There are a few reasons why Obsidian's situation may not be as bad as it sounds, however. Not only has Microsoft given the studio some much-needed stability, but The Outer Worlds ' commercial success exceeded the financial expectations of publisher Private Divisions . The Outer Worlds is not without its flaws, but with Bethesda otherwise dominating the first-person RPG market, it provided a respite from Bethesda's two main franchises and the long wait for their next installments. While Obsidian's CRPGs sometimes struggled commercially, the studio's penchant for more traditional RPG design also stood out in contrast to games like Fallout 4 , which has often been described as a better shooter than an RPG, even by fans of the Fallout franch

Avowed is set in the Living Lands, an ecologically diverse frontier continent in the north of Eora, the world from Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity CRPGs. The studio will need to work hard to distinguish Avowed 's setting from the competition. There are even reasons this task may be trickier than it was with Pillars of Eternity . However, the Living Lands also offer some unique opportunities Obsidian shouldn't let pass it

Microsoft purchased Obsidian back in 2018, just a few months after the release of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire , giving the studio some stability. Since then Obsidian has undertaken a surprising number of confirmed projects. This includes Avowed , The Outer Worlds 2 , and continuing work on Grounded , the studio's Honey, I Shrunk The Kid s-inspired survival game. Despite Microsoft's backing, two major first-person RPGs and updates for a survival game seems like a lot to handle considering Obsidian's history. This had led many fans to worry that the studio may have bitten off more than it can c

Pillars of Eternity has a fascinating setting. At the time the first game takes place, Eora has settled into its rough equivalent of the early modern era. There are guns, galleons, and even powerful magical explosives in the form of the Godhammer bomb. In contrast, the setting of The Elder Scrolls doesn't seem to have had a major technological development since the Second Era, at least if The Elder Scrolls Online is anything to go by. Leaning into the early modern influences could be a great way for Avowed to differentiate itself, but there's already a prob

Although Avowed appears to be set before Pillars of Eternity - where the player discovers that the gods are man-made - it should still take advantage of its artificial gods as one of the most unique parts of its setting. It is revealed in Pillars of Eternity that people have discovered the true nature of Eora's gods multiple times, usually before their burgeoning atheist movements were crushed by Engwithan inquisitions. Games like Skyrim keep their main plots relatively straightforward. In fact, there's so little ambiguity about the nature of the gods of Tamriel that the Dragonborn literally visits and confirms the existence of the afterlife at the end of Skyrim 's main qu

Avowed Tips is set in the same world as Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity CRPGs . In Pillars of Eternity , some dungeons are not designed to be completed in a single run through. In the first game, for example, players come across the 15 story "mega-dungeon" the Endless Paths of Od Nua, which gets progressively more difficult the further the player descends, requiring them to return throughout the story. Avowed could find success combining elements of Skyrim 's and Pillars of Eternity 's dungeon des

It could be possible for Avowed to find a compromise between the class system found in more traditional RPGs and more accessible ones. Class choice could give the player certain abilities at the start of the game which other classes would have to unlock later, for example, as well as affecting their attack power with certain weapons and spells. Some lighter class systems like this can be found in games like Dark Souls , where classes affect how the player starts the game but doesn't stop them from redirecting their specialties as they play m

With two years having passed and little to no information revealed in that time, most fans expected to at least see a trailer for Metroid Prime 4 . However, it wasn't meant to be at the game only received a mention during the E3 2021 Direct event, confirmation that the game's development was still progressing. Though, unlike previous years, at least the Metroid franchise was back in the spotlight this y

Avowed will see Obsidian Entertainment directly take on The Elder Scrolls ' spot in the RPG market. The upcoming first-person RPG will be set in the fantasy world of Eora first developed for Obsidian's two Pillars of Eternity ga

It's unknown when Square Enix will be ready to talk about Part 2, though with the engine and assets already in place, many feel it won't be quite as long as it was waiting for the first part. While E3 came and went without an update, there are still multiple chances for some sort of reveal in 2021 including major events like Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, though considering Final Fantasy 7 Remake just extended its PlayStation exclusivity for another 6 months, it's more than likely that a trailer will be shown by Sony in an upcoming State of Play digital ev