Grounded is Obsidian’s big potential release for 2021, but the studio’s next step is public too. In the same showcase that Grounded was revealed, Obsidian and Microsoft announced Avowed, a new RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Although Obsidian has said next to nothing about Avowed since then, knowing the setting of the game has gone a long way in helping fans get an image of the game. There’s tons of Pillars of Eternity lore already in place that’ll surely inform the game, no matter what the story is or how the gameplay differs from the games that precede
This bodes well for The Outer Worlds 2 , which was announced at E3 2021. The game’s trailer parodied the early announcements of other games – particularly RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Elder Scrolls 6 – suggesting it’s in very early development. In that case, The Outer Worlds 2 could be in Obsidian’s back pocket, with the announcement trailer designed to keep interest in the studio’s upcoming releases as it works on Avowed . In other words, the fact that both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 are “in development” doesn’t actually mean that Obsidian is dividing its resources evenly between the games, or anywhere cl
While The Outer Worlds was split into several space stations and planets, Avowed will be an open-world game set in the Living Lands , a northern frontier. The Living Lands will need far bigger settlements. Although well positioned buildings and posters make locations like Edgewater and The Groundbreaker seem large, as soon as the player begins exploring or brings up their map they’ll see just how small the explorable areas are. This is particularly noticeable in the city of Byzantium, where the player can only explore a sliver of the c
In some ways Skyrim ’s lack of follower depth complements the game’s broader design. Skyrim prioritizes freedom above all else, and the range and flexibility of its follower characters allows them to blend in no matter who the player wants to roleplay as, while in New Vegas characters like Boone are incompatible with roleplaying decisions like joining the Legion for story reasons. Without its focus on player freedom it’s unlikely that the game would have achieved the replay-value or longevity Skyrim has enjoyed, even as the game approaches its 10-year anniversary. Based on Obsidian’s past games, however, it’s unlikely that Avowed updates ’s companion characters will follow Skyrim ’s freedom-focused des
Obsidian’s past financial struggles were likely one of the motivations behind taking the setting from Pillars of Eternity and using it for a more mainstream, accessible first-person fantasy RPG like Avowed . While CRPGs remain a relatively niche market, Avowed was almost immediately compared to Skyrim after its announcement trai
Pillars of Eternity also gets wrong what New Vegas gets right. In Pillars of Eternity the player is exposed to a cultists ritual that makes them a Watcher , a person able to read souls and see their past lives. If the player doesn’t track down the cultists, they are told, their character will go ins
A lot of talk around Grounded involves what it means for future games. It seems to be a good testing ground for things like enemy AI, as Obsidian creates intelligent enemies in the game’s wide range of bugs and other animals. Obsidian isn’t generally known for survival games like Grounded, either, so the positive feedback it’s received on the game bodes well for further Obsidian experiments. Grounded is teaching Obsidian a lot that it can potentially use. While current Grounded updates are focused on polishing the game, odds seem good that even when the game officially launches, Obsidian will have more large-scale updates and additions to offer its player b
Microsoft purchased Obsidian back in 2018, just a few months after the release of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire , giving the studio some stability. Since then Obsidian has undertaken a surprising number of confirmed projects. This includes Avowed , The Outer Worlds 2 , and continuing work on Grounded , the studio’s Honey, I Shrunk The Kid s-inspired survival game. Despite Microsoft’s backing, two major first-person RPGs and updates for a survival game seems like a lot to handle considering Obsidian’s history. This had led many fans to worry that the studio may have bitten off more than it can c
The dragons of Avowed have the potential to be far more diverse and exciting as encounters than those found in Skyrim . For a start, all dragons are merely the final form of the lifecycle of the creatures in the world of Eora . All dragons hatch from eggs, live part of their lives as wurms, become drakes during their adolescence, and eventually become dragons after years of developm
Obsidian Entertainment is set to return to Pillars of Eternity’s world of Eora with Avowed, a first-person action-RPG that’s currently in development. After its reveal trailer, it was quickly compared to Skyrim for its first-person perspective melee and magic action. Obsidian has a history of creating well-received RPG titles including Fallout: New Vegas and its own IP Pillars of Eternity , so fan expectations are high. For gamers who enjoy first-person action-RPG titles, this could fill the gap for some while The Elder Scrolls 6 continues to be developed , though Obsidian has a deep well to draw from to help it stand out from the Bethesda ser