As expected from an Obsidian Entertainment RPG, Avowed looks to be an intriguing entry in the studio’s bread-and-butter genre. Taking place in the same world as The Pillars of Eternity series, Avowed will allow players to enjoy an up-close and personal look at a once-isometric world, witness the impact of previous games’ events, and more thoroughly explore the themes and narrative threads laid out by its predecessors. With Obsidian Entertainment’s reputation for delivering rich, narrative-heavy RPGs, Avowed has understandably been a highly anticipated release since its announcement almost five years ago.
Ahead of Avowed‘s launch, Game Rant spoke with key members of its development team to discuss their approach to gameplay, narrative, characterization, and more. While players will have plenty of companions to befriend and regions to explore, this will all be discovered in the game’s setting: the Living Lands. Avowed Senior Narrative Designer Kate Dollarhyde tells Game Rant that this almost untamed island is one of several elements that represent the game’s core theme.
How the Living Lands, the Characters, and the Pillars of Eternity Franchise Come Together for Avowed’s Story
Like its predecessor, players can once more create a godlike character in Avowed, but attachments to the Pillars of Eternity series go further than RPG character mechanics. Events from the series’ past entries also strongly influence the state of Eora and the players’ adventure. Owing to this chain of events, players step into the role of the Envoy to assist the Aedyran Empire with finding a foothold in the Living Lands. True to its name, the Living Lands is adapting and changing to fend off those who have tried to claim it. Everything in Avowed is “in flux,” to quote Dollarhyde, as the centerpiece of the RPG is the idea of “change.” She elaborates:
“Change is at the heart of Avowed…The events of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire are not yet widely known, but the world is just beginning to feel their effects…The great empires of Eora are in decline. Their colonies are revolting, seeking independence, and becoming powerful forces in their own right. While at home, civil conflicts threaten to erupt into war. New technology in the form of animancy—the science of souls—is broadening the horizons of innovation… and cruelty. The gods, who plan on the scale of centuries, are making moves to secure their relevance and perhaps even their existence.”
Dollarhyde has also explained that the Dreamscourge of the Living Lands came from a desire to explore metaphysical themes in Avowed, following how the Pillars of Eternity games tended to focus on three interwoven story strands that intersect periodically as the story unfolds.
The soul plague covers one piece while political machinations add another layer of drama, and this is underpinned by the story that unfolds through the player’s choices and their companions’ struggles. As players explore the Living Lands and grow familiar with the characters they meet, they may find themselves asking the very questions that represent what Avowed represents, according to Dollarhyde:
“Despite this strife, there exists in the Living Lands a desire to discover, a yearning to connect. Would we be stronger together? Could we grow into something new? How the people of the Livings Lands – and the Envoy – endure change, and the choices they make to survive it, reveals their values. It reveals who they are. Change poses challenges, and no one, least of all the Envoy, comes out of it untouched.”
Considering Obsidian’s track record for designing choice-driven RPGs, the choices players make in Avowed will carry significant weight in its world, and players should prepare to grow alongside their Envoy as they weigh these important decisions. Following this theme of player choice, Obsidian’s approach to gameplay in Avowed affords players the freedom to deeply personalize their character with intermingling skill trees and an arsenal of distinct weapons. Through the details that Obsidian Entertainment has shared in conversations with Game Rant, it’s clear that Avowed embraces change by allowing the Envoy to adapt in any way the player sees fit to tackle the game’s many challenges both narrative and mechanical.
Avowed isn’t on the same massive scale as the largest RPGs to arrive recently—it’s roughly comparable to The Outer Worlds in length—but there’s still plenty of time for players to become immersed in the world and feel the weight behind their actions. As a follow-up to a pair of beloved RPGs that have laid a strong world-building foundation, players can look forward to thought-provoking choices and another captivating world to explore when Avowed releases on February 18 or February 13 for those with early access.
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios