In a Surprise Twist, the Switch 2 Port of Oblivion Remastered Might Be the Best Version Yet
When it shadow-dropped in April of last year, many Elder Scrolls fans rushed to play Oblivion Remastered, myself included. However, the game’s poor performance on multiple platforms quickly led to backlash. Even a year later, the game still suffers from glitches, stuttering, and other issues. This, combined with a long history of terrible Switch ports for major RPGs, led most gamers to worry the Switch 2 port of Oblivion Remastered would be a disaster. But surprisingly enough, most early reports suggest that the game just might run better on Switch 2 than most other platforms. In fact, the Switch 2 version of Bethesda’s remake just might become the definitive way to play Oblivion Remastered.
On August 11th, The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered officially releases for Switch 2. Bethesda has been doing some pretty heavy marketing ahead of the Switch 2 release, including some fun callbacks to the iconic Adoring Fan character. But given the Switch’s track record and Oblivion Remastered‘s performance issues on other platforms, gamers have been skeptical about the port. Now, it looks like the Switch 2 version just might run better than most PC and Xbox renditions of the game.
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Arrives on Switch 2 with Impressive Performance
When it first released for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S last year, Oblivion Remastered retained many of the original game’s flaws. This included notorious bugs like the Kvatch quest, Bethesda quirks like randomly break-dancing PCs, and worse. Though subsequent patches have addressed some of the biggest issues, many are frustrated at the poor performance from Oblivion Remastered even a year after launch. Frame rate drops remain common, and the game’s PC and Xbox Series S performance in particular make the game nearly unplayable. So, it’s a bit of a surprise to see that many reports suggest the game runs pretty well on Switch 2, actually.
Those who’ve already had a chance to jump into Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2 are sharing comparisons between this port and prior versions. And for the most part, those comparisons are surprisingly favorable. In particular, many gamers note that Oblivion Remastered performs far better on Switch 2 than on Valve’s competing handheld, the Steam Deck. Given that some of the game’s biggest issues have been on PC, that isn’t all that surprising. But even a year into the Switch 2, many of us are still used to terrible Switch ports and set our expectations low.
In terms of visuals alone, Oblivion Remastered looks quite good on Switch 2. And for many, that’s a surprise. As one Redditor puts it, “I’m more surprised the game even runs [on] Switch 2, considering how ‘well’ it runs on any other platform.” Thus far, overall performance has slightly more mixed reviews. Many gamers report that there are still frame rate drops in some areas on Switch 2. But from the looks of it, Oblivion Remastered suffers from fewer frame rate drops on Nintendo’s handheld than on other platforms, particularly the Steam Deck and Xbox Series S where it has some of its biggest struggles. Of course, the Switch 2 is newer than both of those platforms. So even if past experiences haunt us, it makes sense that the game performs better on a newer console.
From the looks of it, many Elder Scrolls fans are more than ready to check out Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2. Now, it seems like this version of the game just might be the best way to play the iconic RPG. That said, here’s hoping we eventually get another patch for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S to address ongoing issues for those who already bought the game at launch.
