Hopefully the potential return of mega-dungeons will give each dungeon a more unique personality than those found in games like Skyrim . To make them more unique, Avowed Strategy 's dungeons should have their own puzzles which require more thought than matching the symbols on a Dragon Claw to those on a puzzle d

When the trailer for Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed dropped last year, fans were quick to notice the similarities to Skyrim . The game's first-person perspective, medieval fantasy world, ands the history between Obsidian and Bethesda led many to conclude that Obsidian was developing an RPG with the specific intent of taking on The Elder Scrol

If Avowed wants to distinguish itself, players should be able to see the frontier's fragile communities rise and fall depending on their actions. Avowed 's setting may be more traditionally medieval than Pillars of Eternity , but by setting its upcoming game on a frontier Obsidian could have far more flexibility, telling a story far away from regions of Eora with more established lore and allowing the player to have a huge influence over the game's wo

While returning to the same mega-dungeon could risk feeling repetitive, it also creates a far greater sense of accomplishment. The Endless Paths of Od Nua feels like a nearly insurmountable challenge to conquer, a dungeon that is genuinely intimidating and keeps the player in suspense, wondering what mysteries the next level might ent

Two thousand years before the events of Pillars of Eternity , an ancient civilization known as Engwith made huge advancements in Animancy . At the time, many Engiwthans were suffering from "soul maladies." Soul maladies include phenomena like "soul twins," where a reincarnated soul splits between multiple bodies. To prevent such problems, the Engwithans created a giant machine that controlled the flow of souls from The In-Between to The Bey

The Endless Paths of Od Nua is an Adra pillar, an underground tower built into the vein of a magical mineral by an ancient civilization known as the Engwithans. Adra pillars are known to extend under the surface of the setting's entire world. Although Avowed will take place in the Living Lands , far away from the Endless Paths of Od Nua, it seems likely that players will get to explore expansive Engwithan ruins in the g

Avowed is set in the same world as Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity CRPGs . In Pillars of Eternity , some dungeons are not designed to be completed in a single run through. In the first game, for example, players come across the 15 story "mega-dungeon" the Endless Paths of Od Nua, which gets progressively more difficult the further the player descends, requiring them to return throughout the story. Avowed could find success combining elements of Skyrim 's and Pillars of Eternity 's dungeon des

Many of Eora's inhabitants worship specific gods in the hope of avoiding the lottery and being directed to a certain existence. The god Galawain, for example, uses the souls of his devout followers to create monsters. In Pillars of Eternity , it is revealed that all Pale Elf souls go to the god Rymrgand, who prevents their souls from losing essence to entropy, but also exclusively reincarnates them as Pale Elves. This revelation causes many Pale Elves to "awaken," or remember past lives. One clan even attempts to enter Rymrgand's realm and die for good. This is not the first time the mortals of Eora have attempted to affect The Wh

The dragons in Skyrim exist almost exclusively to be killed by the player, and the dragons only return to Tamriel at the beginning of the game. The dragons in Pillars of Eternity , in contrast, could feel far more like a part of the world the player is exploring, gifting the game with more diverse individual personalities and - hopefully - more dynamic and challenging combat encount

Many dragons in Eora are also worshipped by Xaurips, a small reptilian race resembling Dungeons and Dragons ' Kobolds. Xaurips will often offer themselves as sacrifices to be eaten by the dragon they worship. They build their lairs around these creatures, and an old dragon may be the center of massive religious festivals in which hundreds of Xaurips are consu

Avowed 's trailer implies that the player character will be fighting some huge, powerful monsters lying in wait beneath the setting's surface. Dungeon boss-fights against unique NPCs with special abilities, phases, and ways of using their dungeon environment to their advantage would make a great change to Skyrim 's dungeons, which usually end in a Draugr Lord, Dragon Priest , or Dwarven Centur

Avowed should also adopt some of the more dynamic NPC logic found in some of Pillars of Eternity 's dungeons. In Skyrim , players might find a dungeon filled with bandits. As any stealth archer knows, it's relatively easy to pick off Skyrim 's dungeon enemies one by one without the NPCs noticing or meaningfully changing their behavior in response. In the first room of Bleak Falls Barrow , for example, the player can stealth-kill some of the bandits sitting around a campfire, but once the player is fully hidden the survivors will happily return to their original positi