It’s a powerful and effective moment in a lot of their games, but experiencing that moment on a console in HD for the first time remains one of the most visually resonant gaming moments I’ve had. 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.

Elder scrolls oblivion symbol