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Oblivion a shitshow? I don't know anything about what 'fans' thought about the game back then so I guess I'll have to believe you that a lot of people were mad, but for me it is one of the best games of all time, and certainly the best Elder Scrolls. I still regularly fire it up when I'm bored, even though I have finished it many times. In fact, I'm currently doing another 'evil' playthrough as a crazy Bosmer. The Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood questlines are glorious!

I do acknowledge that the game has its issues though. The way enemies level up with you (bandits in Daedric armour) is just stupid, and the whole 'radiant AI' thing didn't really work out. I also smile everytime I read the cover of my old PS3 version (which I barely touched because the game is way better on PC) and see that they actually advertise the animations as 'groundbreaking' and 'life-like' when in fact they are terrible. But there's just something about Oblivion which keeps me coming back, even though the game is becoming outdated and is seen more as a meme for many. The Guild-Questlines are wonderful and the main-story is also a million times better than Skyrim. Even the sidequests are infinitely better than Fallout 4 and Skyrim. They were unique, used handcrafted assets and required specific skills ang gameplay elements. The bugs and quirky AI are actually reasons for me to come back because they always give me a laugh. Yesterday I got arrested by an Imperial Guard in the Vampire Crypts underneath Jakben's house when I broke in to get the boots of Springheel Jack. The guards killed all the vampires and then took me in for a bounty of 5 gold. The combat is okay but the magic is arguably better than in Skyrim. (WAY more diversity, and you can make your own spells). Immersion is also better in Oblivion than in Skyrim if you ask me. Ghosts require magic or silver to be killed which means you have to actually prepare before you go to a place which has those. Leveling up requires a bed which makes you actually use Inns and Taverns. NPC's acknowledge what you have done in the world. People adress me as the Gray Fox when I wear the cowl, people are dissapointed in me because my infamy made me unable to wear the holy relics of Pelinal Whitestrake, and I get commended for being 'The Hero of Kvatch'. And don't even get me started on the character creator and the fact that helmets adjust to the crazy creations that you can make:



I just hope that Bethesda stops the removal of RPG elements and learn from Morrowind and Oblivion again. Don't get me wrong, Skyrim was a great game, but it was yet again another step into 'dumbing' down the RPG aspects in favor of action. If TES also gets a voiced protagonist, I'm probably done. Just kinda sad to hear that people were actually angry about it back then. But I guess that's just a typical part of every fanbase nowadays.

Edit: by the way, I always play the game pure vanilla. Don't like mods because I always notice the subtle differences which give away that they aren't made by the original creators. I know that modding is seen as a big part of Bethesda games, but I just don't like it myself.