Bethesda Veteran Explains Why TES IV Oblivion Remastered Is a Remaster Not a Remake

The classic RPG returned in an updated format, but it does not reach the level of Capcom remakes.

Last year, Bethesda Game Studios and Virtuos released The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. The developers updated the visuals of the famous action RPG, but everything remained the same in terms of game logic.

During an interview with Nintendo Life, Bethesda Junior Art Director Dan Lee was asked if the development team debated whether to call the project a remaster or a full remake.

Dan explained that if you look at The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered from a graphical standpoint, it is remake territory because everything was remade from scratch. However, such a game still cannot be called a remake because it essentially remained the same at its core:

Ultimately, it came down to how [Todd Howard] looked at it: essentially, the foundation is still taken from the original game. Therefore, it wouldn’t be entirely fair to call it a remake. We took the original engine and layered everything else on top of it. In addition, we made other small changes and tweaks. But the core largely remained the same.

Bethesda Game Studios, Virtuos, Bethesda Softworks

Dan Lee cited Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake as examples of full remakes, noting that the developers back then took the original concept and made entirely new games rather than simply updating the old foundation:

There are different games that you can place on this scale [remaster to remake]: from projects where they simply increased the resolution, slightly improved textures, or updated individual character models, to Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII Remake, which are clearly remakes. In such cases, the authors take the original concept and create completely new games based on it. And here [in Oblivion Remastered], many elements of the original game remained virtually unchanged.

Related articles