Eternity Avowed - Obsidian's first person action-RPG in the Pillars of Eternity setting

[Dark Souls II]

The writing overall would be more tolerable if Obsidian would just knock it off with every women being a girl boss. Deadfire overdid it and Avowed is no better. Who's the one pulling this shit? Carrie? Kate?

STOP!!!

"The writing would be better if Obsidian would just..."

No, no it wouldn't and no it won't.

Can we PLEASE stop pretending any of the writing decisions are made organically for creative reasons? Obsidian is owned by Microsoft. This is Microsoft's "Product Inclusion Hub" for game devs:

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/resources/productinclusion/

It contains very clear writing guidelines. You WILL have girlboss mary sue female heroes. You WILL have tons of niggers. Women WILL be ugly. Titties WILL be small. All men WILL be faggots.

I'm sick of you niggers pretending these things are real games. These are propaganda programs that you not only willingly soak in, some you are retarded enough to actually pay for it. And then you ask "oh gee I wonder why the writing not so good? Maybe next time writing better?" NO NIGGER. THIS IS WHAT YOU GET. ENJOY YOUR ZOGSLOP, GOYCATTLE.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I agree any next-level game will have to out-skyrim Skyrim. But that would take Pyramids of Giza levels of slavery.

I'm confused why anyone would think this.

Skyrim was not an especially expensive game to make. The core team was around 100 people (nothing compared to modern teams), none of the systems are especially complex or deep (one of the primary criticisms of it in fact), and content creation has only gotten easier since then. The game doesn't have mo-capped cutscenes, dialogue is functional and to the point, there's virtually no 'set pieces' of any kind (just the opening). It doesn't feature complicated quests or C&C, and the world is not especially big. There's only a few dozen enemy types and a handful of dungeon tilesets.

What it does have is content out the wazoo and the complete freedom to explore it however the player wants. In fact there are multi-hour video essays on Youtube decrying the 10 minute opening cart ride and dragon attack sequence as unforgivable restrictions on player agency that ruin the entire experience.

The only plausible reason why companies don't try to make more Skyrims is they don't want to. Modern game devs are all storyfags who view themselves as artists and movie directors. They don't want to create emergent systems and player-driven world design, they want emotional drama that wins awards and "makes the player cry at the credits."

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Skyrim was shit. Shit combat, shit writing, shit exploration, shit skill trees/RPG elements, shit C&C, shit graphics and physics, shit puzzles. You can't point to a single element of Skyrim and demonstrate that it's good. Most people get most of gameplay out of Skyrim via installing extensive lists of 200+ mods, only to realize 100 hours later it's still shit.

So yeah, other than the modding thing, I don't see why Afouled is not a worthy successor to Skyrim.

 

[VelothianWanderer]

The incompetence in the industry is just staggering. Ultima V had NPC schedules back in the 80s, solo devs were coding whole games in assembly (Rollercoaster Tycoon) in the 90s. Now you have studios with tens/hundreds of employees, years of dev time and backing of one of the wealthiest companies in the world and all they can come up with is off-the-shelf engine, static, noninteractive world, sweet farting visuals and teenage girl fanfic writing. And the worst thing is, such occurrence doesn't even come as a surprise anymore. You see a game announced from a "veteran" studio, and you immediately expect it to be mediocre at best and absolute dogshit at worst.

You played RPG games 20 years ago and couldn't wait to see how they'd improve and expand them in the future as technology improves. Fast-forward 20 years later, and you're praying that the next game will at least come somewhat close to the one made 2 decades earlier. Clown world.

It's sad how right you are. I felt the same way about 4x and RTS games. I used to imagine what Civ could look like. Maybe actual government systems with factions and heirs? Maybe economic systems with some level of interaction. Better AI. Customizable units a la Alpha Centauri. Instead we get Civ 7 with less features than what we had in Civ 4 -- no colonies, no vassals, no modern age (lmao), no future age, can't zoom out to see the entire planet, no corporations, etc.

 

[luj1]

Skyrim was shit. Shit combat, shit writing, shit exploration, shit skill trees/RPG elements, shit C&C, shit graphics and physics, shit puzzles. You can't point to a single element of Skyrim and demonstrate that it's good. Most people get most of gameplay out of Skyrim via installing extensive lists of 200+ mods, only to realize 100 hours later it's still shit.

So yeah, other than the modding thing, I don't see why Afouled is not a worthy successor to Skyrim.

 

[Infinitron]

I agree any next-level game will have to out-skyrim Skyrim. But that would take Pyramids of Giza levels of slavery.

I'm confused why anyone would think this.

Skyrim was not an especially expensive game to make. The core team was around 100 people (nothing compared to modern teams), none of the systems are especially complex or deep (one of the primary criticisms of it in fact), and content creation has only gotten easier since then. The game doesn't have mo-capped cutscenes, dialogue is functional and to the point, there's virtually no 'set pieces' of any kind (just the opening). It doesn't feature complicated quests or C&C, and the world is not especially big. There's only a few dozen enemy types and a handful of dungeon tilesets.

What it does have is content out the wazoo and the complete freedom to explore it however the player wants. In fact there are multi-hour video essays on Youtube decrying the 10 minute opening cart ride and dragon attack sequence as unforgivable restrictions on player agency that ruin the entire experience.

The only plausible reason why companies don't try to make more Skyrims is they don't want to. Modern game devs are all storyfags who view themselves as artists and movie directors. They don't want to create emergent systems and player-driven world design, they want emotional drama that wins awards and "makes the player cry at the credits."

Making a Skyrim with Bethesda's engine isn't hard. Making it with the Unreal Engine may be impossible.

This isn't just a story about evil woke writing teams. It's also about upper management in the gaming industry who prioritized content creation over engine infrastructure development for years and years.

That's why the big untold story of Larian's success is where the hell the Divinity: Original Sin engine came from when we first saw it in 2012. Who made that, how long did it take and how did they pay for it?

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

I agree any next-level game will have to out-skyrim Skyrim. But that would take Pyramids of Giza levels of slavery.

I'm confused why anyone would think this.

Skyrim was not an especially expensive game to make. The core team was around 100 people (nothing compared to modern teams), none of the systems are especially complex or deep (one of the primary criticisms of it in fact), and content creation has only gotten easier since then. The game doesn't have mo-capped cutscenes, dialogue is functional and to the point, there's virtually no 'set pieces' of any kind (just the opening). It doesn't feature complicated quests or C&C, and the world is not especially big. There's only a few dozen enemy types and a handful of dungeon tilesets.

What it does have is content out the wazoo and the complete freedom to explore it however the player wants. In fact there are multi-hour video essays on Youtube decrying the 10 minute opening cart ride and dragon attack sequence as unforgivable restrictions on player agency that ruin the entire experience.

The only plausible reason why companies don't try to make more Skyrims is they don't want to. Modern game devs are all storyfags who view themselves as artists and movie directors. They don't want to create emergent systems and player-driven world design, they want emotional drama that wins awards and "makes the player cry at the credits."

Alot of open world games outdid Skyrim. Are we just talking in terms of sales?

Best two examples are probably Breath of the Wild + Tears of the Kingdom. Both outdid it in terms of scope, freedom, immersion, physics, etc.

 

[cvv]

The writing overall would be more tolerable if Obsidian would just knock it off with every women being a girl boss.

It's like saying Das Kapital would be fine if Marx tuned down the communism.

You can't separate people from their work and cultural bubble like that. If anyone expected this to be another virtuoso Obsidian masterpiece like Sith Lords, MotB or New Vegas they have NOT been paying attention for the last 10+ years.

Most of the super talented veteran nerds that used to create all those amazing fireworks have left and what replaced them was blue haired, male feminist, talentless nobodies producing insipid mediocre slop that's about as exciting as a bucket of wallpaper paste.

All those people who rate this sludge 8/10 or more have no business reviewing and rating video games. They're the equivalent of dumb fat hogs reviewing restaurants - they just mindlessly devour any rotten garbage, grunting happily and asking for more.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Making it with the Unreal Engine may be impossible.

Very true, I suspect all of the "why is the world so static/lifeless" Avowed complaints are engine related at the core.

Also recall how EA mandated DA Inquisition to use the Battlefield FPS engine for cost reasons.

Still, that doesn't explain how companies fail to copy one of the most successful games of the last two decades. Is every single AAA publisher so shortsighted they can't imagine how to develop their own Creation engine?

That's why the big untold story of Larian's success is where the hell the Divinity: Original Sin engine came from when we first saw it in 2012. Who made that, how long did it take and how did they pay for it?

Another valid point, 5 seconds after BG3 came out every other AAA developer started complaining about how it set an unrealistic standard, because they couldn't ever copy Larian's engine from scratch. But are you going to tell me Larian monopolized every competent engine programmer in the business for ten years?

I really don't think there are many people working in gaming right now who *want* to make these types of games. Pointing to the engine is just an excuse. If one dude using a deprecated freeware garbage-tier engine can make Kenshi; EA, Microsoft, Bioware, etc. have zero excuses.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Alot of open world games outdid Skyrim. Are we just talking in terms of sales?

Best two examples are probably Breath of the Wild + Tears of the Kingdom. Both outdid it in terms of scope, freedom, immersion, physics, etc.

How many? Breath of the Wild has no magic system, just to be clear. It also has no proper skill/leveling system. Yet it still definitely out-RPG'd almost every other RPG recently released, and it was made by japanese for an inferior console to boot.

That just proves my point; why aren't there 10 Breath of the Wilds? Or 20? Why isn't *every* studio making these?

 

[Perkel]

Uhhh decided to play it.

- I like the simple combat system. Has some punch to it. But it feels very robotic.
- initial island was super meh, sure it is tutorial but also initial impression of game.
- ui in menus is great but in actual game it feels like typical modern ui slop
- initial intro to the game is shite. Hurr durr king, hurr durr godlike, AND THE ISLAND !! EMISARY !! (or whatever it is called)
- yellow ropes lol i despite that shit


Overall it feels exactly like Other Worlds right now. Let's see if i can bear it longer. I hated OW.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

It's not about engines specifically, it's all tied to the same root: people running these studios now (Obsidian, Bioware, Bethesda, etc) are fucking morons.

If you are a fucking moron, you can't develop a good in-house engine, and won't even try. But you also can't write good plots or dialogue. Or create interesting worlds or gameplay.

The future is indie and central/eastern-Europe/Nippon.

 

[cvv]

If you are a fucking moron, you can't develop a good in-house engine, and won't even try. But you also can't write good plots or dialogue.

Sure. Then again you can be amazing at tweeting about Elon Musk. That must count for something. After all it's the reason you got hired.

 

[Skinwalker]

Skyrim was shit. Shit combat, shit writing, shit exploration, shit skill trees/RPG elements, shit C&C, shit graphics and physics, shit puzzles. You can't point to a single element of Skyrim and demonstrate that it's good. Most people get most of gameplay out of Skyrim via installing extensive lists of 200+ mods, only to realize 100 hours later it's still shit.

So yeah, other than the modding thing, I don't see why Afouled is not a worthy successor to Skyrim.

But Soyer didn't work on this, did he?

 

[Skinwalker]

Uhhh decided to play it.

- I like the simple combat system. Has some punch to it. But it feels very robotic.
- initial island was super meh, sure it is tutorial but also initial impression of game.
- ui in menus is great but in actual game it feels like typical modern ui slop
- initial intro to the game is shite. Hurr durr king, hurr durr godlike, AND THE ISLAND !! EMISARY !! (or whatever it is called)
- yellow ropes lol i despite that shit


Overall it feels exactly like Other Worlds right now. Let's see if i can bear it longer. I hated OW.

Awokexisters:

1. Infinitroon
2. Rougay
3. Yosharian
4. frajaq
5. Perkel

 

[Readher]

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Barely a minute into the game and he runs into an invisible wall. Skyrim this is not. Also wtf is that character creator. I can see why the art director was miserable and wanted to kill himself.

It never was meant to be Skyrim, dumbfuck.

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I don't get why the mainstream still consider something to be beaten. Did they played the game? Like at all? They don't remember any of the player's choice mattering for jack shit? Or the shitty combat, guilds , quests?

 

[AwesomeButton]

Another valid point, 5 seconds after BG3 came out every other AAA developer started complaining about how it set an unrealistic standard, because they couldn't ever copy Larian's engine from scratch. But are you going to tell me Larian monopolized every competent engine programmer in the business for ten years?

The real lesson Swen understood is that making your genre-redefining hit game is a decade-long process (or longer) which involves making a couple of less successful games first. In that time you develop your technology, toolset and the whole production pipeline to perfection.

How many games and how many years it took Todd to get to Skyrim btw?

Meanwhile Feargus was chasing a quick buck to stay afloat with every next title. Feargus and Parker are the Dutch Vanderlinde of RPG development.

 

[Roguey]

Obsidian created Onyx in the 00s but it required a lot of expensive middleware and wasn't worth maintaining beyond South Park.

The majority of the game industry agreed it was simply easier to use Unreal/Unity for everything.

 

[Nelka]

Almost 19h and yeah, dropping this shit. This is abysmal on soooo many levels I am speechless. It is not worth wasting time, the lifespan of the keyboard to talk about this game, and the most important - paying for this crap (good thing I pirated it).

 

[Lodis]

Obsidian made a game that makes people want to play Skyrim instead. Todd must feel vindicated.

 

[Elttharion]

It's already a flop when you see the reception and numbers Kingdom Come 2 is pulling. Microsoft is probably asking themselves why the fuck they are putting money in Obsidian instead of a studio like Warhorse.

If M$ puts money in Warhorse studios, will come with strings attached. So expect that Warhorse studios will hire a lot of chief diversity officers and diversity hires. And that they will openly discriminate against Czech man. They would decline as much as CDPR after ESG.

I really hope that Warhorse studios continue independent. And if needs to be sold, sell to Tencent.

Yeah Microsoft would force Warhorse to include gay romance options, imaginary black people and jews lecturing you and calling you a goy. Its much better that they remain independent, I agree.

 

[Elttharion]

A number of people seem to be enjoying the combat and exploration.

Anywhere else this might've been seen as an extremely mild take. Not on codex, apparently.

This just look like this but single player and in first person lmao

 

[Desiderius]

A number of people seem to be enjoying the combat and exploration.

Anywhere else this might've been seen as an extremely mild take. Not on codex, apparently.

This just look like this but single player and in first person lmao

The saddest thing about the picture is the thousands of hours it took not only to know what every bit of that information means but to prioritize it at a glance.

Flying a Concorde in a hurricane would be less formidable than mastering that layout.

 

[Naraya]

A number of people seem to be enjoying the combat and exploration.

Anywhere else this might've been seen as an extremely mild take. Not on codex, apparently.

This just look like this but single player and in first person lmao

Oh my god, this is from Avowed? I hate this kind of combat so much.