Obsidian is increasingly positioning itself to take over Bethesda’s spot in the open-world first-person RPG market. First, Obsidian releasedThe Outer Worlds, a sci-fi satire that clearly posed itself as the spiritual successor to theFalloutfranchise. Next, the developer announcedAvowed, a first-person fantasy game that both the studio and its fans are hoping could be the nextSkyrim.
However, although Obsidian has a great track record,The Outer Worldsshows that there’s still one key story trick from Bethesda that the developer will need to keep in mind if it’s going to provide the same open-world fantasy experience asThe Elder ScrollswithAvowed.
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Blank Slate Protagonists
Skyrimisn’t known for its main story, as it’s known for its world. This can be said of most of the series, where theElder Scrollsgames' settingscarry almost all of their immersive weight. The story is barely developed by the game itself, but the setting provides enough light roleplaying opportunities and exploration that the player can imagine their character’s internal journey and relationships in the world.
A big factor in this and the replayability ofSkyrimis the huge variety of races the player can pick from in the opening, and the great deal of character customization within them. Though the world isn’t very reactive to some of the more alien choices likethe Khajiitor Argonians as might make sense, they still provide some unique roleplaying opportunities on the part of the player. Unlike more character-driven games likeThe Witcher 3, however, the extent of that roleplaying relies very much on the player themself.
Skyrimgives absolutely no reason why the player was crossing the Skyrim-Cyrodiil border, and its absolutely right not to do so. Aside from momentarily being caught in an Imperial ambush, the game establishes nothing about the player or their backstory in the introduction. A player who wants to play as an Altmer spy who got caught in the wrong place and wrong time has as much legitimacy as a Dark Elf attempting to reach family in Windhelm or a Nord trying to escapeSkyrim’s Civil Waronly to be dragged back in the other direction.
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What Avowed Needs to Learn
The Outer Worldshas a far more specific introduction thanSkyrim. The player is one of the colonists frozen aboard the ship The Hope, and is rescued by a rogue scientist who believes that they can help unfreeze the remaining passengers. It’s a good story hook, but there are a few reasons a story that prescriptive won’t work as well for an open-world fantasy likeAvowed.
InSkyrim, the story doesn’t prioritize the main quest until the player slays their first dragon and absorbs its soul. This gives players who don’t want to playSkyrim’s main quest- or want to roleplay more before doing it - an easy out to go and explore the world ofSkyrimwithout it feeling like they are ignoring the coming apocalypse. InThe Outer Worlds, on the other hand, the obligation to help the frozen colonists hangs over the player for the entire game and limits their ability to roleplay as anyone with any backstory.
Furthermore, while the player character’s personality is a blank slate inThe Outer Worlds, it is established that they are a particularly skilled individual who was frozen aboard The Hope for years longer than intended. This is too prescriptive a backstory to provide the same breadth of roleplaying opportunities asThe Elder Scrolls, even if it means the story has more depth, as demonstrated inThe Outer Worlds' endings.
Obsidian has been able to pull off a blank-slate protagonist in the past. The only thing established aboutThe Courier fromFallout: New Vegasis that they took a job to deliver a platinum chip that went wrong and were shot in the head. The game gives the player total control over their backstory and just as much reason to seek out revenge as it does for them to count themselves lucky and head out to the horizon in the opposite direction.
Avowedneeds to provide exactly that breadth of opportunity. All of the Kithraces fromPillars of Eternityneed to be playable, and the opening should introduce the world without railroading the PC onto the main quest. It is only by leaving the player character completely up to the player’s imagination that huge open-world games where the player character is a blank slate are able to work without exposing their own lack of depth, allowing the players to totally immerse themselves in the setting.
Avowedis in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
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