I did enjoy Outer Worlds 1/2 as the Bethesda-esque space-faring with stable code (and more of a soul, honestly). Avowed doesn’t really scratch that itch. It started life as an Elder Scrolls competitor but became more of a combat game taking inspirations from a few different places and landing on a whole new satisfying first person fantasy combat model.
I understand the fantasy of how systemic Bethesda’s games promise you that they are, but I personally never see it manifest beyond putting a bucket on a shopkeeper’s head so he can’t see you steal anything. Larian’s engine delivers on the sandbox nature that Bethesda games long promised, and I think Larian is now the one to beat. I’m not rooting for Bethesda to switch to Unreal, but I was rooting for them to time travel back to right after Fallout 4 came out so that they could start work on a new engine that doesn’t break in a light breeze, delivers on the sandbox nature that they promise, and holds up to semi-modern technology. As it stands, I think I’m far more interested in Warhorse’s new Lord of the Rings game, because they did design their tech stack to replicate the strengths of Bethesda’s design, and they had better quest design, too.
I did enjoy Outer Worlds 1/2 as the Bethesda-esque space-faring with stable code (and more of a soul, honestly). Avowed doesn’t really scratch that itch. It started life as an Elder Scrolls competitor but became more of a combat game taking inspirations from a few different places and landing on a whole new satisfying first person fantasy combat model.
I understand the fantasy of how systemic Bethesda’s games promise you that they are, but I personally never see it manifest beyond putting a bucket on a shopkeeper’s head so he can’t see you steal anything. Larian’s engine delivers on the sandbox nature that Bethesda games long promised, and I think Larian is now the one to beat. I’m not rooting for Bethesda to switch to Unreal, but I was rooting for them to time travel back to right after Fallout 4 came out so that they could start work on a new engine that doesn’t break in a light breeze, delivers on the sandbox nature that they promise, and holds up to semi-modern technology. As it stands, I think I’m far more interested in Warhorse’s new Lord of the Rings game, because they did design their tech stack to replicate the strengths of Bethesda’s design, and they had better quest design, too.