Avowed is Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming first-person fantasy RPG, set in the world of Eora from the studio’s Pillars of Eternity games. While the previous two games took place in Dyrwood and the Deadfire Archipelago, Avowed will take place primarily in the Living Lands.
The Living Lands are a frontier island in the far north of Eora. While Obsidian has given fans little information about the game’s setting, the information the developer has published doesn’t just give a glimpse into the backstory of the game, but some of the mechanics which players might be able to expect in Avowed.
The Living Lands are described as a “lawless land where communities band together, fall apart, and fight petty wars with eachother constantly.” This puts Avowed’s setting in stark contrast with Dyrwood from the first Pillars of Eternity, which, while at war, was still a clearly defined nation at the heart of Eora’s civilization.
The focus on lawlessness and the ever-shifting political landscape of the Living Isles is an interesting thing for Obsidian to highlight. The lack of commitment to a single ruler or government could hint that players can expect Avowed to have a very dynamic game world, with forts being taken over by different factions and bandits depending on player choices rather than existing as static locations.
This could be an example of Avowed taking cues from the Skyrim modding community, particularly mods like WARZONES – Civil Unrest, which made Skyrim’s Civil War far more dynamic in the game world. Other add-ons like the Organized Bandits mod might also serve as inspiration, and if nothing else show that creating a dynamic open-world landscape is not only achievable but extremely popular among RPG players.
The description of the Living Lands also states that the “racial mix in the area is extremely diverse but not necessarily harmonious.” This will be exciting news for many players as it makes it more likely that there will be multiple playable races in Avowed just as there were in Pillars of Eternity, as it seems likely that Obsidian has designed the Living Lands to make every race feel like it fits in in an equally immersive way.
This could help overcome one problem Skyrim had, where Nords felt like the obvious player character choice while picking some races like Argonians and Khajiit saw the player character treated very differently from the NPCs of the same species, even being asked if they believed that Skyrim was “for the Nords.” Dwarves are said to be very common in the Living Lands, and it will be interesting to see how Avowed handles height discrepancies from a first-person perspective if it commits to multiple playable races.
The book “True Stories from the Living Lands” from Pillars of Eternity gives some more lore-focused insight into the region. “The whole area feels like a succession of hills and valleys, each with its own ecosystem.” Though the Living Lands are in the far north of Eora, Obsidian has seemingly designed the setting to contain a plethora of different biomes for the player to explore. The book also mentions trolls with the ability to camouflage themselves as trees, as well as encounters with carnivorous plants and centipedes as long as a human arm.
The Living Lands appear to be designed to give players a huge diversity of areas to explore, people to meet, and monsters to fight. Fans excitedly awaiting news about Avowed’s release should keep an eye on the descriptions of the Living Lands released by Obsidian in the future, as they may hint at more information not only at the story, but at exactly the sort of RPG Avowed is shaping up to be.
Avowed is in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
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