The game industry is built on the backs of a wide range of studio types, from small indie developers to independent AAA studios to in-house developers under the likes of Microsoft and Sony. One company that’s managed to travel through multiple of these categories is Obsidian Entertainment, the masterful developer of RPGs responsible for such games as Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity. Obsidian has long been hailed as a talented studio thanks to games like these, and it keeps delivering new games that capture the imagination of fans. That’s why it’s a big deal that Obsidian is still going pla
Dwemer ruins tend to be the most expansive and varied in their design, but Avowed will need to do much more than emulate Skyrim ‘s best dungeon experiences. With evidence that Avowed may be further along in development than fans think, here are just some of the ways Obsidian could redefine the dungeon-diving experience for the next generat
It appears that significant progress has already been made developing Avowed ‘s dungeons. Fans can only hope that Obsidian chose to keep some of the unique dungeon design found in Pillars of Eternity . It may seem risky to move away from the Elder Scrolls formula , but those risks could be just what helps Avowed step out of Skyrim ‘s sha
There are a few reasons why Obsidian’s situation may not be as bad as it sounds, however. Not only has Microsoft given the studio some much-needed stability, but The Outer Worlds ‘ commercial success exceeded the financial expectations of publisher Private Divisions . The Outer Worlds is not without its flaws, but with Bethesda otherwise dominating the first-person RPG market, Link Website it provided a respite from Bethesda’s two main franchises and the long wait for their next installments. While Obsidian’s CRPGs sometimes struggled commercially, the studio’s penchant for more traditional RPG design also stood out in contrast to games like Fallout 4 , which has often been described as a better shooter than an RPG, even by fans of the Fallout franch
A smaller project like Grounded also seems unlikely to take up too many of Obsidian’s resources, even if its continually worked on throughout the development of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 . Ultimately, there’s no way to know how well the studio is handling multiple projects until details about either Avowed or The Outer Worlds 2 ‘s release windows are revealed. However, while Obsidian has struggled in the past, the studio may be in a better position for its increasing ambition than ever bef
Obsidian Entertainment is one of the most respected western RPG studios in the industry. Many of its employees have impressive resumes dating back to Black Isle Studios, best known for games like the first two Fallout titles and Baldur’s Gate . Despite its esteem, Obsidian Entertainment has long been seen as a junior studio to RPG giants like Bethesda. Many of Obsidian’s games are beloved, particularly for their writing, but the studio has a history of struggling financially in a way that larger studios have
One major Obsidian project is actually already accessible. Grounded went into early access in July 2020 , and Obsidian has been supporting it aggressively ever since. Grounded is a new take on a familiar premise: the player characters are children who’ve mysteriously been shrunken down, and now have to fight insects much larger than them to survive. Although Grounded looked strong from the beginning, Obsidian consistently comes up with good additions to the game, like new buildings for players to create and a koi pond offering a tense and beautiful new way to engage with the microscopic wo
Avowed ‘s trailer implies that the player character will be fighting some huge, powerful monsters lying in wait beneath the setting’s surface. Dungeon boss-fights against unique NPCs with special abilities, phases, and ways of using their dungeon environment to their advantage would make a great change to Skyrim ‘s dungeons, which usually end in a Draugr Lord, Dragon Priest , or Dwarven Centur
In Eora, the world from Pillars of Eternity , Woedica is the goddess of law, oath, justice, rightful rulership, hierarchies, memory, and vengeance. The trailer’s voiceover points to many of Woedica’s domains appearing as main themes in Avowed . Turning heroes into queens and kings is naturally connected to the idea of rightful rulership. Even Avowed ‘s title is connected to ideas of oath, obligations, and in some cases vengea
There’s more evidence that Avowed will be set during Woedica’s reign as queen of the gods. Both Pillars of Eternity games, especially PoE 2: Deadfire , were set in fantasy worlds with architecture, clothing, and technology from around the 1500s to 1800s. This included pistols, cannons, and magical bombs. In Avowed ‘s trailer, the world’s architecture and weaponry seems far more medieval, likely indicating that the upcoming RPG will be set hundreds of years before the PoE ga
