>>716067039
I still remember when I first played it. My thoughts were basically:

Early game
>the graphics are good
>oh, the faces and animations are awful
>the voice acting and NPC interactions are awful
>the Imperial City is so devoid of life
>the UI is swollen and the text is too large
>the combat is braindead
>this world is pretty bland

Mid-game
>I'm too weak to fight these clannfear and mountain lions, this sucks
>the world may be bland but it's pretty colorful, exploring it is pretty fun
>some of these guild quests are solid stuff
>can't believe my PC can handle these oblivion gates but not 10 bandits on the screen at once
>I'm tired of this orchestral music, I need to turn it down

Late game (some 100 hours in)
>I'm way too strong for these dremora and xivilai but I feel pretty fulfilled having made it here
>I love being able to run stupid fast and jump stupid high
>daedric bandits are stupid
>I'm tired of these oblivion gates now
>I'm tired of these caves and dungeons now
>I'm tired of this world now
>I'm tired of all the jank now
>I've had fun but I expected more from it
>I don't think I'll ever play this again

Basically something I couldn't shake in all my hours playing it was how aesthetically basic it was. Back in 2006 I had already had more than my fair share of generic medieval fantasy, so I spent a lot of time trying to escape it in Oblivion.

19 year old screenshot for posterity.