Ranking All Games Published By Bethesda Softworks From Worst To Best

Oblivion has gotten a bad rap in the last few years. Lost between the groundbreaking nostalgia of Morrowind and the (almost never-ending) phenomena of Skyrim, presently Oblivion gets referenced as an infamous series of spoof YouTube videos more than anything else.

Certainly, the main plot was ho-hum (the usual end of the world fantasy scenario), but in trademark Bethesda fashion, the true strength was giving players a massive open-world fantasy playground and letting them loose in it... with so much to see and do, it was overwhelming.

Revisiting the game, its impressive polish has wavered into a primitive, and sometimes hilariously awkward experience. At least, there’s a charm to the weirdness (e.g. a shopkeeper that joyfully goes about their day while naked corpses left from your former battle are strewn around the shop).

That aside, a worthy criticism is that its world is just a condensed version of Medieval countryside with fantasy elements and not much variety. It lacks the vibrant alien feeling of Morrowind, or the bombast of Skyrim, making it easily the most forgettable modern Elder Scrolls game.

It doesn't help that the combat is thankless button mash, or the interface overly complex (but the deeper NPC interactions are missed).

Regardless, at the time of release, this was an earth-shattering breakthrough for the genre, and the first western RPG to hit big on consoles. It should be remembered as such.