notes from the couch

Introduction

Hi, I’m Aidan. This is my first post. I’m on a couch. Hence the whole notesfromthecouch thing. Anyways, in this post I’m going to be talking about Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered from Bethesda Softworks, released April 22nd, 2025 from Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, and PC.

So, I have to preface by saying this is my first time playing Oblivion, because when it originally came out, I was too young to play it. I played Skyrim a small amount back when it came out but I never got super into it for whatever reason, hate me all you want, but weirdly enough, I love Oblivion. Since it came out, I’ve put about 20 hours into it, and I have way more to go, but I felt like that was a good start to make a review. Also, I am playing as a Dark Elf named Illithor on PS5. I’m in almost every guild so far, mainly doing thieve’s guild and dark brotherhood quests.

What I Love About the Game

It’s been one of the easiest games to fully immerse myself in that I’ve played in years. I haven’t wanted to sink this much time into a single player RPG since playing Red Dead Redemption 2 back in 2018. But ever since this game came out I’ve been playing for hours every day.

All the characters are hilarious and the quest lines are super fun. I’m still in Imperial City at the beginning of the game because I’ve only done 3 or 4 of the main quests and have just spent around 15 hours doing only side quests just because they’re so much fun. There’s vampires, there’s secretive assassinations, there’s stealing from royals, there’s competing as a champion in the Arena, there’s just so much to do I haven’t even been able to focus on the main story! One day this week I literally spent 8 hours just playing the game, I know some people play for longer, but I mean think about it; That’s a full shift at a full time job. I could’ve had a 30 minute unpaid lunch break while playing Oblivion that day.

Basically, if you’re wondering whether or not you should get the game, you should. Many games nowadays are also $70, and Oblivion is set at only $50 (which I think every game should be set at, but that’s a topic for another post). The combat feels good, the graphics look great, the story is great and they kept in all the quirky dialogue from NPCs, and all around is just a blast to play. Totally worth the money. If you haven’t picked it up already, get it and I don’t think you’ll regret it. But if you hate it I’m not liable or anything don’t quote me.

My Only Caveat

I’m putting this last just because it’s a pretty small detail, but may be a big one for others who love playing mages in RPG fantasy games, I wish the magic was a little better. The way you have to switch spells in the middle of combat takes out the immersion, and the magic doesn’t overall doesn’t feel that fun honestly. It’s useful, but not really fun to use. But again, this isn’t a dealbreaker for me, but I do have a friend that disliked the game because of this, so it is something I’d like to point out. The magic is certainly different from Skyrim and many other RPG games, so if you’re looking for an awesome experience as a witch or wizard, this game isn’t really it in all honesty. Which is something I wish they did upgrade in the remaster, but oh well! The rest of the game is awesome.

Except for this guy, I don’t like him either.

And this guy because he called me an idiot.

But that’s all! Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go play some more Oblivion after I post this before I get some beauty sleep. Happy playing, gamers!

My couch rating: 9/10