June 5, 2025 • 26 mins
Hey! You can watch this episode on YouTube!
The Elder Scrolls battle begins! Skyrim and Oblivion are both critically acclaimed and fan favorites, but Skyrim tends to dominate the conversation. Is it Oblivion's time now? Maester Jason and Dune Daddy Abu face off to debate which game has a more immersive world, which role playing aspects are more impressive, and which game should sit atop the Elder Scrolls throne. Will Skyrim’s long running popularity be enough to convince our judges that it’s the better game? Or will the newly remastered Oblivion change our minds?
Follow Rosie: IG & Letterboxd
Follow X-Ray Vision on Instagram
Join the X-Ray Vision Discord
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm not saying Colovians are dumb, They're just hard headed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Don't talk such rot.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
What am I doing? Well, I'll tell you what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm getting you ready for today's spoiler filled the episode
of Your Wrong Friend Oblivion versus Skyrim by reciting some
of the iconic voice.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Lines Hello, whatame is? Jason Cooncepsio and I'm a boo and.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome back to x viesit of the podcast when we
dive to your favorite shows, movies, comic tip, pop culture
cover you from I Heart Podcast. We're bringing you three
episodes a week every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday plus dudes.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And today we have a very special episode of Your
Wrong Friend in which we hold up our sacred opinions
to attack and debate to decide what pop culture thing
someone is wrong about. So let's introduce our judges for today,
the honorable and distinguished Aaron Kaufman Yarrel of X ray Vision.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Thank you a boot. You know, I used to be
a debater like the two of you, and then I
took an arrow to the knee and now here I
am well as we are here, I'm very exciting for
our debate. These are two iconic video games. And as
we are getting ready, Jason, you're here on behalf of
all of White Run. You're here to remind us why
(01:34):
Skyrim is the best game in the Elder Scroll series.
But a Boo doesn't agree. He's here to make the
case that Oblivion is actually peak Elder Scrolls. This is
your Wrong Friend, and joining me on the judges council
is Joel.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I'm ready for war and blood.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Let's go, and Carmen is our standby judge in case
we hit a tie. Now a quick reminder of our format.
We will have our opening statement. Jason will get two
minutes to kick things off and share why he feels
Skyrim is the best. A Boo will then have four
minutes for your Wrong Friend, where he gets to respond
to Jason's opening and argue why Oblivion is actually the
(02:13):
better game. Jason will then get two minutes for no
Your Wrong Friend to respond to a Boo's claims. Then
we'll move to the questions in the question round. Joel
and I each get to ask each side one questions.
That's four questions total, one minute for each question. Then
Joel and I will convene for the judges panel, and
then we will announce our verdict. And now let's welcome
(02:34):
Jason and a Boo to the stage to argue for
superiority in the Elder Scrolls franchise.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
First up, Jason, why Skyrim is the best. Skyrim is
the best because of the world that it drops you into.
There's no doubt, having played and currently playing the Oblivion
remake that there are some aspects, particularly the you know,
some of the player movement, the player speed, the RP
(03:01):
genus of the way the game is played, the ability
to combine magic spells and customize magic that is super
compelling about that game. It's a tighter story. The main
storyline is tighter and is woven throughout the game, I
think in a much more efficient way. But Skyrim, the
sprawling nature of it, the different worlds that you can discover,
(03:25):
just find your way into Blackreach. One of these times
you replay Skyrim, the massive, connected underground realm of Blackreach
with all its mysteries, and realize that this place is
underneath the map of Skyrim, which is in itself huge,
(03:46):
encompassing multiple large cities, certainly more large and lively than
the Oblivion versions, and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about,
and the lore here is no is no is nothing
to sneeze at.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Either.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You're dropped into a blooming civil war between the Empire
and the storm Cloaks. You get to decide for each
side you're gonna you're gonna join. You might join both,
you might play each side off of each other. Both
have their advantages and disadvantages. I think if you're coming
from Oblivion, you'll have a renewed respect for the Empire, certainly,
(04:25):
But this is a game that just puts an entire
world at your fingertips at the expense of some of
the gameplay depth that you experience in Oblivion. Uh do
you love to explore? You're gonna be in Skyrim and
one hundred thousand mods and countings for this game make
(04:48):
the point for me. The audience has chosen, and they have.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Chosen Skyrim two one. All right, now a boo. You
will have four minutes on the class to make your
point as well as respond to Jason. You are good
to go whenever you're ready.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
All right. So before I respond to Jason's points, many
of which were excellent, I want to start by presenting
my sales pitch. On why Oblivion is the best Ulser
Scrolls game. So the crux of my argument basically comes
down to immersion and the RPG elements in Oblivion. If you,
(05:28):
like me, are the type of gamer that loves to
escape into your video game universes, loves to be taken
on an incredible journey, have memorable adventures, maybe visit unique
and beautiful locations along the way, meet lovable characters, then
Oblivion is by far your obvious choice. Oblivion is a
(05:48):
game in which you actually get to role play. You
get to roleplay a character of your choosing that you build.
Do you want to be a staff fielding made shooting
fireballs and lightning, go for or maybe you would prefer
to be a brute swinging a warhammer that's taller than you.
You can do that. Perhaps, like me, you're a soft
footed thief who snipes his foes from afar before they
(06:11):
even see him. Go for it. Oblivion's class and leveling
mechanics actually let you play a style rather than Skyrim's
jack of all trades approach. In Skyrim, when you can
be or do anything, are you really role playing anything
beyond a generic overpowered protagonist, Because that's all Skyrim lets
(06:33):
you do, and honestly, that sounds like fuss roe boring
to me. Oblivion's gorgeous, high fantasy setting also means that
you get to visit some of the most iconic locations
ever in Elder Scrolls, from the port city of Anvil
to the wildly imaginative realm of Madness the Shivering Isles.
Name one place in Skyrim that looks or feels any
(06:55):
different from every other drab, gray and brown, snowy region
in the.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Game, that's just spaty.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Finally, I have the floor, sir. Finally. The quests in
Oblivion are objectively better and more unique than Skyrim. Throughout
the game, you might be transported into a painting to
finish a quest, you'll be trapped in other people's nightmares
and need to find a way to escape, and in
one of the most iconic quests in the game, you
get to throw a murder party. Along the way, You're
(07:23):
gonna meet a lot of memorable characters. Just to highlight
a few, the gray Fox head of the Thieves, killed
cool guy Shio goreth weird guy boris really nice guy
love him Ultimately. Oblivion is a game for lovers of
good stories, deep arbg mechanics, and beautiful worlds, and I
would argue that Skyrim is for people who want to
(07:43):
just mindlessly swing a sword and not think too hard. Interesting,
and with my remaining time, I want to address just
some of the notes that my opponent laid out. First
of all, I would argue that the civil war that's
present within Skyrim is nothing more then set trusting. It's
just the backdrop to the game. It has no real
(08:05):
world effect on the game itself or the outcomes of
the world. The world is barely shaped by those events
or the quote unquote choices that you make throughout oblivion.
On the other hand, the oblivion gates themselves have a
noticeable impact on the gameplay, and when you go through
the main story, you can close those oblivion gates, which
(08:26):
reshapes the world that you explore. That is something that
Skyrim lacks. Also, on the point of mods, I have
only a few remaining seconds left, so I'll say this,
if your game needs this many mods to be good,
then I don't feel like you finish the game in
the first place, and your community is doing the work
for you. Whoops, I yield the rest of my time.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Some incendiary things there. Goodness gracious, I hope no one
from the modding community was listening. Jason, You know, have
two minutes to respond to a boo.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Sure, there's a reason that Grant Have five is still
being played now a decade after the game. It's because
of the community that a boo so casually insults. The
community around Skyrim is not only huge, but it's so
(09:19):
dedicated to the underlying mechanics, the structure the world created
by that game, that they work for free to create
mods that build out the civil war, that put a
beautiful sheen on it, that create new quest lines, that
(09:41):
create new cabins and things that you can have the marketplace.
Because these games are created by creators so that fans
can enjoy them. The fact that so many fans enjoy
them and want to keep it alive is not, for
me a negative point. I think it's a beautiful positive
(10:05):
point that speaks to the vitality around a game that
is now what fifteen years old or something like that.
It wasn't until Bethesda, for some beautiful reason, decided to
release this remake that people began to play Oblivion once
again in the numbers that can even approach Skyrim, which
(10:27):
has not had any kind of meaningful Bethesda led update
in many, many years. Skyrim's popularity speaks for itself and
speaks quite loudly about what the world thinks. Is the
more playable, more vital, more living and breathing world. And
(10:50):
that's to take nothing away from oblivion, which is a
fantastic five seconds. But how dare you, sir?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
How dare you?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Oh? Thank you? We have time. We're gonna jump to
a little break right now. Sure, we're gonna go level
up our stealth and when we come back, we will
move into the judges questions. Yeah, and we're back. First up,
(11:24):
I like to ask a boo a question, A boo,
you spend a lot of time there actually not a
lot of time, a very short amount of time, but
it was very loud deploring the mods of Skyrim. Do
you My question to you, is it not fun for
you to play the game where the dragons are replaced
by Thomas the tank engine and the enemies are replaced
(11:45):
by SpongeBob? Is that not a fun thing for you?
You have one minute?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Okay, this is maybe a very square answer for me,
but no, I've never really delved into the Body world.
I play the vanilla game, and I find Body frankly
to be Maybe I'm starting to sound like an old person,
but I find it confusing. How do I install the mods?
Is it gonna work when they pass the next game?
Is it not gonna work? Can I make it work
(12:10):
on my Xbox?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
No?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Do I have to play on PC? I find the
modding world incredibly confusing, so if I sound dismiss ave
of it, it comes from a place of total and
utter confusion. I greatly respect all the folks that are
putting in countless hours into polishing and adding more to
this expansive universe, and I will hand it to Bodesta
(12:33):
for creating the mod tools and opening up their game
to the modern community. That's respectable. I will know they've
done that for both Skyrim and Oblivion, so I don't
see that as an argument in Skyrim's favor.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
All right, Jason, my question for you. You talked a
little bit about the civil war that's going on the
vast map, but I'm coming from Animal Crossing and I
really want to know why are the houses in Skyrim
better than the houses in Oblivion that you know for
your character why.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Are they better? Well, there's more of them. They are
more customizable, with gardens and with trophies, and with weapons racks,
and with lots of different knickknacks that you can add
to different places. They are spread across the map as
they are an Oblivion, to be fair. But I would
(13:24):
argue even though a boot I think inaccurately decried the
Skyrim map as banal and the same, it spans lots
of different environments. You can have a cabin in the snow,
you can have a apartment in the side of a mountain
in the east. You can have a mansion in the
(13:45):
Imperial Capital city like you can do a lot of
different things, and every single room is customizable as built is.
You can build it and you can move your family
in and have the wonder of like some random bard
like wandering and play music.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
It's just living in time, all right, Joelle, your questions.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
So I'm gonna give my first question to Jason. Jason,
you mentioned the joy of playing Skyrim, but but then
a Boo had that great point, Bobby, You're just swinging
a sword. What is it about the fight mechanics that
outdoes what Oblivion is doing well?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna try and argue that
the RP genius of oblivion isn't deeper. There's a trade
off here, right, and it's the customizable aspect of your
character and oblivion versus the depth and richness.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Of the world.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
What I take issue with is this idea that, like,
we're not all just doing sneak Archer.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
In both fucking games.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Let's let's stop this, sir. Let's stop this silliness and
stop pretending that we're doing anything else in both games
other crouching through the fucking tunnels of a cave and
sniping somebody with a maybe poisoned arrow and some magic both.
(15:10):
That's what we're doing in both games. Okay, we're doing
it in both games. I would add that there are
some cool mods for Skyrim that add wonderful gory death
animations slow mo death animation.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You can't do that, as I think that's time all right.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Man, Okay for a boo. I take Jason's point of
tighter storytelling.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I'm with you.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I prefer an RPG style game. I want to make
my character, I want to insert myself into the game.
But I often find that in most RPG games. That
means I am suffering first story. What makes a story
an Oblivion strong enough to compete with what Skyrim is doing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I think that Oblivion story in every aspect is stronger
than Skyrim's. Yes, you get dragons in Skyrim, but in
Oblivion you have a wide cast of character, You go
to many different regions, You do a number of unique quests.
Just take for example, any of the quest lines in
Oblivion which are better than the quest lines in Skyrim,
(16:07):
Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood in particular. One of the
most notable things in those quest lines is that along
the way you level up within the Guilt, you are
given clear progression, and that gives you a sense of achievement.
As you work your way up through a guild, you
are introduced to more guild characters and more inner guild
(16:27):
politics and drama. And in many of these quest lines
you rise to be the top of that of that
particular guild. You rise through those rinks. Skyrim, to me,
the storylines, the quest lines don't give you that same
level of satisfaction.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Oh all right, wow, wow, we are going to move
into our closing statements. Jason, you will get one minute
and then a boo will get one minute himself.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Skyrim is legend. It's popularity speaks for itself.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
It is a.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Framework around which a vibrant community who I respect, unlike
my opponent, has come to breathe renewed life and renewed
vigor into a game that has a legacy that is
now stretched a decade plus. It has various ways to play.
(17:18):
Even though you're going to play as a sneak archer,
I don't want to downplay the RP genus of Skyrim, which,
while not on the complexity level of Oblivion, is still
wonderful with various ways to play a barbarian. You can
play a magician, you play a maide, you could play
a sword spell. You can play as a sneak archer,
you can play as a thief. All of that is wonderful,
(17:41):
with wonderful story and a rich and massive world. Tell
me anything about Grand Theft Auto five's main story. It
doesn't matter, right because you're over there like mugging people.
You could do that in Skyrit.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It's time, all right, Boom, you have one minute for
your closing statement.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
All right, So my opponent has made an admirable attempt
at peddling the fictitious narrative that Skyrim is a better
game than Oblivion. And you know, while I concede that
it certainly has its particular strengths as a full package,
it fails to deliver the grandeur and heights of Oblivion.
(18:18):
And here's where I will rest my case. Oblivion Remaster
now exists and is available for you all to enjoy.
That game borrows some of Skyrim's strengths, actually many of
the things that Jason has pointed out, yet it retains
the obvious charms that Oblivion the original game had in
two thousand and six. So now to your gamer, you
can play a more graphically impressive, mechanically refined, and ultimately
(18:42):
better game. Or if you choose, you can run more
errands for the Yar Courier of winter Hold, that is,
if you can even remember who that is and what
winter Hold looks like.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Ooh, all right, we are going to go to a
quick break, and when we return, Judge Joelle and I
will begin our deliberation. And we're back. Joel, how are
(19:16):
you feeling? Have you leveled up your listening skills and
contempt contemplative thinking skills from this debate.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
I've maxed out on listening. I've I've contemplated deeply, and
I think I think I have a choice, which shocks me.
Which shocks me because both debates are really good. I
have not played either game. I've played the game. I
have watched my brother plays some of Skyrim, so I
know a little bit about Kyrim. I love a dragon
(19:46):
and I like the the visual designs of it, and
I was like, okay, I love a dragon.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
I was ready.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
I didn't know Oblivion was an RPG case it's something
I was paying. I was like, oh god, okay. But
then but then Jason was describing the under dark, which
that's the the D and D.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Term for it.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
But you know, I was like, okay, cool that that.
And then I was googling and I'm like, oh man,
that world looks really juicy. But I think what got
me was the Booth argument about the gameplay. I love
a self insert game, I.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Really, I really do.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
And when if you can become the head of guild
and shit and then replay it that much, you're constantly
doing different storylines as different characters, that's a game that's
worth sixty to eighty dollars. So that's a game you
put money down for. So I think as much as
I do love the visual designs on Skyrim, and as
fun as my brother like my brother played Tobably three
times all the way through, loves that game, I think
(20:42):
I think I'm Team Oblivion. Aaron, where are you at?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Wow?
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Well, I have played both.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I have currently fifteen dollars.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Yeah, I was gonna say the price. Let's not bring
the price up. Also, I will remind the contestant. Sorry
the judges, this is just the judges room. The contestants
are not allowed in here. I have played both of them,
and I've sunk a number of hours into both. But
(21:10):
the biggest problem I think I have with this debate
is A Boo did not even acknowledge that Thomas the
tank engine part of my question. For that, I'm not
really sure if I can award that at all, but
I do, like I will say, A Boo had a
really good point that in Skyrim it's a superhero. You
play a superhero. Basically you can level up anything at
(21:32):
any time just by doing it, which is a really
interesting mechanic. And I like that the more you swing
your sword and or you get it swinging your sword.
That's kind of like real life. But in Oblivion, I
do like that you're not just like all encompassing. You
can do everything. You always have swords and spells, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
You love a game rule.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I think at the end of the day, I would
probably revisit Oblivion before I revisited Skyrim, if all things
were equal, because I have played Skyrim more recently.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
But which which debate?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
One?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
Which debate? Are you like this is?
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Because I feel like it's different.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
Have you played the game and you're making.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Up like that game?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yes, I have a little bit of different.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
You know.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
I'm coming at this with my own internal biases. I
think from the debate side, I think Skyrim is going
to get it for me because a Boo, you know,
A Boo's side was really good and he talked about
the story being really important and Oblivion. But just from
his description of the stories, it was pretty similar to
(22:36):
the description of the stories in Skyrim, And so I
think we're going to be split right here. We might
have to call in our tide breaker judge. Yeah, Carmen
for a moment, Speaker of the House.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Carmen, Hello, Hello, Hello.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Now Carmen, before you bring your decision to the group.
Have you played either Skyrim or Oblivion.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
So at the last time, I have never played Skyrim.
I played Oblivion when I was eight years old on
a two week vacation in Colorado at my grandfather's house,
and I used.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
So you're an expert, and I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
I have to say I because I love the videos
of the Thomas the train.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Thomas.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Please, I'm saying those Skyrim mod videos are you can
spend a lot of time on YouTube having funds. Anyway,
I'm gonna have to go with Skyrim for the.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Sorry, I'll never forgive Thomas.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
There you have it. The X Ray Vision Judges panel
has come to a decision, and in this debate, we
are arguing Skyrim is the better game. We will not
be going into details on why we made that decision
or what arguments the most, but thank you very much both.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And I honestly, I don't know if it's from crying
or from living.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I can't.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Engine. I didn't see it coming. I did not see
it coming, but I'm excited that we got here. Congratulations
Jason on your win.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Are you undefeated in the ring?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Did you win last time.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I think I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
We gotta start keeping track of who's who's winning and losing.
We have Ultimate Champions battle off. Eventually, this was fun. Guys,
I love this.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
You can't go wrong with you wrong? Yeah you Skyrim
hate just for the bit today, but I love Skyrim
so much.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I'm currently playing Oblivion and loving it, so you
can't go.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
I'm so tempted to redownload Skyrim and replay it. So yeah,
you truly can go.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Some video games.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
If you need, come to me for the mods. I'll
tell you which ones are good and they really do
make the game great.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I'll just say that, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just need
to know how to install them. It's confused.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
I have a resident evil for Leon Shirtless mod. I
got to talk to you about Jason.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
In the next few episodes of X ray Vision, we
have a summer TV look ahead, and Thursday we're diving
into our favorite non star wars.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
For this episode. Thanks for listeninging.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
X ray Vision is hosted by Jason SEPs and Rosie
Night and is a production of iHeart Podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Our executive producers are Joelminique and Aaron Kurtman.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Our supervising producer is Abu Zapar.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Our producers are Common, Laurent Dean Jonathan and Bay Wack.
A theme song is by Brian Vasquez, with alternate theme
songs by Aaron Kaufman. Special thanks to Soul Rubin, Chris Lord,
Kenny Goodman and Heidi our discord moderator
Hello, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I'm not saying Colovians are dumb, They're just hard headed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Don't talk such rot.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
What am I doing? Well, I'll tell you what I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm getting you ready for today's spoiler filled the episode
of Your Wrong Friend Oblivion versus Skyrim by reciting some
of the iconic voice.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Lines Hello, whatame is? Jason Cooncepsio and I'm a boo and.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome back to x viesit of the podcast when we
dive to your favorite shows, movies, comic tip, pop culture
cover you from I Heart Podcast. We're bringing you three
episodes a week every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday plus dudes.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
And today we have a very special episode of Your
Wrong Friend in which we hold up our sacred opinions
to attack and debate to decide what pop culture thing
someone is wrong about. So let's introduce our judges for today,
the honorable and distinguished Aaron Kaufman Yarrel of X ray Vision.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Thank you a boot. You know, I used to be
a debater like the two of you, and then I
took an arrow to the knee and now here I
am well as we are here, I'm very exciting for
our debate. These are two iconic video games. And as
we are getting ready, Jason, you're here on behalf of
all of White Run. You're here to remind us why
(01:34):
Skyrim is the best game in the Elder Scroll series.
But a Boo doesn't agree. He's here to make the
case that Oblivion is actually peak Elder Scrolls. This is
your Wrong Friend, and joining me on the judges council
is Joel.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I'm ready for war and blood.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Let's go, and Carmen is our standby judge in case
we hit a tie. Now a quick reminder of our format.
We will have our opening statement. Jason will get two
minutes to kick things off and share why he feels
Skyrim is the best. A Boo will then have four
minutes for your Wrong Friend, where he gets to respond
to Jason's opening and argue why Oblivion is actually the
(02:13):
better game. Jason will then get two minutes for no
Your Wrong Friend to respond to a Boo's claims. Then
we'll move to the questions in the question round. Joel
and I each get to ask each side one questions.
That's four questions total, one minute for each question. Then
Joel and I will convene for the judges panel, and
then we will announce our verdict. And now let's welcome
(02:34):
Jason and a Boo to the stage to argue for
superiority in the Elder Scrolls franchise.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
First up, Jason, why Skyrim is the best. Skyrim is
the best because of the world that it drops you into.
There's no doubt, having played and currently playing the Oblivion
remake that there are some aspects, particularly the you know,
some of the player movement, the player speed, the RP
(03:01):
genus of the way the game is played, the ability
to combine magic spells and customize magic that is super
compelling about that game. It's a tighter story. The main
storyline is tighter and is woven throughout the game, I
think in a much more efficient way. But Skyrim, the
sprawling nature of it, the different worlds that you can discover,
(03:25):
just find your way into Blackreach. One of these times
you replay Skyrim, the massive, connected underground realm of Blackreach
with all its mysteries, and realize that this place is
underneath the map of Skyrim, which is in itself huge,
(03:46):
encompassing multiple large cities, certainly more large and lively than
the Oblivion versions, and you'll understand exactly what I'm talking about,
and the lore here is no is no is nothing
to sneeze at.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Either.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You're dropped into a blooming civil war between the Empire
and the storm Cloaks. You get to decide for each
side you're gonna you're gonna join. You might join both,
you might play each side off of each other. Both
have their advantages and disadvantages. I think if you're coming
from Oblivion, you'll have a renewed respect for the Empire, certainly,
(04:25):
But this is a game that just puts an entire
world at your fingertips at the expense of some of
the gameplay depth that you experience in Oblivion. Uh do
you love to explore? You're gonna be in Skyrim and
one hundred thousand mods and countings for this game make
(04:48):
the point for me. The audience has chosen, and they have.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Chosen Skyrim two one. All right, now a boo. You
will have four minutes on the class to make your
point as well as respond to Jason. You are good
to go whenever you're ready.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
All right. So before I respond to Jason's points, many
of which were excellent, I want to start by presenting
my sales pitch. On why Oblivion is the best Ulser
Scrolls game. So the crux of my argument basically comes
down to immersion and the RPG elements in Oblivion. If you,
(05:28):
like me, are the type of gamer that loves to
escape into your video game universes, loves to be taken
on an incredible journey, have memorable adventures, maybe visit unique
and beautiful locations along the way, meet lovable characters, then
Oblivion is by far your obvious choice. Oblivion is a
(05:48):
game in which you actually get to role play. You
get to roleplay a character of your choosing that you build.
Do you want to be a staff fielding made shooting
fireballs and lightning, go for or maybe you would prefer
to be a brute swinging a warhammer that's taller than you.
You can do that. Perhaps, like me, you're a soft
footed thief who snipes his foes from afar before they
(06:11):
even see him. Go for it. Oblivion's class and leveling
mechanics actually let you play a style rather than Skyrim's
jack of all trades approach. In Skyrim, when you can
be or do anything, are you really role playing anything
beyond a generic overpowered protagonist, Because that's all Skyrim lets
(06:33):
you do, and honestly, that sounds like fuss roe boring
to me. Oblivion's gorgeous, high fantasy setting also means that
you get to visit some of the most iconic locations
ever in Elder Scrolls, from the port city of Anvil
to the wildly imaginative realm of Madness the Shivering Isles.
Name one place in Skyrim that looks or feels any
(06:55):
different from every other drab, gray and brown, snowy region
in the.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Game, that's just spaty.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Finally, I have the floor, sir. Finally. The quests in
Oblivion are objectively better and more unique than Skyrim. Throughout
the game, you might be transported into a painting to
finish a quest, you'll be trapped in other people's nightmares
and need to find a way to escape, and in
one of the most iconic quests in the game, you
get to throw a murder party. Along the way, You're
(07:23):
gonna meet a lot of memorable characters. Just to highlight
a few, the gray Fox head of the Thieves, killed
cool guy Shio goreth weird guy boris really nice guy
love him Ultimately. Oblivion is a game for lovers of
good stories, deep arbg mechanics, and beautiful worlds, and I
would argue that Skyrim is for people who want to
(07:43):
just mindlessly swing a sword and not think too hard. Interesting,
and with my remaining time, I want to address just
some of the notes that my opponent laid out. First
of all, I would argue that the civil war that's
present within Skyrim is nothing more then set trusting. It's
just the backdrop to the game. It has no real
(08:05):
world effect on the game itself or the outcomes of
the world. The world is barely shaped by those events
or the quote unquote choices that you make throughout oblivion.
On the other hand, the oblivion gates themselves have a
noticeable impact on the gameplay, and when you go through
the main story, you can close those oblivion gates, which
(08:26):
reshapes the world that you explore. That is something that
Skyrim lacks. Also, on the point of mods, I have
only a few remaining seconds left, so I'll say this,
if your game needs this many mods to be good,
then I don't feel like you finish the game in
the first place, and your community is doing the work
for you. Whoops, I yield the rest of my time.
Speaker 5 (08:47):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
Some incendiary things there. Goodness gracious, I hope no one
from the modding community was listening. Jason, You know, have
two minutes to respond to a boo.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Sure, there's a reason that Grant Have five is still
being played now a decade after the game. It's because
of the community that a boo so casually insults. The
community around Skyrim is not only huge, but it's so
(09:19):
dedicated to the underlying mechanics, the structure the world created
by that game, that they work for free to create
mods that build out the civil war, that put a
beautiful sheen on it, that create new quest lines, that
(09:41):
create new cabins and things that you can have the marketplace.
Because these games are created by creators so that fans
can enjoy them. The fact that so many fans enjoy
them and want to keep it alive is not, for
me a negative point. I think it's a beautiful positive
(10:05):
point that speaks to the vitality around a game that
is now what fifteen years old or something like that.
It wasn't until Bethesda, for some beautiful reason, decided to
release this remake that people began to play Oblivion once
again in the numbers that can even approach Skyrim, which
(10:27):
has not had any kind of meaningful Bethesda led update
in many, many years. Skyrim's popularity speaks for itself and
speaks quite loudly about what the world thinks. Is the
more playable, more vital, more living and breathing world. And
(10:50):
that's to take nothing away from oblivion, which is a
fantastic five seconds. But how dare you, sir?
Speaker 1 (10:57):
How dare you?
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Oh? Thank you? We have time. We're gonna jump to
a little break right now. Sure, we're gonna go level
up our stealth and when we come back, we will
move into the judges questions. Yeah, and we're back. First up,
(11:24):
I like to ask a boo a question, A boo,
you spend a lot of time there actually not a
lot of time, a very short amount of time, but
it was very loud deploring the mods of Skyrim. Do
you My question to you, is it not fun for
you to play the game where the dragons are replaced
by Thomas the tank engine and the enemies are replaced
(11:45):
by SpongeBob? Is that not a fun thing for you?
You have one minute?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Okay, this is maybe a very square answer for me,
but no, I've never really delved into the Body world.
I play the vanilla game, and I find Body frankly
to be Maybe I'm starting to sound like an old person,
but I find it confusing. How do I install the mods?
Is it gonna work when they pass the next game?
Is it not gonna work? Can I make it work
(12:10):
on my Xbox?
Speaker 4 (12:11):
No?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Do I have to play on PC? I find the
modding world incredibly confusing, so if I sound dismiss ave
of it, it comes from a place of total and
utter confusion. I greatly respect all the folks that are
putting in countless hours into polishing and adding more to
this expansive universe, and I will hand it to Bodesta
(12:33):
for creating the mod tools and opening up their game
to the modern community. That's respectable. I will know they've
done that for both Skyrim and Oblivion, so I don't
see that as an argument in Skyrim's favor.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
All right, Jason, my question for you. You talked a
little bit about the civil war that's going on the
vast map, but I'm coming from Animal Crossing and I
really want to know why are the houses in Skyrim
better than the houses in Oblivion that you know for
your character why.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Are they better? Well, there's more of them. They are
more customizable, with gardens and with trophies, and with weapons racks,
and with lots of different knickknacks that you can add
to different places. They are spread across the map as
they are an Oblivion, to be fair. But I would
(13:24):
argue even though a boot I think inaccurately decried the
Skyrim map as banal and the same, it spans lots
of different environments. You can have a cabin in the snow,
you can have a apartment in the side of a mountain
in the east. You can have a mansion in the
(13:45):
Imperial Capital city like you can do a lot of
different things, and every single room is customizable as built is.
You can build it and you can move your family
in and have the wonder of like some random bard
like wandering and play music.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
It's just living in time, all right, Joelle, your questions.
Speaker 5 (14:05):
So I'm gonna give my first question to Jason. Jason,
you mentioned the joy of playing Skyrim, but but then
a Boo had that great point, Bobby, You're just swinging
a sword. What is it about the fight mechanics that
outdoes what Oblivion is doing well?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I'm not gonna I'm not gonna try and argue that
the RP genius of oblivion isn't deeper. There's a trade
off here, right, and it's the customizable aspect of your
character and oblivion versus the depth and richness.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Of the world.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
What I take issue with is this idea that, like,
we're not all just doing sneak Archer.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
In both fucking games.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Let's let's stop this, sir. Let's stop this silliness and
stop pretending that we're doing anything else in both games
other crouching through the fucking tunnels of a cave and
sniping somebody with a maybe poisoned arrow and some magic both.
(15:10):
That's what we're doing in both games. Okay, we're doing
it in both games. I would add that there are
some cool mods for Skyrim that add wonderful gory death
animations slow mo death animation.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You can't do that, as I think that's time all right.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
Man, Okay for a boo. I take Jason's point of
tighter storytelling.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
I'm with you.
Speaker 5 (15:30):
I prefer an RPG style game. I want to make
my character, I want to insert myself into the game.
But I often find that in most RPG games. That
means I am suffering first story. What makes a story
an Oblivion strong enough to compete with what Skyrim is doing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I think that Oblivion story in every aspect is stronger
than Skyrim's. Yes, you get dragons in Skyrim, but in
Oblivion you have a wide cast of character, You go
to many different regions, You do a number of unique quests.
Just take for example, any of the quest lines in
Oblivion which are better than the quest lines in Skyrim,
(16:07):
Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood in particular. One of the
most notable things in those quest lines is that along
the way you level up within the Guilt, you are
given clear progression, and that gives you a sense of achievement.
As you work your way up through a guild, you
are introduced to more guild characters and more inner guild
(16:27):
politics and drama. And in many of these quest lines
you rise to be the top of that of that
particular guild. You rise through those rinks. Skyrim, to me,
the storylines, the quest lines don't give you that same
level of satisfaction.
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Oh all right, wow, wow, we are going to move
into our closing statements. Jason, you will get one minute
and then a boo will get one minute himself.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Skyrim is legend. It's popularity speaks for itself.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
It is a.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Framework around which a vibrant community who I respect, unlike
my opponent, has come to breathe renewed life and renewed
vigor into a game that has a legacy that is
now stretched a decade plus. It has various ways to play.
(17:18):
Even though you're going to play as a sneak archer,
I don't want to downplay the RP genus of Skyrim, which,
while not on the complexity level of Oblivion, is still
wonderful with various ways to play a barbarian. You can
play a magician, you play a maide, you could play
a sword spell. You can play as a sneak archer,
you can play as a thief. All of that is wonderful,
(17:41):
with wonderful story and a rich and massive world. Tell
me anything about Grand Theft Auto five's main story. It
doesn't matter, right because you're over there like mugging people.
You could do that in Skyrit.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
It's time, all right, Boom, you have one minute for
your closing statement.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
All right, So my opponent has made an admirable attempt
at peddling the fictitious narrative that Skyrim is a better
game than Oblivion. And you know, while I concede that
it certainly has its particular strengths as a full package,
it fails to deliver the grandeur and heights of Oblivion.
(18:18):
And here's where I will rest my case. Oblivion Remaster
now exists and is available for you all to enjoy.
That game borrows some of Skyrim's strengths, actually many of
the things that Jason has pointed out, yet it retains
the obvious charms that Oblivion the original game had in
two thousand and six. So now to your gamer, you
can play a more graphically impressive, mechanically refined, and ultimately
(18:42):
better game. Or if you choose, you can run more
errands for the Yar Courier of winter Hold, that is,
if you can even remember who that is and what
winter Hold looks like.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
Ooh, all right, we are going to go to a
quick break, and when we return, Judge Joelle and I
will begin our deliberation. And we're back. Joel, how are
(19:16):
you feeling? Have you leveled up your listening skills and
contempt contemplative thinking skills from this debate.
Speaker 5 (19:24):
I've maxed out on listening. I've I've contemplated deeply, and
I think I think I have a choice, which shocks me.
Which shocks me because both debates are really good. I
have not played either game. I've played the game. I
have watched my brother plays some of Skyrim, so I
know a little bit about Kyrim. I love a dragon
(19:46):
and I like the the visual designs of it, and
I was like, okay, I love a dragon.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
I was ready.
Speaker 5 (19:55):
I didn't know Oblivion was an RPG case it's something
I was paying. I was like, oh god, okay. But
then but then Jason was describing the under dark, which
that's the the D and D.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Term for it.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
But you know, I was like, okay, cool that that.
And then I was googling and I'm like, oh man,
that world looks really juicy. But I think what got
me was the Booth argument about the gameplay. I love
a self insert game, I.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Really, I really do.
Speaker 5 (20:21):
And when if you can become the head of guild
and shit and then replay it that much, you're constantly
doing different storylines as different characters, that's a game that's
worth sixty to eighty dollars. So that's a game you
put money down for. So I think as much as
I do love the visual designs on Skyrim, and as
fun as my brother like my brother played Tobably three
times all the way through, loves that game, I think
(20:42):
I think I'm Team Oblivion. Aaron, where are you at?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Wow?
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Well, I have played both.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
I have currently fifteen dollars.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Yeah, I was gonna say the price. Let's not bring
the price up. Also, I will remind the contestant. Sorry
the judges, this is just the judges room. The contestants
are not allowed in here. I have played both of them,
and I've sunk a number of hours into both. But
(21:10):
the biggest problem I think I have with this debate
is A Boo did not even acknowledge that Thomas the
tank engine part of my question. For that, I'm not
really sure if I can award that at all, but
I do, like I will say, A Boo had a
really good point that in Skyrim it's a superhero. You
play a superhero. Basically you can level up anything at
(21:32):
any time just by doing it, which is a really
interesting mechanic. And I like that the more you swing
your sword and or you get it swinging your sword.
That's kind of like real life. But in Oblivion, I
do like that you're not just like all encompassing. You
can do everything. You always have swords and spells, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
You love a game rule.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
I think at the end of the day, I would
probably revisit Oblivion before I revisited Skyrim, if all things
were equal, because I have played Skyrim more recently.
Speaker 5 (22:05):
But which which debate?
Speaker 1 (22:07):
One?
Speaker 5 (22:07):
Which debate? Are you like this is?
Speaker 3 (22:10):
Because I feel like it's different.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
Have you played the game and you're making.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Up like that game?
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Yes, I have a little bit of different.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
You know.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
I'm coming at this with my own internal biases. I
think from the debate side, I think Skyrim is going
to get it for me because a Boo, you know,
A Boo's side was really good and he talked about
the story being really important and Oblivion. But just from
his description of the stories, it was pretty similar to
(22:36):
the description of the stories in Skyrim, And so I
think we're going to be split right here. We might
have to call in our tide breaker judge. Yeah, Carmen
for a moment, Speaker of the House.
Speaker 6 (22:49):
Carmen, Hello, Hello, Hello.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
Now Carmen, before you bring your decision to the group.
Have you played either Skyrim or Oblivion.
Speaker 6 (22:59):
So at the last time, I have never played Skyrim.
I played Oblivion when I was eight years old on
a two week vacation in Colorado at my grandfather's house,
and I used.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
So you're an expert, and I had a lot of fun.
Speaker 6 (23:15):
I have to say I because I love the videos
of the Thomas the train.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
Thomas.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
I'm so sorry.
Speaker 6 (23:44):
Please, I'm saying those Skyrim mod videos are you can
spend a lot of time on YouTube having funds. Anyway,
I'm gonna have to go with Skyrim for the.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Sorry, I'll never forgive Thomas.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
There you have it. The X Ray Vision Judges panel
has come to a decision, and in this debate, we
are arguing Skyrim is the better game. We will not
be going into details on why we made that decision
or what arguments the most, but thank you very much both.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
And I honestly, I don't know if it's from crying
or from living.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
I can't.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Engine. I didn't see it coming. I did not see
it coming, but I'm excited that we got here. Congratulations
Jason on your win.
Speaker 3 (24:46):
Are you undefeated in the ring?
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Did you win last time.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 2 (24:50):
I think I'm not sure.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
We gotta start keeping track of who's who's winning and losing.
We have Ultimate Champions battle off. Eventually, this was fun. Guys,
I love this.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
You can't go wrong with you wrong? Yeah you Skyrim
hate just for the bit today, but I love Skyrim
so much.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I'm currently playing Oblivion and loving it, so you
can't go.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
I'm so tempted to redownload Skyrim and replay it. So yeah,
you truly can go.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
Some video games.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
If you need, come to me for the mods. I'll
tell you which ones are good and they really do
make the game great.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I'll just say that, yeah, yeah, yeah, I just need
to know how to install them. It's confused.
Speaker 6 (25:27):
I have a resident evil for Leon Shirtless mod. I
got to talk to you about Jason.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
In the next few episodes of X ray Vision, we
have a summer TV look ahead, and Thursday we're diving
into our favorite non star wars.
Speaker 3 (25:45):
For this episode. Thanks for listeninging.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
X ray Vision is hosted by Jason SEPs and Rosie
Night and is a production of iHeart Podcast.
Speaker 4 (25:57):
Our executive producers are Joelminique and Aaron Kurtman.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Our supervising producer is Abu Zapar.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Our producers are Common, Laurent Dean Jonathan and Bay Wack.
A theme song is by Brian Vasquez, with alternate theme
songs by Aaron Kaufman. Special thanks to Soul Rubin, Chris Lord,
Kenny Goodman and Heidi our discord moderator
Hosts And Creators
Jason Concepcion
Rosie Knight
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.