Finally, Obsidian released something more substantial than a few screens of their upcoming RPG Avowed in the form of a game trailer, and a deep-dive. And what can I say? Well, I can’t say that I feel any kind of hype whatsoever, since going by the footage presented it looks like a fantasy version of The Outer Worlds. That game was one of the biggest disappointments coming from Obsidian Entertainment ever, considering some legendary names were attached to it, like Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky.
Beyond the incredibly stale corporate presentation filled with fake excitement, the game looks and feels incredibly generic with oversaturated colors and very floaty combat, that best reminds me of Skyrim. One of the funniest parts of the trailer is when they show that you can freeze enemies, so you can smash them to bits while frozen, and then act like this is some new and cool innovative gameplay mechanic. Never seen that before.
Another thing I found amusing during the gameplay trailer, was their so-called Obsidian trademark dialogue choice & consequence (C&C) system – and it comes off as so incredibly mundane with some questionable voice direction. This whole demonstration feels like it was made in a bubble, cut off from any other games released for at least ten years. It’s like we are witnessing a project from the past being presented in our time.
The Directors
Going by the names attached to the game it doesn’t give me any confidence either. Carrie Patel as the Game Director and Gabe Paramo as the Gameplay Director. Let’s go with Carrie Patel first. She is connected to the blandest of bland when it comes to story and setting for anything Obsidian. She has worked on games like Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, and the dreaded The Outer Worlds. No RPG wonders exactly. While I didn’t loathe the Pillars games, the writing was just so dull, with absolutely zero flair attached to it. It never got the intrigue flowing, everything from the main quest to the sidequest was just a boring slog filled with massive uninteresting exposition dumps.
Then we have Gabe Paramo. Boy, he must have been falling upwards. His track record isn’t something you want to hang on the Christmas tree. There is nothing that stands out, and he is mostly credited as a programmer for the titles he has worked on. I’m unsure why they gave him the role of game director. To foster new talents within the company? Who knows?
I’m not saying new people or inexperienced people can’t make great things, but these are neither new nor inexperienced. They have worked in the industry for years and basically produced nothing of interest, which means Avowed, with some certainty, will suffer the same fate as their other games – a boring bland mess. I think Obsidian Entertainment is dead as we know it. They have been shedding all the legendary talent they used to have, and those who still work there seem to have dropped their mojo. Oh well, it seems Avowed will be nothing more than Microsoft Game Pass bait if they don’t suddenly shift the whole direction to something much more exciting.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Blog 