Glitches are a funny thing. If a game has too many, the experience might be ruined. But as Bethesda has repeatedly proven, there’s definitely a middle ground for glitches as well. A game can be rife with unintended moments, but if they’re harmless — or better yet, funny — a player is much more willing to forgive digital mishaps. When it comes to The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Cyrodiil is still the home of jank, but that’s exactly what makes it so loveable as well. Take, for example, the hiccup that sometimes transpires in the Tiber Septim Hotel.
Maybe you’ve come across this glitch without realizing it. Normally, the locale is supposed to be a luxurious hotel for those with means in the Imperial City. Sometimes, though, you’ll walk in the lobby and see something strange. Maybe it’s a sheep, or a deer. Maybe it’s an NPC that’s tied to a different quest that has nothing to do with the hotel. Whatever it is, you know that they’re not supposed to be there — so what’s going on?
Apparently, Oblivion is programmed to consider the Septim Hotel’s lobby as a ‘safe zone.’ In practice, what this means is that if a being or object has an issue, Oblivion might respawn it in the lobby for safekeeping. So rather than let a character, say, clip out of the world or get stuck somewhere, the game will try and prevent crashes by putting them somewhere it considers safe.
It’s not a new glitch, as players reported experiencing it twenty years ago, when Oblivion was first released. But much like other glitches, it’s back in Oblivion Remastered — so there’s been a surge of recent posts from confused players.
I’m glad that, despite the visual upgrades and quality of life changes, Oblivion still has many of its original wrinkles. It means that you can still do things like duplicate objects or become completely OP, sure, but every so often the warts lead to a good chuckle.
Turns out, I don’t need a realistic game with a ton of visual polish. I just need a game that will let me watch the chaos unfold after I fill up a room with poison apples.