In contrast, the townsfolk of Solstheim frequently reference their isolation and the small size of their settlement, despite Raven Rock being bigger than some of Skyrim ’s other settlements like Riverwood and Rorisktead. avowed Money guide could create towns which are the same size as Skyrim ’s cities, but seem far more convincing as hastily constructed frontier towns than ancient seats of power no bigger than a f
Raven Rock is one of Skyrim ’s best towns when it comes to environmental storytelling. Each of Skyrim ’s towns has some level of intrigue - there’s the feud between the Stormcloak and Imperial families of Whiterun, the chatter and tension surrounding the recent public execution of High King Torygg in Solitude, and the string of mysterious murders in Windhelm, to name a
While Solstheim has a lot of lessons to teach Avowed ’s Living Lands , the unique success of the frontier island as an RPG setting suggests that Obsidian may already be on the right track with its choice of location. What remains to be seen is whether the studio exploits all the unique opportunities its frontier setting presents, or if lets some pass it
Todd Howard recently announced that The Elder Scrolls 6 is still "in the design phase" over three years after its initial reveal, with the studio focusing primarily on Starfield , its first new IP in over 25 years. It's likely that, similar to Bethesda, most of Obsidian's resources are currently focused on Avowed . The Outer Worlds 2 's trailer may have poked fun at games announced long before their development had begun in earnest, but it's also likely a self-confessed culprit of exactly t
It is possible that guns may still exist in Avowed , even if the game is set some time before the Pillars of Eternity games. Avowed will be set in the Living Lands , a wild northern frontier filled with competing factions and strange beasts. It may be that the Living Lands are less technologically developed than the heart of Eora's empires, but that more modern technology like guns can still be fo
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
While Solstheim is just a small part of Skyrim ’s overall world, the fact that the open-world RPG formula's immersion fits so well into the frontier bodes well for Obsidian’s choice of setting. It’s unlikely that Obsidian would have been able to bring the large cities depicted in Pillars of Eternity to life without significantly shrinking them down, while the Living Lands provide a setting which could avoid the open-world RPG genre’s city scaling prob
Obsidian has become an extremely productive developer with several projects in the pipeline at the moment. While some of these games are unlikely to be released for a few years, many fans are excited about what the studio has in store for the gaming industry. Since Microsoft bought Obsidian , it seems that the team has been ramping up development, and with Microsft behind them, it seems as though it has more resources accessible to them than ever bef
A lot of talk around Grounded involves what it means for future games. It seems to be a good testing ground for things like enemy AI, as Obsidian creates intelligent enemies in the game's wide range of bugs and other animals. Obsidian isn't generally known for survival games like Grounded, either, so the positive feedback it's received on the game bodes well for further Obsidian experiments. Grounded is teaching Obsidian a lot that it can potentially use. While current Grounded updates are focused on polishing the game, odds seem good that even when the game officially launches, Obsidian will have more large-scale updates and additions to offer its player b
With news about The Elder Scrolls 6 practically non-existent since its announcement at E3 2018, Obsidian is likely hoping to fill part of that gap in the market, even if Xbox head Phil Spencer claims Avowed will be a very different experience to The Elder Scrolls . Avowed may be trying to differentiate itself, but comparisons to one of the best-selling games of all time are unlikely to hurt its sa
The Living Lands could be a fantastic frontier setting if it also plays with the fear of the unknown in the same way. Players might find entire settlements mysteriously abandoned, for example, motivating them to find out what happened from a sense of insatiable inquisitiveness rather than any in-game reward. Skyrim ’s Dragonborn DLC shows how frontiers like the Living Lands can be used in RPGs to inspire unique dread, but also inspire a unique curiosity which can be a key motivator in open world explorat