One of Xbox's big titles of 2024 is Avowed, Obsidian's next game. We are slowly discovering new details about the action RPG, but obviously players would like to know even more to be able to imagine in detail what kind of experience they can expect. If it helps, Obsidian says they want to make Avowed more like Fallout New Vegas than Skyrim.
What does it mean? Avowed will focus more on offering the user a main path, giving it rhythm and a clearer structure, without limiting secondary content and freedom of action. However, it avoids getting the player lost in a huge map where a greater purpose is often lacking.
Obsidian's exact words on Avowed
“At least for me, the games that stand out the most in terms of really good RPG experiences they aren't so open that you feel adrift as a player,” explains Carrie Patel, game director at Avowed. “You shouldn't find yourself saying 'this is a wonderful sandbox, but I'm just building my sandcastles here without a larger sense of purpose or identity.' I think Avowed absolutely fits Obsidian's 'personality'.”
“We have a structured main path and we want any constraints imposed on the player to be accompanied by a good sense of rhythm. There's a pull and a pull where even though we set this path in front of the player, we give them enough cues and ideas along the way that they feel like the author of their own story too.”
“In 2024 it is It's hard to avoid some comparisons with Skyrim if you're making a first-person fantasy action RPG,” Patel explains to PCGamesN. “But I think the model we looked at internally is to build Avowed as our fantasy interpretation of The Outer Worlds, not with the same tone, but with a similar world structure and scope.”
“For us it's about having a more focused experience, something that looks a little more polished. We can insert a more specific idea. Our world includes areas that are certainly not small, but certainly more limited than a huge map that can be covered from start to finish in several hours. This allows us to be a little more structured.”
“I think there's a certain thing appetite for large RPGs with a large open map“, continues Patel, “but also for more refined products, which however maintain these elements of choice, character construction and progression. I'm excited to see what we can do as a studio to mix these elements.”
“It's a halfway between the sandbox and something more refined, and I think we've done a good job of finding that balance,” explains gameplay director Gabe Paramo. “For example, in Avowed there are creatures that you can come across that maybe you're not ready to face, but maybe you an ability is found that helps manipulate that creature, and then an item is obtained. You've found something through exploration that you can use in other types of encounters. I think New Vegas is also full of those moments where we don't want to hold the player in our hands, but still, if the users have the skills, they can still defeat these moments.”
“I think that New Vegas does a wonderful job of building the player's experience not only through the main path, but also through the side quests and secrets that can be discovered in the world,” Patel continues. “There's a great balance between consistency and variety. You want users to experience novelty and surprise, but you also want to make sure that all these micro elements that you're putting together bring the player to the same cohesive experience.”
“An interesting thing to see, and as a player I really like it, is that these Gender boundaries are increasingly blurred. You arrive in the Living Lands and Avowed with a very specific role from the Empire, but it's up to you how exactly you follow it.”
Finally, remember that Avowed will not allow you to play a “pacifist game”: you will necessarily have to kill.
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