For fans of role-playing games, Obsidian Entertainment’s brand of RPGs needs no introduction. There aren’t a lot of studios out there who can claim to have consistently delivered on grand promises of deep and engaging RPGs that revolve around branching stories and player choice, but Obsidian has lived up to those very promises time and time again with its games. Unsurprisingly, anytime it puts out a new RPG release, it turns quite a few heads, and once again, we find ourselves excited about an upcoming Obsidian adventure.
Avowed has looked increasingly (if quietly) promising in the lead up to its release. What started as a vision for a Skyrim sized adventure overtime morphed into a more concise and focused, story-driven game that focuses on the things that Obsidian has always been known to do best. As we count the days down to its imminently release, here, that’s exactly what we’ll be discussing, as we go over the five key things that have got us most excited about Avowed.
SET IN THE PILLARS OF ETERNITY UNIVERSE
Hardcore RPG fanatics know that Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity games are some of the finest CRPGs to be found around, with a richly realized setting with literally volumes’ worth of backstory and lore to really immerse players in their quest. Avowed takes place in that same universe, tapping into arguably some of the best original world building for an RPG in the last decade or so. There’s an incredible amount of narrative, lore, and thematic heft to Eora (where the Pillars games and Avowed are set), meaning the characters, conflicts, and problems players come across will feel less artificial and more authentic. There is a history there that is built in, after all.
The best part is, Obsidian gets to have its cake and eat it too, because Avowed is set in a completely new and relatively lesser known part of the Pillars setting, meaning it will still feel new and fresh in spite of being part of a pre-established universe that many will be coming into with a certain level of familiarity. That familiarity itself is, of course, icing on the cake for existing fans.
FACTIONS AND COMPANIONS
This should really come as no surprise to any fan of Obsidian’s output over the years. Of course a new release by the studio will have good companions and factions. But even given Obsidian’s track record, there are ways that Avowed promises to stand out in some regards, particularly when it comes to factions. Players are, after all, playing as an envoy of the Aedyr Empire (which Pillars fans should be familiar with) to the Living Lands, the region that Avowed takes place in. As an envoy, you having to curry favour with the various political factions of the land is quite literally built into the narrative. Avowed promises the potential to have players balancing some realpolitik between various factions and entities, while also trying to maintain good relations with your home Aedyr Empire. That’s an interesting set up that could offer some really well written and dynamic scenarios with the factions, if it is executed on well.
As for the companions, all four that Obsidian has shown so far look great – and, of course, having to balance their proclivities and preferences with not just your own agenda (always a hallmark of Obsidian titles), but also the aforementioned balancing act with the other factions, should add some more delicious drama and stakes to it all. Getting to know well written and fleshed out characters and then experiencing how they impact the story is what many come to Obsidian RPGs for, and based on everything we’ve seen of Avowed so far, it’s core cast might similarly be one of its highlights.
COMBAT
Combat might not be what Obsidian’s RPGs are known for first and foremost, but from Pillars of Eternity to The Outer Worlds, the studio has been known to deliver legitimately enjoyable and well-made combat systems nonetheless. And by the looks of it, Avowed seems to be on track to join that list. First-person combat can always go either way, especially in a fantasy setting where you don’t have the luxury of using firearms and guns. However, Avowed is making intriguing promises.
Firearms are part of the game’s roster, for instance, while players will, of course, also be able to use magic and melee weapons. Particularly interesting is the game’s emphasis on combo mechanics, with players being encouraged to combo different spells with different weapons to take out enemies in creative ways- like freezing an enemy into a block of ice with your wand, then using a giant sledgehammer to shatter them into pieces. Add to that dual wielding mechanics and the ability to quickly and seamlessly swap out weapons and weapon combos on-the-fly, and the combat system begins looking that much more intriguing.
EXPLORATION
No, Avowed isn’t going to be the gargantuan Skyrim-sized open world behemoth we once thought it would be, with Obsidian instead opting for a smaller scope and design style of something like The Outer Worlds. But worlds that are begging to be explored tend to be non-negotiable parts of RPGs for a sizeable portion of the genre’s fanbase, and thankfully, it doesn’t look like Avowed will disappoint on that front. More than a few times, the developers have assured that the game will have plenty of room for exploration, for those who want to partake.
And for those who’re looking for more guided, handcrafted level design rather than just vast, open fields with points of interest scattered everywhere, it looks like that’s what Avowed is looking to deliver. The game is confirmed to feature plenty of sufficiently large and semi-open world locales and maps, but with more authored level design. Expect a greater emphasis on traversal mechanics and environmental interactions, using abilities to open up pathways and solve puzzles, and more.
CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE MECHANICS
This is what Obsidian Entertainment has built its reputation on over the course of its long and illustrious history. From Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Fallout: New Vegas to Pillars of Eternity and more. Time and time again, the developer has released games that have made grand promises about player choice and those choices will affect the story, and more often than not, those games have lived up to those promises. Choice and consequence mechanics are tough to pull off for even the most accomplished studios, but Obsidian has a talent for it.
Avowed is promising to once again prioritize player choice, whether that’s by letting you approach and tackle quests in a variety of different ways or by letting you make choices that impact the story in both large-scale and more intimate ways. How effectively the game will do that remains to be seen – that’s something you can never know for sure one way or another until you play the game yourself – but given Obsidian’s track record and the promises it’s been making, there’s good reason to believe that Avowed will follow in the footsteps of the studio’s past output.
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