The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls fans are celebrating “the unintentional comedy of Oblivion”. Online gamers are enjoying a small comeback for The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, praising the game’s iconic jank and humorous non-player characters.
The trip down memory lane was started by Twitter user NotRollingTim with this chaotic clip. It is embedded below and features the unexpectedly enthusiastic call to arms for one character and the murder of another. The snippet perfectly captures Oblivion’s penchant for fever dream-type scenarios, driven by wonky physics and distant characters.
But many longtime Bethesda players came out to reminisce about the game, so that post was just the tip of the iceberg. One of my favorites features two villagers having a fascinating conversation. By fascinating I mean that they exchange pleasantries twice. And talk in circles with all the awareness of a sloth with a concussion. Savor the below.
Oblivion:
Regarding non-playable characters, in the subsequent video, a boisterous conflict breaks out in the town. Upon approaching a fallen villager, the player character is shown in the trademark Bethesda zoom before zipping up and remarking that the locals are “very friendly.” What other horrors has she witnessed, I wonder?
The aforementioned clip perfectly captures Oblivion’s cutest feature: the moment when NPCs suddenly stand up and strike up a conversation. You should all watch all of those examples, so I’ll leave a few of them below.
Previous year’s leaks indicate that Bethesda intends to remaster or possibly remake Oblivion in addition to Fallout 3. But now that I’ve been made aware of the accidental humor in the former, I wonder if it’s really necessary. A contemporary remake, would just smooth over the oddball edges and fix the glitches that made Oblivion such an oddball good time.
