Summary
It can be argued thatOblivion Remasteredis not exactly a remaster and more of a remake, considering that it made some relatively big changes to the gameplay and formula, despite keeping most of what made the original game iconic intact, including its jank. As much asOblivion Remastered’s new leveling systemmakes things a bit too fast for all types of playthrough, and as much as players are flocking back toSkyrimfor more modernized gameplay, there is one area where the game shines overSkyrim. However, it may be hard forThe Elder Scrolls 6to go in that same direction, considering the issueSkyrimhad with it.
There are many core differences betweenOblivion RemasteredandSkyrim, to the point that they can’t really be compared in some areas. For example,Skyrimcut the iconic spellcrafting fromOblivionand its modernized version, meaning that it may or may not return inThe Elder Scrolls 6. Perhaps more importantly,Oblivion Remasteredmade further changes to the movement tech of the original game, adding the ability for characters to sprint at the cost of Stamina. This, combined with some other toolsOblivion Remasteredhas, putsThe Elder Scrolls 6in a rough spot because it may not be able to be exactly like either of its predecessors.
The Elder Scrolls 6 is Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place With Character Speed
Oblivion Remastered’s Athleticsand Acrobatics skills make characters run faster and jump higher, which is combined with the new sprinting mechanic for a very speedy traversal system, especially considering that one can hypothetically increase their Speed attribute and take both Athletics and Acrobatics over 100 with spells. If players so wish, they can make their character extremely fast overall, making horses obsolete.Skyrimfaced a similar problem in its making, but it went the opposite route, as going too fast on a horse or on foot would cause the game not to load.
Skyrim notably cut Athletics and Acrobatics, so without those and spellcrafting, the player character is mostly going to be much slower than that of Oblivion Remastered.
This was disclosed in a documentary byJonah Lobe on YouTubeexplaining the process of creatingSkyrimfrom the developers' point of view, with Todd Howard reportedly saying in a meeting that he would be fine with cutting horses if it meant making exploration feel better. The technology has improved since the days whenSkyrimwas made, but it’s still possible that a character going at full speed withspellcrafting inOblivion Remasteredmay not be fully translatable in terms of gameplay forThe Elder Scrolls 6.
As such, the question of whetherThe Elder Scrolls 6will be similar toSkyrimover other games likeOblivion Remasteredor vice versa remains, especially in terms of character speed and traversal. The problem is thatOblivion Remasteredmakes it clear that sprinting and running inSkyrimis a bit too slow, but ifThe Elder Scrolls 6ends up being more ambitious than its predecessor, then implementing that same speed may not be feasible for several reasons. For example, going faster than a horse effectively makes mounts moot, which is still not a great solution to the problem.
Why TES 6 Can’t Use Skyrim’s Approach to Speed or Oblivion Remastered’s
It remains to be seen whatThe Elder Scrolls 6’s settingwill look like, but if it’s indeed Hammerfell, with some locations having multiple biomes and points of interest situated at various levels of elevation, it may be hard to go back toSkyrim’s speeds afterOblivion Remastered. Likewise,Oblivion Remastered’s system may be a bit overtuned in general, and it may not truly fit from a lore perspective in Hammerfell, where there’s a fair bit of desert areas where heat and sand would theoretically make it impossible to sprint across the map at high speeds.
If anything,TES 6should at least bring Athletics and Acrobatics back. For now, players must wait and see until more of the game is revealed, but they shouldn’t grow too fond of their character’s speed inOblivion Remastered.
