The year 2025 has been a banner one for RPG enthusiasts, filled with unexpected releases. One of the biggest surprises was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which launched with almost no prior notice, making it a legendary shadow drop. While not a complete rebuild from the ground up, the remaster delivered significant enhancements and a total graphical revamp to a widely beloved title.
Earlier in the year, gamers were treated to Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the popular 2017 game, ending an eight-year wait. Both titles offer RPG experiences, but they differ significantly in their approach, making the “best” choice highly subjective depending on individual preferences.
This article dives deep into each game, examining various aspects to determine which of these 2025 RPG giants comes out on top.
8
Story
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Let’s begin with the narrative. While the revamped Oblivion certainly boasts a compelling storyline, enriched by Sean Bean’s exceptional voice acting, its overall narrative arc is relatively straightforward and familiar. Despite being well-executed, it doesn’t particularly stand out in terms of originality.
On the other hand, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 presents a wonderfully intricate and politically charged narrative, filled with intrigue, wartime drama, deceit, and acts of treachery, effectively mirroring the quality of a high-production-value television series.
The journey of Henry and Hans unfolds as another captivating tale of ascent, brimming with unforgettable moments, from disastrous wedding scenes to nerve-wracking rescues from heavily guarded encampments, and much more.
The storyline is vast, yet its perfect pacing and consistently intriguing elements, combined with the player’s ability to influence the narrative’s direction, make it an exceptionally engaging gaming experience.
7
Visuals
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
Although the updated visuals of Oblivion are impressive in many respects, its character models and facial designs tend to fall short. The issue lies in the “uncanny valley” effect, which is prominent enough to detract from the immersive experience.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 stands out as a visual masterpiece. While its world is rooted in realism rather than fantasy, it boasts some of the most authentic-looking graphics seen in a game of this size.
The game’s environments are strikingly realistic, with lush forests featuring swaying trees, and buildings and cities that exude a lived-in, believable atmosphere. Even the armor and weaponry are beautifully rendered.
The characters feel incredibly lifelike, and even with some artistic liberties, they closely resemble real people. The animations and subtle facial expressions significantly enhance their believability.
The visual fidelity truly shines during large-scale battles, where the chaos is expertly captured, regardless of whether structures are collapsing or swords are clashing amidst a crowded field.
6
Gameplay Loop
Oblivion Remastered
While both titles excel in creating engaging gameplay, Oblivion Remastered takes the lead due to its superior side content and more compelling minute-to-minute activities.
Oblivion Remastered allows players to explore and join various factions, and engage in diverse optional activities like arena battles. In contrast, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s commitment to realism can sometimes detract from the overall enjoyment.
A prime example is a mandatory quest involving carrying multiple sacks up and down a hill. This task took approximately ten minutes and offered no entertainment value whatsoever.
Oblivion Remastered avoids such time-wasting elements, ensuring that player activities remain consistently enjoyable and engaging. It prioritizes fun over strict realism, offering an experience that continually deserves your attention.
5
Enemy Variety
Oblivion Remastered
This comparison might be somewhat unfair, as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is grounded in reality, limiting its enemy variety compared to the vast possibilities within Oblivion Remastered’s fantastical setting.
Oblivion Remastered features a diverse array of foes, from the daemons emerging from the Oblivion Gates to spriggans, bandits, minotaurs, wolves, zombies, and vampires, among many others.
Regardless of location, players will likely encounter new creatures eager to defeat them, adding intrigue and enjoyment to exploration.
The game also offers numerous challenging bosses to keep players engaged, ensuring that they never feel entirely safe, no matter where they are.
4
Exploration
Oblivion Remastered
Oblivion is filled with a plethora of explorable locations and discoveries, including numerous dungeons, caves, and castles. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 offers less variety; while you can find side quests, it lacks readily accessible optional areas compared to Oblivion.
Players can spend countless hours exploring Oblivion Remastered, with hundreds of side quests and bizarre creatures to discover. Its world is both beautiful and mysterious, not to mention the option to explore the planes of Oblivion, accessible throughout the game.
In Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, traveling between towns isn’t particularly exciting. While occasional encounters with bandits or people in need can occur, the majority of the journey is uneventful.
Exploring Oblivion Remastered can lead to ancient tombs, vampire dens where you risk becoming a vampire, accidental encounters with minotaurs or ancient gods, and other interesting discoveries. The fantasy setting makes exploration more engaging and rewarding overall.
3
Combat
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
While Oblivion Remastered’s combat system provides a satisfactory mix of melee, magic, and archery, its remake left the original, somewhat awkward, combat mechanics untouched.
On the other hand, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 presents a superb combat system, offering a range of weapons, combos to learn, and challenging encounters. Players can’t simply button-mash; they must analyze and react to enemies, with incorrect blocks or failed ripostes leading to swift defeat.
The combat feels realistic and highly engaging. As players progress, the combat becomes even more enjoyable. The addition of firearms, crossbows, spears, and other weapons changes the experience with each type.
Large battles feel particularly immersive in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, with the back-and-forth exchanges and the desperation of the combatants conveyed through roars and pained cries upon impact. It’s brutal and beautiful and offers some of the best combat mechanics in the RPG genre.
2
Soundtrack/Music
Oblivion Remastered
Although Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 features excellent musical tracks throughout its extensive gameplay, Bethesda’s soundtracks are unmatched when at their best. The music in Oblivion Remastered is among the most memorable in gaming history.
From the captivating title screen music to the immersive ambient tracks that play during exploration, the soundtrack is endlessly beautiful, mysterious, and contemplative. It is a prime example of how a soundtrack can significantly enhance a game.
The soundtrack is endlessly fascinating, and the swells of music evoke an indescribable feeling best described as magical. This sensation, unique to art, is masterfully captured in Oblivion Remastered as the music accompanies the discovery of new dungeons.
1
Winner
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