Despite no marketing and a shadow drop that came out of seemingly nowhere for those not paying close attention to leaks, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered has been an immense success for Bethesda. The studio has been getting acclaim for the work on the remaster, despite most of it being done by Virtuos, and this is much-needed since Bethesda's reputation isn't quite what it was back in 2011, when it was riding high on the success of Skyrim. A mix of declining quality in its games and one too many Skyrim re-releases has contributed to this.

Still, with Oblivion Remastered's success and the inclusion of its two expansions in its price, people are chanting that Bethesda is back, a strange mentality considering that Bethesda as a publisher has been nailing it recently, and this is just another instance. As a developer, there are still many questions regarding Bethesda Game Studios and whether it can keep up with the ever-growing expectations of modern games. The Elder Scrolls 6 will be the big test, and despite its success, it shouldn't follow Oblivion Remastered's lead by using Unreal Engine 5. It should keep with the Creation Engine 2.

Oblivion Remastered's Great Visuals Are Down To Unreal Engine 5

An Objectively Great Remaster With A Lot Of Rough Edges

Oblivion Remastered's visuals are objectively impressive, especially the environments. The characters still look like melted cheese, but at least that cheese is extremely high fidelity, and this was an intentional design choice rather than a flaw. A lot of this can be attributed to Unreal Engine 5, especially when it comes to the lighting and the ability to render a massive number of polygons. It is certainly more impressive than Starfield's visuals, the only title to make use of the Creation Engine 2, Bethesda's latest proprietary engine that has been receiving a lot of criticism after its first outing.

Bethesda isn't the only studio to use UE5. CD Projekt Red has switched to the engine for the next Witcher games.

Unreal Engine 5 games are known for their great visuals, and while Oblivion Remastered has benefited from this in many ways, it also suffers from sometimes lackluster optimization and strange bugs. Strange bugs are part and parcel of the Bethesda experience, and while some have been intentionally recreated for Oblivion Remastered, not all are there to add charm to the gaming experience. While certain exploits are wanted, many softlocks aren't. Being softlocked out of the game's Arena questline because I donned some conjured armor from a random stone in the world isn't a great feeling.

I'm not saying that these bugs are because of Unreal Engine 5, since the Creation Engine and its successor are known for their buggy nature, but many have been calling for a switch to Unreal 5, thinking that these bugs would be removed as a result. Oblivion Remastered has proved that this isn't the case, although it has proved that UE5's visuals would make Tamriel look more real than ever. Still, the graphical fidelity improvements from Creation Engine 2 to UE5 might not be worth the sacrifice to ES6's longevity, especially when looking at Skyrim's seeming immortality.

Unreal Engine Will Prevent ES6 From Having Skyrim's Longevity

Mods Keep Bethesda Games Alive Far Longer Than Others

Oblivion Remastered did not launch with a modding toolkit, and while an article from GamesRadar shows that modding for the title hasn't been ignored with a new script extender. A modder by the name of Ianpatt has created OBSE64, which is likely to expand the game's modding capabilities, although they have stated 'not to get your hopes up' since modding for the remaster is very different to the original. It isn't as though Unreal Engine games can't be modded, since Hogwarts Legacy has quite the modding scene, but none have eclipsed Skyrim.

Hogwarts Legacy was made in Unreal Engine 4, and its mod toolkit was made almost two years later.

With a Creation Kit and a script extender practically part of a Bethesda game's release, The Elder Scrolls 6 should do the same, and it is clear that Bethesda's familiarity with both the modding scene and the Creation Engine 2 are needed to allow modders to thrive. Starfield has everything modders need. It has only struggled to take off because many didn't enjoy the game like with Skyrim. This isn't the case with Oblivion Remastered, at least not at the moment, without an official toolkit and mod manager, something that keeps Bethesda games going seemingly forever.

Bethesda Game Studios likely doesn't know Unreal Engine well enough to make a toolkit, and while Virtuos has shown competency in making a title with the UE5, it likely doesn't know enough about modding for a toolkit. That doesn't mean there won't be mods for Oblivion Remastered, since modders are making do without a modkit so far, but it will be tough to get the massive projects Skyrim's modding scene is known for. Getting a mod as extreme as Vigilant would be impossible without a mod toolkit, and fans likely won't get one because of UE5.

Bethesda Should Give The Creation Engine 2 A Proper Chance

Keep Unreal Engine 5 For The Remasters

Starfield still remains the only game to use the Creation Engine 2, and while it has many flaws, its visuals were still a marked improvement from Fallout 4 and 76. While it may never be as good as Unreal Engine 5's, having an engine Bethesda knows inside and out is important for helping a modding community thrive, so long as fans take to the game first. Fans won't mind if the game doesn't have the best graphics so long as it doesn't have the worst and there is a strong art design team behind it, which FromSoftware has proven.

The Demon's Souls remake has superior graphical fidelity to Elden Ring, despite coming first, yet many don't care because of how Elden Ring brought the Soulsborne formula forward and showed off FromSoftware's great art design team. The Elder Scrolls 6 could do the same, making gameplay innovations for the series and showing off some great art design, while providing the perfect foundations for modders to thrive. This is what will make ES6 last as long as Skyrim, not its graphical fidelity, which modders will end up tinkering with anyway.

This doesn't mean UE5 shouldn't be used altogether. With Fallout 3 apparently getting a remaster, it's perfect for that project if the development gets outsourced again, as was the case with Virtuos and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. When it comes to making sure a flagship title meant to bring a storied series forward will repeat Skyrim's success, Bethesda should give the Creation Engine 2 another go. Only after proving that the engine can't keep up with modern standards with another game should it be abandoned for UE5, but until then, the Creation Engine 2 deserves another chance.

Source: GamesRadar