Avowed vs The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
One gives you spell-slinging in a sparse open world; the other gives you a familiar Cyrodiil with performance stutters — choose your trade-off.
Updated 15d ago
Dual-wielding a wand and a flintlock is genuinely great — but the open world is empty and the choices never branch, so it misses the Obsidian reactivity you came for.
Shivering Isles and the Daedric questlines hold up 20 years on — but a stutter-riddled UE5 port and a year of dev silence make this one to wait for on sale.
By the numbers
Prices checked Oct 9; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Oct 9.
| Measure | Avowed | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered |
|---|---|---|
| Value Avowed wins on value | ||
| Price now | $29.99 −40% · Microsoft Store | $31.49 −37% · Fanatical |
| All-time low | $29.99 | $28.36 |
| Cost / hour | $1.49/hr $29.99 · 20 h main story | $1.81/hr $31.49 · 17 h main story |
| Off its low | At its low low was Jun 2026 | +11% low was Nov 2025 |
| Main story | 20 h | 17 h |
| Health Avowed wins on player health | ||
| Steam reviews | 77% 13k reviews | 75% 71k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 72% 136 votes · vs 77% lifetime | 46% 299 votes · vs 75% lifetime · souring |
| Peak players | 482 Sep 2026 · ↓ 63% MoM | 2,364 Sep 2026 · ↓ 20% MoM |
| Launch peak | 3% of Feb 2025 launch peak · as of Sep 2026 | — |
| All-time peak | 19,161 Feb 2025 | 140,837 May 2025 · now at 2% |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 7 months ago | 15 months ago |
| Patch cadence | 0 in last 90 days | 0 in last 90 days |
| Steam Deck | Gold | Platinum |
Shared scale — same months across the bottom, same player-count axis up the side, so the two lines are directly comparable. A shorter line means a younger game.
What players say
Patterns from long-haul reviewers, taken from each game's verdict. Not live sentiment — each side is dated below.
Avowed
The combat's magic toolkit — dual-wielding wands, guns, and swords with flashy spells — keeps long-haul players coming back.
The open world feels big for no reason, and choices don't matter, leaving progression gated and exploration unrewarding for many 100-hour vets.
from our August 2026 verdict
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
The quest design and world charm hold up over 100 hours — the Shivering Isles and Daedric questlines are what veterans replay.
The stutter and crash-riddled UE5 port is the wall long-time players hit, made worse by a year of silence from the devs.
from our August 2026 verdict
Key differences
Which one is for you?
Pick Avowed if
- You want a first-person spellcasting power fantasy with wand and flintlock dual-wielding.
- You loved Pillars of Eternity's world and want a guided tour of the Living Lands.
- You're fine with linear progression behind four big maps and don't need branching choices.
Pick The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered if
- You want vanilla Oblivion with updated visuals, not a gameplay overhaul or remake.
- You're willing to mod to fix performance and glitches that Bethesda hasn't patched.
- You loved the original's quests and can overlook technical warts for nostalgia's sake.
Bottom line
If you value reactivity and can tolerate an empty open world, pick Avowed; if you want a familiar, content-dense Cyrodiil and don't mind modding to fix stutters, pick Oblivion Remastered.
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