If your coming from Skyrim, this may not be what you expect, but it's still a great game!
Lets discuss graphics/visuals. The graphics are pretty good for an RPG. Especially one that is this huge. The world at times looks amazing, like the water for instance. Things that don't look so good however are the animations of the NPC's. Why you would want to play this game in third person is beyond me, but everyone likes a different cup of tea. The animations sometimes are just downright terrible. So do yourself a favor and stick to first person. Oh and I was just referring to your own character, but the NPC's otherwise also have rather crappy animations sometimes, regardless of first or third person. So if your looking for a good third person RPG, it's not this. So the graphics have good moments, and bad moments. Overall I give it a 2 out of 3 in graphics.
Sound in this game is awesome, just like Skyim and the rest of the Elder Scrolls. As you round a huge bend, overlooking the Imperial City while the Elder Scrolls Oblivion theme is just starting up, it sounds and looks so beautiful. The music is deep and involving, and you will often find yourself caught up in it before you even know it. The rest of the game's sounds are decent. Footsteps sound like footsteps... Swords clanking sound like.. well, swords clanking. It gets a 3 out of 3 with sound.
Now for game play and story, this game shines. It's got a pretty good main quest line, but I'm not going to give any spoilers. As in every Elder Scrolls game you will instantly want to go off adventuring on your own, and you can too! I would recommend it, gathering up side quests and exploring the wonderfully detailed world! Another thing is that no matter how many times you play the game, you can always take a different path (quest wise and world wise) and take different jobs, go to different locations etc to keep each play through different. Who likes playing the same game over and over. Now, no this game does not make quests based on the way you play the game, like Skyrim. And no, this game is also not "never ending", like Skyrim. But if your a fan of the Elder Scrolls, you have to try it, it's still a good game! It gets a 3 out of 3 in game play.
So if you add up all those 3's and the 2, it's an 8! A pretty solid game if I do say so myself. Don't be a Skyrim fanboy and punish yourself by not playing this game just because it's not quite as good, go buy it. Better yet get the game of the year edition with the expansions, they are great!
Oblivion gets a solid 8.