i used to think oblivion was too full of stereotypical tolkien-esque fantasy tropes (imps, fairies, skeletons, etc.) until i realized that the kind of fantasy each game contains depends on the setting.
skyrim contains a lot of dark, brooding, nordic fantasy elements because that's the kind of region skyrim is. morrowind contains a lot of weird, highly-stylized fantasy elements because morrowind is a strange, foreign place. oblivion contains a lot of common fantasy tropes because cyrodiil is the central region of tamriel and thus is the most familiar.
all in all, this realization made me appreciate the elder scrolls (oblivion in particular) a lot more.