Even if the visual differences between the originalOblivionandThe Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remasteredseem like night and day, it’s still the same core experience under the fresh coat of paint. This isn’t to say that Bethesda hasn’t added several improvements and quality of life features toOblivion Remastered, but most of these changes support the original experience rather than redefining it. With how many smaller tweaks and changes have gone by without too much notice, it’s hard to keep track of what’s new and old forOblivion Remastered.
From being able to sprint to new voice acting and combat animations, there areplenty of worthwhile differencesthat makeOblivion Remasteredstand out from the original game.Some of these new features have even been carried over from the more recentThe Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, taking advantage of both the successor’s mechanics while introducing new ones that may even show up in the highly anticipated sixth entry in the series. Out of all ofSkyrim’s new features and mechanics to borrow from, one of the best additions to combat for the sequelwas the introduction of dual-wielding weapons.
A Missed Opportunity To Let Oblivion’s Combat Shine
Unfortunately for players coming toOblivion Remasteredstraight fromSkyrim,the new game does not include the ability to dual-wield melee weapons with its combat system. This isn’t to say that dual-wielding is completely absent in the game, asOblivion Remasteredstill lets you wield both a single melee weapon and a spell or shield at once, but there’s no way to double up on one kind of weapon. While the freedom to unleash twice as much damage from a single weapon type would have been a nice addition toOblivion Remastered, there’s still some hope for the feature.
Despite Bethesda not officially supporting the modding community forOblivion Remastered, that hasn’t stopped countless players fromflooding the internet with modsfor the recent adaptation of the classicOblivionexperience. While the ability to dual-wield was also not present in the originalOblivion, several mods added the feature to varying levels of success, even if it was only as a re-skinned defensive weapon. Given the compatibility of modding tools withOblivion Remasteredand the original,it’s only a matter of time before a dedicated fan in the modding community adds the feature themselves.
Most Likely Reasons Why You Can’t Dual Wield
Recreating The Original Experience Without Too Many Changes
While the ability to duel-wield weapons would have paired greatly with the enhanced combat feedback ofOblivion Remastered,the brand-new addition of duel-wielding would have gone against the spirit of the remaster itself.Rather than being a remake built from the ground up, Bethesda’s choice to remaster the game instead with a few welcome additions helps to replicate the originalOblivionexperience as closely as possible. Even with the closeness to the original aside, redefining the combat system would have been a massive undertaking for the development ofOblivion Remastered, requiring more fundamental gameplay changes than before.
Oblivion Remasteredis still the same janky but iconic experience underneath it all.
Despite having many visual improvements and some quality of life tweaks,Oblivion Remasteredis the samejanky but iconic experienceunderneath it all. While I’m thankful for Bethesda’s adherence to the original, it does meanOblivion Remasteredsuffers from many of the same pitfalls, like enemy scaling or confusing quest design, on top of the lack of dual-wielding options. Combined with the modding potential for new features,Bethesda’s latestOblivion Remasteredfinally lets a new generation of players experience one of their most iconic games with the attention to detail it rightfully deserves, just not with two swords in hand.
