Shivering Isle s is one of the most popular expansion packs in The Elder Scrolls series. It comes free in Oblivion Remastered, alongside its other expansion, Knights of the Nine. Oblivion Remastered's expansion packs can all be started whenever the player wishes, from when they escape the sewers to when there's no content in the base game left. Both expansion packs can also be started and paused whenever the player wishes, and can finish them at their own pace.
Although players can start Shivering Isles at any point, there are several moments that are more optimal for story and mechanics. These points all have their own pros and cons, and all depend on the kind of story that the player wants for their Hero of Kvatch.
Character Customization Is Oblivion Remastered's Most Unexpected Triumph
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion makes a number of improvements over the original, but character creation is one especially worth mentioning.
Starting Shivering Isles Late in Oblivion
Levels 15-25
Loot scales in Shivering Isles, and players who want the unique loot it offers may want to hold off on playing it until they reach between levels 15 and 25. This is the sweet spot for loot that remains useful, but it's early enough that there is still stuff to do in Oblivion's base game. This means Shivering Isles doesn't feel like an epilogue, and is rather a part of the journey. It also gives players the chance to use any new spells, features, or equipment during Oblivion's main campaign or during any of the countless side quests that Oblivion has to offer.
After the Main Questline
This is a great story-driven motivation to start Shivering Isles. After finishing the main quest, the Hero could finally accept Sheogorath's open invitation to his realm of madness. The Hero could be motivated by grief, despair, a pique of mania, or any number of reasons because of the events they went through in Oblivion. The result of this is a great thematic parallel to Martin's story, and the player could headcanon that their character has lost themselves to madness because of the futility of everything. The downside of this route is that players don't really have the opportunity to use all the power that Shivering Isles grants, unless Oblivion's main questline is completed without doing any side content.
Starting Shivering Isles Early in Oblivion
After Oblivion's Prologue
Starting early in-game could serve as the Hero's origin story. While Oblivion Remastered added backgrounds for all races, The Elder Scrolls largely leaves the player character's past up to the player to imagine. By starting Shivering Isles immediately, the player has the chance to make its events their character's origin, and actually play through their background. While the loot will become redundant by acquiring it so early, there is other loot throughout Oblivion's base game to make up for it. Another barrier that players may encounter is that Shivering Isles presents more difficult combat, and players may struggle at earlier levels.
Entering and Leaving the Shivering Isles
Another option is to complete Shivering Isles sporadically. The Hero can leave the Shivering Isles at any time and continue their progress in Cyrodiil, and return to the Shivering Isles when they want. This can be done as many times as the player likes. Sheogorath's shrine quest in Oblivion has amusing dialogue updates depending on where the Hero is in the Shivering Isles questline. The problem with doing this is that it can make Shivering Isles' story feel more jarring, and the impact of the story may be lessened with the massive shifts in tone from Shivering Isles to Cyrodiil.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 82 /100 Critics Rec: 87%
- Released
- April 22, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Publisher(s)
- Bethesda
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Genre(s)
- Action, RPG, Open-World, Adventure
