Eternity Avowed - Obsidian's first person action-RPG in the Pillars of Eternity setting - coming February 18th

[FreeKaner]

There is honestly ironically such a fucking around hiking simulator game draught right now because Bethesda ceased to make them that I might play this.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Fairly interested in this one. Nothing I've seen so far has raised any red flags for me.

 

[Infinitron]

Where does it say November 12th in the link?

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

Where does it say November 12th in the link?

https://nordic.ign.com/avowed/83477...-posts-avowed-release-date-hastily-deletes-it

 

[Comrade Goby]

At least Deadfire had satisfying build autism, I actually enjoyed some segments of that.

Outer Worlds was so insufferably bland by the time I met Parvati I had absolutely had enough, I quite playing the game seriously, and just attacked anything and everything I saw. I still got bored of it within the hour.

I enjoyed The Outer Worlds (TOW) because almost every quest has non-lethal solutions. In any other RPG, the same scenario would likely present binary choices about who you'd kill. From what I remember, there are only one or two exceptions in TOW. Additionally, the level design is good, offering you the option to sneak past enemies, which is useful when you don't need to kill them for xp farming. I personally think combat should reward the least amount of XP, so that quests have a bigger impact on character progression.

Combat is definitely not the game's strong suit, and build variety is also weak (and picking perks like it's a button instead naming them to make them unique definitely does not help). It's understandable that people expecting a game like New Vegas might be disappointed, since TOW is essentially Arcanum with First person combat.

That being said, the foundation is good and they can easily make better game for the sequel. It needs refinement.

you are a fool

 

[PunchYouInTheFace]

you are a fool

shiver me timber.

 

[Fedora Master]

Fairly interested in this one. Nothing I've seen so far has raised any red flags for me.

A game getting shilled by Infinitron IS a red flag.

 

[Takamori]

I will just wait 6 months to see if its worth the time. But the trailer kinda makes me expect another Outer Worlds, something bland and soulless.

 

[Baron Tahn]

To those thinking this might be worth a play....You know what I'm on the fence too. If this does decent dungeons (ie not like skyrim) and tickles the arx/ultima underworld thing even a little bit I'm probably in for a playthrough as well.

 

[Utgard-Loki]

reminds me of kingdoms of amalur with how it looks like generic fantasy slop. the armor design especially is absolute garbage and wouldn't look out of place in a korean mmo.

 

[Jenkem]

Best game set in Eora coming through.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

you know by current Western Gaming Female standards she doesnt look that bad

Spoiler

She has that "we used our player character creation tool to make this" look. Not bad, but very much put together, rather than organic.

 

[Gandalf]

Reminds me of Skyrim a bit, but as if it were imagined by a kid (girl presumably).

 

[Percy]

Dreamscourge seems so fucking gay.

 

[Roguey]

There is honestly ironically such a fucking around hiking simulator game draught right now because Bethesda ceased to make them that I might play this.

KCD 2 is also out later this year.

This seems on par with Greedfall in terms of scope, not at all what you’d expect from an AAA studio that was given MS money.

Greedfall had five companions.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

"I dont believe in living in fear" - Obsidian talks Avowed release date prospects and Xbox studio closures​

"I do feel a strong sense of security... I really trust in our leadership," director says.

When Avowed was first unveiled back at the Xbox summer showcase of 2021, a dark and moody CGI trailer of burning arrows and fantasy spell-and-sword dual wielding - all from the studio behind the likes of Pillars of Eternity and Fallout: New Vegas - positioned it as something of a first-party Skyrim for Xbox.

In the years since however, it's become increasingly clear that's simply not the game we should now expect from Avowed. It's bright and colourful, it's seemingly dialogue-heavy, and as we learned in further explanations of the game's combat it is, if anything, only quite loosely an RPG. As Avowed's director, Carrie Patel, put it to Eurogamer last year after a slightly unconvincing first demo of its combat, "the reference point we've been trying to point people to is The Outer Worlds."

Since then, things have been a little quiet on the Avowed front, but over the weekend Xbox showed another trailer, this time with emphasis on the game's overarching story - though again it was a little light on anything truly new. Thankfully, we also had a short roundtable interview with Carrie Patel again after the showcase ended, who spoke alongside the game's art director Matt Hansen and was able to outline just a little more of what we can expect.

On the role-playing front, Patel explained that it would likely be felt most prominently in Avowed's dialogue. "We have skill trees that take your traditional fighter flavour, ranger, and wizard, and you can mix and match freely between them," she said. "And you can build a character that either follows one of those vibes very closely or takes the best of what you like from each - and if you decide you don't like your choices, you can pay a small fee and wipe them and build something entirely different."

From a "narrative and dialogue perspective," Patel continued, it'll be "a huge part of the game, and exploring and really defining your role in it is about the choices you make moment-to-moment. There are skills that also have an impact in dialogue that will unlock certain options for you, the player will get to choose a background at the very beginning of the game that kind of flavours, 'Here's who you were before this mission, here's how you came to prominence.'"

The player "can choose to lean into that, when they're playing, or they can say, 'Oh, this is just fun, and I want to use it'. But all of those things give the player different roleplay hooks."

There's still no release date - yet - for Avowed, but its development team seem confident in a launch this year. | Image credit: Microsoft

"The biggest thing for us is always that choice and consequence, in quests, in major critical path moments, letting the player choose how to define the world and how to move the conflicts forward."


A further gameplay update is due, but beyond the areas that are still slightly unclear - in terms of the finer points in just how exactly Avowed's moment-to-moment gameplay works - one stand-out observation from its latest trailer in the Xbox showcase was the continued lack of firm release date, with it still left open as merely "2024" for now. Is the studio confident of hitting that window and the game releasing before the end of the year?

"I'll say, just having come from the studio last week, the game is looking fantastic," answered Patel. "The team is putting a lot of love into the polish. So we feel very good about 2024."

Hansen added that the team was currently "finalising". He continued: "We're in a polish phase. And that's such a satisfing place to be for us - and there's so many little things that we're like 'Oh, yeah, we didn't think we'd be abel to get to that!'" Reassuringly, Patel meanwhile agreed the game was very much in the final stages of development.

One other, somewhat ominous question always lingers in conversations with Xbox's first-party developers at the moment, which is how they're feeling in the face of the publisher's wildly unpopular surprise closures of award-winning studios such as Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin. Does that sit in the back of your mind as an Xbox-owned developer? Much of the conversation, meanwhile, has centred on the impact of these closures on creativity - can a first-party studio at Microsoft feel safe to experiment and try new things when studios which have done so - and in many cases, done so extremely well - still get closed?

"As a developer - and as a player - it's always sad and it always sucks to see studios close and devs lose their jobs... I really hope all those people land on their feet, because I know our indusutry is better with them in it," Patel said.

"As for me and how I look at things, I guess first and foremost: I don't believe in living in fear. Especially if you need to be invested in the creative process - you have to be invested in what you're making, and you have to believe in it. And I do feel a strong sense of security in being part of Obsidian and, you know, being a part of a studio that was a successful independent developer for almost 15, 20 years.

Avowed has big RPG competition this year in the shape of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Assassin's Creed: Shadows. | Image credit: Microsoft

"I really trust in our leadership," she added. "I trust in our process for making games and I trust in our players and our fans who believe in what we do. I'm definitely sad to hear about what's happened to some of these other studios - it hasn't diminished my commitment, or my belief in what we're doing."

Hansen, meanwhile, added that these situations are never as simple as the developers taking risks, and paying the price when they don't work out. "These are very complex decisions with so much nuance behind what happens, because they're challenging decisions that need to be made at times, and so I don't find that creatively stifling at all. I feel deeply supported, both internally on the dev side and with fans, but also from Microsoft." The situation was "unfortunate", he added, "but at the same time, I'm not afraid."

"As Matt said," Patel continued, "we've been incredible well supported by Microsoft. We've also had Feargus Urquhart at the helm of the studio since its inception. And before that, when it was Black Isle Studios. He knows games, he loves games, and he's been incredibly successful at hauling Obsidian through all of its various iterations. And again, I do want to emphasise that Microsoft leadership and Xbox leadership have also been incredible supportive of what we do, how we make games, and [are] very communicative with us as well."

"The only side effect that I've personally felt since Microsoft aquired us is just more support," Hansen said. "There's less unknowns, less financial risk, and so we're able to take more creative risk - but to do that in a measured way. It's been a really, really rewarding process."

I wonder if Patel will still feel the same sense of security after the game ships.

 

[Yoomazir]

"I dont believe in living in fear" - Obsidian talks Avowed release date prospects and Xbox studio closures​

"I do feel a strong sense of security... I really trust in our leadership," director says.

I wonder if Patel will still feel the samse sense of security after the game ships.

She's a strong independent woman who needs no man, and also a white woman.
She'll be fine as long as she has a glass of wine close to hand.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

From 7 companions to 4, from 8 races to 2, from 12 classes to 3.

Progress.

 

[Infinitron]

"I really trust in our leadership," she added. "I trust in our process for making games and I trust in our players and our fans who believe in what we do. I'm definitely sad to hear about what's happened to some of these other studios - it hasn't diminished my commitment, or my belief in what we're doing."

Hansen, meanwhile, added that these situations are never as simple as the developers taking risks, and paying the price when they don't work out. "These are very complex decisions with so much nuance behind what happens, because they're challenging decisions that need to be made at times, and so I don't find that creatively stifling at all. I feel deeply supported, both internally on the dev side and with fans, but also from Microsoft." The situation was "unfortunate", he added, "but at the same time, I'm not afraid."

"As Matt said," Patel continued, "we've been incredible well supported by Microsoft. We've also had Feargus Urquhart at the helm of the studio since its inception. And before that, when it was Black Isle Studios. He knows games, he loves games, and he's been incredibly successful at hauling Obsidian through all of its various iterations. And again, I do want to emphasise that Microsoft leadership and Xbox leadership have also been incredible supportive of what we do, how we make games, and [are] very communicative with us as well."

Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while
Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies
Hoping for the best but expecting the worst
Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever
We don't have the power but we never say never
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip
The music's for the sad men

Can you imagine when this race is won
Turn our golden faces into the sun
Praising our leaders, we're getting in tune
The music's played by the, the mad man

 

[SpaceWizardz]

There is honestly ironically such a fucking around hiking simulator game draught right now because Bethesda ceased to make them that I might play this.

This'll share a release window with Stalker 2 and KCD 2 assuming no delays.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

This'll share a release window with Stalker 2 and KCD 2 assuming no delays.

Yikes.

 

[Roguey]

"I really trust in our leadership," she added.

Blink twice if Feargus and/or Parker coerced you into saying this.

 

[Cross]

as we learned in further explanations of the game's combat it is, if anything, only quite loosely an RPG.

Imagine how bad the game must be for game journalists, who consider shooters with perks to be RPGs, to not consider this to be an RPG.

 

[Poseidon00]

Wow, we're getting a new Pillars of Eternity game, and a new Dragon Age, right after Baldurs Gate 3. It is the new Golden Age of RPGs!

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Wow, we're a new Pillars of Eternity game, and a new Dragon Age, right after Baldurs Gate 3. It is the new Golden Age of RPGs!

And we are being showered with this golden age))