May 10th 2025.
As I sit here, I can't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, but also a slight headache. You see, I have just completed all 50 achievements/trophies in the remastered version of Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Now, some may say this isn't much of an achievement in itself, but to me, it means so much more.
The original Oblivion game was released almost 20 years ago on the Xbox 360, paving the way for its successor, Skyrim, to take over the gaming world six years later. In Oblivion, completing the main story quests, the four job guilds, and the gladiatorial arena was relatively straightforward in the region of Tamriel known as Cyrodill. But let's be real, Oblivion was basically just a long checklist of fetch quests, battles, some mild stalking, and a not insignificant amount of murder.
But now, with the recent surprise release of the remastered version, the expansive world with hundreds of dungeons, caves, and points of interest has never looked better. However, you'd be forgiven if you never actually saw any of it.
Personally, I chose to roleplay as a Necromancer/Assassin Hunter in this shiny new version. With the ability to summon monsters from the depths of hell, wield powerful daggers out of thin air, and disappear in the blink of an eye to take out my enemies with stealth attacks, I knew I needed to make the most of one aspect I had previously ignored back in 2006: travel.
You see, the remastered version still retains one of the original version's overpowered methods of travel. With just a click on a previously visited point on the map or one of the major town/city hubs, you can be whisked away to your chosen destination in the blink of an eye. And if your destination is within close proximity of a selectable point on the map, you don't even have to walk for more than a couple of minutes. It's like being a Grim Reaper delivery service employee, warping door to door.
But here's the thing, I made a conscious decision to not use fast travel via the world map at all. And let me tell you, it ended up being a very bad idea. The game has absolutely zero forethought when it comes to pathing and logical exploration of the world.
At the start of my journey, it was all fun and games. Everyone had something to say, there were caves to explore, and missing family members to bring back. But as I progressed and met everyone and completed all the quests, I started to notice patterns. And with the luxury of fast travel, these quests were nothing more than a few loading screens and a quick chat.
But without fast travel, completing a quest that could've been a quick scroll through my inventory and a chat with Modyrn Oreyn, turned into an hour-long round trip. And let me tell you, that was not a pleasant experience.
Now, I'm not saying I didn't thoroughly enjoy my playthrough. It was a joy to revisit old quests, see old friends (and enemies), and rediscover things I had long forgotten. Like the time I ran into an invisible sheep on the road and thought it was a bug, only to realize it was actually part of a quest. Ah, the nostalgia.
By the time I reached the end credits, I had spent 125 in-game days, completed 140 quests, reached level 100 in all major skills, visited 336 places, made 1500 potions, closed 59 Oblivion gates, and found 121 nirnroot. Unfortunately, the game doesn't track distance travelled, and the units of distance on the compass are not specified. So it was quite a challenge to figure out exactly how far I had travelled.
According to the official lore, Tamriel is roughly 80% the size of Australia. This could explain why everything in this world is constantly trying to kill me, but it didn't really help with my calculations. The little waypoint markers have a real-time counter of how far your goal is, measured in 'footprints'. And for the sake of staying true to the game's world, I assumed these were yards. It just felt more appropriate for a place with the 'Imperial' City at its center.
Using the bridge between the Imperial City and the settlement of Weye as my marker, I timed myself running at maximum speed and with maxed out athletics stats. And I was able to cover 100 'units' in just under nine seconds. Now, if I converted that to yards, it would put me close to Olympic athlete pace. Not quite Usain Bolt, but still pretty impressive. And the best part? I could maintain that pace indefinitely.
But at some point, I gave up trying to calculate my potential travel time. Between talking, sneaking, and exploring, I wouldn't even dare to guess how much of my time was spent standing around or moving at a snail's pace. And let's not forget the increase in speed as I leveled up my stats.
But I did give myself one exception. One moment of respite from all the walking. And that was my home base, Frostcrag Spire. Nestled up north at the top of Gnoll Mountain, it was my little beacon of safety. I could see it from miles away, towering above the world. And inside, I had my vault filled with valuable loot, my flame atronach guarding the entrance, and most importantly, my mage guild warp points. Ah, the little things that bring joy to a traveler's heart.
As I sit here, I can't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment, but also a slight headache. I have finally achieved all 50 base game achievements/trophies in the recently released Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered. Now, I know this may not seem like a huge feat to some, but for me, it was quite the challenge.
It's hard to believe that the original Oblivion game was released almost two decades ago on the Xbox 360. It paved the way for its successor, Skyrim, to take over the gaming world six years later. Back then, completing the main story quests and joining the four job guilds in the region of Cyrodill was a straightforward task. Oblivion was essentially a long checklist of fetch quests, battles, some mild stalking, and let's not forget, a significant amount of murder.
But now, with the remastered version, the world of Tamriel has never looked better. However, you could easily miss out on all its beauty if you choose to ignore one of the game's key features – traveling. And that's exactly what I did. In this shiny new version, I decided to roleplay as a Necromancer/Assassin Hunter, utilizing my abilities to summon monsters, wield powerful daggers, and sneakily eliminate my enemies. And let me tell you, speed, agility, and intelligence were crucial to my success. So, I decided to make the most of something I had previously ignored – travel.
The remastered version retained one of the original version's overpowered methods of travel – a simple click on the world map to teleport to a previously visited location or one of the major towns/cities. It was like being whisked away to your chosen destination in the blink of an eye. And if the location was within a short distance, you didn't even have to walk for more than a couple of minutes. It was as if I was working for some sort of Grim Reaper delivery service, warping door to door.
However, I made a conscious decision not to use this fast travel feature. And let me tell you, it was a bad idea. A very bad idea. The game had absolutely no foresight when it came to pathing and logical world exploration. At the start of the game, it seemed fine. Everyone had a quest for me, a cave to explore, or a missing family member to find. But as I progressed and met more people, I started to notice patterns in quests that were nothing more than a couple of loading screens and a quick chat if I had used fast travel.
But without fast travel, it took me an hour just to travel to a location that would have only taken a few minutes with the help of a map. And let's not forget the endless walking and running, with everything in the game seemingly trying to kill me. It was an intense and challenging journey, but it allowed me to fully immerse myself in the world, rediscovering things I had long forgotten.
By the time I reached the credits, I had spent 125 in-game days, completed 140 quests, reached level 100 in all major skills, visited 336 locations, made 1,500 potions, and closed 59 Oblivion gates. Unfortunately, the game didn't track the distance traveled, and the compass didn't specify the units of distance either. So, it was quite a challenge to figure out how far I had actually traveled.
According to the official lore, Tamriel is roughly 80% the size of Australia. But trying to work out the distance using this information was complicated because the world map seemed to be scaled down compared to maps and accounts in books. So, I decided to use the little waypoint markers with a real-time counter of how far my goal was. And for the sake of staying true to the world, I chose to measure the distance in yards.
Using the bridge between Imperial City and the settlement of Weye as my marker, I realized that my maxed out speed and athletics stats could take me 100 'units' in just under nine seconds. If I translated that to yards, it was almost Olympic athlete pace, but not quite Usain Bolt. However, I could maintain that pace indefinitely. It was quite a challenge to keep track of my travel time, considering all the talking, sneaking, and exploring I did in between. And let's not forget the increase in pace as I leveled up my stats.
But I did give myself one small break – my homebase at Frostcrag Spire. Perched at the top of Gnoll Mountain, it was my little haven in the chaotic world of Tamriel. Inside, I had my vault filled with loot worth millions of gold, my flame atronach guarding the entrance, and most importantly, my mage guild warp points. It was a brief moment of respite in an otherwise challenging journey. But in the end, it was all worth it. I had truly experienced the world of Oblivion in all its beauty and danger. And let me tell you, it was one hell of a journey.
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