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Avowed is less like Skyrim, more like Fallout New Vegas, Obsidian says

https://www.pcgamesn.com/avowed/skyrim-fallout-new-vegas

This, arguably, is where Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas are different. In terms of sheer size, the Mojave Wasteland may be smaller, but it’s packed more densely with encounters, occurrences, quests, and ambient activities. Similarly, Obsidian wants to create RPGs where everything you do, whether it’s guided by the developer or totally of your own accord, informs the greater narrative and experience. Can an RPG world be too big? Is there such a thing as wasted space? Avowed is seemingly driven by a different kind of design, where quantity is not always superior to cohesion.


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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
I never played New Vegas, but this sounds fine to me. I'm playing Pillars of Eternity 1 now actually to try and catch up, and the writing and lore are pretty solid.

I do think a lot of the battles are boring though, so we'll see if they can combine that with an action RPG. Definitely an interesting setting once you get into it a little bit.

Looking at those Gifs how anyone is disputing this is AAA I don't know, very impressive.
The environments look phenomenal. NPCs, lip sync and spell effects need a little work. I honestly don't think Obsidian has ever made a AAA game, and I'd consider this somewhere around the top end of AA personally. They're keeping the scope manageable and not overspending on hyper realistic faces and animations.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Was just mentioning in another thread that I hoped Avowed would aim for that magical Skyrim -feeling but I guess not. Hype deflated 😔 Game still looks awesome though 🙌
 
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Variahunter

Member
I never played New Vegas, but this sounds fine to me. I'm playing Pillars of Eternity 1 now actually to try and catch up, and the writing and lore are pretty solid.

I do think a lot of the battles are boring though, so we'll see if they can combine that with an action RPG. Definitely an interesting setting once you get into it a little bit.


The environments look phenomenal. NPCs, lip sync and spell effects need a little work. I honestly don't think Obsidian has ever made a AAA game, and I'd consider this somewhere around the top end of AA personally. They're keeping the scope manageable and not overspending on hyper realistic faces and animations.
It's AAA. It's more like the previous AAA from the PS360 generation have evolved into AAAA or even AAAAA today. Bigger, much better graphics and details.
Just look at Skyrim when it launched, a true mastodont in the industry for the time period. Now look at Starfield today, most of the game feels dated.
Keep in mind that the most costly thing to produce in a game is animation.
Hence why most 3D indie games are first person.

MS strategy is to put a constant flow of games in the near future, and that's why most of their games are first person (shooters most of the time). Less time consuming and way less expensive games to produce. Even with dialogue with NPCs, no cinematics are needed, all the interaction is done in static first person.
 

schaft0620

Member
They need to stop talking about this game ASAP because it looks nothing like Skyrim or like Fallout and they should do nothing to evoke that.
 

Raven77

Member
I am 100% certain that this is going to feel A LOT like the last Dragon Age Inquisition.

Smaller but visually interesting game world.

Combat that leaves a bit too be desired.

Good but convoluted story.

Some strange/half baked gameplay mechanics.

Jank.

Will be fun to revisit this post after launch and see how right it wrong I am. Now keep in mind, I learned to LOVE Inquisition, so the above is not necessarily me knocking Avowed. Looking forward to it.
 

Laptop1991

Member
Doesn't look like either to me and i love both Skyrim and New Vegas, these PR statements they release make me doubt the game more.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Doesn't look like either to me and i love both Skyrim and New Vegas, these PR statements they release make me doubt the game more.

He doesn't say they want it to look like New Vegas.

He says the structure of the game is more like NV less like Skyrim.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Well that remains to be seen, and Skyrim, New Vegas and Fallout 3 etc all have similar structures anyway

This is the full quote that headline is derived from:


“It’s that middle ground between sandbox and something that’s more curated, and I think we do a good job in striking that balance,” gameplay director Gabe Paramo explains. “For example, there are creatures you might stumble upon in Avowed that you’re maybe not ready for, but perhaps you’ve found an ability that helps you manipulate that creature, and then you get an item. You’ve found something purely through exploration that you can use in other types of encounters. I think New Vegas is also full of those moments where we don’t want to handhold the player, but still, if players have the skills, they can still defeat these moments.”

“I think New Vegas does a wonderful job of building the player experience not just through the critical plan but the side quests and secrets you can discover in the world,” Patel continues. “There’s a really great balance of consistency and variety. You want players to experience novelty and surprise, but also make sure that all these microelements you’re putting together are leading the player towards the same cohesive experience.

“One thing that’s been interesting to see, and as a player I really enjoy it, is that these genre boundaries are more and more fuzzy. You’re coming to the Living Lands and Avowed with a very specific role from the empire, but it’s still up to you to choose how exactly you follow through on that.”
 

Laptop1991

Member
This is the full quote that headline is derived from:
Yeah he is mentioning New Vegas like
Todd Howard was mentioning Skyrim for Starfield, look how that turned out, like i said, wait and see, I'm not seeing NV yet and we can't see the structures yet either
 
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simpatico

Member
This has got to be bait. The character voice overs all sound like modern urbanites. Not clue how that’s supposed to represent some non human fantasy race, but it’s what they used.
 
The Outer Worlds was fine why all the hate?

The problem is that it was sold as a spiritual successor to Fallout New Vegas.

The Outer Worlds, for us, is our spiritual successor to Fallout: New Vegas and having the creators of the Fallout franchise back together, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, is an excellent opportunity. - Brian Hines

So you see, while The Outer Worlds is a fine game on its own, fans were expecting something on the level of Fallout New Vegas. I've got to say that I was one of the fans who fell for it, I bought Outer Worlds simply because Obsidian was making it and Fallout New Vegas was mentioned in the interviews.

Apparently they are using the same marketing tactic with Avowed.
 

Vlodril

Member
Super doubtful. If it is more like New Vegas they did an atrocious job in showcasing it. What makes New Vegas special is the quality of the writing and the quests (factions too). Multiple endings etc. Hopefully they will showcase that more if indeed is what they are going for.
 

Filben

Member
I could do without open world right now, especially since BG3 shows how you can do a complex cRPG without it being open world. But when it comes to complex RPG mechanics, meaningful choices and their consequences like in New Vegas, I'm good with that! I'm also probably the only user on this board who really liked Outer Worlds so I'd be fine with the game being more like OW, too. Actually, anything but Skyrim would be good.
 
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