Prior to the shadow-dropping of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, Bethesda was struggling with somewhat of a soured reputation. Although it never got as bad as some developers', a couple of poorly received games and what seemed to be declining quality didn't help its reputation. That being said, Bethesda has excelled as a publisher of late, with the revived DOOM series producing hit after hit and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle being better than the latest film in that franchise.

While Bethesda Games Studios has had a rough time and has been memed beyond belief, Bethesda Softworks has published some great work, and this has extended to Oblivion Remastered. Strangely, Bethesda seems to be getting most of the acclaim, and pairing this with the Fallout live-action series has helped revive the studio's reputation, despite it doing little from a development point of view. Virtuos should be getting most of the praise, but with the innumerable brownie points received for Oblivion Remastered, which is just as charmingly buggy as ever, it seems that Bethesda is finally making more remasters.

Bethesda Is Allegedly Planning A Fallout 3 Remastered Next

And It Could Mean New Vegas Is On The Horizon Too

According to an article from VideoGamer prior to Oblivion Remastered's release, Bethesda is planning Fallout 3 Remastered, and if this remaster is anything like Oblivion's, it will be a remake in all but name. This seems like a safe bet for Bethesda, especially if it works with Virtuos again, considering that Fallout 3 and Oblivion were both made using the Gamebryo engine and a remaster using Unreal Engine 5 has already worked out well, at least for the most part. There are still frustrating softlocks and strange bugs here and there with Oblivion Remastered, as expected of a Bethesda game.

While it used to use Gamebryo, Bethesda now uses its own proprietary engine, the Creation Engine 2, with the first Creation Engine used for Skyrim.

Fallout 3 is also similar to the original Oblivion in of when it was released, being roughly within two years of each other, and both share celebrity talent, with Liam Neeson playing the Lone Wanderer's father. After Oblivion, Fallout 3 would be the most comfortable game to remaster and was made by Bethesda, unlike New Vegas, which was made by Obsidian. While a New Vegas remaster should be in the cards, especially with Bethesda and Obsidian being owned by Microsoft, Fallout 3 is the safer option to begin with as it is a more classically Bethesda title.

There are many more obvious ways Fallout 3's combat can be improved in its remaster too. Of course, a graphical upgrade on par with Oblivion Remastered should be expected, and its gunplay should at least play as well as Fallout 4's, but will hopefully be even better. While Oblivion's combat is relatively close to the original, with actual impact and a dodge mechanic, Fallout 3's combat should change a lot, especially with FPS games constantly making innovations. The original Fallout 3's combat just wouldn't cut it in today's market, especially considering how Starfield improved on Fallout 4's gunplay.

Bethesda Should Continue Outsourcing Remasters

It Gives Bethesda Good Grace While Working On New Games

These remasters do three things for Bethesda, all of which the studio needs. For one, it makes them a lot of money and helps Microsoft justify the $7.5 million spent on acquiring the studio's parent company, ZeniMax Media. Two, it helps the studio's reputation, and while it didn't do most of the developmental work with Oblivion Remastered, Bethesda is getting sorely-needed acclaim after showing signs of declining quality with its titles. Three, it buys Bethesda time, which it clearly needs, given how long it takes to make the next Elder Scrolls and Fallout game.

Oblivion Remastered buys time for The Elder Scrolls 6, while simultaneously getting people talking about it again. If Bethesda were to outsource a Morrowind remaster as well, it would continue to buy time for ES6, especially because the studio is still likely years away from releasing it. A Fallout 3 remaster would do the same thing for the Fallout series, considering that the fifth installment won't be coming until after TES 6, but with the series getting a second season on Prime Video, the franchise will at least stick around in people's minds.

Although not announced yet, many theorize that Hammerfell will be the location of Elder Scrolls 6.

Virtuos has already shown competence in faithfully recreating Bethesda's titles with Oblivion Remastered, capturing the original's charm while upgrading the title in meaningful ways. Virtuos deserves a lot more praise for its work, and it should be given the reins for Fallout 3 Remastered. It should also be allowed to continue working on remastering more Bethesda games, since many of its titles are getting on in age. Fallout: New Vegas and Morrowind are the two obvious options, and after TES 6 a Skyrim remaster will probably be an option too, as funny as a new re-release would be.

Bethesda Should Follow Capcom's Lead With Its Remakes

Remakes Heralded Capcom's Current Golden Age

Bethesda was riding high when Skyrim released, but since that title many have begun to criticize the studio's ability to keep up with modern standards. This is honestly still a concern, especially since Starfield and Fallout 76 had much more muted releases. While Fallout 4 sold well, it didn't quite live up to expectations at the time, yet despite all the negativity around the studio for years, Oblivion Remastered has undone most of it, or at least made people forget about it, and Bethesda should continue to ride this wave, similar to what Capcom has done.

While Capcom makes its own remakes, and actually calls them remakes, these remade titles helped bolster its reputation after years of hurt, similar, although not as extreme, as what Bethesda has suffered. Resident Evil 2's remake helped Capcom's reputation a lot, and Oblivion Remastered has done the same for Bethesda. Like Capcom, Bethesda has a great series of older games to remaster. In fact, it has two, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, and after Oblivion Remastered, it isn't as though people aren't calling for these remasters.

If these remasters are outsourced like with The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, then it won't slow down Bethesda Game Studio's work onTES 6 and Fallout 5. The studio is taking so long with the games anyway, so having something in between, like Fallout 3 Remastered, or a remake of Morrowind and Fallout: New Vegas is only going to help Bethesda. It buys Bethesda time, practically prints money, and will continue to improve its reputation. Bethesda is one of those studios people want to see succeed and these remasters will give fans a reason to sing its praises.

Source: VideoGamer