Skyrim ‘s dungeons are not poorly designed by any means, but it isn’t long into the game before they begin to get somewhat predictable. A large Nord tomb will almost always begin with winding underground crypts leading to a larger cave system, which in turn leads to a “puzzle” door which can only be opened with a Dragon Claw . Beyond the door is a final fight, a world wall, and a conveniently placed secret door which leads right back to the entra
Nintendo showed off big upcoming titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 and even the long rumored 2D action game known as Metroid Dread . As exciting and surprising as the new Metroid was, it likely wasn’t the announcement many expected. The rough development cycle of Metroid Prime 4 is well documented, having not only switched developers, but getting a full reboot as well. However, that announcement was made all the way back in early 2
As such, Avowed seemed to be the odd man out this year, though the game was briefly mentioned at the end of the show by Xbox head Phil Spencer. With The Outer Worlds 2 likely in very early development, Avowed is likely Obsidian’s next major game release , which means more news could be coming later in 2021 at one of the various game events left this y
Managing in-depth systems such as party members could be difficult to manage in real-time, so another opportune feature for Obsidian is a tactical pause. PoE, like Baldur’s Gate which inspired the series, contains a real-time pause element and this could be transferred to Avowed and prove to be useful. GreedFall from developer Spiders is a great recent example of an action-RPG that used a tactical pause to great effect. At the touch of a button, combat is paused, and the player is free to map out their next move. This approach could suit Avowed as it’s simple to use and wouldn’t detract from the action-orientation of the game too much. Using a straightforward pausing system like this could help gamers manage their followers’ actions and insight into their combat situat
Avowed should also adopt some of the more dynamic NPC logic found in some of Pillars of Eternity ‘s dungeons. In Skyrim , players might find a dungeon filled with bandits. As any stealth archer knows, it’s relatively easy to pick off Skyrim ‘s dungeon enemies one by one without the NPCs noticing or meaningfully changing their behavior in response. In the first room of Bleak Falls Barrow , for example, the player can stealth-kill some of the bandits sitting around a campfire, but once the player is fully hidden the survivors will happily return to their original positi
In Pillars 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-extinct Engwithan civilization from a single ideal using the souls of the Engwithan populat
Unlike the top contenders for The Elder Scrolls 6 ‘s setting , the Living Lands are practically a blank slate in terms of lore. In Pillars 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 for Avowed to have a world far more prone to change than Skyrim
Rumors suggest that Avowed will have in-depth spells . It’s common practice for action-RPG titles to include abilities that have cooldowns so that they can’t be spammed, and make fighting enemies more of a challenge. These are often only seconds long and still enable players to use their skills fairly liberally. What Avowed can take from Pillars of Eternity to differentiate from Skyrim and other similar games are skills which have longer cooldown periods. In PoE, gamers have access to a deep well of abilities that can be used per encounter and rest, and this could work well in the upcoming action-RPG. Potent abilities that can only be used infrequently would help players turn the tide in close battles, and also encourage getting basic combat and tactics mastered, as the more powerful skills couldn’t be used very often. This could also necessitate limited resting when on adventures, making each rest more valua
Avowed will be set in the Living Lands , a harsh but ecologically diverse frontier to the north of Eora, the world first established in Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity . The fact that the Living Lands are a harsh frontier does not mean that interactions with humanoid NPCs outside of quests should be violent by default. Avowed Cheats needs to give players enough options when interacting with non-quest NPCs that their interactions can generate small but dynamic storytelling opportunit
In Skyrim , the player is encouraged to imagine almost everything about their character’s history and internal life, and the game’s lack of developed followers encourages a similar mindset with the game’s secondary characters. While few of Skyrim ’s followers have much story to speak of, the sheer breadth of companions that this allows the game to have shouldn’t be dismissed, and with players already relying on their own imaginations when it comes to the Dragonborn , the amount of followers in the game helps give greater variety to each Skyrim playthrough than a game like New Vegas or The Outer Worlds