Among the sea of fantasy action RPGs, very few games in development will elicit the same excitement as Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed. Having released a new 30-minute deep dive, Xbox’s own recent in-depth view of the game has fans excited for its upcoming release. With hundreds of NPCs to interact with, and a world just waiting to be explored with magical might, Avowed promises to be an adventure and a half. In the following, we’ll data-mine the game’s trailer in order to delve deep into the world of this amazing new RPG. Join us on our journey into the heart of Eora with Avowed, and discover what makes it so appealing to gamers.
One of Avowed’s most distinctive features is how it places player-characters at the centre of the action. You can experience the magical world of Eora first- and third-person: move through the world as you would in any first-person game, or step back and observe your character from above. Having both options opens up the gameplay in meaningful ways, but it also allows gamers to identify with their characters. Simply put, by having both perspectives, Avoved is accessible for gamers no matter what appeals most to them.
As this erratic, gradually waxing flow narrowed into a shallow crevice and finally calcified into obsidian, teasing at the magic tools that the player might wield a little farther into the journey, there was a hint of something more to come. The Game Director Carrie Patel explained that these arcane implications were indeed the central theme, intended to weave a strong tactical edge through the experience of exploring Eora. The magic of Avowed appears to be deep and thoughtfully wrought, so that we can be sure of no two encounters feeling alike.
However, a lot of Avowed’s appeal will come from how it makes even the NPCs react to who you are. Characters such as Yatzli and Kai make the world more interesting, but also offer up story-rich interactions, too. Conversations with these characters could demonstrate that your character’s standing will change how the world responds to you, creating even more complexity in the world. Whether your power rises or causes problems for you, having to manage these social complexities will undoubtedly be part of your role-playing experience.
Patel also let slip that Eora’s environment changes over the course of a day-night cycle, not just the look of the world, but the way things play. This 24-hour cycle will affect non-player character behaviour and the kinds of tactics the player chooses to employ. Such details hint that Eora is a living, breathing environment that players can step into and make feel even more ‘real’ than games have ever felt before.
The game lets players approach challenges how they like – through direct combat or through stealth, for example – while being able to freely respec skill trees means that no choice is carved in stone. And every little success you have in combat or stealth will in some way literally affect the world of Eora, changing how NPCs react to you and what rewards are available for your effort. Like many designers at Obsidian, Gamble has worked for years in the RPG industry, particularly on role-playing computer games. His career speaks to a deep desire to make a game where the player’s choices are meaningful.
We got a cool gameplay preview recently that showed a lot of different enemies, tiny mushroom guys that are blue and orange. So there’s a variety of enemies, and there’s a bunch of different ways you can play, and an appropriate kind of challenge for each kind of tactic you want to go with. Do you want to punch them or sneak by?
For now, despite the buzz of the gameplay showcase, Obsidian is conveniently quiet on any sort of specific release date for Avowed. The old target of 12 November 2024 has been pulled back, though it is still slated to go live in 2024 before the end of the year. We’ll be there to guide your way into the Heart’s Wound.
Status is intrinsic to Avowed. Where you wield power, where you’re feared or revered, and where you’re interdependent with others is the driving story force behind everything you do – how you use your magic powers, talk to NPCs. Your status is how the world reacts to your character. It’s what makes Avowed one of the most highly anticipated fantasy action RPGs we’ve seen so far.
Since then, we’ve been waiting to step out into Eora ourselves, and now we know that Avowed is shaping up to be exactly that. With a narrative that embraces and reimagines its chosen genre, gameplay that pushes a classic form into a new one, and a world we’ll be eager to return to time and again, Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed promises to be one of the most engrossing, highly spoken about RPGs for as long as it’s around.
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