The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is considered by many to be the best in the series, especially thanks to its deep magic system that’s missing from Skyrim. More people realised this with the launch of Oblivion Remastered last year, but it also gave us some of the best ‘Bethesda jank’ in the series.
From random NPC movements to mistakenly included voice overs, the developers decided to leave in the trademark jank that the original was known for. While this was done to make the remaster as close to possible as the original, Bethesda head Todd Howard has said that it’s part of the game’s character.
Owning The Jank
Of course, nobody really wants mistakes or bugs in their games, and I’m sure the devs were annoyed that they were missed in the original, but the community eventually came to embrace them in a way that most other games could only hope for. Over the years, it became a part of what made Oblivion so beloved, and the devs wanted to honor it in the remaster.
“I think there’s a lot of fuzzy judgment calls,” explained Howard at a roundtable attended by GamesRadar+. “Like, which ones are players gonna go try to do – take that one where you can stand on things – fixing that is so complicated.”
“So, you know what, it’s fine. I love the VO line flub,” he added. “Stuff like that? Yeah, just leave it. It’s fine. It’s part of the game’s character.”
The random guard interactions and NPC behaviour have become memes, but the most memorable of these mistakes was the voice over for Tandilwe, where the VO artist’s conversation with the devs also made it into the game. After delivering the line, the artist can be heard saying, “Wait a minute, let me do that one again,” before doing another take.
It’s very rare that bugs and mistakes actually become a part of the charm of a game, and Bethesda was, and still may be, in a unique position to leverage it.
- Released
-
April 22, 2025
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
