Avowed Director Promises No “Copy/Paste Experiences” Between Main Quests And Side Content

Avowed is a fantastical action RPG scheduled to release this year from Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios, existing within the world of Eora – the same setting in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Creative director Carrie Patel has been conducting several interviews to promote the upcoming title and has touched on several gameplay components, including the drive to make side content as engaging as main quests.

Patel and art director Matt Hansen previously discussed the major elements contributing to Avowed’s gameplay, stating companions would be “critical” to the title’s story, combat, and moral decision-making. In short, the Obsidian team wants to make Avowed as engaging and accessible as possible for fantasy fans, making large and smaller-scale missions equally compelling.

The Studio Wanted Everything In Avowed To Be Worth Players’ Time

In an interview with Windows Central, Patel and gameplay director, Gabe Paramo, were thorough in discussing Avowed’s choices and consequences, players’ freedom, companions, and the community’s feedback. Additionally, Patel highlighted that the evolving story within the Living Lands setting will be rife with “meaningful choices” within large and smaller-scale quests.

“The player is going to make a series of choices on their path, in side quests, and even in smaller side moments that are completely up to them to discover,” Patel said, which contradicts other games’ penchant for using filler within side content. However, Patel was confident Obsidian “put the same focus into our side content as we do into our main quests”.

“We want everything that we’re putting into the game and putting in front of the player to be worth the player’s time. Some of these experiences are going to be larger, some of these are going to be shorter, but all of them are distinct,” Patel assured players and confirmed, “None of them are copy/paste experiences; they’re all content that engage the player with the world and give them a chance to roleplay their character.”

After the title’s first gameplay trailer dropped earlier this year, the response was mixed and particularly challenged the game’s stiff combat, which led the team to accelerate development in that area. “We just went ‘Okay, let’s look at this, this is a big deal, people are noticing this, we should polish this sooner,'” Paramo said regarding the showcased combat, despite Obsidian believing this area was “good enough to show as is”.

Combat was significantly improved by the time the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 trailer came about, since Obsidian had “really analyzed the feeling and moment when the player swings their weapon and the moment of impact”, which contributed to the game’s improved combat.

Avowed is rumored to be released on November 12, 2024, but an official release date is yet to be confirmed.

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Avowed’s Tone Shifted Mid-Development To Be Closer To Pillars Of Eternity

“We wanted to embrace something closer to the Pillars aesthetic,” says Avowed game director Carrie Patel.