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[Jigsaah]

So I said I would give it a shot. I was initially pretty hyped from the CGI teaser Xbox released as it felt like this was going to be Obsidian's take on TES V: Skyrim. Let just take a look at the CGI trailer for reference.



One could understand why I might feel like I did about this upcoming game. The atmosphere was dark, deeply serious and promised a dire situation at it's core. I was here for it.

Fast forward to the release now...let just take a quick look at what Avowed has become



I mean...where did all this fucking color come from? I thought Avowed was supposed to be this medieval, dirty, gritty unforgiving environment. I look at the original trailer, I'm thinking some real shit is about to go down.

And then I played it....and I couldn't help but feel like somewhere along the line, the original story was scrapped, the combat was redone and the game's situation amounted to little more than Skyrim: Candyland edition.

I won't go into detail for those who still want to experience for themselves...but Avowed is a massive disappointment for me. It leads me to believe that I can't really trust what I see from some Xbox first party games as they are announced. Instead always thinking things are going to have a paradigm shift mid-development that ruins the vision that garnered players' attention in the first place.

 

[Sooner]

I'm surprised anyone ever expected more than a high 70s low 80s game with this.

 

[Astray]

I can't speak about the gameplay because I didn't play it, but the artstyle change completely turned me off the game.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Modern audience likes their pinks, blues and purples.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I mean...where did all this fucking color come from?

Didn't you see all the other trailers?

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

My issue with this game is the missing german VO.
Its 2025 and Microsoft is the publisher. Why are there no multiple VOs for all the different languages?

 

[LectureMaster]

Well, you know I poke fun at my man adamsapple for a living but this time nope, I don't think Xbox had much of influence on the creative decisions on their first party studios. It's obsidian themselves.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Skyrim: Candyland edition.

You got your Netflix Original Films™ version of Skyrim. Perfect for a rental service.

Well, according to a reviewer of the game, that is.

 

[jakinov]

This is why you shouldn't show games until closer to release shit changes. A lot can change in 4 years of development. The first year or two you could even still be planning on what you are building.

 

[adamsapple]

I mean...where did all this fucking color come from?

Did you somehow miss all the other trailers and footage shown between the announcement trailer and now?

How did this change caught you by surprise *now*.

 

[kikii]

My issue with this game is the missing german VO.
Its 2025 and Microsoft is the publisher. Why are there no multiple VOs for all the different languages?

VoiceOrgasm ?

 

[Jigsaah]

Did you somehow miss all the other trailers and footage shown between the announcement trailer and now?

How did this change caught you by surprise *now*.

No, I saw them, but I thought it was just a slice...not the whole frickin game. Like...the dungeons are bright and colorful. Everybody is a fucking mushroom or a furry. How did it come to this?

I'm doing quests that talks about abortion...like come on man.

 

[Shits_McGiggles]

ID software is the only Microsoft studio I have any confidence in right now.
Microsoft needs to hire more East Asian studios if they want more games that won’t turn out to be mediocre slop at best.

 

[Punished Miku]

It leads me to believe that I can't really trust what I see from some Xbox first party games as they are announced. Instead always thinking things are going to have a paradigm shift mid-development that ruins the vision that garnered players' attention in the first place.

I think building up all the teams and releases from the Xbox One debacle really did take longer than people wanted to admit. To me, it seemed like a unique set of circumstances where they had to move and start selling their console even if the games weren't ready to show. They had to put out several very early CG trailers.

I really don't see that situation ever happening again honestly. By all accounts, they have their pipeline of releases in fantastic shape now. Games are starting to come out regularly. They really won't even have anything like a console launch again that needs rushed CG trailers so your worry doesn't make much sense honestly.

Hellblade 2 turned out about like it looked in the initial reveal. Perfect Dark is taking shape. Really the only one left that is from that far out is Everwild, and that could definitely change completely. That's really the only one it makes any sense to wonder about it looking different.

 

[DenchDeckard]

You got your Netflix Original Films™ version of Skyrim. Perfect for a rental service.

Well, according to a reviewer of the game, that is.

Nailed it. Is it a one off or is the fears of many true that gamepass will turn games into netflix tv series budget versions of games.

I am not sure i am 100 percent convinced it is gamepass fault or that the western gaming industry is so fubared no one can really risk making these games with a Sony first party budget a la last of us 2 anymore. I think its both and that over the next 5 years we are going to see games regress.

 

[Magic Carpet]

They have only 2 future games left in the arsenal. Fable and Perfect Dark. Then the Series generation ends.
2 more games and Xbox can go on the shelf next to the Dreamcast.

 

[Solarstrike]

Give the game a try. If you liked Skyrim or Elder Scrolls series, it's worth a go. I'm trying to figure how to remove the purple from the arrow shot. I'm keeping an eye on Avowed mods on Nexus there's some decent mods already. Overall, it's a unique game imho. Really cool atmosphere. I did set my FOV to 100, that seems to help with immersion

 

[Sephimoth]

When it was first shown it looked great. Then someone switched the colour palette to rainbow, trying to entice the zoomers. I immediately lost interest.

 

[T4keD0wN]

How was the combat redone, they havent shown a damn thing in the reveal?

The game is overall the same in tone as Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire, but in 1st/3rd person, whatd you expect from a sequel?

 

[MiguelItUp]

I don't think there's much to worry about as the game looked pretty mid-average at best when they first revealed it. I mean, sure, things can improve, but it looked like a lot of the core content was already present at the time.

Did you somehow miss all the other trailers and footage shown between the announcement trailer and now?

How did this change caught you by surprise *now*.

Yeah, none of it felt surprising to me. I mean, they showed quite a bit upfront and throughout development.

 

[RedC]

ID software is the only Microsoft studio I have any confidence in right now.
Microsoft needs to hire more East Asian studios if they want more games that won’t turn out to be mediocre slop at best.

 

[Ozriel]

So I said I would give it a shot. I was initially pretty hyped from the CGI teaser Xbox released as it felt like this was going to be Obsidian's take on TES V: Skyrim. Let just take a look at the CGI trailer for reference.



One could understand why I might feel like I did about this upcoming game. The atmosphere was dark, deeply serious and promised a dire situation at it's core. I was here for it.

Fast forward to the release now...let just take a quick look at what Avowed has become



I mean...where did all this fucking color come from? I thought Avowed was supposed to be this medieval, dirty, gritty unforgiving environment. I look at the original trailer, I'm thinking some real shit is about to go down.

And then I played it....and I couldn't help but feel like somewhere along the line, the original story was scrapped, the combat was redone and the game's situation amounted to little more than Skyrim: Candyland edition.

I won't go into detail for those who still want to experience for themselves...but Avowed is a massive disappointment for me. It leads me to believe that I can't really trust what I see from some Xbox first party games as they are announced. Instead always thinking things are going to have a paradigm shift mid-development that ruins the vision that garnered players' attention in the first place.

OP has posts from 2023 and 2024 talking about Avowed gameplay videos that clearly detail the change in art direction from the announcement trailer, but wants us to believe the release came as a surprise.

fibbing over videogames for ‘likes’ is just plain weird.

 

[Jigsaah]

Give the game a try. If you liked Skyrim or Elder Scrolls series, it's worth a go. I'm trying to figure how to remove the purple from the arrow shot. I'm keeping an eye on Avowed mods on Nexus there's some decent mods already.

I bought the early access for 22 bucks and been playing all weekend. The game is so....safe. So politically correct. It has no edge. No grit, no overarching danger really. It tries, but it just doesn't bring it home.

 

[Jigsaah]

Didn't you see all the other trailers?

Yea I did. As I said to adamsapple . What we saw was a slice...I've played the game...it's everpresent in every aspect of the game. It's like the devs were afraid of the dark or something. Everything is so...light hearted.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Nailed it. Is it a one off or is the fears of many true that gamepass will turn games into netflix tv series budget versions of games.

I am not sure i am 100 percent convinced it is gamepass fault or that the western gaming industry is so fubared no one can really risk making these games with a Sony first party budget a la last of us 2 anymore. I think its both and that over the next 5 years we are going to see games regress.

Seems like a western (US mainly) issue at the moment. The Asian east and eastern Europe are going to be eating well.

I mean look at this coming up game. The attention to detail, the fluid animations in combat, the insane physics shaders on clothing/gear and the environmental interaction. This looks "next-gen."

Spoiler

Very cinematic and looks so much more advanced than the slop these western studios have been pumping out.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Did you somehow miss all the other trailers and footage shown between the announcement trailer and now?

How did this change caught you by surprise *now*.

Gotten to

 

[Solarstrike]

The game is so....safe. So politically correct. It has no edge. No grit, no overarching danger really. It tries, but it just doesn't bring it home.

Fair enough. I haven't gotten that far just made it to the first city.

 

[Pedro Motta]

Gamepass devalues games and the industry as a whole. Who would have thought.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Modern audience likes their pinks, blues and purples.

They like Fortnite.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Seems like a western (US mainly) issue at the moment. The Asian east and eastern Europe are going to be eating well.

I mean look at this coming up game. The attention to detail, the fluid animations in combat, the insane physics shaders on clothing/gear and the environment.

Spoiler

Very cinematic and looks so much more advanced than the slop these western studios have been pumping out.

Totally agree. Hopefully the west pulls it back around and starts showing us games that are truly exciting.

I would pass on good acted out cutscenes with motion tracking to have physics and animations while PLAYING like the game you showed.

 

[FrankWza]

Op is going in alphabetical order

 

[XXL]

Nailed it. Is it a one off or is the fears of many true that gamepass will turn games into netflix tv series budget versions of games.

I am not sure i am 100 percent convinced it is gamepass fault or that the western gaming industry is so fubared no one can really risk making these games with a Sony first party budget a la last of us 2 anymore. I think its both and that over the next 5 years we are going to see games regress.

Ask yourself this.

Will Netflix make a movie with the production values of Infinity War or Endgame?

Now, that doesn't mean everything that isn't high production isn't good. Some of my favorite movies are smaller scale movies, but gaming isn't 1:1 with that medium so its not going to translate as well consistently.

There is a wide difference between Elden Ring and some small scale indie game made by a few people. In movies that gap can be made smaller with some smart people behind the production, good performances and good writing.

 

[Sooner]

Gamepass devalues games and the industry as a whole. Who would have thought.

Luckily, it failed and they will be forced to make games good enough to sell on PlayStation, not just good enough to keep you from unsubscibing to overpriced GamePass rental service.

 

[Buggy Loop]

Colors, in a fantasy?

 

[Sooner]

Colors, in a fantasy?

It's not supposed to be a homosexual fantasy.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Modern audience likes their pinks, blues and purples.

Who wouldn’t want to delve into a medieval fantasy world that looks like a gay disco?

 

[saintjules]

I never understood the hype that this game got from the CGI reveal trailer. Now you see the game looks nothing remotely close to it.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Totally agree. Hopefully the west pulls it back around and starts showing us games that are truly exciting.

I would pass on good acted out cutscenes with motion tracking to have physics and animations while PLAYING like the game you showed.

Spoiler: Enjoy!

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/crimson-desert-releases-2025-the-game-awards-2025.1678438/

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

This has been MS's modus operandi since Crackdown 3, or one can even argue since Fable 3. Aesthetics aren't the issue; it's their quality and overall execution.

 

[Jigsaah]

Colors, in a fantasy?

Nah man, you don't understand. It's pervasive. The announcement trailer promises dark medieval fantasy. Avowed is like if Skyrim had been spliced with Teletubbies.

 

[Punished Miku]

Ask yourself this.

Will Netflix make a movie with the production values of Infinity War or Endgame?

Now, that doesn't mean everything that isn't high production isn't good. Some of my favorite movies are smaller scale movies, but gaming isn't 1:1 with that medium so its not going to translate as well consistently.

There is a wide difference between Elden Ring and some small scale indie game made by a few people. In movies that gap can be made smaller with some smart people behind the production, good performances and good writing.

Xbox really only has a handful of studios that are even aiming for the top edges of AAA. It has nothing to do with the subscription. The only ones really even capable of that are going to be Playground, Ninja Theory and The Coalition. They aren't like Sony, and they have mostly AA studios. Obsidian is like the dictionary definition of a AA studio. They had multiple Kickstarter games even. Their biggest games prior to Outer World were essentially large mods of KOTOR and Fallout 3. Fable and Gears are going to be the gaming equivalent of Endgame, but that's about it. Indiana Jones was pretty close as well. You guys are making up this narrative in your head honestly. The fact that Obsidian even managed to release a full RPG on Unreal 5 is honestly more than I would have expected from them graphically.

 

[RedC]

Gamepass devalues games and the industry as a whole. Who would have thought.

I would argue the sheer volume of games being released and the constant access to new and old titles has led to oversaturation, which has ultimately devalued games.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Ask yourself this.

Will Netflix make a movie with the production values of Infinity War or Endgame?

Now, that doesn't mean everything that isn't high production isn't good. Some of my favorite movies are smaller scale movies, but gaming isn't 1:1 with that medium so its not going to translate as well consistently.

There is a wide difference between Elden Ring and some small scale indie game made by a few people. In movies that gap can be made smaller with some smart people behind the production, good performances and good writing.

I can definitely enjoy a netflix movie very much but I don't expect it to have an endgame budget.

I don't think cinema can afford to have an endgame budget now and marvel slop is failing at the cinema.

Its like these entertainment companies have all flown too close to the sun and are struggling to capture the magic of ten years ago.

I don't know what the cause is. Maybe covid fucked everything and gave these western "culture" warriors too much of an opening to taint the well.

Will it ever recover? Who knows.

For me personally, the Japanese / east are serving me with the things I personally enjoy, so I feel like I'm in my teens again and it's the us and uk who are out of touch with what those with a more invested interest in this medium enjoy.

Just keep feeding those taylor swift fans the slop they will digest and move on from.

 

[Kacho]

 

[DeepEnigma]

This has been MS's modus operandi since Crackdown 3, or one can even argue since Fable 3. Aesthetics aren't the issue; it's their quality and overall execution.

Aesthetics can be a reflection of that overall execution. At least that's the trend we're seeing.

Considering it's an art-based medium.

 

[Buggy Loop]

It's not supposed to be a homosexual fantasy.

Imagine being that insecure that colors have a sexuality. What are you, 12? Such alpha males, afraid to being seen playing a game that has colors.

How did any of you survive jRPGs, or BG3, PoE, or any 70's D&D fantasy art.

 

[Dorfdad]

So I said I would give it a shot. I was initially pretty hyped from the CGI teaser Xbox released as it felt like this was going to be Obsidian's take on TES V: Skyrim. Let just take a look at the CGI trailer for reference.



One could understand why I might feel like I did about this upcoming game. The atmosphere was dark, deeply serious and promised a dire situation at it's core. I was here for it.

Fast forward to the release now...let just take a quick look at what Avowed has become



I mean...where did all this fucking color come from? I thought Avowed was supposed to be this medieval, dirty, gritty unforgiving environment. I look at the original trailer, I'm thinking some real shit is about to go down.

And then I played it....and I couldn't help but feel like somewhere along the line, the original story was scrapped, the combat was redone and the game's situation amounted to little more than Skyrim: Candyland edition.

I won't go into detail for those who still want to experience for themselves...but Avowed is a massive disappointment for me. It leads me to believe that I can't really trust what I see from some Xbox first party games as they are announced. Instead always thinking things are going to have a paradigm shift mid-development that ruins the vision that garnered players' attention in the first place.

At this point I expect all their titles to be MID 75-80’s going forward.

 

[Jigsaah]

This has been MS's modus operandi since Crackdown 3, or one can even argue since Fable 3. Aesthetics aren't the issue; it's their quality and overall execution.

I think it's more than this honestly. Something deeply wrong has happened. How do get from that original vision, to this final product. It's not just execution. There had to be some real conversation on how they were gonna flesh this out and everything veered in this soft ass direction.

 

[mayham2199]

I can't speak about the gameplay because I didn't play it, but the artstyle change completely turned me off the game.

I just don't understand why they did it. POE never had colors like this. It was always a very dark and depressing world.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

They like Fortnite.

Seems so. I don't play it so I don't know what colors that game has.