AVOWED

Obsidian's next RPG goes all in on first-person action

- Ted Litchfield  

A vowed has been at the top of my own, personal most wanted list since that first pre-rendered trailer back in 2020. A first-person, more immersive take on the world of Eora I’ve loved so much since first playing Pillars of Eternity always sounded like just the thing for me.

While we still have plenty of gaps in our knowledge of this RPG, even as its planned release this fall draws near, a recent developer showcase and conversation with Avowed director Carrie Patel and gameplay director Gabe Paramo have given us a clearer picture than ever before of this RPG.

Avowed takes place in Eora’s Living Lands, a northern frontier previously only represented by lore tidbits and potential character backgrounds in the Pillars of Eternity games. You’re cast as an emissary of the Aedyr Empire, sent to investigate some kind of metaphysical sickness that, going off the trailers and Avowed’s cover art, manifests as some kind of glowy fungus.

I asked if this was a prequel or sequel to the Pillars of Eternity games, but that seems to be a revelation Obsidian’s saving for later. Patel explained that Avowed will “have some recognizable touch points and a few recognizable characters for returning fans, but you don’t have to have any familiarity or experience with Pillars 1 or Deadfire to enjoy Avowed ”. 

You’ll be creating your own character, but rather than Pillars’ spread of six races, you’re limited to humans or elves. The lore explanation is that Aedyr was formed of an alliance between these two most vanilla of fantasy species, but in another recent interview with IGN, Patel explained that short kings in particular just wouldn’t play nice with Avowed’s new perspective.