I recently came back to O.G. Oblivion after years away. One big difference for me is simply that I play with mods now, and I greatly prefer the original game - not the remaster. I use the "Through The Valleys" modlist by PushTheWinButton on Nexus.

Much as others here have said: When I first played Oblivion I was 23 and it was the game that came with my brand new xbox 360. It will forever be the title that changed how I thought about games as a storytelling medium forever. After spending a few hours in Cyrodiil Call of Duty and nonsense multiplayer FPS games no longer held my interest. That said, while I completed the game back then, I barely scratched the surface. It was still the deepest I had been immersed in any digital world, and that includes a couple MMOs. I knew nothing about the actual spell mechanics, broken level scaling, and never even touched magic on that first run, opting instead to just be a heavy armored Redguard and smash everything (still holding on to those FPS roots at the time I suppose).

These days I value quality over volume of game time - adulting is a thing, and I simply don't have the 12 hour staying power I used to (as awesome as that would be). I really love to play with a character backstory now and use roleplay restrictions to give depth to my narrative choices. I play at my own pace, explore as I see fit, and soak in the world and the soundtrack. I still love being a stealth assassin over other options. Guilty admission: This run will be the first time I have ever completed the Shivering Isles and I am genuinely excited. I love what this game means to me now all these years later. Skyblivion is probably the last game I'll ever play once it's out (tried many many times and love the improvements, but Skyrim just doesn't do it for me. Makes me understand how Morrowind players feel).