My friends, why is Oblivion still so inviting for us to travel ?
Around 2005-2006, the Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion came out and it was a shock. In a sense it betrayed Morrowind by tossing away its old-school RPG element and PC oriented interface, but also it was an incredible feat of early AI, creating unique NPCs and a world that still feels alive in 2023.
But Oblivion is also the most peaceful game of its generation…
There is a feeling of deep peace and contentment when wandering through its vast plains and hills… Or watching the stars from the bay of Niben, the Imperial City docks…
Gori lost track of the days he spent in this world… He’s been playing it since 2007…
Now he starts to understand why there is a “Bard” character class… You don’t really need to fight in this game.
Perhaps the thing closest to the feeling in Oblivion is Virgile’s poetry, the silver swan’s song. It is at the same time beautiful and melancholic.
The best way to describe it is that of a man who is born just after the Golden age of a civilization, he is majestic, and yet the world around him is a reminder of a not so distant but glorious past.
Oblivion is famous for its many ruins scattered all across its map, ruins of the mighty and lost Ayleid civilization.
In Dante’s work, Virgile was famously guiding the hero through the world of immortal souls… Perharps it could be said that Oblivion takes us to a world of higher realities…
