Oblivion, to me, is the most perfect of The Elder Scrolls. The setting. The realm of normality, and the realm of the titular Oblivion are both enormous, large, and full of things to do. Yes, there's a lot of empty space between all those things to do, where rolling country side, wild beasts, bandits and monsters attempt to ruin your days of frolicking in the park, but ... they're fantastic days.
From the fist prison cell you find yourself in - such a common and original thing in Elder Scrolls games, to the Oblivion gates, towns, cities, and characters you'll meet along the way - there is so very much to do.
It just takes a while to get to do anything. Like most open world games, the pacing is what you make it. You can go get lost picking flowers, or you can enjoy the scenery. Want to life a life of crime and kill everyone you come across? You can do that too.
You can do whatever the hell you want.
That is the beauty of Oblivion. The other beauty in Oblivion is in the depth of its mod-database, which I've spoken about in other posts.
This is a dangerous game due to that very reason, as anything you can think of, is likely to exist. If it doesn't exist, Oblivion has the tools to enable you to create it.
This is the game that Bethesda need to release on every platform they can fathom - not Skyrim. Having said that, the next game in my "to play" series is Skyrim.
I'll be playing it on the PS4, and in VR. We'll see how far I get before I get totally lost again in a immersive world. For now, Oblivion stays on my hard drive.