Summary
It’s been revealed thatAvowedplayers will only be able to create humans or elves as their playable characters. First revealed in 2020,Avowedis the newest fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, the acclaimed studio behind hit RPGs likeFallout: New Vegas,Pillars of Eternity,andThe Outer Worlds.
Having shown up at Xbox’s recent Developer Direct,Avowedcame out with new gameplay footage and details, highlighting some of what players can expect from the RPG’s combat and storytelling when it launches this Fall. The trailer showcased several different weapon combinations, such as dual-wielding magic wands, flintlock pistols, and the traditional sword and shield. It even debutedone ofAvowed’s main regions,Shatterscarp, as well as some of the side quest characters players can encounter there. Several days later, an extended segment ofAvowedwent live on the Xbox Podcast where the project leads spilled even more details about the game, including two of the companions, Kai and Giatta, as well as some of the magic combos players can make creative use of in combat.
One system that was omitted from the bigAvowedblowout were details of the game’s character creator. Unfortunately, players will be limited to two races when creating their characters: humans and elves. SinceAvowedis set in thePillars of Eternityuniverse, this may be puzzling to many fans of the franchise, asPillarsoffers many more unique and interesting races to play as.In an interview with IGN,Avowed’s game director Carrie Patel has offered fans some insight into the team’s decision to feature only humans and elves in the character creator. Patel cited the fact that inAvowed’s story, the player hails fromPillars of Eternity’s Aedyr Empire, which mainly consists of humans and elves.
Carrie Patel brought up another valid reason for this character creator decision, this timehaving to do withAvowed’s combat. Mentioning how thePillars of Eternitygames are isometric, Patel pointed out how the birds-eye camera perspective made it much easier for the developers to implement different sized player characters and races. Seeing thatAvowedis a first person game, Patel expressed that the team would’ve had to adjust the combat specifically for each of the different races, as the camera placement and combat hit registration would have to be different for each one. Patel added that humans and elves are the same size in thePillarsuniverse, thus making it easier on the dev team to make the combat feel right. Paired with the previously mentioned narrative explanation, Patel and theAvowedteam seem to be making the right call.
You have aumaua and then you have humans and elves who are at roughly the same scale, and then you have orlans and dwarves who are quite a bit smaller…in first person, you’re adjusting the height of the player character’s capsule and sort of where their weapons are relative to enemies and how their hits land…not that any of these things are impossible to solve, but you’re always making choices and choosing your priorities.
When Can Fans Expect To Learn More About Avowed?
Fans still have yet to seeAvowed’s character creator in action. With a Fall 2024 release window, it seems more than likely that Obsidian’s fantasy RPG will show face at Xbox’s expected summer showcase; perhaps that’s whenAvowedcould finally reveal a solid release dateas well.
Avowed
WHERE TO PLAY
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger. Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands - an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?
