The long-rumored remastered version of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is finally here, adding a fresh coat of paint and rejiggering some of the gameplay under the hood to provide returning players and newcomers alike with an updated way to experience Bethesdas nearly 20-year-old game. Fortunately, this modernization hasnt stolen any of the originals goofy charm, at least when it comes to some of the iconic NPC voice lines.
“When Oblivion first launched, disc storage limits meant we couldnt have unique voiceovers for all the races,” Bethesda Game Studios direct Tom Mustaine said during the April 22 reveal broadcast while holding up an Xbox 360 copy of the game to the camera. “So weve gone back and recorded new lines of dialogue. Each race represented in the game now sounds unique. We also made sure to keep in all of the… quirkier dialogue.”
Some of the examples provided by the teams at Bethesda and Oblivion Remastered development studio Virtuos include:
- All the nice (and creepy) ways NPCs greet the player
- “Stop, youve violated the law!”
- “Stop, criminal scum!”
- “Cheese for everyone!”
That last line in particular is frequently shouted by fan favorite Sheogorath, a mad god who serves as the central figure of the Shivering Isle expansion pack. Wes Johnson, who provided his wonderful voice to Sheogorath as well as the assassin Lucien Lachance and various other NPCs, stopped by the Oblivion Remastered stream, puppy in tow, to chat about his time working on the game. I know we all want to jump into Cyrodiil as soon as possible, but be sure to check out the ongoing broadcast and listen in while the game is downloading.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X. Its also part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library.
