone has been talking about. It's a foundational piece of gaming and provides a better understanding of what Bethesda has been attempting to do ever since. I can't even blame Bethesda for holding onto Elder Scrolls 6 for this long; the studio is probably terrified everyone will spit on it and throw it back in its face with the expectations placed on the game.

Oblivion Remastered has given myself and others the chance to finally be brought into the fold of a magical world that many have known for longer. I'll never look at Fallout 4, Starfield, or honestly, any other open world RPG the same way ever again. I may have squandered my first chance to experience a gaming masterpiece a decade ago, but you can bet that nowadays, I'm taking every overdue opportunity to explore Cyrodiil and everything it has to offer.

After 8 hours of being hunted by a murderous unicorn in Oblivion Remastered, I'm torn between "we're so back" and "please save me"