The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered on Switch 2: A Mixed Bag of Technical Marvels and Frustrations
The long-awaited Switch 2 port of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered has arrived, and it's a mixed bag of technical marvels and frustrations. As an avid fan of the original game, I was eager to see how this remaster would translate to the Nintendo Switch 2, a system with less processing power than its counterparts. While the port delivers on visual enhancements, performance remains a significant concern, especially in the open world.
One thing that immediately stands out is the attention Bethesda has given to this port. The promise of optimizations for other current-gen platforms is a welcome development, but the bigger question remains: can a troubled remaster run well on a less capable system? The answer, unfortunately, is not a straightforward yes or no.
The Switch 2 version fits neatly into a 58GB install, which is half the size of the PlayStation and Xbox releases. Unique to this version is mouse support via detachable Joy-Cons, which is a welcome addition for bow targeting and menu navigation. Additionally, Oblivion benefits from Nvidia's DLSS upscaler, which appears to be a more advanced implementation than the TSR used on other consoles.
Visually, the Switch 2 version holds up well in dungeons and towns where details are close to the camera, sometimes even besting the Xbox Series S in crispness. However, DLSS hits its limit in broad open-world spaces. High-frequency detail on elements like trees struggles with the 540p input, leading to flicker, shimmer on branches, and noise on specular elements like rainy armor. There are also occlusion artifacts and stair-stepping when circling the Imperial City, pushing the technology to its limits.
Texture quality is typically on par with the Xbox Series S for road signs and brickwork, though higher presets exist on PS5 and Series X. Some materials, like mud pathways, are replaced with different assets on Switch 2, making them harder to distinguish. The most significant hit is to tree shadows, which are reduced from defined leaves to simpler blobs of shade.
On the positive side, Lumen reflections and GI make the grade. SSR is used as a fallback at a lower 540p resolution, but the hybrid setup works best. Indirect light bounce is simulated across dungeons and towns, matching the Series S in most scenarios, though with slightly less scattering accuracy than the Series X. To alleviate CPU strain, decimated animations are used; NPCs at a distance animate at 15fps, which can be a distraction in the open world.
Switch 2 targets a 30fps cap rather than 60fps. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same frame pacing issues found on other consoles, causing camera judder as frame times flip between 16ms and 50ms. Traversal hitches also remain, with hiccups exceeding 230ms when galloping across terrain or encountering multiple enemies. While full-on several-second hangups are rare, they are a mark against the package and are basically unforgivable in a modern game.
Regarding the 'degrading performance' issue found on PS5 and Xbox, where performance gets worse over time, Switch 2 seems to fare better. We found no significant degradation after an hour of play, though this might be because the 30fps cap hides issues that an unlocked 60fps would reveal. We did encounter a camera bug when switching saves and one reproducible crash, but generally, stability has been better than on other platforms.
The hybrid rendering setup remains impressive, running the original Oblivion logic beneath an Unreal Engine 5 layer. This ensures true authenticity to the 2006 original's systems, bugs, and NPC behaviors. While the UE5 eye candy - improved models and Lumen GI - translates well, the technical frustrations like uneven frame pacing and hitching hold it back. A year later, it's hard to see this as the definitive tribute to a beloved game, but it remains a fascinating technical feat for a handheld.
In my opinion, the Switch 2 port of Oblivion Remastered is a mixed bag. While it delivers on visual enhancements, performance remains a significant concern, especially in the open world. The hybrid rendering setup is impressive, but the technical frustrations hold it back. Personally, I think the port is a fascinating technical feat, but it's not the definitive tribute to a beloved game that many were hoping for.
