The Elder Scrolls 6 may still be a ways off, but players who don’t want to wait for the next installment in Bethesda’s iconic fantasy franchise might do better to look to Avowed instead. As the next major game project from Obsidian Entertainment, Avowed offers an alternative take on a first-person fantasy roleplaying adventure. An appearance at the Xbox Games Showcase 2023 revealed new gameplay from Avowed, which emphasizes the ways in which the game is likely to appeal to fans of The Elder Scrolls while striking out on its own.
Avowed may not bear a title as recognizable as the Elder Scrolls franchise, but it also marks a return to a realm from previous games. In the case of Avowed, this world is Eora, the setting of the great Pillars of Eternity isometric RPGs that have served as spiritual successors to titles like Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale. While those classic games took place in the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons & Dragons, Obsidian’s Eora is an original video game world. Although The Elder Scrolls 6 is returning again to the continent of Tamriel that the series always features, Avowed will be exploring the previously unseen continent of the Living Lands.
The best feature that Avowed brings to the table comes in the form of its release date, set for 2024 as revealed in its Xbox Games Showcase trailer. Although The Elder Scrolls 6 was officially announced in 2018, the game still appears to be years off, with no guarantee of a proper trailer anytime in the near future. With both games promising rich, fantasy settings that draw on similar themes and styles, it seems almost inevitable that Avowed will be compared to the potential of TES 6. But considering its release date and the lack of reports on the latter, Avowed will fill the void and deliver on the promise of a next-gen fantasy RPG far more quickly.
For the time being, Bethesda’s focus is on the 2023 release date of Starfield, an RPG that focuses instead on interplanetary exploration. With over a decade having passed since the release of Skyrim, the long wait for a successor makes the appearance of Avowed on the near horizon particularly refreshing.
If any developer can make a game with the potential to match or exceed a new Elder Scrolls installment, it has to be Obsidian. The studio’s roleplaying roots are deep, formed by ex-employees of the company behind the original Fallout, Icewind Dale, and Baldur’s Gate games. In the modern era, it’s proven its hand at the first-person action formula familiar to Elder Scrolls fans with Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. The new Avowed trailer makes a point of its combat possibilities, lining up a sequence of kicks, stabs, shots, and a multitude of magical attacks that promises to let players tackle foes in whatever way suits them best.
2023-06-12 06:30:04
Original from screenrant.com