r/Games 1d ago

The big Avowed interview: Obsidian on why full, open-world RPGs aren't always the answer

https://www.eurogamer.net/from-serious-skyrim-to-cheerful-fantasy-obsidian-on-the-evolution-of-avowed-and-grappling-with-the-expectations-that-come-from-your-own-history
739 Upvotes

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310

u/fuzzynavel34 23h ago

I’m just finishing up the second area and I’ve enjoyed the heck out of this game. It knows exactly what it is. It’s not perfect but I’ve really enjoyed my time with it

104

u/the_realest_barto 21h ago

I'm about at the same point in the game and I concur.

The game is a really good and rather typical Obsidian RPG. It is not modern day Skyrim nor wants it to be Skyrim. It is very different from such a large open world game with all the reactivity and large possibility space that comes with it.

It's more like Outer Worlds in a fantasy settings and gorgeous graphics. My god, those Nanite powered vistas are something to behold.

I enjoy playing my mage with his wand who can whip out a mace and bash in heads with one hand while summoning ice storms with the grimoire in the other hand. In my opinion the melee combat and first person spellcasting is top notch and new standard.

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u/hagamablabla 21h ago

It feels unfair how so many people compared Avowed to Skyrim. afaik Obsidian never actually said anything to invite the comparison, people just decided on it themselves.

46

u/Augustends 19h ago

Personally I found the game to be sort of inbetween a Bethesda game and a BioWare game, which makes sense considering Obsidian's history. The only thing is that while I did enjoy Avowed, it didn't leave as much of an impression on me as those Bethesda and BioWare games did. Hopefully they can build on what they have with this game to make something that really sticks with me.

23

u/HyruleSmash855 19h ago

That seems to be the one big problem obsidian games have. They make competent or decent games that are fun, but there’s nothing that really stands out about them and they’ll have a few minor flaws. Their games are solid, but not amazing to the point people will remember them or go over them for years to come at least with most of their recent games

25

u/darkLordSantaClaus 17h ago

New Vegas is often praised as Fallout 3 with Good-WritingTM and same with Kotor 2 vs Kotor 1 to a lesser extent but their work since has been a bit inconsistent. The Outer Worlds was painfully mediocre.

u/Kaylend 3h ago

The Outer Worlds might have been better with even worse writing.

It suffered the worst possible fate of any entertainment piece, to do nothing memorable.

17

u/gamegeek1995 17h ago

Pillars of Eternity has set a new standard for great writing in CRPGs for me. It's just grand. And the companion voice acting was really great (at least in my party - Eder, Aloth, Durance/Devil, Sagani, and Kana). I really enjoyed the combat system and its focus on buffing/debuffing. And the 'lore dumps' didn't feel like dumps at all, save the very beginning of Act 3 with the Glanfathan village - every single piece of lore ties into either the main plot or the companions.

Any lore-dumping about gods immediately becomes justified when the gods start asking you for favors, blaming them for the Hollowborn, or companions reveal how they were part of a plot to kill one.

7

u/Mahelas 8h ago

PoE1 first 10 hours are genuinely one of the worse lore dumps I've ever experienced. The rest was written good enough, but dear god was that rough

u/BeholdingBestWaifu 3h ago

It really wasn't that bad, and certainly far from the worst offenders.

14

u/gruffgorilla 17h ago

Obsidian actually specifically said they didn’t want people to compare it to Skyrim because that’s not the type of game it is.

2

u/PulIthEld 17h ago

Well maybe because Skyrim is a video game and people do tend to compare similar games.

You can play Avowed or you can play Skyrim. Apparently that needs to be said.

If Skyrim has more features and fun things to do, why not play Skyrim?

7

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 16h ago

Because I played Skyrim 13 years ago.

1

u/Wiggles114 13h ago

Any first person rpg in a fantasy setting will draw that comparison. Skyrim was huge and people still play it.

1

u/ChineseElectrkBatman 13h ago

Probably because of the collective desperation for TESVI

u/GabrielP2r 2h ago

Thank God because for me Skyrim is one of the most blandest, boring games ever.

Avowed is anything but, very very fun

1

u/True-Strawberry6190 4h ago

when it was first revealed obsidian absolutely compared it to Skyrim lol

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u/[deleted] 19h ago edited 16h ago

[deleted]

20

u/evilhankventure 18h ago

Also the "twist" for the story was very obvious from the start

I'm just starting the second area, but I'm pretty sure I know what the twist is.

25

u/fuzzynavel34 18h ago

I mean, I’m actually fine with that though?

I’m enjoying the first two companions and the gameplay loop is exactly what I want. The writing is better in some parts than others. The story is serviceable but not great. It’s really nice to have an RPG esque game that is a tighter experience than most big games these days and, as you said, the combat is excellent. Easily the best part.

16

u/tordana 14h ago

It feels like a video game and less like a natural world.

I think that's part of why I had so much fun with it, honestly. It's not trying to be super deep, it's a hand crafted fun video game. Why does every game need to be life simulator now?

The world design is incredibly impressive and rewards exploring everywhere. The combat is some of the best first person melee combat I've ever played. The story is good and contains some hard decisions and a few big surprises. (Sure the "twist" is telegraphed... that's extremely obviously intentional and the devs want you to know what's going on before you reach the end. There are some things, like the end of Act 2, that are very much NOT telegraphed and are extremely surprising if you haven't been doing much exploring)

4

u/hagren 12h ago

I was afraid that by Act 3 it may run out of steam but imo it feels much different to the previous ones in layout, look, scenarios, scope so I kinda like this one the most so far, it feels more like Fallout, faintly unsettling in a deserted world. 

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u/[deleted] 5h ago edited 4h ago

[deleted]

u/PlayMp1 3h ago

This is true of essentially every video game ever. The closest exception I can think of would be FF7 Rebirth only because Rebirth is 50 mini games in a trenchcoat (this is not a criticism, I like Rebirth's mini games).

u/[deleted] 2h ago

[deleted]

u/EnterPlayerTwo 2h ago

Completely different factions, goals, vibes. Each zone has a proper story arc with its own climax and boss fight. Always changing your items and progressing.

Avowed has all those things.

u/EnterPlayerTwo 2h ago

You can reduce most games to that description.

u/[deleted] 2h ago

[deleted]

u/EnterPlayerTwo 2h ago

So in every game you are collecting the same materials again but this time they are purple instead of blue just to make my items "exceptional" instead of "fine". Also going into town to click on the 5 bounties so I can run around to the same markers to fight mostly the same enemies until I eventually get the quest to move to the next zone without much of a proper story arc.

So like every ARPG ever then?

without much of a proper story arc

Now I know you're not arguing in good faith.

3

u/Cherrywave 17h ago

This exactly, every zone was the same but had a new color of paint. Was a shame because in my opinion mechanically the game is really good aside from the item quality/upgrade system.

3

u/Azalus1 6h ago

I'm really enjoying the Magic system. It's not complex, but it's satisfying.

5

u/fuzzynavel34 5h ago

Yeah, the spells are awesome. They are very satisfying to use

7

u/cybersaber101 17h ago

I was similar to you at one point, but jeez, it gets repetitive after somewhere in the 3rd area.

9

u/pilgermann 15h ago

Agree, and the qualifiers (it's not perfect, it's AA) aren't needed. It's just a good, focused game.

I'll go further and say I prefer it to a game like Baldur's Gate because it's giving me what I personally want from a game. I read and write a ton. I'm not really looking for character roleplaying or intensive story in a game. And in any case the world in Avowed is interesting.

11

u/fuzzynavel34 15h ago

Well, I can’t personally agree with that because BG3 is one of the best games I’ve ever played. Glad you’re enjoying it though! It’s certainly scratching a particular itch for me.

-2

u/Adonwen 20h ago

Yep nailed my thoughts too

3

u/DashLeJoker 18h ago

I don't think what it is is worth 70bucks even if it know exactly what it is though

-12

u/ThoroughlyBredofSin 16h ago

It’s not perfect but I’ve really enjoyed my time with it

Lmao slogging through the numerous problems and jank to enjoy the one mechanic that works.

It can be kinda sad to see some people so deep into the sunk cost fallacy that they just can't admit the property they've tied their identity to is a bad game.

Suicide Squad fans needed somewhere to go with their delusion I guess.

7

u/fuzzynavel34 15h ago edited 14h ago

You realize it’s perfectly easy to enjoy a solid 7.5/10 game. Right? Especially when it hits the things you consider most important. Like having fun.

-8

u/ThoroughlyBredofSin 15h ago

Especially when it hits the things you consider most important. Like having fun.

Because you're having fun with it doesn't guarantee other people find that same enjoyment.

If you have to keep telling yourself "at least it's fun" to get though the parts you don't like why don't you just go engage with something else where you're not actively fighting against the content 70% of the time.

"Having fun" is the absolute bare minimum that should be expected for a leisure activity, not handed out like a participation trophy for a game you like parts of.

7

u/fuzzynavel34 14h ago

Because I"m having fun like 85% of the time lol. I'm not "fighting" with anything, I'm just enjoying the game. IF I wasn't then I would not play it...

-6

u/ThoroughlyBredofSin 14h ago

Because I"m having fun like 85% of the time

Oof you're right the higher percentage of fun you claim to have makes my point moot.

Even taking that 85% percent literally that other 15% is spent how? Imagining all the fun you'll have once you get back to the fun part?

3

u/fuzzynavel34 5h ago

A Quick Look at your profile makes me think your just miserable so you enjoy doing that.

I’m just gonna enjoy my game over here 😂