The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion moved the series to the province of Cyrodiil, the heart of the empire, where the player, after a prologue in the sewers of the Imperial Palace, becomes the mover of fate deciding the outcome of the struggle for the throne after the assassination of the emperor. The main storyline about closing the gates to the plane of Oblivion and fighting the Mythic Dawn cult is just one of many layers, alongside which stand factions such as the Thieves Guild, the Dark Brotherhood, or the Arena, each with its own tone and morality. The Shivering Isles expansion then took the player into the bizarre domain of the mad god Sheogorath, which offered a markedly different visual and thematic atmosphere from the main game.

The game brought a visually much more civilized world than the desolate Vvardenfell, with forests, farms, and towns connected by roads, and the Radiant AI system, meant to give characters their own daily routines and decision-making. Combat was more accessible than in Morrowind, magic and alchemy allowed for wide experimentation, and the player could freely combine occupations without fixed classes, while voice acting, though of uneven quality, gave the world a new dimension. Jeremy Soule's music again was among the most distinctive elements of the atmosphere and, together with Havok physics technology for objects, gave the game an unusual tangibility for its time.

Oblivion became one of the most successful RPGs of its generation and, for many players, was the gateway into the entire series. It was often criticized for repetitive dungeons and a simplified level compared to its predecessor, but its openness, the humor of its side quests, and the breadth of its content still make it a popular target for the modding community and nostalgic returns today. The Knights of the Nine expansion added a shorter, standalone quest line with its own equipment and rewards. On PC, the game was also accompanied from the start by the official Construction Set, thanks to which an extensive modding community emerged, whose fixes and expansions keep the game playable even on modern hardware to this day.

Why play it: Thanks to its enormous amount of content and the extensive modding community it supported from the start with the official Construction Set, Oblivion remains a popular gateway into the series even today.