Even if the visual differences between the original Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered seem like night and day, it's still the same core experience under the fresh coat of paint. This isn't to say that Bethesda hasn't added several improvements and quality of life features to Oblivion Remastered, but most of these changes the original experience rather than redefining it. With how many smaller tweaks and changes have gone by without too much notice, it's hard to keep track of what's new and old for Oblivion Remastered.

From being able to sprint to new voice acting and combat animations, there are plenty of worthwhile differences that make Oblivion Remastered stand out from the original game. Some of these new features have even been carried over from the more recent The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, taking advantage of both the successor's mechanics while introducing new ones that may even show up in the highly anticipated sixth entry in the series. Out of all of Skyrim's new features and mechanics to borrow from, one of the best additions to combat for the sequel was the introduction of dual-wielding weapons.

You Cannot Dual Wield In Oblivion Remastered

A Missed Opportunity To Let Oblivion's Combat Shine

Unfortunately for players coming to Oblivion Remastered straight from Skyrim, the new game does not include the ability to dual-wield melee weapons with its combat system. This isn't to say that dual-wielding is completely absent in the game, as Oblivion Remastered still lets you wield both a single melee weapon and a spell or shield at once, but there's no way to double up on one kind of weapon. While the freedom to unleash twice as much damage from a single weapon type would have been a nice addition to Oblivion Remastered, there's still some hope for the feature.

Despite Bethesda not officially ing the modding community for Oblivion Remastered, that hasn't stopped countless players from flooding the internet with mods for the recent adaptation of the classic Oblivion experience. While the ability to dual-wield was also not present in the original Oblivion, several mods added the feature to varying levels of success, even if it was only as a re-skinned defensive weapon. Given the compatibility of modding tools with Oblivion Remastered and the original, it's only a matter of time before a dedicated fan in the modding community adds the feature themselves.

Most Likely Reasons Why You Can't Dual Wield

Recreating The Original Experience Without Too Many Changes

While the ability to duel-wield weapons would have paired greatly with the enhanced combat of Oblivion Remastered, the brand-new addition of duel-wielding would have gone against the spirit of the remaster itself. Rather than being a remake built from the ground up, Bethesda's choice to remaster the game instead with a few welcome additions helps to replicate the original Oblivion experience as closely as possible. Even with the closeness to the original aside, redefining the combat system would have been a massive undertaking for the development of Oblivion Remastered, requiring more fundamental gameplay changes than before.

Oblivion Remastered is still the same janky but iconic experience underneath it all.

Despite having many visual improvements and some quality of life tweaks, Oblivion Remastered is the same janky but iconic experience underneath it all. While I'm thankful for Bethesda's adherence to the original, it does mean Oblivion Remastered suffers from many of the same pitfalls, like enemy scaling or confusing quest design, on top of the lack of dual-wielding options. Combined with the modding potential for new features, Bethesda's latest Oblivion Remastered finally lets a new generation of players experience one of their most iconic games with the attention to detail it rightfully deserves, just not with two swords in hand.