Avowed Addresses Skyrim Comparisons

Obsidian Entertainment has revealed how it believes Avowed will distinguish itself from The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. Since Avowed was first teased at the Xbox Games Showcase in 2020, the anticipated action RPG has drawn inevitable comparisons with Bethesda’s genre-defining megalith.

Skyrim set the gold standard for fantasy RPGs when it was released in 2011. Its vast open world enthralled players by allowing them to explore however they wanted, crafting their character and adventure as they saw fit. Nearly 13 years later, Bethesda’s epic has sold over 60 million copies worldwide across its various iterations and become one of the best-selling games of all time. When Obsidian announced its upcoming first-person fantasy RPG set in an intricate open world with seemingly similar sword-and-sorcery combat to Skyrim, fans were inevitably quick to make comparisons with Bethesda’s classic.

However, in an interview with PCGamesN, Avowed’s game director Carrie Patel has spoken out against these comparisons and shed light on how Avowed will shape its own unique identity within the genre. Set in the same game world as Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity, Avowed will see players take on the role of an envoy from the Aedyr Empire tasked with investigating reports of a mysterious plague. Their journey will take them to the vibrant and deadly Living Lands, an island that at first glance seems more akin to Oblivion’s Shivering Isles than Skyrim’s frozen tundra. Although smaller in scale, it’s this unique world that will set Avowed apart. “For us,” Patel explained, “it’s about having a more focused experience, something that feels a little more curated. We can be a little more intentional.” Players can expect an experience more akin to a “fantasy take on The Outer Worlds” than an endless romp through Cyrodiil.

What will make Avowed distinct from Skyrim?

• Avowed‘s game world will be smaller in scale, but rich in detail.
• The overall story will be more linear, but will still reward exploration and player choice.
• Players can expect a world more reminiscent of Fallout: New Vegas or The Outer Worlds than that of The Elder Scrolls.

While it may not feature the expansive sandbox that players were expecting, Avowed’s intricately crafted map may be a welcome change in an industry filled with ever-expanding open worlds. Where many modern games rely on repetitive content to fill out their massive maps, a smaller, hand-crafted experience will hopefully ensure that players are captivated from start to finish. With beloved titles such as Fallout: New Vegas and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II under their belt, Obsidian already has a well-proven track record of creating incredibly detailed and rewarding worlds.

Despite Avowed’s smaller scale and more focused story, gameplay director Gabe Paramo clarified that the game will still reward exploration and not follow an entirely linear path. Avowed will instead take that “middle ground between sandbox and something more curated.” Paramo went on to emphasize the importance of player choice, stating that “you’re coming to the Living Lands and Avowed with a very specific role from the empire, but it’s still up to you to choose how exactly you follow through on that.” Whatever difficult decisions the world of Avowed may hold in store, gamers will have to wait until the Xbox exclusive comes to Game Pass in Fall 2024 to discover the secrets of the Living Lands for themselves.

Avowed

Avowed is a first-person RPG being developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Taking place in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, players explore the world of Eora using both rune-based magic and sword combat

Released

2024-00-00

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios