Avowed's Parkour Puts Skyrim's Horses Back in the Stable

Summary

Avowed's parkour system rivals Skyrim's horses in climbing abilities & comedic value.
Avowed's polished and responsive parkour mechanics allow players to scale almost any obstacle.
Players can likely expect memes and exploits as they traverse Avowed's world with its unique parkour system.

Ahead of its release, it makes sense why Avowed fans would be more interested in its combat and story than anything else. Obsidian is known for its writing and storytelling, so the same caliber should be expected of Avowed. Additionally, Avowed's combat has been shown off as a flashy, chaotic, fast-paced frenzy that isn't typical of a first-person RPG, thereby understandably piquing the interest of many of those who have borne witness to it. However, Avowed has been sneakily hiding an ace up its sleeve this entire time, and it's a highly unexpected one: its parkour.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Avowed's parkour system is polished and fun, to the point that it often makes The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim's horses look like amateur climbers. Avowed's parkour is so good, in fact, that what players could accomplish in Skyrim with horses, they can accomplish in Avowed on foot — so long as the invisible walls of the Living Lands don't get in their way. It's not every day that an old-fashioned first-person RPG like Avowed has an excellent parkour system, nor an existent one for that matter. Nevertheless, Avowed gives players more than enough of a reason to zoom through its world in a way that Skyrim's horses were previously only considered capable of.

Avowed Review

Avowed's first-person combat and respect for player choice make it a journey worth having, but flaws in its story and design make it a one-way road.

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By Josh Cotts

Avowed's Parkour Rivals Skyrim's Horses

Skyrim's Horses Are Notorious for Their Insane Climbing Abilities

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is known for letting players do just about anything they want to do, but that is especially evident in its horse mechanics. While it's possible for players to scale Skyrim's mountains alone if they try hard enough, mounting a horse can make that significantly easier. Skyrim's horses had an uncanny ability to scale near-vertical cliffs in the game without sliding down, effectively making them the preferred mode of "fast-traveling" across mountainous terrain. This was clearly not an intended feature, but many players used it to traverse difficult paths anyway.

Despite technically being "broken," Skyrim's horses became a beloved part of the game's jank, and have since achieved meme status among the community and even those outside of it. The ridiculous climbing quirks of Skyrim's horses added to the game's chaotic charm, with many players embracing the weirdness of the mechanics, using horses for exploits, speedruns, or simply enjoying the absurdity of scaling mountains like a goat. Skyrim's horses could also be used to launch players into unintended areas due to their buggy physics, sometimes flinging them across the map or through walls.

Since the release of Skyrim, many mods have been created for the game to fix the issues with its horses and provide a more realistic and immersive experience.

Avowed's Parkour Isn't Just Good — It's a Little Broken at Times

As if Skyrim's horses didn't already have things handled when it comes to mountain-climbing abilities and map exploits, Avowed now enters the stage with a parkour system that can accomplish the same, so long as the game allows it. Firstly, Avowed's parkour is very smooth and polished, with highly responsive ledge-grabbing mechanics, so players don't really need to worry about missing a jump. Secondly, Avowed's parkour is so responsive that players can climb just about anything. In certain parts of Avowed's map where there are no invisible walls to prevent progress, players can easily clip through the map and enter areas they theoretically shouldn't be able to.

Just as the horses are a big part of Skyrim's charm, Avowed's parkour allows players to experience some of its jank without the need for external assistance, making one of its most natural systems a significant contributor to its own charm. As long as the game permits it, players can go just about anywhere in Avowed, which means there will likely be plenty of memes very soon that detail the hilarious exploits of its most curious and committed players.

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