Look, we all love Skyrim. The new Elder Scrolls game is nowhere to be found, even though it was announced back in 2018 when E3 was still around. Fans have been yearning for something to scratch the Skyrim itch, and Bethesda didn't quite deliver – Starfield was far from 'Skyrim in space', and if you're like me, you found Fallout 4 a bit of a mixed bag. the same bag.
Obsidian's upcoming RPG Avowed hasn't been able to avoid constant comparisons to Skyrim. I kind of get it – people are looking for the things they're missing in Skyrim, and Avowed's pitch is pretty similar – both games are first-person fantasy RPGs (well, you can play Avowed in third-person too). Obsidian even worked with Bethesda in the past on Fallout: New Vegas, with great success.
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Avowed doesn't want to be Skyrim
Visually, there are also surface-level similarities. The settings seem relatively realistic, with accents of magical wonder. There are weird non-human guys. There is a lot of nature. The struggle is familiar. The vibrations are correct.
But the developers have tried to distance themselves from these comparisons, saying that it is more like The Outer Worlds. Because it's closer to Obsidian's very good space RPG in scope and focus, it has open areas instead of a massive open world like Skyrim. It tries to strike a balance between its strengths in writing and storytelling while also having plenty of meaningful side content to derail you from the main narrative. It's focused on exploration, yes, but it's also focused on choices and consequences.
It's pretty clear that Avowed isn't trying to be the next Skyrim. I'm sure it's disappointing to many fans who really wanted it to be this way, but I have a follow-up question – why would you want Obsidian, a studio with very different strengths than Bethesda, to make a spiritual sequel to Skyrim when Bethesda already making a true sequel? Also, why would you want another Skyrim when Skyrim already exists?
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Everything is like Skyrim now
Okay, okay, I'm being a little dishonest. I know why you want a Skyrim lookalike – Skyrim is awesome. You want a game that's like Skyrim but different so you can feel amazed all over again, but Avowed was never going to be that game. The things that made Skyrim special are now all over the triple-A space – so many open world games have followed in Skyrim's footsteps to some degree, expanding their worlds and relying on sandbox-y flexibility. You can find games that express the same magnitude everywhere.
That's why there's no game that can truly replicate the feeling of playing Skyrim for the first time – it's already happened and left its mark. Avowed wants to go deep, and that's also valuable. It probably won't be the game changer that Skyrim was, and that's okay.
I'm more interested in seeing Obsidian's iconic writing prowess in a fantasy setting than getting yet another sprawling game marred by size and technological innovation instead of a damn good story. Whether or not Avowed will live up to the more reasonable expectations fans have of it remains to be seen, but we know it's not Skyrim and never will be.
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island full of adventure and danger. Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the emissary of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a plague spreading through the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, dangers and adventures, choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces that threaten to tear them apart?
