Skyblivion might not be out until 2025, but here’s something to keep you busy until then. The modding team behind this retrofit remaking The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion within The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition streamed a four-hour gameplay demonstration and Q&A session, showing the current state of the project.
While showing off various outfits like guard uniforms and glass armor, they roamed across plenty of recognizable parts of Oblivion and took on some sidequests. If you remember hunting down stolen “jumbo” potatoes on behalf of a khajiit or helping a guard in Leyawiin track down a skooma dealer, those errands are still here. The tour also takes in more exotic locations like the Realm of Peryite, where the Daedric Prince of pestilence sends you to retrieve the souls of his followers.
This is one area that’s been given an overhaul rather than faithfully recreated. In its original incarnation, Peryite’s Realm looked like every other Oblivion gate, all red sky and lava. Here it’s rendered in sickly greens more appropriately to the Lord of Abundant Pus and Bountiful Vomit.
Other changes highlighted include the boss fight with Mannimarco, the necromancer who you confront at the end of Oblivion’s underwhelming Mages Guild storyline. Normally he’s just an easily defeated elf hanging out in Echo Cave. Skyblivion has a whole new area for him and his undead minions, and will let you use the Staff of Worms to summon exploding skeletons that run towards enemies and detonate.
The modders say other events that should feel more consequential than they did are being redrafted as well. This stream isn’t the best showcase for that, since most of the areas don’t have their navmesh laid down yet and without that the NPCs lack the instructions telling them which parts of the world they can walk on. If you want to see some static wolves murdered where they stand with a flaming sword, however, you’re in for a treat.
In 2021 we saw 20 minutes of Skyblivion footage, if you’d like to compare and contrast. When Skyblivion comes out, you’ll need to own both Skyrim Special Edition and Oblivion, with all its DLC, to run it. For something you can try today, here are the best Skyrim Special Edition mods.