Why Shivering Isles Was Better Than Oblivion

In a new two-page editorial, Bright Hub makes the argument that Bethesda’s Shivering Isles expansion pack for The Scrolls IV: Oblivion “easily trumped” the original experience. Here are a couple of paragraphs that help explain their reasoning:

“But wait,” Oblivion apologists everywhere say “how can the Shivering Isles be better than Oblivion, when Oblivion was four or five times Seduction is synonymous with stabbing, apparently.bigger than the Shivering Isles?” Less is more, is how. Oblivion struggled to fill its vast empty spaces with actual content and there was little reason to explore once it became clear that each dungeon was virtually identical to every other of its type. Finding daedric shrines was one of the big reasons to explore Oblivion, and Oblivion – Shivering Isles is one big daedric shrine quest.

TSI even had a laugh at Oblivion’s expense with its quest to collect tongs and callipers, the bane of the loot hungry adventurer’s existence; useless in Oblivion, worth daedra dollars in TSI. Aside from the types of dungeons in TSI being simply more interesting and distinctive than Oblivion’s, there was the madness and amber ore element, wherein collecting ore would allow you to forge armour. There was also a hidden quest that didn’t appear in the journal, in connection with notable landmark ‘The Hill of Suicides’ with tangible rewards. TSI was actually giving players a reason to want to explore again.

The Dark Brotherhood quest line was my favorite aspect of the entire Oblivion experience, but I’d agree with their sentiment that Shivering Isles was more entertaining as a whole.