Ever since it was first announced way back in 2020, hype has been quietly building for Obsidian's Avowed as being the next big fantasy RPG title. It is set in a tried and tested world, which was the host to the Pillars of Eternity series. Although there will be some growing pains expanding the game from a traditional, Infinity Engine-style CRPG to a massive, first-person RPG, things are looking good ahead of Avowed's release in February, even if the seemingly constant delays have become a bit of a concern and stopped the hype from building steadily.

A big reason for Avowed's hype are the comparisons to The Elder Scrolls series, with both being first person RPGs in rich fantasy worlds. Obsidian has already worked on a Bethesda title before, the famed Fallout: New Vegas, so comparisons were always going to happen, especially because there seems to be a never-ending wait for The Elder Scrolls 6 since its announcement all the way back in 2018. Still, Avowed likely won't fill that hole, and Obsidian is actively trying to avoid comparisons with the likes of Skyrim, although these efforts appear to be in vain.

Avowed Won't Be As Big As Skyrim

The Smaller Size Will Make It More Focused

In an interview with PCGamesN, Carrie Patel (the game director for Avowed) stated that comparisons to Skyrim were going to be impossible to escape for a first-person fantasy RPG, but did say that Obsidian looks at "Avowed as our fantasy take on The Outer Worlds" with the game having a similar scope to the 2019 space adventure. The Outer Worlds had comparisons to the Fallout series, due to the creators of New Vegas working on it, but the game isn't as big as a Bethesda title. Avowed will likely be in the same boat with its map size.

Elder Scrolls titles have always had massive maps, with Daggerfall being the size of Great Britain, but it seems Avowed won't be replicating this. Bethesda games are also known for their openness as well, with players able to go anywhere and do anything in an almost sandbox-like world, but this isn't what Avowed is going for either. Patel stated that it's important for Avowed to have a "more focused experience, something that feels a little more curated" and mentions the importance of constraints to maintain good pacing. Obsidian clearly cares about telling a story with Avowed.

Daggerfall's map was made to be lore-accurate in size and is approximately 161,600 kilometers sq.

It seems that, due to the heavier story focus and wanting to make a more curated experience, Avowed will lack the grand, sprawling nature of the likes of Skyrim, and probably won't have that game's never-ending longevity. It will not be Elder Scrolls 6, nor will it feel like an Elder Scrolls spin off, similar to New Vegas in the Fallout series. Many might think of it in this regard, considering that Obsidian made New Vegas, but the developer is set on going on its own path away from Bethesda's RPG model.

Avowed Is More Like Fantasy Outer Worlds Than An Elder Scrolls Clone

Obsidian Is Trying To Use Its Own RPG Model

Throughout the interview with PCGamesN, Patel mentioned The Outer Worlds, referencing its structure as what Avowed was going to emulate. It was mentioned that Avowed would not match The Outer Worlds' tone, and it is reasonable to believe that Avowed will have a similar tone to Pillars of Eternity instead, given that both are set in the world of Eora. Still, players of The Outer Worlds will have a better idea of what to expect than the ever loyal Skyrim players, and while Obsidian can't escape the comparisons to Bethesda, it wants to use its own RPG models.

Avowed uses Unreal Engine 5 and likely won't have the modding capabilities of Bethesda's Creation Engine.

Ironically, this is somewhat similar to what Bethesda has done with its RPGs, as they all share a similar structure and model, albeit with evolution over time. With Obsidian making a sequel to The Outer Worlds, it seems that the developer believes it has a winning formula and will stick to it with Avowed as well, likely meaning that the hopes of Obsidian making a sprawling, massive game like Skyrim probably won't be on the cards for a while. The studio has its hands full and seems to be benefiting from the extra budget under Microsoft.

That being said, Patel did mention that there is "an appetite for games that are big sprawling RPGs with a ton of openness" and even if Obsidian isn't making a game to feed this appetite, it will likely benefit from those looking for these types of RPGs. They are rare now, and it feels like the lack of a completely open game like Skyrim is the reason why people still play it. The structured approach seems to be more common now, with even something as big as Baldur's Gate 3 being split into three, distinct acts.

Avowed Smaller Size Could Be A Blessing Or A Curse

But It Won't Make It Able To Replace The Elder Scrolls

Smaller games do have plenty of benefits compared to their monolithic competition, and it isn't as though Avowed will be a short game by any means. One benefit will be the game's performance and size on a hard drive, since Avowed will be 75GB, which is reasonably small for a big budget RPG nowadays. Compare this to Starfield or Baldur's Gate 3, which are both well over 100GB, and the 75GB Avowed is asking for seems like a dream, especially for those with slow internet. Games are taking up more space, and it's nice to see Avowed avoid this trap.

The map will likely be denser too, getting rid of the realistic but sometimes bland empty spaces between locations. It will allow Avowed more time to focus on its story telling and moral decisions, something Obsidian writers are famous for, but the downside of this could be longevity. If it isn't appealing to The Elder Scrolls crowd as an alternative, it probably won't enjoy the longevity and replayability of something like Skyrim, as its openness (and modding community) have kept it alive for well over a decade.

Whether Avowed ends up being as good as its potential suggests, it won't be the game that Elder Scrolls fans have been waiting for since the 2018 ES6 trailer dropped. Although it could scratch the itch a little, due to being a first-person fantasy RPG, it won't fill the hole Bethesda has made by not making a sequel to the ever-enduring Skyrim. Fans will have to wait even longer for an RPG as open and sprawling as Skyrim again, and while Avowed looked like it brought hope, it isn't Obsidian's answer to The Elder Scrolls. It is its own thing.

Source: PCGamesN