Avowedhas the potential to both benefit from and fall victim to close comparisons with other fantasy games. When the trailer for Obsidian’s upcoming first-person RPG dropped, Bethesda fans were quick to notice surface-level similarities withThe Elder Scrolls, with many hoping the game could fill the gap left by the long wait forThe Elder Scrolls 6.
Avowedis set in the Living Lands, an ecologically diverse frontier continent in the north of Eora, the world from Obsidian’sPillars of EternityCRPGs. The studio will need to work hard to distinguishAvowed’s setting from the competition. There are even reasons this task may be trickier than it was withPillars of Eternity. However, the Living Lands also offer some unique opportunities Obsidian shouldn’t let pass it by.
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Avowed’s Setting
Pillars of Eternityhas a fascinating setting. At the time the first game takes place, Eora has settled into its rough equivalent of the early modern era. There are guns, galleons, and even powerful magical explosives in the form of the Godhammer bomb. In contrast, the setting ofThe Elder Scrollsdoesn’t seem to have had a major technological development since the Second Era, at least ifThe Elder Scrolls Onlineis anything to go by. Leaning into the early modern influences could be a great way forAvowedto differentiate itself, but there’s already a problem.
TheAvowedtrailer may not have revealed much about the game, but what it does show suggests that it is likely set significantly beforePillars of Eternity, in a far more standard medieval fantasy setting. The only weapons seen in the trailer are medieval, while the voice-over hints thatAvowedmay be set in a specific earlier part of Eora’s history when Woedica was queen ofthe gods of Eora.
InPillars of Eternity, Woedica is the deposed queen of the gods. She is the goddess of justice, oaths, and rightful rule, with a strictly authoritarian streak. Like all the gods in Eora, she was actually created by the long-extinctEngwithan civilizationfrom a single ideal using the souls of the Engwithan population.
TheAvowedtrailer hints that the game may be set during Woedica’s reign. There’s mention of war turning “heroes into queens and kings.” Not only is this well within Woedica’s purview - rightful rule - but the narrator’s claim that “now our oaths are lost” suggests that these rulers made deals withWoedica, and are now being punished for not living up to their end of the bargain. Even the word “avowed” itself has strong links to Woedica’s domain.
The risk is that by settingAvowedin an earlier period of Eora’s history, the game will resemble the more standard fantasy worlds of games likeSkyrimrather thanPillars of Eternity’s more distinct setting. Fortunately, there are a few waysthe Living Landscould still feel very different from the settings of other fantasy games.
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Frontier Flexibility of the Living Lands
Unlike the top contenders forThe Elder Scrolls 6’s setting, the Living Lands are practically a blank slate in terms of lore. InPillars of Eternity,the region is simply described as a “lawless land where communities band together, fall apart, and fight petty wars with each other constantly.” This presents great opportunities not just in terms of storytelling, but in terms of mechanics. While the Living Lands will likely have some large fixed quest hubs, the dynamism of the setting could lay the foundation forAvowedto have a world far more prone to change thanSkyrim’s.
IfAvowedwants to distinguish itself, players should be able to see the frontier’s fragile communities rise and fall depending on their actions.Avowed’s setting may be more traditionally medieval thanPillars of Eternity, but by setting its upcoming game on a frontier Obsidian could have far more flexibility, telling a story far away from regions of Eora with more established lore and allowing the player to have a huge influence over the game’s world.
Avowed’s Advantage
AlthoughAvowedappears to be set beforePillars of Eternity- where the player discovers that the gods are man-made - it should still take advantage of its artificial gods as one of the most unique parts of its setting. It is revealed inPillars of Eternitythat people have discovered the true nature of Eora’s gods multiple times, usually before their burgeoning atheist movements were crushed by Engwithan inquisitions.Games likeSkyrimkeep their main plots relatively straightforward. In fact, there’s so little ambiguity about the nature of the gods of Tamriel that the Dragonborn literally visits and confirms the existence of the afterlife at the end ofSkyrim’s main quest.
The Living Lands could be a setting that initially appears to be generic and predictable, but which reveals itself to be far more than first meets the eye. The origins of the gods of Eora as seen inPillars of Eternityborders on sci-fi, with the Engwithans building ginormous machines to manage the souls of the dead, create their own gods using animancy, and discover the answer to life’s existential questions.
Avowed’s setting has far more to offer than it first appears to. Its hidden depths are literal. There are huge pillars of adra - a soul-channeling mineral - that extend into mega-dungeons beneath Eora that hide hidden secrets and technology. This might sound likeThe Elder Scrolls' Dwemerruins, but unlikeThe Elder Scrolls, Obsidian’s Eora-set games have not hesitated to make solving the mysteries of its lost civilization a main part of the plot.
The Living Lands are a great blank slate forObsidianto create a setting that is more prone to player influence than other open-world RPGs, with factions fighting over unclaimed land and settlements rising and falling.Avowed’s setting also has the potential to have a main quest that tells a less predictable story than other fantasy RPGs, blending elements of medieval fantasy with science-fiction and a hint of existentialism. It will be up to Obsidian to take full advantage of the elements of Eora that could make the Living Lands stand out, but if it does the game may be able to step out ofSkyrim’s shadow, creating a world that is more ambitious both in terms of the player’s impact and the complexity of its plot.
Avowedis in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
