Oblivion Remastered Review – Master Difficulty strikes back

Oblivion Remastered released on the 14th of April 2025, 19 years after the original.

The version I am reviewing today is the unpatched first-day release.

The Elder Scrolls I Never Finished (Thanks, Daggerfall Bugs)

Actually... I think the only TES episodes I ever managed to complete were Arena and Skyrim...

Of course, we can now add Oblivion to the list, but I don't think I ever really completed Daggerfall... Mostly because Daggerfall was so buggy that the changelogs for new patches were like when Windows 95 first came out — literally SEVERAL PAGES of bugs, incompatibilities, and so on 😆 And it's ever since Daggerfall that Bethesda earned its reputation for releasing games where it's better to wait a few months before trying them out 😜

I remember it like it was yesterday: the infamous bug of the Infinite Dungeon in Daggerfall... You would enter a tower in the middle of nowhere, and then this dungeon would be 5 levels deep, with each level the size of an American football stadium 😂 I was like, "What the hell?!" Sometimes I would even leave the dungeon just to have another look at the tower!!! Okay, so the tower outside looks like it's 50m across, and inside it's 5 miles... 😶

But it wasn't only about the size... This infinite bug would sometimes connect one dungeon to another! So you would begin your adventure in the Tower of Ghosts (that's an example, this name never existed 😅) and, after taking one turn, you would end up in the Cave of Dragons... It was like the dungeon would never end! And good luck finding the exit!!

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So that's why I don't even remember whether I managed to complete Daggerfall... I know that back in the day, I played this game intensively for about 3 months, but at some point I was so fed up with the bugs and endless dungeons that I honestly can't recall if I ever made it to the end of the main story.

That's why, if one day it becomes possible to make a remaster of Daggerfall — and also to rework the story, because Daggerfall is too big... A remastered version would need to shrink the original game. Then I would gladly buy it! And a remaster of Morrowind too, because I never completed that one either... Not that it was that buggy, it's just that I never took the time to finish the 3rd episode of TES. And again, I would gladly welcome a remaster of Morrowind.

Playing on Master difficulty for the challenge, and as bald as I can be in real life 😆

The Master difficulty in Oblivion Remastered is even worse than Legendary in Skyrim! The key to success will be summoning creatures to help you, from the very beginning to the very last minute! Also, invest in Alteration magic for Shield spells until you reach a Protection value of 85%, which is the maximum.

On Master difficulty you take 6x more damage, and when you hit, enemies only take 0.167 of your damage. You can compare that to Skyrim, where the Legendary multipliers were only 3x / 0.25. So playing Oblivion Remastered on Master is nearly twice as hard as playing Skyrim on Legendary.

Even rats will be a challenge at the start! Kiting enemies, running around, hit, block, heal yourself... etc.

Going with one-handed weapons and a shield to block will be wise! At least in the beginning.

The Infamous Level Scaling of Oblivion

Then, on Master difficulty, you have to think about the aggressive and infamous "Level Scaling" of Oblivion...

In the original game it was already a problem, as all the enemies in the world leveled up with you... Meaning that at some point, after a bit of leveling, you wouldn't encounter any "mud crabs" anymore — they'd all be replaced by Timber Wolves. And all the highway bandits would wear Dwarven or Mithril gear, as if these were commonly sold at the local market 😶

And that's not even the worst part... Because once you reached level 17-20 or more, the lands outside would become populated with Ogres and Minotaurs 😆 No more little goblins... Welcome to all the most dangerous beasts you can think of! Not to mention the local bandits, who would all wear Daedric or Glass armor and other powerful magical gear!

The problem with that is that it doesn't look real... The devs said they were going to adjust it in the remaster, but after more than 55 hours and completing the game at level 30, I haven't seen much adjustment on that front. So don't even think about doing "little dungeons" to come back overpowered for the main quest — it's not going to work 😅

Well... Actually, it can be a very good thing to level up close to level 20 before doing the main quest (especially before your first Oblivion Gate and the Siege of Kvatch) 👍 What I mean is that the enemies aren't going to be easier... but by then you should have powerful spells and summons, plus gear strong enough to survive.

You should focus on summoning more and more powerful creatures to deal more DPS, cast a Shield on yourself at all times, get good at blocking, but also take hits to increase your armor skill! Everything that can protect you — healing spells, better pieces of armor, and potions! Oh yeah, potions... literally the best things to survive on Master!

Fighting goblins in dungeons at the beginning — good for raising your skills.

Then "Level Scaling" can also be played to your advantage... In a few quests there are scripted encounters, and these scripted enemies generally wear armor and weapons that match your level, even if you haven't found anything good so far... And guess what? You can loot everything you see on a dead opponent 😏

Best example of a fallen enemy wearing FULL Dwarven armor... Well, now it's mine! 😎

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Where to Train: Arena, Side Quests & Exploration

I would highly recommend fighting in the Arena, as well as doing a few side quests, or even clearing a cave, a tower, or whatever dungeon you find where the enemies aren't too hard. Check your map while traveling from one city to another... Take your horse and explore a little — you'll find dungeons too hard for you, and others where it'll be okay.

And as you raise your skills, level up, and find new gear, you'll be able to win more fights in the Arena. It's all a matter of finding the next best place to hone your skills (very important on Master...).

At first you'll summon a simple skeleton... and later it'll be a Frost Atronach 👍

Your summoned creature should be there to deal the DPS (damage per second), because they're not affected by the Master difficulty. So if they deal 40 points of damage, that's 40 real damage to your enemies! A good method is to try to take the aggro, then block as much as you can while your puppet wreaks havoc from behind. Because if you let your pet tank all the time, it's not going to last very long, especially against groups of enemies...

You have to play your part in the fights!

To be honest, I waited until I became Champion of the Arena before my first Gate of Oblivion 😏

Your first Gate of Oblivion will be a real challenge (at least on Master difficulty), because you know how it is... The first time is always the hardest 😜 So take your time, don't rush... You're not there to do a speedrun, you're there to survive and try to kill everything! Because there's some really high-level loot to be found in the gates... So when doing your first gate, explore all of it! And rid it completely of every Daedra you find there!

Don't leave before everything is dead — that's your mission!

Also, a little tip for those who don't know: at the end of every Oblivion gate, there's a Sigil Stone to be found, which you'll use to enchant one part of your gear... It could be a weapon, a piece of armor, or jewelry. These Sigil Stones have different levels of power, and the highest can be obtained as soon as you're level 17. That's another reason it's better to wait until you're close to level 20 before doing your very first Gate of Oblivion.

Another tip is to quicksave just before you take your stone... That way, if you don't like the enchantment it gives your gear, just quickload and click again 😅 You need all the help you can muster on Master difficulty!!

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Escort Missions & the Critical Restoration Skill

The real challenges in Oblivion will come from the "Protection" missions, where you'll have to make sure an NPC in your group survives the battle. Fortunately, "most" of these are optional... meaning that even if the guy dies, the mission continues — you just won't get the full reward. But 2 of these missions are actually mandatory (you'll figure out which ones yourself), and you'll need to be ready to heal the NPC in the middle of a battle against groups of enemies!

That's why the Restoration skill will be critical!

At high level, the Daedroth is the best DPS you can summon — still, try to get the aggro like on the right!

There are other summons like the Dremora Lord or the Lich, but in the end the Daedroth deals the most damage if you manage to keep the aggro. Keeping your summon alive and being the center of attention will make sure your pet focuses on one enemy at a time, kills it, and then moves to the next.

Then, of course, if you're fighting groups of more than 4 (which will only happen a few times), there's no shame in running to kite the mobs away, re-summon, and heal yourself.

After 55+ hours to complete the game, I had only explored a small part, and my skills were far from maxed.

Oblivion Remastered is a game where you can literally spend months... I don't know exactly how many, because I'm the kind of guy who likes to see an end to every game. There are so many great games out there that I don't want to spend more than 100 hours on a single one. Then, of course, there are exceptions...

The Witcher 3 with all its DLCs, or Dragon Age: Inquisition with all its DLCs — these kinds of games can break the 150-200+ hour barrier and still stay very interesting to play. But an Elder Scrolls? Frankly, at some point all the dungeons look exactly the same. Probably because, even though the world of Oblivion was handcrafted... the dungeons are built from a limited set of reusable modular pieces, hand-assembled rather than fully random — which explains why, even in a handcrafted world, the déjà-vu creeps in after a while.

So after the 5th cave, tower, catacomb, or ruin... you'll get a feeling of déjà vu.

Still, I'm very happy that this remaster of Oblivion was released. I wasn't even aware of it at first, and thanks to a friend I've kept in touch with via Facebook, I was notified of its release. So I can finally close this chapter that I hadn't finished back in 2006, and now I hope that one day (even in 4 years) Morrowind will be remastered as well...

Because I will definitely play it on Master mode 😜

+ Nostalgia brought back with Unreal Engine 5
+ Master difficulty is NOT FAIR, but we like it hard 😆
+ If you never completed Oblivion before, now's the time!
+ The French team at Virtuos have done a GREAT JOB!

- A few bugs: light spell fading, icons not showing...
- The game can crash once in a while, so save a lot!
(And alternate between manual and quick saves)
- It's still the old Oblivion under a new coat of paint 😏