Oblivion Remastered: Fixing Leveling’s Biggest Flaws?

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There’s been a lot of excitement among fans of the game Oblivion, one of the most well-liked titles in the The Elder Scrolls series, about potential updates on a possible remake or improvement. After months of speculation, it seems that a remaster version, Oblivion Remastered , has been hinted at through a leak, following numerous rumors. The game is reportedly being developed by Virtuos Studios. Instead of a full remake, it’s expected to be a remaster. However, whispers suggest that some key systems like combat and stealth have undergone redesigns in the process.

Initially, the initial version of “Oblivion” was successful upon release; however, certain aspects have either deteriorated over time or were not optimally executed even then. For instance, the leveling system in “Oblivion” is imbalanced and challenging to master due to its design flaws. One significant issue with the leveling in “Oblivion” is the enemy scaling, while the Skills system essentially weakens the player character as they progress. Addressing these issues would necessitate adjustments to several systems and potentially substantial revisions to others.

The Problem with Oblivion’s Level System

The leveling system in Oblivion is known for being complex and somewhat imbalanced. At the outset of the game, players select a predefined or personalized class, which grants seven Major abilities initially, while the rest are Minor abilities. Importantly, only the Major skills contribute to leveling up; Minor skills merely influence Attribute point adjustments.

Abilities measure a character’s proficiency in various areas, including Destruction, Conjuration, Restoration, Heavy Armor, Blocking, Blade, and Blunt. In total, there are 21 abilities, each capable of being enhanced up to a maximum of 100 points. Additionally, non-combat skills like Alchemy, Sneak, Athletics, Mercantile, and Speechcraft exist. These non-combat skills can even be Major skills, allowing the Hero of Kvatch to excel in them without necessarily improving their combat abilities. As the player’s level progresses, enemies will scale with them, potentially leading to imbalanced gameplay where enemies outmatch the player significantly, resulting in absurd situations such as low-level bandits donning armor made of glass.

In the realm of Oblivion, I found myself experiencing a game system where it felt like I could finish the main quest without even leveling up past 1 or 2. This is quite different from many other games, as in this case, becoming stronger didn’t bring any rewards, but rather made all enemies into damage sponges that were more of an annoyance than a threat.

Another challenge I encountered was the imbalance between attribute point gain and leveling up, especially when I opted for a specific build, like a Destruction Mage. By making Destruction my Major skill, I noticed that it leveled up too rapidly, which in turn caused me to lose out on Attribute points. This left my character unbalanced and struggling at higher difficulties.

Fixing Oblivion’s Leveling System

In Oblivion, the character you play as, the Hero of Kvatch, becomes less powerful as they advance in levels, a design that can be counteracted by strategic gameplay known as min/maxing and foreknowledge of the leveling issues. However, this strategy doesn’t benefit new players who are unaccustomed to the game’s system, potentially leaving them at a disadvantage due to the game’s unforgiving leveling mechanics.

Oblivion Remastered is said to have updated certain mechanics from the original version. This update may enhance the leveling system of Oblivion, for instance, by shifting to an experience point (XP) based progression, separating enemy difficulty from character advancement, and incorporating a respeccing option. The enemies’ levels in different regions might fall within certain ranges, allowing underleveled characters to depart and return later when they’ve grown stronger, as seen in contemporary RPGs. Moreover, the loot that enemies carry could scale with their own level, preventing higher-level bandits and goblins from possessing the best gear in the game.

As players gain more experience, their skills may still develop, but they shouldn’t feel compelled to focus on specific ones or exhibit unusual behaviors like jumping in place to boost Acrobatics. The attributes should be revised as well, which can be achieved by incorporating multipliers or an average value. It’s crucial to implement a respec feature so that players aren’t penalized for not optimizing their characters perfectly.

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2025-04-16 18:35