Bethesda has been making some of the most engrossing and fleshed out open world games for decades. Whether it be an Elder Scrolls game or Fallout, these games are packed with content to the point where people have easily put hundreds of hours into them. Part of the reason the community loves them so much, and why we are still playing these games decades later, is the mod support. The best Skyrim mods and best Fallout 4 mods can completely transform the base experience with better visuals, new quests, bug fixes, and so much more. The Oblivion Remastered already looks amazing, but it is still the same core game underneath — for better and for worse. After tinkering with all the most popular mods available, we have come away with the best ones to install for your return to Cyrodill.
Ultimate Engine Tweaks
Despite being a remaster of a nearly 20 year old game, Oblivion Remastered‘s performance leaves a lot to be desired. Even high-end PCs are struggling to run this game smoothly. The Ultimate Engine Tweaks mod is an essential addition to enjoy this game as it was intended. It aims to cut out any stuttering, decrease input lag, and improve picture quality, performance, and stability. We particularly enjoy this mod for also cutting out film grain and chromatic aberration. It isn’t anything flashy or game-changing, but it is almost required to mention at least one performance improving mod for a Bethesda game.
Ascension Remastered
If there’s one part of the original Oblivion experience that doesn’t hold up all that well, it’s the balance and progression. We understand how hard that is in a game like this, but more could have been done to smooth out the rough edges, especially with loot. Ascension Remastered bills itself as the “vanilla-plus” version of Oblivion that overhauls the loot system to be more impactful. This also lends a lot more to the immersion, where you won’t find random bandits wearing Elven armor after a certain point just to match your level. It also means enemies, items, and loot that you’ve far outclassed will still continue to appear where appropriate. There are a ton of tweaks like this to dig into, but you can really just slap this mod in and enjoy the game.
Quest NPCs Run
We hate any game where a quest is dependent on waiting for an NPC to casually stroll from one place to another before we can progress. That was far more common in the era Oblivion first launched in, and is sadly still here in the remaster. However, now we have mods to bring this outdated design in line. Quest NPCs Run does exactly what it says on the tin; NPCs will now run when you are helping them with quests. The mod currently works with over a dozen quests, but the creator is still looking for any more that may have been missed. Oblivion is a long game already so the last thing you need is a slow NPC adding unnecessary padding to your adventures.
Horse Whistle
Cyrodill is a massive world to explore. While you can always fast travel around, we prefer mounting up and adventuring around manually as much as possible. Once you get your horse, you will no doubt get attached to your loyal steed and do whatever it takes to protect them. While they will stay by your side through thick and thin, there’s sadly no way to call your horse when you need them. If you leave your horse somewhere and lose it, you will have to fast travel somewhere else to bring it back to you. The Horse Whistle mod adds a basic spell that lets you call your horse while out in the wild to come to your location, no matter where it was left, or instruct it to follow you. As soon as you mount a horse, this spell will become available.
No Item Degradation
Whether it be Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom or Oblivion Remastered, item and weapon degradation mechanics are always going to be controversial. Some love them for the extra bit of realism they add to the experience, forcing you to maintain and care for your gear, while others find it to be nothing more than a chore. If you fall into the latter camp, then get yourself the No Item Degradation mod. All this mod does is remove the weapon and armor durability systems so you will never have to worry about your weapon breaking during a dungeon.
No Starting Map Markers
If your first experience with the Elder Scrolls games was Skyrim, as it was for many of us, then one strange choice you will notice right away in Oblivion Remastered is the fact that you can fast travel to any city in the game right from the start. Instead of having to first visit a location on foot to unlock it as an option, you can zip around the map with no restrictions. Normally, that would be the type of thing we would include as a mod, but we’re doing the opposite and talking about the No Starting Map Markers mod. This mod disables your ability to fast travel to all the cities until you have found them yourself first. You can still see them on the map, so you won’t be lost, but forces you to explore the world more by walking everywhere at least once.
Colovian Cuts
If you’re anything like us, you have spent way too long in the Oblivion character creator screen. This game lets you make anything you can think of, from a spitting image of yourself to a horrific creature borne out of nightmares. The only thing that is lacking is options for longer hairstyles. Colovian Cuts adds four more new hairstyles to play with but even goes the extra mile to add physics to them so you can see your luscious locks bouncing and waving as you duck and jump in the improved third-person mode. You can choose from a half-up half-down bun, low ponytail, high ponytail, or simple straight long hair.
