Grounded stands out among the list of current projects at Obsidian Entertainment, as it has technically already been released but just in Early Access. It's a survival RPG where players embody a person who has been shrunk and must survive the terror of creatures like bees and spiders in a backyard. Grounded is in early access and has already seen several updates with new content, and this looks set to continue for some time. The unique game has resonated well with gamers and critics alike and will likely be a big focus for Obsidian going forward until and probably after it has received a full rele
There’s an argument to be made that Obsidian’s follower design comes with risks in an open-world RPG. While character-driven games like BioWare’s Mass Effect series are able to make the most out of well-developed companion characters thanks to the clearer characterization of their protagonists, the followers in games like The Outer Worlds can highlight just how much of a blank slate the player character is to the detriment of immers
Pillars of Eternity has a fascinating setting. At the time the first game takes place, Eora has settled into its rough equivalent of the early modern era. There are guns, galleons, and even powerful magical explosives in the form of the Godhammer bomb. In contrast, the setting of The Elder Scrolls doesn't seem to have had a major technological development since the Second Era, at least if The Elder Scrolls Online is anything to go by. Leaning into the early modern influences could be a great way for Avowed to differentiate itself, but there's already a prob
What is for sure, however, is that Avowed will be set in a world with some fascinating spiritual lore. The player character will almost certainly have lived many lives before the game, some of which they may be able to interact with depending on the game's plot. If nothing else, Avowed players can feel a little less bad about mowing down their enemies safe in the knowledge that those souls will be returning to the world through The Wh
Azathoth is an unimaginably powerful being who exists outside the Lovecraft universe and dreams reality while "lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demoniac flute." While the Dragonborn DLC dived deeper into the broader The Elder Scrolls -Lovecraft connections than most other entries in the series, the Lovecraftian connections to the world of avowed collectibles are far more expli
So many of these huge metaphysical revelations, including the fact that the gods are manmade, come out during the events of Pillars of Eternity . This raises the question of what mysteries Avowed might explore if it is set before these universe-shattering discoveries. In any case, if Avowed is set before Pillars of Eternity but after the fall of the Engwithan civilization , the machine will still be directing the souls of the dead through The Wh
The risk is that by setting Avowed in an earlier period of Eora's history, the game will resemble the more standard fantasy worlds of games like Skyrim rather than Pillars of Eternity 's more distinct setting. Fortunately, there are a few ways the Living Lands could still feel very different from the settings of other fantasy ga
If Avowed wants to distinguish itself, players should be able to see the frontier's fragile communities rise and fall depending on their actions. Avowed 's setting may be more traditionally medieval than Pillars of Eternity , but by setting its upcoming game on a frontier Obsidian could have far more flexibility, telling a story far away from regions of Eora with more established lore and allowing the player to have a huge influence over the game's wo
Obsidian originally found success with its first game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords in 2004. The developer was founded by former members of Black Isle Studios who already had a wealth of experience in developing RPGs, having worked on series such as Icewind Dale and Fallout. To this day, the developer has mostly kept its projects within its RPG roots, but it has experimented with other genres and styles of role-playing experiences over the years. Its current slate of games represents a mixture of its role-playing expertise and some new directions for the comp
Having a smaller cast of well-developed companions also makes some other elements likely to appear in Avowed . It’s more likely that players will have a base where they can find all of their companions who aren’t currently following them, for example. In The Outer Worlds, this was the ship the Unreliable; in Pillars of Eternity, it was Caed Nua; in Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire , it was the Defiant; and in New Vegas, it was the Lucky 38 Casino. While Skyrim ’s companions return to the location of their recruitment and rarely have opportunities to interact, it’s likely that Obsidian’s companion design will allow for followers to have relationships with one another in the story, not just the pla