The idea of exploring a foreign location or another realm is rampant throughout all forms of media, especially video games. It allows an individual the joy of exploring a new world and the ability to feel fully immersed in it, while also giving some amount of reprieve from the overworld. It is a concept Avowed should look to incorporate.
One of the most popular examples of this comes from The Elder Scrolls franchise's realms of Oblivion. These realms are as varied as they are numerous, with quite literally thousands of them in the lore to explore. Avowed should look to employ a similar concept, as it could add a variety of great boons to the game as a whole.
Avowed's Potential Allure for an Other-Worldly Realm
When talking about Oblivion, many fans tend to think of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion and its Deadlands. However, the realms of Oblivion have much more to offer than fire and brimstone. The infinite libraries of Apocrypha and the enigmatic realm of the Colored Rooms are just a few of the many realms to be explored. Though they do not all appear in the same game, they offer new sights to see as well as bits of lore to be learned. Many of these realms tend to be the physical personifications of a Daedric Prince's personality, hence their various themes. Avowed could dig deep into this idea, unveiling new secrets and sights along the way.
Part of the reason that these realms of Oblivion work so well is because of just how different they can be from the land of Tamriel. Each of them carries its own theme, quest lines, and sets of goals for the player to follow that create a memorable experience. The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion's Deadlands even added a certain amount of replayability to the game, allowing the player to explore the vast realm in search of nice loot. Avowed's reimagining of crafting and looting could take this to new heights, not only adding further replayability to the game but also fleshing out its world as a whole.
But for many, the main concern behind this idea is incorporating it into the universe without upsetting any previous bits of lore. As some may already know, Avowed takes place in the pre-established universe of Pillars of Eternity. In it, there are confirmed to be three realms so far. The Here, The In-Between, and The Beyond. As the name implies, The Here is the physical realm and The Beyond acts as a sort of afterlife for souls. The In-Between is described as the place souls wander before going to The Beyond, and is also described as being empty. Avowed could learn from other RPGs to help incorporate the existence of other realms.
Similar to how Daedric Princes govern certain sections of Oblivion, the gods of Avowed could each govern their own realm dedicated to their respective roles. This would allow for a certain amount of variety to be had among the realms, as even though they are all gods that share the same realm, some can be considered "evil" while others can be thought of as "good." Considering the Pillars of Eternity universe's strong Dungeons and Dragons influences, other planes of existence could simply just exist parallel to The Here, without needing the justification of being created by a god.
No matter how these realms could be incorporated into Avowed, there is a great amount of potential for their existence alone. While fans may not have a release date for Avowed just yet, that just means Obsidian Entertainment has more time to further refine these ideas.
Avowed is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.