First Fallout Now Elder Scrolls: How Obsidian Is Trying To Outdo Bethesda

Like all daedric princes, Mehrunes Dagon rules over a plane of Oblivion. Dagon's plane is the Deadlands, a hell-like realm of crumbling towers and pools of lava that the player character raids in Oblivion . Mehrunes Dagon believes that Nirn, the physical realm in The Elder Scrolls , is another plane of Oblivion that’s rightfully his, and he longs to conquer it, and has attempted many times in the p


Between Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds , Obsidian has gained a lot of trust from Bethesda fans for delivering a similar format with a more engaging story and a slightly sharper wit, as well rarely appearing to rest on its laurels in the same way as Bethesda, which has avoided new IPs and released increasingly disappointing games over the last nine ye


Now, Avowed is probably a good couple of years out. Obsidian Entertainment still has one more DLC in the works for The Outer Worlds after the Peril on Gorgon releases, and the launch of Grounded to facilitate. However, it seems likely that both of those will reduce over the next few months, maybe even a year, to where small crews are working on those while Avowed guide becomes Obsidian's focus. In other words, it seems to be aiming for a release date a lot sooner than The Elder Scrolls


Pillars of Eternity was Obsidian's love letter to the old isometric RPG genre, including games like the Baldur's Gate saga; Avowed , on the other hand, looks like it'll be quite different - more in the vein of Skyrim and the forthcoming Elder Scrolls 6 . Nevertheless, using Pillars of Eternity 's Eora for the setting of Avowed is an interesting move, as there's already a whole treasure trove of established lore waiting to be expanded upon. As such, here's an overview of Eora as we currently know


During Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire , the aforementioned Wheel was smashed to unusable pieces by the god Eothas, effectively halting the cycle of reincarnation until such a time as kith could figure out how to make it function themselves. As such, the end of Deadfire left Eora in a state of rebuilding from the sudden chaos that the gods created. However, the state of Eora post- Deadfire might not even matter - the time period that Avowed takes place in could be long before or after anything in Pillars of Eternity , or the Living Lands could be so far removed from the rest of the world that there's little mention of the previous games' eve


Eora uses pretty conventional fantasy world standards, with a few defining traits that make it unique. We know already that Avowed takes place mostly in the Living Lands, which neither Pillars of Eternity nor Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire ever explored beyond mentioning it here and there. The Living Lands are set on a northern frontier island, said to be a place of unpredictable weather, fantastic beasts, with a landscape riddled by oddities never before seen by mortal eyes. The racial makeup of the Living Lands is fairly diverse compared to others (which is a good sign for those hoping Avowed 's character creator offers the same amount of race choices as Pillars ), though not everybody lives in harm


Obsidian Entertainment may have shocked its biggest fans when it had not one, not two, but three projects at the Xbox Series X showcase. Proving it is a powerhouse for Microsoft, Obsidian revealed upcoming DLC for the Outer Worlds , a new launch trailer for Grounded , and its next big Obsidian RPG, Avowed . However, one look at Avowed practically echoes The Elder Scrolls , and given Obsidian and Bethesda's history, this is not surpris


In this case, as strange as it seems, Avowed may very well be the first to launch. The Elder Scrolls 6 was first announced 2 years ago , but it was in the absolute earliest stages of development. It's not releasing until well after Starfield, which itself still does not have a release date. Many expect that it won't actually launch until 2024-2025 , which are good conservative predictions, and it wouldn't have likely been announced at all if it weren't meant to offset the reaction to Fallout 76 . Many games are not announced 7 years ahead of time, which is a point for Avow


Other lands on Eora include Aedyr, an empire mostly comprised of humans and elves and located right on Eora's equator; the Dyrwood, a former colony of Aedyr and the main setting of Pillars of Eternity , also a hotspot of animancy; and the Ixamitl Plains, north of the Dyrwood, a place of open savannas occupied by humans and orlans. There's Old Vailia and the Vailian Republics, once the jewel of the southern seas of Eora; the Deadfire Archipelago, setting of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire , a chain of tropical volcanic islands mainly occupied by amaua; Rauatai, a land rich with resources but constantly being squabbled over; and the White That Wends, a southern polar region at the bottom of the world mainly home to pale elves and boreal dwar


Avowed is set in the world of the Pillars of Eternity games, where the god Eothas plays a large role, one with interesting parallels to the demonic "daedric" prince Mehrunes Dagon, a recurring villain and subject of worship in The Elder Scrolls series. With many fans looking to compare the franchises, it’s worth comparing two of the most powerful deities in the lore of these ga