Avowed [Obsidian's open-world Skyrimesque RPG set in Eora]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=10&v=YS8n-pZQWWc&feature=emb_logo
The game looks amazing. I only wish it will also have a third-person option much like Skyrim. I am so looking forward to this game.
The game looks amazing. I only wish it will also have a third-person option much like Skyrim. I am so looking forward to this game.
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Might still check it out if Avowed comes to steam in the future. First-Person is so much more engaging than the classic isometric view. But looking at things, it wouldn't surprise me if it remains an exclusive title for the Microsoft Store...
That’s stupid. They lost the last round of the console war because they lacked the exclusivity that the PS4 had.
A statement like this doesn’t give me confidence for the next console.
Sorry I guess I wasn't very clear. Yes these games will start out being xbox (and PC) exclusive because they're trying to build up xbox as something attractive to a wider range of gamers than their current fans. But they also want to be able to eventually make their games available for PS and Switch, like they have done with TOW.
Frankly (and I doubt I'm alone in this) I've decided to invest in a Series X and a 4k TV for the first time based on the unprecedented backwards compatibility of almost a 1000 games they are offering, while Sony is basically limiting themselves to the PS4. Maybe I'm a niche audience for that, but it's a major feature Sony is just flat-out ignoring. Nevermind it is just way more powerful and I doubt you could build a similar PC for $500.
Microsoft absolutely lost the last console war, but they solidly won the "2.0" battle of the One X and Pro, and since the next generation is more about performance than any graphical innovations, I would predict Microsoft will win this round. If for no other reason than it's been going back and forth since the PS2 vs. XBox days. Sony is putting out inferior hardware. I don't see the same level of exclusives this time around.
As a footnote, it seems Josh Sawyer is not in this project.
https://twitter.com/jesawyer?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@jesawyer</a> Hey, are you working on Avowed?</p>— Martin Dubuque (@MartinDubu) <a href="
(@jesawyer) <a href="
I'm sure it will be available on Steam. Their other new game, Grounded, is going to Steam EA next week.
As for the format, I too would prefer a party-based game using third-person or iso perspective. But apparently nowadays, any and all party-based and third-person/iso perspective RPG has to be TB and nothing else. And if that is the price that has to be paid, then no thanks. I'd rather have the no-party and first-person perspective but with a good combat system. And I love that it is a AAA game. I love the gorgeous graphics and the incredible detail on characters (see this video from around the 41 minute mark:
Unfortunately I just can't get into a game with anime/comic book style characters/graphics.
I actually don't like the art style of the remake either, but I'm a huge fan of the SNES original and especially its sequel, Legend of Mana. That one has an art style all its own, that I think is wonderful to look at, and haven't seen repeated anywhere else.
But for me, a very realistic look to the characters and the environment in a video game is critically important for my immersion. I am very much a visually oriented person, and so the *look* of a game on my display matters a lot to me. That's why I use a desktop for my gaming, complete with a large-sized 4K display. I can't bear gaming on a laptop, and the very idea of playing a game on a phone is ridiculous to me. I want that awesome graphical fidelity, to be able to see incredible detail, and to have the imagery be as "realistic" as possible. So this is why I love the look of games like TW3, DA:I, and Skyrim, even if in the case of the latter I don't care for the story or gameplay that much. Just simply being able to explore a beautifully detailed and rendered environment makes me happy enough to be willing to spend $60 on such a game. If you look in that video I attached to my previous post, that female character in full armor, just look at her hair. Hair is one of those things that is so completely unnatural and "fake" in most games. But this rendering looks like actual hair on an actual person. It's incredible. It's also why I was blown away by the reveal recently of the level of detail in the new Unreal 5 engine. I just love that kind of graphical fidelity.
Everyone has their own tastes, and that's fine. But please don't chalk up artsyles you like to "Those kids and their cartoons" (paraphrasing). Catoons are older than you and "realstic" and "gritty" graphics are actually much younger.
@kanisatha As a 20 year old gamer, I would like to disagree to this and also state that this is a grossly biased and stereotyped generalization to make.
Also, regarding game studios favouring and shifting towards what you call "non-realistic art styles", I would like to present you with this list of games that have been or are to be released in 2020.
But since "a game studio - whether TT or video - is always going to favor the younger audience over the older one", and since most mainstream AAA game studios are making "hyper-realistic graphics" games these days as can be seen by the above list, well, add 2 and 2, and you get 4.
yeah brown and grey and realistic did not become a thing until the 7th gen consoles which was 2005. before then we had different art styles from anime, to cartoony, to stuff like metal gear solid.
It's just that higher fidelity demanded larger storage mediums. Well, either that or lots and lots of floppy discs in the case of LoL. For consoles it meant waiting for the advent of CD's, as cartridges were far too limited on that front. I still remember that Resident Evil on the PS1 was pretty realistic for its time period.
But it's true that it was far easier to come up with other styles such as pixel arts, 2D, or a mix of 2D and 3D. Looking back, overall the games with stylized arts aged far better by todays standards.
But getting back to what I was wondering about, it is indisputable that D&D artwork has moved more towards a cartoon-style look going from 2e to 5e, or as some have described it, going from a more medieval look to a more renaissance look. And this is also reflected in Pathfinder and other similar games. So what explains that?
I wouldn't count seeing the game released before 2022. Obsidian started their work on Avowed in 2018, just before Microsoft bought them. And currently the studio is split between at least three projects in development. If it indeed ends up being a open world setting similar in scope to Skyrim then a development circle of at least 4 years seems pretty realistic to me.
Its a first person ARPG, so probably not much.
All that said, Obsidian are widely considered to be the best studio out there right now for creating RPG experiences, especially with respect to such things as storytelling and character development. If you go look at the articles that have been written by gaming journos since the announcement, and these are all the very same people who have written glowing reviews of D:OS2 for example and write very favorably of Larian, and yet they all say the same thing: Obsidian is who's best at making story-driven RPGs. And the general consensus nowadays appears to be that whereas the isometric perspective is good for tactical combat, the first person perspective is best for the most immersive RPG experience. So I fully expect this game will be loaded with RPG goodness.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/xbox-game-studios-otx-you-had-me-at-halo.246538/post-40806123
As I previously mentioned before the announcement, Obsidian is working on Pillars (I assumed this regarding the info) game as back then I did get confirmation that game contains “spore-like” creatures with few other vague descriptions of The Living Lands.
So, I did get new informations about Avowed:
- fully open world, much much larger than Skyrim (very differently “larger”, more proper word would be “denser” and “more contrasted” at the same time)
- primarily set in the The Living Lands region of Eora (not sure if it’ll go like that as explicit later on, but that was starting point)
- big focus on world-reactivity, lighting and next-gen AI systems and physics (special focus on physics with magic systems - have no clue what would that mean)
- realtime whether system (don’t have full details but fog is very important as realtime element, rivers will have specific micro physics systems regarding this)
- very advanced character creation tool (didn’t get more info)
- mod support (for now PC is/will be very dominant as creation tool, but I’ll be playable fully on Xbox)
- very large number of fractions but very different approach than with Skyrim
- you’ll be able to have companions (different than Outer Worlds)
- storyset: fight against incoming threat of tyranny (independent from previous stories)
- game has bosses planned and some of them are very very large
- Gods will have special say in the game
- great focus on iconic landmarks, statues and buildings
- two large cities planned with many smaller ones with strong focus on contrasting wild-areas, rivers, mountains and desolated areas (yes, you’ll be able to swim)
- fully respecting POE creatures lore with new additions
- dynamic presentation of dialogue
- for now idea is to keep “you can kill everyone in the game” option
- around 100 people are on the project for 2y (smaller number for 7m of preproduction), in total 2y 7m
- full production is already a thing
- team will still grow
- target date: late 2022/early 2023
Keep in mind that some parts of this can change during the development process.