The rumored Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake has been doing the rounds for quite some time, with many genuinely believing it will be announced and promptly shadow-dropped this month. Of course, there is some credence to these rumors, such as the remake's existence being leaked a while ago during Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and an untitled remake popping up on the LinkedIn profile of a Virtuos employee, the folks believed to be developing the Oblivion remake.

It's all relatively compelling evidence, enough to convince people that it is coming eventually, even if it isn't in April. Frankly, it has me incredibly excited as a huge Oblivion fan who grew up playing it. However, as much as I believe that a remake of Oblivion is better than TES6, or, at least, more likely to be genuinely good, I am concerned that it could change too much. In fact, there is one feature in particular of the original that this remake needs to avoid even remotely tweaking, or else it could ruin the whole experience.

The Oblivion Remake Needs To Fix Visuals And Gameplay

They Are The Worst Aspects Of The Original

There is a lot that the Oblivion remake needs to do in order to be worthwhile. First and foremost, it needs to fix the game's worst aspect, or, at least, its most poorly-aged element, its visuals. While a lot of Oblivion's natural and even urban landscapes still look decent today, in large part thanks to the vibrancy of its world and general art direction, the faces, animations, and the majority of static assets have aged rather horrendously, the faces especially. I've never seen an Argonian look quite as bad as they do in Oblivion.

Fortunately, at least according to the rumors, the remake is completely overhauling the base Oblivion experience, its visuals included. It is allegedly being developed in Unreal Engine 5, meaning that there's a very good chance it may be not only the best-looking Elder Scrolls game of all time but also the best-looking Bethesda game. If that's true, it'll be a huge win for Oblivion fans as well as the game's longevity, as its terrible visuals have held back many from replaying it, myself included.

Of course, in addition to changing the visuals, there's a lot about Oblivion's gameplay that needs to be tweaked. Many of its systems don't really work as intended, stealth is extremely limited, and combat feels rather bare-bones, even when compared to the more complex Morrowind. Luckily, the remake is allegedly revamping all of the gameplay systems, which is, again, an excellent decision. It'll make it feel like a more contemporary experience, albeit one that hopefully doesn't sacrifice the spirit of the original.

The Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remake Shouldn't Change The Voice Acting

It Is Absolutely Iconic

However, as much as the Oblivion remake should alter the majority of the original game's experience, there's one feature it shouldn't tamper with at all: its sound design. Specifically, Oblivion's iconic and endlessly memeable voice acting, as well as its phenomenal score, should be kept entirely intact. They shouldn't be removed, re-recorded, or even altered, as doing so would risk ruining the Oblivion remake entirely. As extremely limited as Oblivion's voice acting is, the various hiccups, repeated lines, inconsistent voices, and more are all what make it and the game so special.

While one would like to think that Oblivion's exploration, world design, and story would have seen it have a lasting cultural impact, the majority of positive videos about it online are almost entirely focused on its voice acting and the hilarious encounters between NPCs. In fact, the Oblivion NPC meme is perhaps its greatest gift to the world and the thing the majority of people it for, or even the only thing they know about it. I wouldn't be surprised if people born after its release are only familiar with it through this trend.

The Oblivion Remake Should Capture The Spirit Of The Original

It Shouldn't Sacrifice What Made It Special

I have a lot of faith that even if Virtous and Bethesda do remove this voice acting, they will honor it in some way. After all, Bethesda brought back Oblivion's most annoying companion for Starfield, and even referenced how much people hated him in one of its official trailers. It is hopefully an indication that it is aware of the legacy that Oblivion has left behind, and, one would hope, is in good spirits about the rather hilarious voice acting.

More importantly, games don't really make mistakes like this anymore. Budgets are so high that most games can afford to hire more than 10 voice actors, and QA testing is so thorough, at least, for the most part, that it would be impossible to miss repeated takes in dialogue. There's something rather special about how this part of Oblivion represents the state of the gaming industry at the time and how mistakes like those were really the worst a game could do. It was a simpler time, one in which Bethesda's frequent mistakes were seen as features, not annoyances.

I somehow doubt that Bethesda will keep the voice acting completely intact. It is a complete remake, after all, so every element will be changed. Maybe they'll bring some of the old cast back, Todd Howard included, or maybe the entire game will be recast. It is hard to say, but I do hope that at least a few of the flubbed lines make it in, even as a small Easter egg. After all, the mistakes are what defined The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in the absolute best way possible.

Source: Bacon_/YouTube