At the beginning of the 360's life it seemed like RPG fans would be left out in the cold. Fortunately Bethesda was there in those dark days of 2006 with a game the essentially kick-started the "next generation" of gaming. Oblivion was the latest iteration of Bethesda's long-running Elder Scrolls series. The storyline (which concerns an invasion of the world of Tamriel by demonic entities) is really pretty secondary to the real purpose of the game, which was to walk away at the first opportunity and just explore these rich, lush fantasy lands. The world of Tamriel is filled with fascinating places to explore, dungeons to conquer, ancient items to collect and towns and cities to interact with, each with their own stories and agendas and secrets to discover. Even better, the world continued to grow with the release of a number of DLC packs, including the exceptional Shivering Isles. In short, if you're looking for a fantasy to get lost in, they don't come much better than the ones in Oblivion.
Allen: It's really tempting to call what Bethesda achieved in Oblivion just a warm-up for its triumph in Fallout 3, but that's really unfair to the effort and artistry that went into this game. I was 25 hours into it before I realized that I hadn't been following the main storyline for a while and I really didn't care.
Gabe: Following the main storyline? I couldn't stop picking flowers! I suppose the biggest testament to Oblivion's grandeur (for me, anyway) was the amount of time I spent brewing up alchemical potions and poisons to dip my lethal arrows in. The actual "game" portion of Oblivion was almost small potatoes in comparison to the vast amount of time I spent happily farming and crafting.Allen: That really is the secret to this game, isn't it? I realized just how deep it was from the very first instant when I crawled out of the sewer's linear tutorial segment and just stared in awe at the gorgeous and enormous landscape that confronted me. What made it more breathtaking was that it was all "real." Everything I could see I could eventually reach, and no matter which direction I walked I would discover something fascinating to see or explore or interact with.
Gerald: I initially hated Oblivion, since I couldn't get behind the way the world automatically scaled to your level. Then I experimented with a character build where all my primary skills were things I'd never use, and thus I always stayed the same level. I was then able to really appreciate the game for all its depth and rich variety. Oblivion is definitely near the top of my "games to revisit" list.
