Oblivion Remastered 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.

OBLIVION REMASTERED MASTER DIFFICULTY

I am going to admit it… Never before have i been so hyped about a video game !

Maybe because i am a long fan of the series since…

1. Arena (The original Elder Scrolls)
2. Daggerfall (TES Episode 2)

I remember very well back in time in 1994, i was 15 years old and at that time i was part of a French Hacker's group. And even before the arrival of Internet and later the DSL connections, i had hundreds of games that i was acquiring and selling on the black market. Nobody's perfect hey ? 😅 had to make money!

Well… One day i went to see one of my usual suppliers of video games, and the guy told me about Arena, a game nobody's heard about… Where all the marketing in the end had been done by the players themselves. So we copied over all the floppy disks, and man… Literally Arena was like one of the best role playing games i had seen at that time.

Since of course, the love has spread and Bethesda is now the giant we know!

OBLIVION REMASTERED MASTER DIFFICULTY

Actually… I think the only TES Episodes i managed to complete were Arena and Skyrim…

Of course we can now put Oblivion to the list, but i think i never really completed Daggerfall… Mostly because Daggerfall was so bugged, that the changelogs for new patches were like when Windows 95 was released for the first time, there were literally SEVERAL PAGES of Bugs / Incompatibilities and so on 😆 And it's since Daggerfall that Bethesda earned its celebrity of releasing games, where it's better to wait for months before trying them out 😜

I remember like if 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 like 5 levels deep with each level the size of an american football stadium 😂 I was like What the Fuck ??!? Sometimes i would even leave the dungeon, just to have another look at the tower !!! Okay so the tower outside looks like a diameter of 50m and inside it's 5 miles… 😶

But it wasn't only about the size… This infinite bug would sometimes connect a dungeon to another one !! 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 finish in the cave of dragons… It was like the dungeon would never end ! And good luck to find the exit !!

So that's why i don't even remember if i managed to complete Daggerfall… I know that back in time, i had played intensively like 3 months to this game, but at some point i was so fed up with the bugs and endless dungeons, that i don't even remember if i had made it to the end of the main story.

That's why if one day it's possible to make a remaster of Daggerfall, and also changing the story because Daggerfall is too big… A remastered version would need to shrink the original game, then i would gladly buy it ! And also a remaster of Morrowind, because i never completed it as well… Not that it was that bugged, it's just that i never took the time to complete the 3rd episode of TES. And again i would gladly welcome a Remaster of Morrowind

Playing in 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 the Legendary one in Skyrim ! The key to success will be about Summoning creatures to help you from the very beginning to the last minute ! Also investing in Alteration magic for Shield spells as long as you won't have reached a Protection of 85%, which is the maximum.

In Master difficulty you take 6x more damage, and when you hit, the enemies only take 0.167 of your damage. You can compare that with Skyrim where the Legendary multipliers were only 3x / 0.25. So playing Oblivion remastered in Master mode is like nearly twice the difficulty of playing Skyrim in Legendary.

Even Rats will be a challenge at the start ! Kiting enemies, Running around, Hit, Block, Heal yourself… etc etc

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

OBLIVION REMASTERED MASTER DIFFICULTY

Then in 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 were leveling with you… Meaning at some point, after some leveling, you wouldn't encounter any “mud crabs”, they would all be replaced by Timber wolves. And all the Highway Bandits would wear Dwarven or Mithril stuff, as if these were commonly sold at the local market 😶

And that's not the worse… As when you would reach level 17-20 or more, the lands outside would become populated with Ogres and Minotaurs 😆 It's like no more little goblins… And welcome to all the most dangerous beasts you can think about! Not mentioning the local bandits would all wear Deadric, Glass armor and other powerful magic stuff!

The problem with that is it doesn't look real… The Devs said they were going to adjust it in the remastered, but after more than 55 hours and completing the game at level 30, i haven't seen so much adjustment on that. So don't even think about doing “little dungeons” to come back overpowered in 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 doing your first oblivion gate, and the siege of Kvatch) 👍 What i want to say is the enemies are not going to be easier… But by then you should have powerful spells and summons, and a 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, become good at Blocking but also take hits to increase your armor skill ! Everything that can protect you like healing spells, better pieces of armor and potions ! Oh yeah potions… literally the best things to survive in Master !

Fighting Goblins in dungeons at the beginning, it will be good to increase your skills.

Then “Level scaling” can also be played at your advantage… In a few quests there are scripted encounters, and these scripted enemies generally wear armors and weapons that match your level, even if you haven't found anything good thus far… And guess what ? You can loot everything you see on a dead opponent 😏

Best example of a fallen enemy wearing a FULL Dwarven armor…Well now it's Mine ! 😎

↓ Click! for a Discount ↓

Oblivion Remastered Master Difficulty

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

And as you will increase 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 what will be the next best place to hone your skills. (very important in Master…)

At first you'll summon a simple skeleton… and later it will 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, it will be 40 real damage to your enemies ! So a good method is to try to take the aggro, then block as much as you can while your puppet will wreak havoc from behind. Because if you let your pet Tank all the time, it's not going to last that long, especially against groups of enemies…

You have to take your part in the fights !

To be honest i waited to become Champion of the Arena before my first Gate of Oblivion 😏

Your first gate of Oblivion will be a real challenge (at least in 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 speed run, you're there to survive and try to kill everything ! Because of course there is some really high level stuff to be found in the gates… So when doing your first gate, explore all of it ! And Rid it completely of all the Deadras you'll find there !

Don't leave before everything is dead, that will be your mission !

Also a little tip for those who don't know : At the end of every Oblivion there is a Sigil Stone to be found, with which you will enchant one part of your gear… 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 also why it's better to wait to be 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 its enchantment it will provide to your gear, just quickload and click again 😅 You need all the help you can muster in Master difficulty !!

↓ Click! for a Discount ↓

Oblivion Remastered Master Difficulty

The real challenges in Oblivion will come from the “Protection” Missions, where you'll have to make sure that a npc in your group will survive the battle. Fortunately “most” of these are optional… That means even if the guy dies, the mission will continue. You won't just get the full reward. But 2 of these missions are actually mandatory, you'll see by yourself which one… And you'll have to be prepared to Heal the Npc in the middle of the battle with groups of enemies !

That's why the restoration skill will be critical !

At high level the Deadroth 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 deadroth is the one dealing the most damage if you manage to keep the aggro. Keeping your summon alive and be the center of attention, will make sure your pet will focus on one enemy at a time, kill it and then goes to the next.

Then of course if you're fighting groups of more than 4 (will only happen a few times), there is 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 how much exactly, because i am the kind of guy who like to see an end in every games. There are so many great video games out there, that i don't want to spend more than 100 hours on one. Then of course there are exceptions…

The Witcher 3 with all the Dlcs, Dragon Age Inquisition with all dlcs again, these kind of games can break the 150-200+ hours barrier, and still they'll stay very interesting to play. But an Elder's Scroll ? Frankly at some point all dungeons look exactly the same. Surely because even if the world of Oblivion was handcrafted… The dungeons were generated automatically before being placed on the map, and then only after the generation placed by a real employee.

So after the 5th cave, tower, catacombs or ruins… You will have a feeling of “Deja Vu“.

Still i am very happy that this remaster of Oblivion was released, i wasn't even aware of it at first, and thanks to a friend i kept in touch via facebook, i was notified of its release. So i can finally close this chapter i had not done back in 2006, and now i hope that one day (even in 4 years) that Morrowind will be remastered as well…

Because i will definitely play to it in 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 guys of 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 the new layer of paint 😏