A good week for RPG fans

Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest issue of the Destructoid Changelog. This week, we’re all heading back to Cyrodil, Clair Obscur is a Game of the Year contender, and Overwatch 2 makes huge changes.

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Back to Oblivion

This week, Bethesda announced, revealed, and released its long-rumored (and well-leaked) remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Even though we had a pretty good idea it was coming, the collective excitement from finishing the stream and jumping straight into the game is testament to the power of the “shadow drop”, and while we know games need marketing cycles to ensure they sell to as wide an audience as possible, this felt more than a little magical.

As with most of you reading this, we found ourselves taking those exciting first steps out of the sewers of the Imperial City and then heading off to do, well, just about anything.

Given we’ve not had a single-player The Elder Scrolls RPG since 2011, this remaster is likely the closest we’ll get to one for some time while Todd Howard and his team work on a sixth mainline entry. And, if you never played the original, it really is a new game.

It looks gorgeous, sure, but the thoughtful adjustments to things like combat (which now has vastly improved animations and sound) and levelling (which feels like a mix of Oblivion and Skyrim’s systems) make it better than the original.

Add in all the DLC (yes, even Horse Armor), and you’ve got a phenomenal package that’s a timely reminder of the magic of Bethesda’s best efforts—warts and all.

It’s also spawned a whole host of fresh Oblivion memes, and for that, we’ll be eternally grateful.

Obscur Charm

From one remastered classic to something new, it’s been a fantastic week for anyone that enjoys RPGs of any description.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 might be one of the most impressive debuts from a studio in recent memory, wrapping JRPG trappings in a sombre plot that raises the bar for the genre. How many developers can say they did that with their first try?

The game currently sits at a whopping 92 on Metacritic, making it tied for the highest-rated game of the year on the aggregator so far (along with Blue Prince).

In our review, we called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 “a gorgeous new tomorrow for RPGs, built upon yesterday,” awarding it 9.5 out of 10.

Wearing its influences on its sleeve (notably turn-based Final Fantasy games and the Persona series), it also features a fantastic voice cast that copes with heavy themes of death, mourning, and the cycle of life.

While both Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the Oblivion remaster are both on Game Pass, we reckon you should support Sandfall Interactive if you have to choose.

It’s not Over(watch) yet

Do you remember seeing that Overwatch 2 reveal? Even today it elicits a strong, emotional response regardless of your connection to the franchise itself, but it felt as though Blizzard squandered a lot of that excitement.

The switch to 5v5 in the sequel was met with disappointment (not least by esports pros who found themselves benched or let go), while its focus on paid cosmetics felt like a step too far for the Overwatch community.

Fast-forward to 2025, though, and change is brewing. After last season introduced new Hero perks (a first for the series) in an initial volley of shakeups, this week’s new Stadium mode is perhaps the biggest shift yet.

Despite being a mode that feels almost like its own game, the heady mix of shifting game modes, a smaller Hero pool, and purchasable perks makes it feel like a breath of fresh air that feels like Blizzard swinging for the fences.

Above all else, it gives a similar feeling to playing Overwatch back in 2016, and that’s something to be celebrated. 

That’s all for today, but we’ll be back next week. Thanks for subscribing!

Destructoid team