Avowed vs The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Obsidian's tight, lore-rich fantasy vs Bethesda's expansive remaster—do you want handcrafted depth or nostalgic scope?
Smarter than the Skyrim-killer pitch suggested; smaller, too — Avowed is Obsidian writing in a tighter playground than fans hoped for.
Bethesda's surprise remaster of the 2006 GOAT — Oblivion's best parts (Dark Brotherhood, Shivering Isles) finally look as weird as they always felt.
Steam popularity
Shared scale — sparklines are directly comparable across both games.
Avowed
Apr 2026 peak CCU 952 ↓ 16% MoM
All-time peak 19,161
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
Apr 2026 peak CCU 2,757 ↓ 13% MoM
All-time peak 140,837
Key differences
World scale
Avowed's Living Lands is a hand-crafted, smaller world with tight corridors and scripted encounters.
Oblivion's Cyrodiil is a vast open world with leveled scaling and emergent exploration.
Combat system
Avowed's combat relies on stamina management, parrying, and a loot-driven build loop that takes hours to click.
Oblivion's combat retains its 2006 base with stat-based swings and spellcasting, refined visually but mechanically unchanged.
Story structure
Avowed offers reactive dialogue and a focused narrative tied to Eora's lore, but limited player background recognition.
Oblivion's side quests are highlights, with arcs like Dark Brotherhood and Shivering Isles, though main story is standard.
Which one is for you?
Pick Avowed if
- You prefer hand-crafted, ~35-hour RPGs over 100+ hour sandboxes.
- You value tight combat with a learning curve and loot progression.
- You came to RPGs through Pillars of Eternity or Obsidian writing.
Pick The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered if
- You want to replay Oblivion with modern visuals and the same classic systems.
- You love sandbox open worlds with emergent exploration and levelled loot.
- You're fine with 2006 design choices like levelled scaling and finicky NPC schedules.
Bottom line
Choose Avowed for a focused, lore-rich action RPG with deliberate combat; pick Oblivion Remastered if you crave nostalgic open-world freedom and don't mind aged systems.