I will readily admit that I am an imperfect human being. I sometimes choose form over function, I tend to bite off more than I can chew, and I’m terribly prone to distraction. While these (and many other flaws) do manifest in real life, they are more than painfully obvious in my video game life, especially when I set out to complete a large-scale RPG that’s new or new to me. I strive to maintain “perfection” with any given main character. I tell myself I’m going to relax and enjoy my new world as fully as possible, reading ALL the lore, talking to ALL the people, and collecting ALL the goods, with the intention of completing ALL of the game.

Truly, the joke is always on me, because my first run through any RPG is about as “human” as it gets. As soon as I’m let loose into a new world, all those good intentions fly right out the window, as I quickly become lost, overwhelmed, and usually end up doing something “bad” right off the bat. Slowly but surely, my character becomes a ragtag mess with an impossible inventory, no direction (despite a bevy of quests), and barely enough information at-hand for them to remember why they exist in the first place. “Just relax,” people tell me, and “enjoy the ride.” I know. I truly do know that’s how I should approach things. It’s just that my dang insecurities get in the way of reason, sometimes.

Alongside starting new runs in The Elder Scrolls Online, I’ve decided to make another return to that of Oblivion remaster. When it dropped out of nowhere a year ago, I dove in without much regard for my own “rules.” I fared well then, bumping my Argonian assassin up through a decent portion of the main story. I also started her down the all too intriguing path of the Dark Brotherhood. But things then started to derail once I became too distracted with closing Oblivion gates, which was never a great time (those maps kind of stink). And then I dropped the game for, well…I don’t really remember what, but I’m sure I had my reasons.

Coming back to Oblivion after spending time in ESO was jarring, to say the least. I’m not saying that ESO is perfect, but I sure did get used to dual wielding, for one, which doesn’t exist at all in Oblivion (on console. Betting there’s a PC mode out there for it.) And forget about my Oblivion inventory…what a nightmare it was! The only thing I easily recalled was that my Argonian was specializing in blades. Other than that, I couldn’t make sense of half the things I had collected, let alone know whether they were even important.  A classic though Oblivion may be its inventory system leaves much to be desired.

But what I really returned to Oblivion for was to finish working through the main quest line, and the Dark Brotherhood one, too. Only problem appeared to be that my massive list of collected quests was just that, a massive list without any notations. All quests – main, side, and faction – in one long list. How in the world did I ever keep track of what I was doing a year ago??, my mind posited in bewilderment. Maybe being an agile year younger had something to do with it, but I digress. Thank goodness for the Internet, for once, because to it I immediately turned to get a simple listing of all the game’s main quests titles. I did the same for the Dark Brotherhood quests, and suddenly, I had before me a plan. I would complete the most recent main quest I had in queue to get myself back on track, then divert to work through the DB quests, and then go back to finish the main quest line. Would I see and do absolutely everything the game offered? Nope. Unlike how I see my “perfected” self, I am not a completionist.

I suppose it’s true what they say about good intentions, but at least they offer a decent way to aim oneself at a goal. Even if that goal isn’t reached in the most efficient way possible, hopefully the journey was worth it. The upside to all this is a familiar notion shared often among those of the video game persuasion — that subsequent playthroughs will be more enjoyable, relaxed, and productive because of that very chaotic first playthrough. Revisiting The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion Remastered initially felt quite muddled, but with my path now set with quests in hand, I’m sure to see it through.

Lede image captured by author during Xbox Series S gameplay of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (© Virtuos, Bethesda Game Studios).