Xbox Avowed

[Iceman]

New fantasy RPG announced by Obsidian.

Avowed on Xbox Series X: trailer, release date, Game Pass and what we know | TechRadar

 

[Zorro]

I hope it comes out next year!

 

[Gee]

Just read that it's set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity!

So this is not really a new IP after all. Either way, I'm even more excited now.

 

[Iceman]

Just read that it's set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity!

So this is not really a new IP after all. Either way, I'm even more excited now.

I haven’t played Pillars of Eternity. Is it good?

 

[Gee]

I haven’t played Pillars of Eternity. Is it good?

I really liked the first one. Poured in about 100 hours including the two DLCs.

The PoE series features "real-time combat with pause" so if you've played both KotOR or the first Dragon Age, then you will be fine in that aspect. Classes and combats are inspired on D&D rules.

Also, if you're okay with the graphics and the 2D'ish isometric perspective then you're in for a pretty good party-based RPG. I highly recommend playing it on PC since it's a CRPG after all, but Obsidian did port the series on consoles. Though they were not very successful on that platform (it's niche).

I have recently started the second PoE but stopped after my party got ass-kicked by a dragon on the starter area. That depressed me and never got back into it since then...

 

[Iceman]

I really liked the first one. Poured in about 100 hours including the two DLCs.

The PoE series features "real-time combat with pause" so if you've played both KotOR or the first Dragon Age, then you will be fine in that aspect. Classes and combats are inspired on D&D rules.

Also, if you're okay with the graphics and the 2D'ish isometric perspective then you're in for a pretty good party-based RPG. I highly recommend playing it on PC since it's a CRPG after all, but Obsidian did port the series on consoles. Though they were not very successful on that platform (it's niche).

I have recently started the second PoE but stopped after my party got ass-kicked by a dragon on the starter area. That depressed me and never got back into it since then...

Ah nice, thanks for that. I'll add it to the list for pc.

 

[Gee]

 

[Dugath]

Unfortunately as with all the top games they showed this is a few years away. Except Halo.........

 

[Iceman]

That stuff all sounds awesome!

 

[Iceman]

Obsidian beat Starfield to the punch, and Avowed could do the same to Elder Scrolls 6 | TechRadar

 

[Iceman]

Obsidian beat Starfield to the punch, and Avowed could do the same to Elder Scrolls 6 | TechRadar

The message of this article has changed a bit now that Microsoft have bought Bethesda and both Obsidian and Bethesda are under the same house lol.

 

[X Knight]

That stuff all sounds awesome!

If all the info in that tweet is true, then it does sound fantastic.

However, the expected release of 2022/2023 highlights the tricky situation Xbox finds itself in. It doesn't have enough of these big exclusive projects ready to release now or within the first year of launch of the Series X/S. This was compounded further by Halo Infinite getting delayed into next year.

Xbox could very well start hitting its stride come 2022 or 2023. But, in the meantime over the next few years, the 1st party landscape seems so barren and empty. Which is made even more frustrating considering how barren and empty the 1st party exclusive output has been over the past several years.

And that's not the best look when you are launching a new console series this year. It would be totally different if Series X/S launched in 2022/2023 when Avowed and/or Fable are ready. Or even 2021 with Halo Infinite. Or, if Avowed, Fable, and Halo Infinite were ready to go now or within the first year of launch.

 

[X Knight]

The message of this article has changed a bit now that Microsoft have bought Bethesda and both Obsidian and Bethesda are under the same house lol.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the 2 studios co-exist now. Hopefully, it will lead to collaboration and not to an "oversaturation" of games that feel the same (1st person RPGs with Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Avowed, and Outer Worlds etc.).

 

[Gee]

Former BioWare writer (ME2, ME3, DA Origins) has joined Obsidian:

 

[X Knight]

MS should have bought Bioware a long time ago. Maybe now, they can still buy out Bioware from EA. Then maybe the old Bioware guard can rejoin and help restore Bioware back to its former glory.

Regardless, I really hope Obsidian continues the Pillars of Eternity series, alongside working on Avowed (since they are in the same universe). The Xbox division is very heavy on 1st person oriented games, so having a 3rd person and/or isometric RPG like Pillars would be nice to maintain diversity. And would also be an alternative to Bioware's Dragon Age series.

 

[Iceman]

Former BioWare writer (ME2, ME3, DA Origins) has joined Obsidian:

Nice. Being ME2 writer is a big accolade. There seems to be some top talent getting recruited by some of the MS studios, especially The Initiative.

 

[Iceman]

MS should have bought Bioware a long time ago. Maybe now, they can still buy out Bioware from EA. Then maybe the old Bioware guard can rejoin and help restore Bioware back to its former glory.

Regardless, I really hope Obsidian continues the Pillars of Eternity series, alongside working on Avowed (since they are in the same universe). The Xbox division is very heavy on 1st person oriented games, so having a 3rd person and/or isometric RPG like Pillars would be nice to maintain diversity. And would also be an alternative to Bioware's Dragon Age series.

I hope they've been regretting it all these years. EA have stuffed them up so much that maybe it might not be totally off the cards as they aren't making a whole lot of money from them, or at least nowhere near what they should be making.

 

[Iceman]

If all the info in that tweet is true, then it does sound fantastic.

However, the expected release of 2022/2023 highlights the tricky situation Xbox finds itself in. It doesn't have enough of these big exclusive projects ready to release now or within the first year of launch of the Series X/S. This was compounded further by Halo Infinite getting delayed into next year.

Xbox could very well start hitting its stride come 2022 or 2023. But, in the meantime over the next few years, the 1st party landscape seems so barren and empty. Which is made even more frustrating considering how barren and empty the 1st party exclusive output has been over the past several years.

And that's not the best look when you are launching a new console series this year. It would be totally different if Series X/S launched in 2022/2023 when Avowed and/or Fable are ready. Or even 2021 with Halo Infinite. Or, if Avowed, Fable, and Halo Infinite were ready to go now or within the first year of launch.

I thought you'd like the sound of the extensive character creator. I wish all these games would give the third person option too though (ES does).

This is all true regarding the future of XBox, but that is the dire situation Mattrick and co left them in. Developing a bunch of studios was always going to take many years and there is no shortcut to that unless you buy studios with games about to ship (although then they will likely already have agreements with the competitors - like Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop). Last gen was a disaster and it looks like many of the right steps have been taken to recover well. This time the hardware looks better, no price disadvantage, no power disadvantage, no Kinect strapped on, no dumb policies (always online and no used games) pissing gamers off, and finally a focus on their own lineup of games. PS will still run away with it early on but Xbox can slowly catch up as the gen unfolds. After 2022 the amount of content is going to be much higher due to having so many studios all working on games. It could be a new exclusive every 2 months if the average game takes 3 years to turn around.

 

[X Knight]

I thought you'd like the sound of the extensive character creator. I wish all these games would give the third person option too though (ES does).

This is all true regarding the future of XBox, but that is the dire situation Mattrick and co left them in. Developing a bunch of studios was always going to take many years and there is no shortcut to that unless you buy studios with games about to ship (although then they will likely already have agreements with the competitors - like Ghostwire Tokyo and Deathloop). Last gen was a disaster and it looks like many of the right steps have been taken to recover well. This time the hardware looks better, no price disadvantage, no power disadvantage, no Kinect strapped on, no dumb policies (always online and no used games) pissing gamers off, and finally a focus on their own lineup of games. PS will still run away with it early on but Xbox can slowly catch up as the gen unfolds. After 2022 the amount of content is going to be much higher due to having so many studios all working on games. It could be a new exclusive every 2 months if the average game takes 3 years to turn around.

The extensive character creation did catch my attention. Though, such a thing is kind of moot if the game is entirely 1st person! haha!

And yeah, the strategy for Xbox is definitely weighted to the long-term. It's just that they are giving up marketshare and mindshare in the initial years, and that's something they really can't afford to do, given their performance last gen.

 

[Iceman]

The extensive character creation did catch my attention. Though, such a thing is kind of moot if the game is entirely 1st person! haha!

And yeah, the strategy for Xbox is definitely weighted to the long-term. It's just that they are giving up marketshare and mindshare in the initial years, and that's something they really can't afford to do, given their performance last gen.

Maybe it will have a similar third person mode. Otherwise yeah I agree what's the point? Just focus on other areas of the game if you can hardly see your character anyway.

They're not really giving it up, it's something that isn't theirs to be able to be given up. In the same way that Apple and Google aren't giving it up, regardless of what their future industry-changing wishes might be. The momentum for the start of this gen was built across all of last gen and that dictates the early years. With so few exclusives before all the new studios were incorporated, it's impossible to do much with the start of the gen that Sony can't at least come close to - ie any price and power differential will be kept within a reasonable amount, while they already have many more studios churning away big titles waiting to be released. This will change once Microsoft's now larger number of studios kick into gear but there's no shortcut for that. Momentum is a powerful thing though, enough for the PS2, one of the most successful consoles ever to lose its footing at the start of the next gen (helped by a 1 year release date difference). Mistakes can give the game way but as long as Sony don't make obvious mistakes the lead is theirs for now and Microsoft can only play the long game.

 

[X Knight]

Maybe it will have a similar third person mode. Otherwise yeah I agree what's the point? Just focus on other areas of the game if you can hardly see your character anyway.

They're not really giving it up, it's something that isn't theirs to be able to be given up. In the same way that Apple and Google aren't giving it up, regardless of what their future industry-changing wishes might be. The momentum for the start of this gen was built across all of last gen and that dictates the early years. With so few exclusives before all the new studios were incorporated, it's impossible to do much with the start of the gen that Sony can't at least come close to - ie any price and power differential will be kept within a reasonable amount, while they already have many more studios churning away big titles waiting to be released. This will change once Microsoft's now larger number of studios kick into gear but there's no shortcut for that. Momentum is a powerful thing though, enough for the PS2, one of the most successful consoles ever to lose its footing at the start of the next gen (helped by a 1 year release date difference). Mistakes can give the game way but as long as Sony don't make obvious mistakes the lead is theirs for now and Microsoft can only play the long game.

hopefully the long game will pay off for MS/Xbox.

They certainly have turned Xbox into a Western RPG powerhouse. Basically, they are just missing Bioware and CD Projekt Red.......haha.

If they could get either (or both) of those, along with WB Studios, that would be insane!!

 

[Gee]

I don't think EA is going to let BioWare go anytime soon since Dragon Age is still a franchise in players' good graces. As for CDPR, they're doing great on their own so they should be independent for now.

If there's one WRPG studio that could join MS it is Larian. Both Divinity: Original Sin games, especially the sequel, were well received. On the other hand, like Obsidian and inXile, they had to crowdfund their games on Kickstarter so on the financial front they're not like BioWare or even CDPR.

Now they're working on Baldur's Gate 3 and we'll see how that will turn out but I'm sure they've got another great RPG (and from what I've played so far it is).

 

[Iceman]

I don't think EA is going to let BioWare go anytime soon since Dragon Age is still a franchise in players' good graces. As for CDPR, they're doing great on their own so they should be independent for now.

If there's one WRPG studio that could join MS it is Larian. Both Divinity: Original Sin games, especially the sequel, were well received. On the other hand, like Obsidian and inXile, they had to crowdfund their games on Kickstarter so on the financial front they're not like BioWare or even CDPR.

Now they're working on Baldur's Gate 3 and we'll see how that will turn out but I'm sure they've got another great RPG (and from what I've played so far it is).

They could be a good buy and probably not that expensive.

 

[Iceman]

hopefully the long game will pay off for MS/Xbox.

They certainly have turned Xbox into a Western RPG powerhouse. Basically, they are just missing Bioware and CD Projekt Red.......haha.

If they could get either (or both) of those, along with WB Studios, that would be insane!!

Haha. If there’s any truth to the rumour they still have a big studio lined up to make exclusive and free on gamepass, it would be huge, whoever it was.

 

[X Knight]

Haha. If there’s any truth to the rumour they still have a big studio lined up to make exclusive and free on gamepass, it would be huge, whoever it was.

Yes!