The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

A decent RPG, but what really made it enjoyable for me was how unintentionally hilarious it could be. The awkward NPC conversations, the ridiculous facial expressions, and the way the AI just kinda... exists.

It wasn’t the story or the combat that kept me hooked, it was it's absurdity.
It was a never-ending blooper reel wrapped in medieval fantasy. And somehow, that made it unforgettable.

If you want a flawless RPG, Oblivion isn’t it. But if you enjoy a world that constantly trips over itself, then yeah, I’d recommend it. It’s not perfect. But that’s what makes it unforgettable.

will fight for this one as if my life depended on it. cranky, old, buggy and wierd but good as fuck.

It’s easy for me to talk shit about Bethesda, about how they don’t take risks, create exceedingly generic worlds, and literally couldn’t write a good line if their lives depended on it. I still play each of their new games for well over 100 hours, so maybe I’m the asshole.

I played for 33 hrs, completed like 70-80% and gave up
Game is too boring and broken to play it in 2023
Better complete Skyrim for 5 time or any of Fallout

I can imagine that on release oblivion was a masterpiece but this game has been completely sodomized by the passage of time. This game has a lot of weird quirks of an almost 20 year old game but many of them are tolerable. However the leveling system is completely unacceptable and ruins any enjoyment in the second half of the game. At high levels enemies become hit sponges that take forever to kill and can inflict annoying status effects on you that make them even harder to kill. Fighting three or more enemies at once in the later game is almost completely impossible and not worth the time and effort. The faction quest lines are the best part of this game and have some memorable moments but can’t save it. The main quest on the other hand is the single worst Bethesda main quest I’ve ever played. It gets off to a good start but the midway point completely kills any enjoyment as the game throws 4 fetch quests at you in a row along with a quest to close 7 oblivion portals which is the most boring dungeon to explore in the game. Once those quests are out of the way the finale is slightly better but it’s hard to have any sort of investment in the finale when the villains are so unbelievably bad. You never talk with the main villain only his right hand man Mankar Camoran. Mankar is easily the most boring villain of any elders scrolls game. You have contact with him twice throughout the main story and neither time does him come across as imposing or interesting. His reason for wanting to doom all of Tamriel is essentially a “well actually” concerning the daedric princes being immortal while the divines aren’t. I really wanna like this game but it’s age shows and the main quest is such a heaping pile of garbage I can’t possibly recommend it.

Best Elder Scrolls game don't come at me