Summary
- Oblivion influenced Fallout 3's open-world approaches, quests, and interactions with NPCs, setting it apart with the VATS combat system.
- Two Worlds 2 was marketed as a rival to Oblivion due to similar quest designs, branching missions, and dynamic world features.
- Elden Ring shares with Oblivion the sense of exploring the unknown, environmental storytelling, and vast open-world escapism.
While Skyrim has more sales and Morrowind proved the now popular RPG series can work on a home console with its release on the original Xbox, it was Oblivion that made The Elder Scrolls series a success on all platforms. Its approach to freedom and open-world mechanics, dynamic NPCs, and quest design are major influences on multiple open-world RPGs.
After its success, numerous games started incorporating Oblivion's approach to game design and its open-ended, create-your-own-adventure-style gameplay that The Elder Scrolls series offers. Here are some RPGs that were influenced by Oblivion's design and mechanics.
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7 Fallout 3
Post-Apocalyptic RPG From The Developers Of Oblivion
Fallout 3
- Released
- October 28, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
After Bethesda acquired the rights to make more of the beloved post-apocalyptic Fallout games, the series adopted Oblivion's first and third-person approaches to open worlds instead of the classic isometric style of the first two Fallout games developed by Interplay Productions.
Several mechanics from Oblivion carried over into Fallout 3's systems, like its map design, quests, and interactions with NPCs and their reactions to the player's character based on moral choices. However, Fallout 3's VATS combat system, which incorporated a tactical targeting system, made it feel like more than just another Elder Scrolls game with guns.
6 Two Worlds 2
Marketed As A Rival To Oblivion
Two Worlds II
- Released
- February 4, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Reality Pump Studios
- Platform(s)
- PC, macOS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- RPG
The Two Worlds games are often compared to Oblivion. The publisher, Zuxxez's Dirk Hassinger, claimed that the first game was "meatier than Oblivion" as part of the title's marketing campaign and justifiable comparisons to Bethesda's RPG. While the first game's reception was mixed at best, Two Worlds 2 was a much better game and far more worthy of comparison to Oblivion.
There are differences in tone with its approach to humor and character design. However, the quest designs and structure, and the way the missions branched together, are similar to Oblivion. Two Worlds 2 also features a dynamic world that feels lived in. However, differences that helped it stand apart from Oblivion were an online co-op mode, more action-based combat, and a deeper and more complex magic system.
5 Elden Ring
Oblivion Was Cited As One Of The Influences
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- From Software
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Elden Ring and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion are significantly different in their approaches to combat and storytelling. However, there is an undeniable sense of exploring the unknown and environmental storytelling that both games share. Discovering a hidden cave in Oblivion only to find it filled with enemies, treasures, secrets, and monsters is one of the game's best experiences. Elden Ring captures the same feeling of delving into the unknown.
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Elden Ring feels like an adventure that's unique to the player and how they approach the world. FromSoft's Hidetaka Miyazaki cited The Elder Scrolls as one of Elden Ring's influences, along with The Legend of Zelda and The Witcher 3. Like Oblivion, Elden Ring is an enormous game with endless potential for escapism and replayability.
4 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
A Game Designed To Surpass The Elder Scrolls
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Released
- May 19, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Expansions
- The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt moved away from the BioWare-style mechanics that influenced its predecessors and embraced the open-world structure by creating a world that felt real to the player. In an interview with IGN, CD Projekt Red cited Skyrim as the title they wanted to surpass. And of course, Oblivion is the game that laid the groundwork for its immediate sequel.
Like Oblivion, The Witcher 3 became one of the most influential games of all time, with many developers now viewing it as the new benchmark for immersive open-world RPGs. The Witcher 3 incorporates and improves on many features that made Oblivion a beloved RPG: a dynamic world, engaging NPCs, environmental storytelling, consequences for player actions, and branching questlines influenced by player decisions.
3 Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga
Uses The Same Engine As Oblivion
Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga
- Released
- October 29, 2010
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Larian Studios
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
While Larian Studios is better known for the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3, they created their own fantasy world of Rivellon with the Divinity series. While Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2 follow a similar structure to the CRPG style used in Baldur's Gate 3, Divine Divinity and Divinity 2 have more in common with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga is a compilation of Divinity 2: Ego Draconis and Flames of Vengeance.
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Divinity 2 is built on the same engine as Oblivion, known as GameBryo. However, it is more linear than Oblivion and features smaller, semi-open zones, similar to Dragon Age. Despite this linearity, Divinity 2 still offers a sense of freedom and exploration, thanks to its environmental storytelling and abundant lore to uncover. Several unique mechanics distinguish it from The Elder Scrolls series: improved combat, a predetermined character known as the Dragon Slayer, and the ability to transform into a dragon and take flight.
2 Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Created By A Former Lead Developer Of Oblivion
Kingdom of Amalur Reckoning
- Released
- February 7, 2012
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Hack and Slash
Although it features a more fairytale-like aesthetic and hack-and-slash gameplay mechanics similar to those of the God of War series, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was developed under the guidance of Ken Rolston, the lead designer of Oblivion. His expertise in creating immersive worlds is evident in the world structure of Kingdoms of Amalur.
It is not as wide open and as seamless as Oblivion, but Kingdoms of Amalur features densely packed and beautifully designed semi-open areas where players can wander off the beaten path and freely explore its world, taking on side quests and fighting monsters. There are moral dialogue choices, branching quests, and multiple ways to play based on the player's style, whether it's magic, stealth, or pure combat.
1 Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
A Realistic Approach To Oblivion's Freedom
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Released
- February 4, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Warhorse Studios
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
One of the best examples of modernizing the Oblivion structure and approach to freedom is in a game that doesn't feature magic, dragons, and elves. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a historical medieval RPG with harsh and realistic simulation mechanics. It shares the same sense of freedom, quirky characters, extensive lore, and exploration as Oblivion. In an interview with GamesRadar, senior designer Ondrej Bittner acknowledged Oblivion as having a huge impact on the Warhorse Studio's designers.
The freedom to explore a beautiful world and shape the player's character to their liking will resonate with fans of Oblivion, despite playing as a predetermined character, Henry, the son of a blacksmith. The progression system is similar, where repetitive actions train a specific skill to improve Henry's stats. KCD2 is a more polished experience, and in many ways feels like the evolution of the systems and groundwork laid by Oblivion and Skyrim.
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