Why is Oblivion so popular?

[Chaos Incarnate]

Its the greatest immersible open world RPG ever, until Elder Scrolls V

 

[CharrHearted]

The last time I checked the game told you it wasn't a ring it was called the amulet of Kings. And the game was released in 2006 so give it some god-damn credit. I still think it's one of my favourite games for PC.

 

[decaINNERdence]

I just recently started playing again Oblivion (on console) and I gotta say after just playing a'lil "quip" of the game I stopped (due to game design courses) I kept wanting to come back and play just because of the sheer size of the game. The fact I can totally ignore the main quests and just go and explore was something that had mass appeal. Granted Oblivion has its flaws that are clearly noticeable, it does hold some I guess you can say "appreciated" treasures. Playing it now I have to say it's one of my favorite games.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Bethesda games use nose tinted glasses of "exploration". However when viewed without the glasses its just a copy pasta world with horrible writing. Make a world look big and mysterious and people will lap it up without problem. If you notice the only reason they last so long is because of modablility. No one praises oblivion for consoles for this reason. If they stopped mods being made Bethesda would be called a crappy developer.

This would be a valid argument if it weren't for the fact that plenty of people who think Oblivion is an excellent game have never played the PC version and as such have never had access to the mods. Which is to say, the argument isn't valid in the slightest and reads as just slightly better than a troll post.

For example, consider the following praise the game received from various review outlets:

"A staggeringly ambitious game that successfully unites some of the best elements of RPG, adventure and action games and fuses them into a relentlessly immersive and intoxicating whole." - Eurogamer (they gave it a perfect score)

"Morrowind" earned recognition for being one of the best role-playing games in years, but the immersive and long-lasting experience it provided wasn't for everyone. Oblivion is hands-down better, so much so that even those who'd normally have no interest in a role-playing game should find it hard to resist getting swept up in this big, beautiful, meticulously crafted world. " - Gamespot

"The best single-player role-playing experience to come along in years." - IGN

"Oblivion is easily the finest open-ended RPG to date. It lacks the out-of-the-box crippling technical issues of every other Elder Scrolls game, looks great, and delivers on every promise Bethesda made during its development." - 1UP

I could go on for awhile - there are hundreds of these, but even one was sufficient to demonstrate your assertion was flawed. But that still does not satisfy me. How about quoting people from this very board:

We just love it
For me its because I dont know how many hours I put in but I bought it for £10
For me thats profit.

I have it on console and it's easily one of my favourite games.

. . . However, my preference is towards Oblivion, it drew me in more, it is the only game besides Age Of Empires 2 to cause me to play for 2 days straight, no sleep.

(from <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.84327-Poll-Oblivion-or-Fallout-3>this thread).

I put 4,000 hours (not a typo) in the console versions of Oblivion. That's right, the console versions. My save counter is over 25,000 on the 360. I have even acquired a laptop that can run it and it's now old-and-outdated engine. And then bought the GOTY edition off of Steam. But I rarely play it there...This is when the PC gamers will stop reading my post and go "lol PC version is the bestest" or "your opinion is now invalid".

(from <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.251248-I-love-Oblivion-BECAUSE-of-its-flaws-And-worry-for-Skyrim>this thread.

I could still go on. For hundreds of pages.

 

[Imbechile]

Because it's open-ended and is easy to play. I for one think it's utter shit, especially compared to Morrowind.
The landscape is just trees, grass, trees, .....
The level scaling is just plain horrible.
The quick-travel and the compass is what kills the charm of exploration.
.
.
.
.

 

[Wintermoot]

1. HUGE area to explore
2. lots-o DLC,s
3. lots of faction (until NV)
4. amazing visuals (if your rig can handle it)

 

[SuperCombustion]

Insanely huge map, loads of factions and a huge host of weapons, items and other resources.

Perfect for modding ^_^

 

[maninahat]

In this Post Fallout 3 age, Oblivion isn't all that good. But at the time of release, its huge scale and massive size gave it some of the best exploration elements of any game at the time. Since then we have been spoiled by other huge landscapes, from STALKER: COP to Fallout 3, making Oblivion's once amazing open landscape somewhat old hat.

Case in point, I bought Oblivion years back and was amazed by it (and still am today). My brother bought it last month and thought it was a shitty proto-Fallout game.

 

[maninahat]

Because it's open-ended and is easy to play. I for one think it's utter shit, especially compared to Morrowind.
The landscape is just trees, grass, trees, .....
The level scaling is just plain horrible.
The quick-travel and the compass is what kills the charm of exploration.
.
.
.
.

I agree that the quick travel does damage the exploration, but it is one of the best anti-tedium devices I have seen built into a game. I hate backtracking in any game, and in Oblivion, it would be a nightmare. Plus, if I jsut want to walk anywhere, I will, and I'll just not use the fast travel system. I tried playing the modded version of Oblivion called "Nehrim", and found it's severely restricted teleport system to be horrible.

 

[Scout Tactical]

People like these open worlds that allow for endless exploration and possibilities. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of Oblivion because I didn't like the fighting mechanics, but I -really- enjoyed Fallout 3 and FO:NV. I'm really excited to see the new engine for the next Fallout game, too, because it will supposedly be way less buggy.

That being said, I think it's GOOD that people give Bethesda this feedback: I hope other companies will look to the success of games like Fallout and be encouraged to give people NONLINEAR exploration opportunities! It's a HUGE investment: we need to encourage development, and hopefully we will have more games like this in the future that DON'T have loads of bugs or have copy-pasta landscaping.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Big world, magic, fun....

I think I'll go play it now.

 

[northeast rower]

I've read many posts regarding the greatness of Oblivion over the few months I've been here and it always left me wondering why. I got the game last year and I've yet to finish it. I feel like the game devs had great ideas like the making your own magic, tons of armor and swords, wearing down of equipment but the game doesn't really put everything together well.

For example, I had no idea what was going on the first hour or so of the game because nothing is explained to me. I know nothing of the character I'm using and the story is slowly explained to me at all. All I'm told is to go deliver some rig to some guy or all hell will brake loose.

Next is the combat. This more than the story was a game breaker for me. TERRIBLE fighting animations. Your character just swings his sword around mindless, and magic spells are clunky to follow. The game just feels half done.

Don't get me started on the terrible facial animations and all the generic NPCs....

Bethesda games use nose tinted glasses of "exploration". However when viewed without the glasses its just a copy pasta world with horrible writing. Make a world look big and mysterious and people will lap it up without problem. If you notice the only reason they last so long is because of modablility. No one praises oblivion for consoles for this reason. If they stopped mods being made Bethesda would be called a crappy developer.

Actually, I praise Oblivion on consoles.

The exploration is half of the game. Yes, you are right that without exploration the game would not be good, but the problem with that idea is that the game DOES have exploration, and that makes it hella fun to play.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

snip

i'd just like to point out, i have played it on pc with mods, and still prefer it on console.

I am curious as to the reason for this as, if you ignore the mods the key difference is in graphical fidelity (where the PC potentially has the edge) and in the input mechanism (where personal preference is the deciding factor).

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I also found that once you take away the nude mods, and the graphical optimisations / adjustments, there really isn't a massive amount left that i care about (other than hilarity and the overhaul that came out a few months ago.) Also, my computer isn't powerful enough to produce graphics much beyond what my 360 can manage, so I usually end up setting them to minimum to get the best fps possible.

I never have cared for the nude patches in general, if only because I'm expected to believe some waif of a woman with a pair of watermelons passing for breasts can pile on 200 lbs of weapons and armor and engage me effectively in melee combat. Sure the models are well made, they just don't fit into the world. And the requisite new armor that resolves the clipping is almost universally atrocious. I can't be the only person who thinks armor that is revealing is probably just a really uncomfortable piece of costume apparel.

That said, there are a few mods that are actually quite good. The latest iteration of deadly reflex is actually incredible and far less clunky than the other notable major combat overhaul.