Avowedis arguably one of the most interesting upcoming titles within the gaming industry, with the open-world fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment drawing attention from many of the developer’s fans. The title has received a lot of hype despite the lack of information available for it, leading to a lot of speculation surrounding the game.
The fantastical setting ofAvowedand its open-world nature have already seen comparisons be drawn between the title and the famousElder Scrollsfranchise, with both IPs seemingly possessing the same kind of combat and magic mechanics. With this in mind, there is one seemingly abandoned aspect ofThe Elder Scrolls’spellcasting that could easily be adopted byAvowed, potentially giving the game an edge over one of its main competing franchises: spellmaking.
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The Spellcasting of The Elder Scrolls Oblivion
Spellcasting is a core element of the combat ofThe Elder Scrolls, and 2006’sOblivionsmartly built upon the spell mechanics of past franchise releases in a number of ways. In particular, one of the stand-out features ofOblivion’sspellcasting was the ability for the players to craft their very own spells with unique properties.
While this feature was originally introduced to the IP with 1996’sDaggerfall, the spellmaking withinOblivionwas more detailed than itsDaggerfallandMorrowindcounterparts. Spellmaking gives a much-needed level of personalization tocasting withinThe Elder Scrolls, providing a needed level of depth to the mechanic while opening up a much larger range of strategies. WithinOblivion, spellmaking was unlocked as a part of the Mages Guild questline, with players being able to mix learned properties from spells together with a chosen area of effect, allowing for deeply powerful custom spells to be created.
Spellmaking was dropped from the franchise with 2011’sSkyrim, much to the disappointment to fans who had become accustomed to the mechanic. This speaks to the opinion thatSkyrimwatered down a lot of themore complex mechanics of pastThe Elder Scrollsinstallments, with there being a clear desire for another RPG title to take up the mantle of more layered gameplay.
How Spellmaking Could Work in Avowed
From what littlepromotional material exists ofAvowed, it is clear that the game is set to feature a very similar spellcasting mechanic toThe Elder Scrolls. With players being able to dual-wield between traditional weapons and magic, there is clear room for spellcasting to be an intricate and popular mechanic within the game.
Spellmaking could work in the release similarly to how it has in pastElder Scrollstitles, with the ability to craft spells being one that is unlocked via its own dedicated questline and with spell properties being learned directly from other spells. This would do well to marketAvowedas providing a more traditional fantasy RPG experience, in which the player is given the freedom to dictate the complexity of a title on their own terms.
Of course,Avowedwould do well to stamp its own identity into such a mechanic by introducing spell properties that have not featured withinTES, such as rates of fire, for example. It will be difficult forAvowedto compete with thecomparisons that will be made between itself andThe Elder Scrolls, but there is a clear utility in the game capitalizing on one of the rare pitfalls ofSkyrimby implementing its own challenging yet rewarding spellmaking system.
Avowedis currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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