A lot of talk around Grounded involves what it means for future games. It seems to be a good testing ground for things like enemy AI, as Obsidian creates intelligent enemies in the game's wide range of bugs and other animals. Obsidian isn't generally known for survival games like Grounded, either, so the positive feedback it's received on the game bodes well for further Obsidian experiments. Grounded is teaching Obsidian a lot that it can potentially use. While current Grounded updates are focused on polishing the game, odds seem good that even when the game officially launches, Obsidian will have more large-scale updates and additions to offer its player b
In many traditional fantasy RPGs, players pick their class at the beginning of their adventures. This determines which stats they primarily rely on. In a typical TTRPG and its closer descendants, for example, a rogue would largely rely on dexterity and intelligence, and would start with an initial boost to those stats. This, in turn, would affect their success with skill checks and in combat throughout the g
Grounded is Obsidian's big potential release for 2021, but the studio's next step is public too. In the same showcase that Grounded was revealed, Obsidian and Microsoft announced Avowed, a new RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Although Obsidian has said next to nothing about Avowed since then, knowing the setting of the game has gone a long way in helping fans get an image of the game. There's tons of Pillars of Eternity lore already in place that'll surely inform the game, no matter what the story is or how the gameplay differs from the games that precede
The specialization of class systems can be very satisfying, however, particularly in RPGs where the player travels in a party like Avowed 's CRPG precursor series Pillars of Eternity , which came with eleven largely traditional fantasy RPG classes. That level of specialization can also be particularly immersive in a way Skyrim 's jack-of-all-trades Dragonborn sometimes falls shorts. A classless sytem also risks generalizing gameplay - players may not be an all-out mage, for example, but there's little reason not to use Skyrim 's starting Healing spell regardless of their playst
Unlike the top contenders for The Elder Scrolls 6 's setting , the Living Lands are practically a blank slate in terms of lore. In Pillars of Eternity, the region is simply described as a "lawless land where communities band together, fall apart, and fight petty wars with each other constantly." This presents great opportunities not just in terms of storytelling, but in terms of mechanics. While the Living Lands will likely have some large fixed quest hubs, the dynamism of the setting could lay the foundation for Avowed to have a world far more prone to change than Skyrim
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 fans should get excited about the state of the studio. It's determined to push out a lot of new projects, and experimental ones like that. The Outer Worlds ' incredible claim that no NPC has to live for players to beat the game proves that Obsidian wants to try bold new things. Obsidian's future isn't just packed with new games; it's packed with new ideas that'll help Obsidian grow as a stu
Although Avowed secrets appears to be set before Pillars of Eternity - where the player discovers that the gods are man-made - it should still take advantage of its artificial gods as one of the most unique parts of its setting. It is revealed in Pillars of Eternity that people have discovered the true nature of Eora's gods multiple times, usually before their burgeoning atheist movements were crushed by Engwithan inquisitions. Games like Skyrim keep their main plots relatively straightforward. In fact, there's so little ambiguity about the nature of the gods of Tamriel that the Dragonborn literally visits and confirms the existence of the afterlife at the end of Skyrim 's main qu
Obsidian's status recently underwent a pretty major change. Although it was once an independent studio, Microsoft acquired it in 2018 , right in the middle of the development of The Outer Worlds. Obsidian hasn't lost any momentum thanks to this change of ownership, though; if anything, it seems like Obsidian is ramping up development. Fans of the studio have a lot to look forward to over the next couple years, between Avowed and Grounded. Based on how many projects Obsidian is stacking up, it's also possible that it's planning even more new games with the help of its new parent comp