#obsidian games

[jadenvargen]

i love this game, too awesome:)

[fleshofmensis]

me when burned man joshua graham ,, gnawing at the bars of my enclosure

[crds; i don't remember:( ]

HES SO FIND I WONT HIM

i love joshua graham so much

oh how i wish to play new vegas hh for the first time again

ADGGDHJFFHH BYE

[cappitek]

[kashkadavr]

quick sketch

[pierrotdameron]

[...] As the game begins, your character arrives in a remote corner of the world of Eora called the Living Lands as an envoy of the Aedyr Empire, where you've been sent to investigate a mysterious plague. "Not everybody in the Living Lands is super thrilled to have an imperial presence in this far-flung land," she said. "So adventure ensues."

[...] CEO Feargus Urquhart told me that in scope Avowed is more akin to Obsidian's past RPGs like The Outer Worlds in size than it is a sprawling open world a la Skyrim, though that was actually Obsidian's initial pitch. When the developers sat down and focused on what Obsidian does best—stories and companions, in particular—the more compact scale came naturally.

The way you interact with other characters in Avowed will be similar to The Outer Worlds, where your dialogue options reflect the tone you want to want to use. "We try to hit a sweet spot when we're writing dialogue options where we invest enough personality for those options to be fun and interesting, but also leave enough space around them so that the player can really invest whatever headcanon they built for their character into that option," she said.

Patel wouldn't spill much about Avowed's story, but did give me some of the basics on what form of RPG to expect from Avowed: 

You have an established role as the imperial envoy, but your "personality, appearance, and philosophy and vibe you bring to that role is up to you as a player to decide"

You can play as a human or an elf, but not other races

It's purely singleplayer—no co-op

The world is lightly systemic: think water and lightning interactions, but not the ol' bucket-on-the-head trick

You'll have two companions with you at a time, with their own combat specialties and, of course, personalities

There are several ability trees to progress through, and you won't be locked to a particular class or playstyle

You will level up, but the focus is on unlocking abilities rather than putting points into stats to grow stronger

Early in development, when Obsidian decided to prioritize a story "more focused on depth than breadth," the first-person combat ended up benefitting, too. Patel said that it was an example of a piece of Avowed that was surprisingly fun in their first vertical slice, a time when the team has to decide on what to commit more resources to and what to scale back on. Combat became a key focus, which should be music to the ears of every Elder Scrolls player who's always found the sword-swinging a bit wimpy. "Our combat has come along really, really well, and the bones have been there since the beginning," she said. 

Patel cited a lot of time spent tuning the feel of swinging a sword vs. a mace vs. an axe to make combat feel right, but the options available to players seem like the more significant element at play here. You're free to dual-wield weapons, wield both magic and melee simultaneously, and as in Pillars of Eternity, there are some old timey guns available. When I brought up how bored I am of game loot with imperceptible stat differences from one sword to another, she said that's been on their mind, too. 

"The way we've tried to approach that is erring on the side of fewer but meaningful upgrades. If you're upgrading your weapon from one tier to the next, you should feel the difference. If it's a small number change next to your item name, that's not going to feel as meaningful as going through an upgrade process, trying your weapon again and realizing it's doing a lot more damage. Fewer but more meaningful upgrade tiers."

From today's trailer, magic looks like it could be the bit of Avowed that really gives it its own fantasy flair. There's some excellent hand animation at work when the envoy draws runes in the air to conjure a fireball and later lifts a pulsing void skyward, sending a pile of guards orbiting weightlessly around it. I want a whole lot more of that, and I'm excited that I can mix magic with melee without being railroaded into a class. 

"In most of our games companions have been optional, which I think offers a wonderful degree of choice to players, but it means there's a limit to how deeply you can tie them into the core story. With Avowed we decided companions are going to be core. They're going to be part of the experience. And that means we can invest so much more in them and tie them much more closely, and personally, to the events and the parts of the world the player is encountering."

And can they die? 

This time there was a pause. "You'll have to see," Patel said. Until 2024, then.

[noblefront]

lady salomea from pentiment

[bellonathedragonborn]

Behold: the Bethesda fans Vs the Interplay-Obsidian fans.

I’m not trying to sound mean but these people (like Redviper here) are so ingrained in the Bethesda games they don’t want to acknowledge that Chris, Tim, and Josh established that the NCR is advanced and rebuilt.

I don’t get why they are so die hard to defend a show that is probably going to bulldoze lore those men established. Like yeah the NCR is probably going to collapse. BUT their territory isn’t like ramshackle Diamond City.

[beefy-fridgers]

Pentiment Act II

[mactiir]

forget online personality tests, what would your character select soundbites be if you were a character in a CRPG

[rinzdets]

pls tell me that i'm not the only one who thinks that the hibernation suit is actually hot af

like i mean—

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

When it comes to romance in videogames it's not that I like it any more or less than other mechanics, it's that I feel the need to be a counterweight to long-term gamers who see no value in the mechanic, especially in RPGs.

Obsidian games, for example, are extremely well written. The characters, worldbuilding, and choices are politically and socially multifaceted, but romance hardly ever features as a role-playing choice. You can kill every important npc in your playthrough and the game will compensate for those actions but you can't tell the tetchy fusspot disaster that you love him (in the first game).

Speaking of Aloth, I get the feeling falling for him was generally universal hence why he's romancable in the second game. However, even that was met with opposition. They'll say, "Why does romance matter?" They'll growl, "It's about the lore and worldbuilding!" All while screwing over every political faction in the Deadfire Archipelago to sail away on a ghost ship.

Why does romance matter in RPGs? Why does love matter. Why do relationships matter. Why do connections matter. I think that would be obvious. Why is it less of a role-playing choice for you to imagine your hero and their companion falling in love during a epic journey than killing important npc's? I don't know. I mean, romance mechanics aren't very sophisticated but they are getting better.

(This wasn't a dig at Obsidian, btw, they make very good games that I love).

[fleshofmensis]

holy shit.. mensis talking about something not (directly)bethesda or fromsoft?

I'M SORRY I HAVE TO.. i've been really into mass effect andromeda and the outer worlds lately and i'm so so distraught with all the shit those two games get???

i actually enjoy them both so very much. i just love space games done right .. AHEM.. not starfield. and i'm not sorry for saying that lmao starfield is so dogshit??? ANDROMEDA AND THE OUTER WORLDS IS WHAT STARFIELD COULD HAVE BEEN .. AND THOSE TWO GAMES WERE INCREDIBLY RUSHED FROM WHAT I KNOW, AND THEYRE STILL BETTER

the main problem i'm seeing from everyone with andromeda is like "ohh it's not like the main trilogy" NO SHIT?? ITS A DIFFERENT GAME?? AND THE MC IS NOTHING LIKE SHEPARD AND DOESNT HANDLE THINGS LIKE SHEPARD 😔 poor ryder, bro was just tossed into being pathfinder and is doing the best they can

i will admit, in some places the dialogue can be .. wonky or cringe but oh well?? i think the companion chrs are so personable and fun and likable (except cora.. i wanna throw cora into a volcano) AND THE CHRS ARE SO GOOD OH MY GOD.. i have a few in mind right now that i just ADORE

—

i will throw hands for the outer worlds.. i think it's so so fun and looks great.. esp the salty petty "from the creators of fallout" in their ads UHHH YES? you go obsidian

yeah sure some things are unfinished or not. continued but that's fine? i loved the story and i feel it progressed fine enough. i haven't played the dlcs but i really want to ughhhhh AND THE AFTER END CREDIT SCENE? SOBBED

it's a beautiful game that actually has INHABITED AND FUN TO EXPLORE PLANETS ahem.. STARFIELD TAKE A HINT (sorry i'm so.. i dislike starfield so bad. i feel like i wasted time playing that game lmao)

that's all for now.. might blab about my favorite chrs from andromeda later byeer

[cappitek]

Tier 2 tools is when the game truly kicks off IMO (yes, cause of the molars)

[kashkadavr]

Tasha Farlong, yuan-ti pureblood, spirit shaman

[yourcoffeeguru]

Forgotten Realms NEVERWINTER NIGHTS 2 PC DVD-ROM with Manual by Obsidian ATARI || SWTradePost

[viscerealista]

Someone should organize a tarot-themed pentiment zine i think it could rock