
From there, you could go wherever your curiosity took you.

Oblivion started with the standard Bethesda opening: you went through a brief tutorial in a closed, linear environment - in this case a jailbreak through the sewers - to emerge out into its vast, beautiful, and open world. Cyrodiil was a beautiful world to explore in its day. And there was one game that drove the purchase drastically more than any other: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

My interest in the new console slowly but surely turned from indifference to awe, and when I returned home for the summer, I made the plunge. For five months my gaming time was limited to handhelds, and while I used that time to play many wonderful handheld games, I couldn’t help but see footage of then “next gen” games for the newly released Xbox 360, and get excited about the chance to experience them. In the spring semester of 2006, I was studying abroad, far from home. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading. That not only means I’ll talk about why I think each is a great game that speaks to my tastes, but also where and how it affected me in a larger context. I will slowly but surely get to every game on the list, and speak to why each holds a special place in my heart.

Welcome to “Gaming Memories,” a blog series where I reminisce about my favorite video games.
