I'm very pleasantly surprised by Bethesda and Virtuos.
Perhaps the key to the success of this remaster is that at its core, it is still the original Oblivion, and the original engine.

I've had fun playing as a mage, despite the annoyances of magic in early game. I just touch people with a Darth Sidious-style lightning hand and stab them to death with a dagger. The magic system is really versatile and fun, and it's nice that you can take on many different types of quest-lines that suit your character.

The pricing is fair enough for a remaster of this quality, in my opinion. At the very least they didn't go with the new "industry standard" of $70.
All of the changes they made feel like they add to the experience, rather than take away. Some of the UIs are more intuitive, the graphics make the game look beautiful, and the animations bring a feel of modernity to the game.

Of course, for fans of the original, they're probably still happy to see radiant ai up to its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ as usual, lol.

Despite this, I think what I'm most excited for with it being based on the original is the potential for modding with the original creation kit. That would've been completely impossible if it was entirely UE5 slop. I can't entirely wrap my head around how they have UE5 doing rendering only, but I'm glad they did.

I'm very pleasantly surprised by Bethesda and Virtuos. Perhaps the key to the success of this remaster is that at its core, it is still the original Oblivion, and the original engine. I've had fun playing as a mage, despite the annoyances of magic in early game. I just touch people with a Darth Sidious-style lightning hand and stab them to death with a dagger. The magic system is really versatile and fun, and it's nice that you can take on many different types of quest-lines that suit your character. The pricing is fair enough for a remaster of this quality, in my opinion. At the very least they didn't go with the new "industry standard" of $70. All of the changes they made feel like they add to the experience, rather than take away. Some of the UIs are more intuitive, the graphics make the game look beautiful, and the animations bring a feel of modernity to the game. Of course, for fans of the original, they're probably still happy to see radiant ai up to its bullshit as usual, lol. Despite this, I think what I'm most excited for with it being based on the original is the potential for modding with the original creation kit. That would've been completely impossible if it was entirely UE5 slop. I can't entirely wrap my head around how they have UE5 doing rendering only, but I'm glad they did.