Avowed’s Map Imitating The Outer Worlds Could Solve a Major RPG Problem

Avowed is shaping up to be another strong entry in Obsidian’s catalog, and the company’s history might help in the game’s success. When it comes to the game’s map, Avowed might be best off taking inspiration from the planets of The Outer Worlds.

Ever since its announcement, Avowed has drawn heavy comparisons to existing games. It’s confirmed to take place in the same world as the Pillars of Eternity franchise, so naturally, fans may expect a similar experience. Others were quick to point out that the fantasy setting brought up memories of Skyrim. Yet others have described the game as a fantasy version of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds, which might not be a bad route for the game to take. Based on what has been revealed about Avowed’s approach to map design, influence from The Outer Worlds might help it succeed.

Avowed’s Map Progression May be its Secret Weapon

In a landscape where open world maps have become a standard, it can be difficult for games to challenge that design philosophy, but Avowed seems to be following a different path. Much like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Avowed’s map strays from the norm, opting for something of an ‘open zone’ method. A similar method was used in Obsidian’s sci-fi, planet hopping game, The Outer Worlds. The idea is that there will be a large map for players to explore, but the map will be broken into different zones to be unlocked as the game’s story necessitates.

In The Outer Worlds, these zones took the form of different planets. Each planet was explorable and had its own lore, enemies, and quests, but players could only travel there once they reached a certain point in the story. It seems that Avowed might be using this idea in its fantasy world, where different zones include different story elements and different, self-contained areas to explore.

The Outer Worlds’ Map Layout Helped Structure RPG Content

This map design worked well in The Outer Worlds because it helped solve a problem that many RPGs face. Developers can never be certain what players will do, so it can be difficult to corral them into certain places when the story needs them there. In a genre with plenty of side quests and enemies to take attention away from the narrative, it’s easy for players to focus on those elements of the game instead. The result is often that when players do return to the story, they are far overleveled, and the game becomes too easy.

The open zone system fixes that by giving players all the same freedom, just in several smaller areas at different points throughout the game, rather than all at once. Of course, there are drawbacks to Avowed‘s open zone map, such as limitations about what can be included in small spaces, but Obsidian has experience in walking that line.

Obsidian Can Learn from Previous Titles

What Avowed has in its favor is that, after The Outer Worlds, Obsidian has experience designing this type of map. The fantasy setting may not fit it as naturally as a solar system’s worth of planets, but the experience of designing under these constraints in the past can only help Obsidian achieve better success the next time around.

Avowed seems to be drawing from many of Obsidian’s past success stories. For example, the premise of Avowed has striking similarities to Tyranny, another Obsidian game from 2016. Tyranny also saw the player take on the role of a royal assistant who had been sent into danger on behalf of their ruler. Tying it all up by using the Pillars of Eternity world as a setting, Obsidian has placed itself perfectly in its comfort zone.

Avowed will hopefully also take notes from Skyrim based on Obsidian’s mention that the game will have easily missable secrets, interactions, and Easter eggs for players to uncover. By emulating the success of other games in the genre, and past successes by the developer, Avowed might have what it takes to stand out from the crowd when it releases in early 2025.