It remains unclear which direction Obsidian will be going with, but one thing is for certain: by taking on The Elder Scrolls, Avowed takes on high risks, and the possibility of even greater rewards.World of Warcraft Shadowlands locks the majority of its newest features behind Renown, but Reputation Quartermasters are still around with a handful of items of for sale. There are still many details about Avowed which have yet to be announced. However, if the game is going to take the most successful parts of Skyrim while stepping out from its shadow, that weight should really be carried more by the NPCs while players are given enough variety in terms of both origins and dialog options to engage with scripted characters in interesting ways. It may be tempting for Avowed to establish more about its player character in pursuit of a more character-driven story. Their backstory is left completely up to the player’s imagination, giving them the ability to roleplay as whoever they want. Skyrim players can escape Helgen and simply never complete the main quest, never becoming the Dragonborn. One aspect of The Elder Scrolls formula that Avowed should not change, however, is the level of roleplaying freedom the games afford their players. If the characters in Pillars of Eternity are anything to go by, players may be in luck, and Avowed could easily get the jump on The Elder Scrolls 6 by throwing players into a large open world which doesn't sacrifice non-player character depth.
Even later Bethesda games like Fallout 4 and companions like Nick Valentine have far more compelling stories than Skyrim’s followers. Skyrim’s followers leave a lot to be desired in terms of personality, with many sharing the same default lines and few having their own quests or stories. It could even include a Fallout 4-style town-building mechanic where players can begin to build their own communities.
The game will be set in the Living Lands, described as a “lawless land where communities band together, fall apart, and fight petty wars with each other constantly.” A frontier setting is a great opportunity for a more dynamic faction system where groups can build settlements, expand their territory, take over and rule other cities, and so on. With Bethesda’s Starfield, a new IP, set for release before The Elder Scrolls 6, fans could be in for a long wait.Īvowed could also take advantage of its setting.
Both Skyrim and Oblivion also used procedural generation to some extent, so even that reveal doesn’t tell fans much. After all, since The Elder Scrolls 6 was announced back in 2018 there have been almost no updates on the project apart from Todd Howard’s claim that the game will make extensive use of procedural generation. Not only is Avowed also a fantasy, but certain aspects like the lost Engwithan civilization and its vast underground ruins are particularly reminiscent of Skyrim’s Dwemer among other similarities.Īvowed is likely, in part, relying on its superficial similarities with The Elder Scrolls as part of its plan for success. Avowed returns Obsidian fans to the world of Eora from the studio’s two Pillars of Eternity games, though like Fallout before it the franchise’s isometric top-down viewpoint will be swapped out for an Elder Scrolls’-esque first-person perspective.