Avowed’s Companions Will Be “Critical” To The Story, Combat, And Moral Decision-Making

Highlights

Avowed is a fantasy RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe with accessible gameplay.
Companions play a critical role in gameplay, influencing exploration, narrative, and battles.
Avowed’s story is “very morally gray,” allowing players to navigate freely with consequences.

The upcoming fantasy RPG Avowed is set within the Pillars of Eternity universe, but the gameplay is completely accessible to the uninitiated. Obsidian Entertainment has taken five years to develop the title, which is considerably longer than the developer’s previous projects Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and Fallout: New Vegas. With not long to go until its rumored Q4 2024 release date, Avowed’s lead dev is stressing how important the companions are to gameplay.

It was previously confirmed that the protagonist would always be a Godlike – humanoid children blessed by one of the gods of Eora – but the appearance of your playable character can be altered because of the God’s ambiguity. This is one of the many exciting details to look forward to in Avowed, but don’t expect Baldur’s Gate 3 levels of romance with your companions.

Avowed Isn’t Obsidian’s Elder Scrolls, It’s A 3-D Pillars Of Eternity

Avowed looks like Pillars of Eternity 3 but from a different perspective.

Avowed’s Companions Will Influence Several Areas Of Gameplay

In an interview with GamesRadar+, game director Carrie Patel talked about Obsidian’s “long development cycle” making Avowed, and art director Matt Hansen confirmed the team was currently working on “experimental polish” instead of fretting over the poly count and texture memory. The final development stage has provided a lot of freedom for Obsidian to improve areas, which has been “really, really liberating”, says Hansen.

With major comparisons being drawn between Avowed and Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds, companions will, once again, play a major role in the upcoming fantasy. To this extent, Hansen called the companions’ involvement “critical” to the game’s story, and revealed certain areas of the map would not be accessible without these comrades by your side.

Not only are these NPCs crucial in the exploration and progression of the narrative, but the companions will also become valuable allies in battle. Additionally, your party members will serve as a “sounding board” when faced with decision-making, which can provoke disagreements. “They act as a moral compass that you can choose to ignore if you want, which is always fun,” says Hansen.

Leading on from this moral compass mechanic, Hansen also said Avowed’s story is “very morally gray”, which allows players to navigate plot points freely without being “spoon-fed the good or the bad approaches to things”. Whether you choose the lawful good or chaotic evil path, choices made regarding political tensions and local conflicts will have “a little bit of both” short and long-term consequences.

Finally, you’ll need to be wary of how you treat people in a variety of situations, as your past decisions will be remembered. “There are definitely some moments where your ability to persuade someone, or their reaction to you at a pivotal moment, is going to depend on how you’ve acted in situations before,” Hansen explains. “They’ll kind of call it out – like ‘you want me to trust you now, but you did X, Y, and Z? I don’t think so!'”