Obsidian Entertainment has often felt like it is in the shadow of Bethesda, with its better-known games, including The Outer Worlds and Avowed, often being directly compared to Bethesda’s beloved IP. The Outer Worlds is seen as just being Fallout-lite, and Avowed, up until launch, was Skyrim-lite. Obsidian Entertainment has even made a spin-off of Bethesda’s Fallout series in the form of New Vegas, further implying, at least at first glance, that the developer is riding the coattails of a bigger and more successful one.

However, in almost every instance, Obsidian Entertainment beats Bethesda at its own game, developing far more immersive, competent, and enjoyable RPGs, the likes of which Bethesda has struggled to imitate. While not every Obsidian Entertainment game is a hit, they largely excel where Bethesda’s can’t. Avowed, Obsidian’s latest game, already has the makeup of a perfect RPG, and that may be concerning for Bethesda. With practically every other studio releasing far superior RPGs, what chance does The Elder Scrolls 6 have?

Avowed Could Make The Elder Scrolls Obsolete

It Shows How Out Of Date Bethesda’s Design Is

Bethesda’s games have declined in quality significantly since the days of Daggerfall, Morrowind, and even Oblivion. Its more recent titles, including Starfield and Fallout 76, have been marred with controversy, from buggy launches to unfulfilled potential, all of which have led to fans growing upset with Bethesda. People expect more from the developer behind one of the most talked-about and best-selling RPGs of all time, Skyrim. It’s understandable why fans are so desperate for better Bethesda games, especially as the developer’s signature flair is rarely replicated due to the complexity of its foundations.

To make matters worse, Bethesda has been consistently outshone by modern RPG developers, including the likes of CD Projekt Red, Larian Studios, and Warhorse Studios. Where once it stood tall with the likes of Bioware and other legacy RPG developers, Bethesda no longer feels like the juggernaut it once was. That’s not to say that its games have no redeeming qualities, but rather, the inconsistency between launches, the decline in quality, the poor critical reception, and the length between releases make getting excited for TES6 or any Bethesda project utterly futile.

However, until now, no developer has offered a true competitor to Bethesda’s style of game design. CD Projekt Red’s third-person narrative-heavy Witcher 3, while undeniably better than Bethesda’s recent output, is a vastly different experience to Skyrim or Fallout. Similarly, even Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, while veering into Scrolls-like territory, doesn’t quite fit the bill due to its greater focus on realism and life-sim mechanics. So, it was up to Obsidian Entertainment to once again replicate Bethesda’s style and prove, once and for all, it is outdated.

Avowed garnered critical acclaim at launch, and has since gone on to be one of Xbox’s best games in nearly a decade. More importantly, it took the aspects that define a Scrolls-like and vastly improved upon them, offering a more immersive world packed full of emergent moments and interesting side quests, meaningful dialogue choices, and a chosen-one narrative that is just as satisfying as Oblivion’s or Skyrim’s. Not everything about Avowed is perfect, but it clearly illustrates where Bethesda’s traditional RPG design has faltered, and how it can improve.

Avowed Should Become The Blueprint For Fantasy RPGs

Its Approach To World Design Is Incredible

Avowed undeniably makes mistakes, and there are areas where Skyrim, and especially Bethesda’s earlier works, best it. However, when it comes to a modern Scrolls-like, or really simply replicating Bethesda’s design philosophy, Avowed should serve as the blueprint. Most importantly, Avowed’s smaller open areas, while certainly detracting from the sprawling scale of past Elder Scrolls games, make its exploration both more detailed and more manageable, while also removing the need for tedious loading screens between each and every area.

Interestingly, Bethesda dabbled with this style of open world with Starfield, although it was severely hampered by its focus on procedural generation, rather than tailor-made content. Even when it did offer a more purposeful and detailed experience with the Shattered Space DLC, players found it to be disappointing, with it struggling to reach the heights of Skyrim, let alone Avowed. The open area structure would absolutely benefit Bethesda’s design philosophies, especially when it comes to its penchant for emergent and immersive gameplay moments.

While a larger open world better accommodates a greater variety of emergent moments, both Avowed and 2024’s best RPG, Dragon’s Dogma 2, prove that this style of immersive worldbuilding is still possible in a more restricted setting. In fact, Avowed and Dragon’s Dogma 2 have a greater concentration of unique and memorable moments, both created by the developer and made through the player’s interactions with the world. It just takes a lot more effort to implement.

If Bethesda takes anything from Avowed, it should be its expertly designed combat that ties together the entire experience.

Additionally, Avowed’s approach to first-person fantasy combat is phenomenal, and easily one of the best implementations of it in gaming history. It’s far more dynamic than even Bethesda’s most recent combat model, offering a plethora of ways to approach each combat encounter while making every attack and blast of magic feel suitably weighty and impactful. If Bethesda takes anything from Avowed, it should be its expertly designed combat that ties together the entire experience.

Avowed Is Setting Expectations For TES6 Too High

TES6 Has A Lot To Prove

Avowed has hopefully created healthy competition for Bethesda, and that is absolutely a good thing. Developers should inspire one another and attempt to show how ideas and mechanics can be improved upon to better enhance the player’s experience going forward. Avowed being good and, in some cases, even significantly better than Bethesda’s games, isn’t inherently a bad thing. However, what is a potential problem is how high it has set expectations for The Elder Scrolls 6.

Bladur’s Gate 3 and KC:D2 have showcased just how good RPGs can be, especially when created by passionate developers with a keen eye for detail. Similarly, Avowed and Cyberpunk 2077 illustrate the best sides of blockbuster RPGs, which is very much the category that Bethesda’s games now fall in. All corners of the RPG scene have been conquered by the very best, and Bethesda now has to reenter it on the back foot, with a slew of poorly reviewed titles under its belt and its legacy of great games long behind it.

Avowed, alongside the other amazing modern RPGs, has set the bar too high for TES6. It has gotten to the point that, unless TES6 is as action-packed as Avowed and immersive as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, while offering a great narrative like Cyberpunk 2077’s with the choices of Baldur’s Gate 3, it will be, perhaps unfairly, punished. It also doesn’t help that the ridiculous length of time people have been waiting for The Elder Scrolls 6 only continues to grow, further compounding the problem. Avowed may not single-handled kill Bethesda, but it may have just delivered the final killing blow.