Is Obsidian Entertainment Taking On More Than It Can Chew

When first-person fantasy RPG Avowed was announced by Obsidian Entertainment during 2020's Xbox Games Showcase, it didn't take long for fans to speculate that Obsidian could be delivering a spiritual successor to The Elder Scrolls . However, with Xbox Head Phil Spencer claiming that the game will be "very different" from Bethesda's flagship fantasy series, that initial assumption has been called into do


In many traditional fantasy RPGs, players pick their class at the beginning of their adventures. This determines which stats they primarily rely on. In a typical TTRPG and its closer descendants, for example, a rogue would largely rely on dexterity and intelligence, and would start with an initial boost to those stats. This, in turn, would affect their success with skill checks and in combat throughout the g


Skyrim 's skill system also has flaws which aren't necessarily connected to doing away with traditional classes. There are plenty of Skyrim mods which completely revamp the skill system without reintroducing classes, demonstrating the variety of routes Obsidian could go down even if classes go out the win


Despite appearances, Avowed could end up being a huge asset for The Elder Scrolls 6 's development. Here's why Bethesda's apparent rival could actually be its greatest ally, and what all this could mean when the next Elder Scrolls game finally arri


Obsidian Entertainment is one of the most respected western RPG studios in the industry. Many of its employees have impressive resumes dating back to Black Isle Studios, best known for games like the first two Fallout titles and Baldur's Gate . Despite its esteem, Obsidian Entertainment has long been seen as a junior studio to RPG giants like Bethesda. Many of Obsidian's games are beloved, particularly for their writing, but the studio has a history of struggling financially in a way that larger studios have


As exciting as that was, the studio once again went dark with no information coming out since. Fans were hopeful of at least another tease at E3 2021 as the show is the event when companies tend to drop major announcements in order to excite the fanbase. Perfect Dark was probably a long shot for the show anyway as the game is likely in an early state of development meaning fans can likely expect to see more next y


In Oblivion , there were 21 pre-made classes the player could choose from near the start of the game, with the additional option to make their own custom class. Each of these classes came with a specialization or combination of specializations out of magic, stealth, and combat. Each class also came with two main attributes out of strength, intelligence, willpower, agility, speed, endurance, personality, and luck. These two attributes would each have a +5 bonus at the start of the game. Finally, the player's class would include seven skills, such as acrobatics, sneak, or speechcraft, which the player would be able to level at a faster rate than their other ski


With voiceless protagonists, small cast of voice actors, and large but relatively free-form narrative worlds, the Elder Scrolls games rely on the imagination of the player more than many other major RPG franchises . Small details like being able to sit in chairs, zoom out, and manipulate objects and bodies go a deceptively long way towards allowing players to imagine their own stories in these wor


As for Final Fantasy , the franchise had a couple of announcements like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin , but none were on the scale of Final Fantasy 16 . While this highly anticipated game was a big no show at E3, many have begun to assume that it will be included in a potential PlayStation State of Play event sometime this sum


Pillars of Eternity takes place in a period of Eora's history which is roughly technologically parallel to the real world's early modern era, from around 1500 to 1800. While Pillars of Eternity has guns , bombs, and galleons, the trailer for Avowed Combat guide shows more medieval architecture and weaponry. Not only that, but the trailer references oaths multiple times, as well as "kings and queens." This hints that it is set during Woedica's reign as the queen of Eora's gods, as her domain includes rightful rulership and oa


If Avowed ends up having a particularly innovative combat system that rivals The Elder Scrolls ' simple combat system, for example, there's nothing to stop The Elder Scrolls 6 integrating similar mechanics. If an aspect of Avowed is met with criticism, The Elder Scrolls 6 can attempt to avoid similar criticism in advance. With most predictions placing Avowed 's release at some point in the next couple of years, and The Elder Scrolls 6 's release date potentially around 2025 or 2026, Bethesda could have several years to learn from Avowed 's successes and mista


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