Obsidian's newest game Avowed is gaining a ton of online traction. Revealed at Microsoft's Xbox Game Showcase, the short teaser trailer set the internet on fire with the possibility of a real Elder Scrolls competitor. The open world fantasy RPG genre is seemingly dominated by Bethesda's staple franchise, having very little competition other than games like Dragon Age, Dragon's Dogma, and The Witcher series. While most of the titles mentioned offer unique attributes that set them apart from Bethesda games, they still don't seem to capture the same magic and enthusiasm from fans as a game like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Luckily, Obsidian is no stranger to games in the fantasy setting, nor Bethesda-style games. Obsidian developed the excellent Fallout: New Vegas after the success of Fallout 3, and other than a few bugs here and there, is largely regarded as the best game in the Fallout series due to it's excellent writing. Additionally, Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity series is also lauded for its writing, and since Avowed is set in the same universe, the writers have the advantage of not needing to create a whole new world.
Pillars of Eternity is an isometric RPG that plays similarly to old-school computer RPG's like Baldur's Gate. Although the playstyle of Pillars of Eternity and The Elder Scrolls are vastly different, the unique setting in Pillars of Eternity provides an excellent opportunity for great storytelling. In a world where gods fight each other over their reign of the region and a study called animancy which allows users to manipulate and see into people's souls, there's a ton of lore to be explored in Avowed.
Beating Bethesda at Their Own Game
While The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is lauded as one of the greatest technical achievements and highest-rated games of all time, it still has its flaws. Combat has never been very intuitive in the series, with Skyrim having one of the simplest combat mechanics in any fantasy RPG. Stiff animations and easily overpowered characters make the combat in the game secondary to exploration and story. Compare this to a game like Dragon's Dogma for example, and it's clear how Obsidian could step up their game and include some more exciting action to the series, like including an in-depth magic system. Being able to climb giant monsters while your party is raining down arrows, and the real weight of combat in a Dark Souls-lite manner is far more exciting than consistently going back into the overpowered stealth archer route in Skyrim.
One of the biggest complaints in Skyrim, especially when compared with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the lack of great NPC variety and a watered-down main questline. Obsidian has a proven track record of writing some of the most fleshed-out characters and engrossing stories in gaming. Everything from Fallout: New Vegas to South Park: The Stick of Truth, to the most recent The Outer Worlds, prove that Obsidian takes their writing very seriously and they put a lot of effort into making engaging, sensical worlds for players to enjoy.
If there's one big issue with Obsidian's previous games, it's budget. Somehow the developers found themselves in several situations where they almost ran out of money, and have resorted to crowdfunding more than once for their games. With the recent acquisition by Microsoft, all of those worries have been laid to rest. Having Xbox money on their side means Obsidian can focus solely on making Avowed as in-depth and complete of a package as possible, meaning the biggest Elder Scrolls competitor in years has a lot of potential.