Enter the Epic World of Avowed: Unleash its Defining Feature!
Avowed's focused scope allows Obsidian Entertainment to fully explore its defining features, empowering players with impactful decision-making and meaningful consequences in this captivating fantasy game
Highlights
Avowed's smaller scale allows for more impactful choices and consequences, making the player's actions feel more significant.
Renowned for their ability to create games that have significant outcomes and encourage thorough exploration, Obsidian Entertainment has showcased their skills in titles like Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds.
Unlike many sprawling RPGs that place emphasis on expansive open-world gameplay, Avowed opts for a more compact scale. This deliberate choice allows for a more personal and unforgettable adventure, with notable characters and their motivations taking center stage.
In mid-2020, Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment unveiled Avowed, a new fantasy game set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. This game brought a significant change in gameplay style and sparked speculation about its scale. Early rumors falsely claimed that it would surpass The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim in size. However, the developer has clarified that Avowed will have a smaller scale, which could enhance the significance of player choices and showcase the consequences of their actions.
Obsidian Entertainment’s Defining Features
Obsidian Entertainment, the developer behind Fallout: New Vegas, has gained a reputation for creating games that have significant consequences for player choices and reward thorough exploration. In New Vegas, players were required to venture into every corner of the map to meet various factions, with their actions directly impacting how these factions responded and ultimately determined their fate. Additionally, the way players interacted with companion characters and completed their personal quests influenced their relationship with The Courier and played a role in shaping their ultimate destinies.
Despite its initial release, Fallout: New Vegas is widely regarded as the best installment in the franchise and has set the foundation for many of Obsidian Entertainment's future games. Titles like Pillars of Eternity, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, and The Outer Worlds have all adopted similar systems, where player actions or inaction have a direct impact on the endings of characters and regions. This encourages multiple playthroughs and allows these unique elements to shine, even in games that may be smaller and shorter compared to their competition. This trend is expected to continue with Avowed, ensuring that the game stands out because of its emphasis on player choice and consequences.
How Avowed's Scope Will Help With Decision-Making and Consequences
In many larger RPGs, the focus often leans towards the open-world gameplay rather than the narrative. In these games, there tends to be a multitude of nameless NPCs overshadowing the few significant characters. While this is not necessarily a negative aspect, it can sometimes make the storylines feel less personal and fail to evoke a sense of consequence for the players' choices. For instance, the Civil War quest in Skyrim, despite being considered the game's best storyline, falls short in portraying the magnitude and impact of the players' actions, apart from a few unremarkable NPCs being eliminated.
On the contrary, games like The Outer Worlds benefit greatly from their smaller scale. Each character the player interacts with possesses distinct personalities and motivations, rather than being mere generic NPCs who can easily be substituted.
The smaller scale allows players to establish a deep connection with the characters, intensifying the impact of their actions. Additionally, players' decisions have far-reaching effects throughout the game. Given Avowed's comparable size to The Outer Worlds, it is likely that the upcoming fantasy game will experience similar benefits.
It is difficult to predict how the game's smaller scope will impact its gameplay until its release. However, considering Obsidian Entertainment's successful history with smaller-scale worlds, it is reasonable to assume that Avowed's character development will be revolutionary, making it one of the game's defining features.
Avowed releases in 2024 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
