Avowed has many fans of The Elder Scrolls series hoping that Obsidian Entertainment could be developing the spiritual successor to Skyrim. The new game will be set in Obsidian’s world of Eora, first featured in the two Pillars of Eternity games.
To step out from under Skyrim’s shadow, Avowed will not only need to deliver on the open-world first-person RPG formula fans have come to know from The Elder Scrolls games, but will need to give them some entirely unique and original experiences as well. Fortunately for Obsidian, Pillars of Eternity 2 has a feature which could be included in Avowed to provide just that.
Ships
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire takes place in the Deadfire Archipelago, and the player has their own ship to navigate the dangers of the high seas. Not only does the player’s ship count as their base, but it’s also used for ship combat. Ships in Deadfire have their own stats independent of the player character, including things like speed and cannon strength.
Deadfire players can also come across random encounters at sea, including pirates that they have to avoid or engage in combat with. Ship combat in Pillars of Eternity was far from the real-time swashbuckling experience of a game like Sea of Thieves, but was instead turn-based. The player had to give their crew orders and repair parts of the ship to come out on top. Nonetheless, the ship provided a unique roleplaying experience in a game genre that has often shied away from sea adventures due to the difficulty of realizing them mechanically.
If Avowed could include ships in the game, then players could have access to a movable, customizable base of operations that would allow them to explore the world of Eora, rumored to be far larger than Skyrim, while still building up their own customized space. Instead of returning home every now and again to store items like in Skyrim, the player’s home could feel like a meaningful part of the adventure in Avowed, and could be the setting for important story moments in a similar way to the campsite in Dragon Age: Origins.
Setting Sail in Avowed
Actually creating a working sea travel and combat system in a first-person game could be difficult, though games like the aforementioned Sea of Thieves have made it work. However, Obsidian has multiple options. Ships could be used as a more immersive form of fast travel, where the player, upon entering their ship, can choose to dock it at a series of coastal locations or to simply take it out to sea, allowing them to talk to their companions and crew on the journey itself. It could be this interchangeable "at sea" space that random events take place in.
Unlike Skyrim, where the player is limited to one main companion at a time while others return to their homes, the ship could also be a place for the companions who aren’t on the current adventure to stay. This could help the player character feel more like they are building a party with meaningful relationships more akin to the beloved Mass Effect squadmates than Skyrim’s follower system.
No matter which path Obsidian tries to go down and the limitations placed on the various options, including ships and more dynamic world elements is one way that Avowed could overcome direct comparisons to Skyrim and forge its own identity. Not only would including ships allow for immersive travel and a mobile base, but it could be just the feature to help Avowed link itself to its Pillars of Eternity history and draw players into a new experience with unique roleplaying opportunities.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.