Look, let’s be real. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is basically that weird, overambitious middle child of the Bethesda family. It doesn't have the alien, mushroom-filled "cool factor" of Morrowind, and it definitely lacks the polished, dragon-shouting mass appeal of Skyrim.
But honestly? It might be the most fascinating game they ever made because it tried to do things that were technically impossible in 2006.
You’ve probably seen the memes. The zooming camera that captures every pore of a potato-faced NPC. The stilted dialogue where two guards talk about mudcrabs for three minutes before spinning in circles. It’s janky. It’s broken. And yet, there’s something about the green hills of Cyrodiil that still feels more like a "home" than any other RPG world.
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Radiant AI
The biggest selling point back in the day was Radiant AI. Bethesda promised a world where NPCs had "lives." They weren’t just standing behind counters; they had schedules, hungers, and desires.
The reality was... chaotic.
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In early builds, the AI was actually too smart for its own good. There's a famous story from lead designer Emil Pagliarulo about skooma-addicted NPCs. Because the AI was told to "find skooma," they would sometimes track down the only dealer in a city and murder him before the player even finished the tutorial. The guards would then kill the NPCs, and suddenly, half your quest-givers were dead because they were twitching for a fix.
To keep the game from breaking, Bethesda had to lobotomize the NPCs. They added a "Responsibility" stat—a hidden number from 0 to 100. If an NPC has a low score, they’ll steal food when they’re hungry. If a guard sees them, they get a bounty. Since NPCs can't pay fines, the guards just execute them in the street. If you've ever walked into Cheydinhal and found a random gardener dead on the pavement, that’s why.
The Leveling System: A Beautiful Disaster
If you’re planning to jump back into Cyrodiil, you need to know about the "Oblivion Leveling Problem." Most RPGs reward you for playing. Oblivion sort of punishes you for it.
The game uses level scaling for almost everything. As you get stronger, the world gets stronger. This sounds fine on paper, but the math is brutal. If you level up "incorrectly"—say, by raising non-combat skills like Acrobatics or Athletics—you’ll find yourself at level 20 facing high-level Bandits wearing literal glass armor.
It’s a bit of a mess. You’re the Savior of Kvatch, but a random highwayman is suddenly tanking thirty sword swings because his HP scaled faster than your damage. This is why many veterans use "efficient leveling" (calculating exactly which attributes to increase) or just slide the difficulty bar to the left and never look back.
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The Voice Acting: From Emperors to... Everything Else
We have to talk about the voice cast. It’s one of the strangest budget allocations in history. Bethesda hired Sir Patrick Stewart to play Emperor Uriel Septim VII. He’s amazing. He delivers those opening lines with enough gravitas to make you want to salute your monitor.
Then he dies in the first ten minutes.
They also got Sean Bean to play Martin Septim. Again, incredible performance. But because they spent so much on the "Big Names," the rest of the game—hundreds of NPCs—was voiced by a tiny handful of people. You’ll hear the same three guys and two women across the entire province. Sometimes, a character will even switch voice actors mid-conversation because the developers missed a line during recording. It’s part of the charm, kinda.
Why Shivering Isles Still Wins
Even if you find the base game a bit generic with its European forests and castles, the Shivering Isles expansion is legendary. It’s widely considered one of the best pieces of DLC ever made. It takes you to the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness.
The land is split into Mania and Dementia.
- Mania is bright, neon-colored, and filled with giant mushrooms and erratic artists.
- Dementia is a swampy, depressing mess of roots and paranoia.
It was the first time Bethesda really leaned into the "weird" lore after Morrowind. It proved they hadn't lost their creative spark. The writing is sharper, the quests are more imaginative (like the one where you play a "dungeon master" and decide how to torture a group of adventurers), and the ending actually feels earned.
How to Actually Enjoy Oblivion in 2026
If you want to play this today, don't go in expecting a modern masterpiece. Go in for the atmosphere. Jeremy Soule’s soundtrack is still arguably the best in the series. The "Wings of Kynareth" track hitting just as the sun sets over the Imperial City is a core gaming memory for a reason.
Your Actionable Next Steps:
- Don't overthink your class: Pick something with combat skills in your "Major" category so you don't get out-scaled by mudcrabs.
- Join the Dark Brotherhood early: It’s widely agreed to have the best writing in the game, far better than the main quest. Look for a guy named Lucien Lachance.
- Use the "Wait" button: If an NPC is acting weird or stuck in a wall, waiting one hour usually resets their AI package and fixes the issue.
- Get the Shivering Isles: If you only play one part of The Elder Scrolls IV, make it this. It’s the game at its absolute peak.
It’s a flawed, messy, beautiful experiment. It’s the game that defined the "Bethesda Style"—for better and for worse.