The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The world of Tamriel is in peril by the evil forces from the realm of Oblivion, and in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion it's up to you to restore peace to the land. You don't however, have to play the main quest right off the bat. In fact, I myself didn't actually get into the main story until about 50 hours in. This shows one of the true beauties of this game: choice. Once you step into the beautiful world of Tamriel, what you do and the order you do them in is entirely up to you. Bulk up, join a thieves guild, buy a house. It's your life, do what you want to do.

Pros

- Huge, expansive, immersive world filled with hundreds of places to explore and quests to complete. I have put in close to 150 hours into this game and have neither completed every side quest nor found every location.

- Open world lets you do what you want, when you want.

- Despite its age, this game looks looks pretty good most of the time.

- So many different ways to play, from choosing what class you are to the guilds you join to the weapons and powers you use.

- Earning experience by using your skills gives good incentive to hone particular attributes.

- Really throws you into the world's fiction with a large collection of books (some of which can entertain you for a while), stories, mythology and various characters.

- Good amount of enemy types.

- Good voice talent that even includes Patrick Stewart and Sean Bean.

Cons

- Technical issues such as slowdown when entering and/or leaving an area, frame rate issues during combat, and the very rare crashes.

- Character models and locations, especially the Oblivion planes, can get repetitive.

- Animations look limited.

If you're a die hard RPG fan who loves to explore an expansive world, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is a game you certainly won't want to miss. It is most definitely one of the best RPGs of all time.