Oblivion's Opening Changed The World of Western RPGs Forever
When Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion first burst onto the scene in 2006 it felt like a turning point for Western role-playing games. A genre that had long been seen as nerdy or niche with its love of dungeons, dragons, and overbearing lore was suddenly cool.
Bethesda Game Studios and the allure of Todd Howard turned the tide, morphing a once underappreciated selection of PC exclusive RPGs into a console juggernaut. Oblivion also launched at the right place at the right time, acting as an early blockbuster for the Xbox 360 in a landscape where new owners needed something to play. It fit the bill, streamlining Morrowind down to a more digestible format with combat, exploration, and myriad systems that were easy for anyone to understand. But above all that, the opening matters most.
Related: In Defence Of Twilight Town And The Kingdom Hearts 2 Opening
Oblivion opens like many games of its kind, with our curated hero awakening in a prison cell with no means of escape. It doesn’t matter who they are, how they got there, or where they came from - all that matters is the narrative you create for yourself from this point onwards. You’re poised to be executed unless a miracle comes along, and as luck would have it, Emperor Uriel Septim VII is about to march into your cell with his homies in search of a secret passageway. Assassins are after this nation’s leader, and the only way to avoid them is by navigating a cryptic underground network in search of escape.
You are just a lowly prisoner, so the guards ask you to stand aside and not get in the way. But your worth is minimal enough that they don’t even bother to lock you up, allowing you to tag along and escape your life of confinement with no consequences. I’d maybe ask a few more
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