Remember that these were estimates from more than three years ago and before Microsoft completed its acquisition of ZeniMax in March 2021, so there’s always the chance that some of these plans have changed dramatically or been scrapped entirely. But they may provide an early look at some of the games we can look forward to from Microsoft down the road.
Since the Oblivion and Fallout 3 remasters will be on the Creation Engine, they will probably just be the old games with HD textures more or less. So basically what is already possible with mods.
EDIT: Also, I wonder if the Skyblivion project will finally be finished just to get a cease and desist letter by MS because they do their own remaster of the game.
To be fair, that's all Bethesda's games have been since Oblivion. And I'm not just talking about the plethora of Skyrim re-releases. None of their games are really all that different from the formula they laid down with Oblivion.
Honestly more commentary on the state of gaming in general with rereleases happening all the time. Bethesda did release Skyrim like five separate times.
But it’s not just Bethesda. Final Fantasy is getting remakes. Persona 3 is being remade. Blizzard is working on rereleases. The Resident Evil games are being remade. Like hasn’t resident evil 4 been released three times now?
I actually wouldn't mind an older game in a new package. I love seeing old movies remade (if they're well done) and I would love if we could do the same for games. There are some really great remakes like Black Mesa, System Shock, Final Fantasy 7 (though I guess the jury is still out on that one considering it's split into multiple games that haven't been released), Demons souls, Resident evil etc. I think a lot of Morrowind fans would salivate over the idea of getting a Morrowind remake that contains the entire province of Morrowind and not just Vvardenfell (+ Mournhold and Solstheim), as long as it stays true to the feeling of Morrowind.
What I do mind are remasters. That's just slapping a new coat of paint on an old game. Remakes (especially good ones) take effort and will feel fresh, remasters however are pretty much just cash grabs. Considering Oblivion is supposedly getting a remaster I have zero interest in it.
Cool! You know it's just going to be an AI upscale job, so there will still be the amazingly terrible brokenness that Oblivion offered. Tying major skills to a 1-10 level up system seems to make sense initially, until you wanted to be a potion making wizard, and then it's "OOPS! you made too many potions, now you're not strong enough to fight a rat". Also, Bethesda could have made the Skill Bonus you get on levelling up more balanced, as it forces you to literally not attack any more until levelling up. If you attack too much, you might level up your weapon ability (One Handed, 2 Handed, etc) beyond the points required to level up, in which case you just wasted extra Skill Bonus points by levelling up too much before sleeping. Exploration-wise though, Oblivion is a master class in open world design. It doesn't overstay its welcome and every corner of the map is a joy to visit.
You can easily create a killer potion to kill that rat though. You can be a god in Morrowind in under 10 minutes by just training alchemy and enchanting. Which is why this was changed in oblivion. Everything you describe are nothing but issues that arise from the user not taking the time to understand the game mechanics. That's why Skyrim was dumbed down to the point where nothing mattered anymore. Oblivion at least tried to be a proper RPG.
And what about that free next gen update for Fallout 4 that Todd announced last year as coming in 2023 and never has been mention by Bethesda ever again?
we already have a oblivion remaster, its called skyrim, skyrim special edition, skyrim alexa edition, skyrim vr, skyirm fuck you give us your money edition, skyrim very special edition, skyirm legendary edition, skyrim anniversary edition
If you consider that A Tale of Two Wastelands -- where people forward-ported the Fallout 3 world to the Fallout: New Vegas engine and ruleset -- was successful, that could be pretty solid. I still think I'd forward-port Fallout: New Vegas to the current Bethesda engine before I'd forward-port Fallout 3, though. Fallout: New Vegas was a better game.
Tale of Two Wastelands is a total conversion mod for Fallout: New Vegas that merges the entire content of Fallout 3 and its DLC and New Vegas into one game. The mod implements features introduced in New Vegas into Fallout 3, such as the Companion Wheel, crafting recipes, and weapon mods. Players can freely traverse between the two games on a single save file, keeping all of their items and their progression between game worlds.[76][77][78][79]
Also, most Fallout: New Vegas mods worked with Tale of Two Wastelands, which was pretty cool.
I wouldn't want Fallout 4's incongruous fps shooting or the terrible "perk" system tainting FNV, tbh. Frankly I'd be pleased with the arrangement that Bethesda never touches FNV or anything related to it again, but blue sky thinking's just that.