Avowed, the preview of Obsidian's colossal fantasy
Index
Clues, indiscretions and possibilities The technical perspectives and the solid foundations of an ambitious project Certainties and Doubts Within the Xbox Games Showcase of Microsoft, the role of Avowed, with a somewhat cryptic meaning and to pronounce correctly to avoid jaw problems, was to reassure the public about the existence of Obsidian's blockbuster fantasy for Xbox Series X, an exclusive console RPG put into the hands of a group of veterans of the genre who over the years has accustomed us excellent writing, forcing us to digest more or less obvious technical compromises. From here, returning some time ago, the inevitable excitement arose for the team's entry into the Microsoft Studios group that led us to the announcement of Avowed, the answer to the long-standing question: what could Obsidian do on a budget superior and a different financial management?Clues, indiscretions and possibilities
For the moment of Avowed we have seen a short sequence in computer graphics, perhaps made with assets of play but unable to provide us with clues of a technical nature. However, it gives us various information on what should be a strong piece of the Xbox offer, taking advantage of a rich and consolidated imagination as a foundation. The trailer in fact reveals that in the Eora world, the setting of Pillars of Eternity, while a volley of burning arrows is fired from the wall of a fortress and hits an army of skeletal soldiers. One of the darts, however, penetrates through a pile of walking bones to dive into a deep crack, reaching to illuminate an ancient underground city. And this is where we find the protagonist while holding a weapon and preparing his left hand to cast a spell, revealing a setting that seems to confirm the rumors, the clues and the details of the trailer that refer to titles like Skyrim.Some aspects will no doubt be different, but for now we are pretty quiet, complicit to some sources believed to be reliable, in the riternere Avowed a RPG first-person action thought to tell her, with a certain power, in the world of open world fantasy. Among other things, the leaked information speaking of bosses of large size, with two huge towns and an open world but more populated and less dispersive than that of Skyrim. There is also talk of environmental interaction, artificial intelligence and advanced physics, also functional to the spectacle of the spells of a game that seems to want to take something, at least in the action, even from Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. A big piece in every sense then, at least on paper, according to the rumor, he will not fail us editor of the character articulated and support for the changes, can be created on a PC, but can also be used on the Xbox, pointing to an exit between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.
Among the information gathered there is also the alleged size of a team that currently would count 100 people, but should expand in the course of the two years of development that separate us from the possible launch period. But this is all part of the world of rumor, and of the variables, while some details stand out clearly from the trailer. We talk about huge environments, and respect for an oath which might be worth a crown, and the one that has all the air of being the mission to the glory of a protagonist who is heroic, but we also speak of creatures generated by the sins with tones that also carry the classic RPG Obsidian, an inevitable source of inspiration, a title which, as we have said, rests on the same bases of Pillars of Eternity. The tip, however, is a first-person combat intense, as suggested by the job offers that are published by Obsidian at the end of 2019. It is not said that all relate to the Avowed, but some were admittedly related to the "next big RPG, cross-platform company," which should include dialogues branched, cycle of day/night, cut-scenes and even the third-person combat, with the possibility to choose between this and the first just like in The series The Elder Scrolls. In addition, the ads refer explicitly to the Unreal Engine, which leads us to assume a shift to Unreal Engine 5.
The technical perspectives and the solid foundations for an ambitious project
Presented on the PlayStation 5, l' Unreal Engine 5 will run on the Xbox Series X, in addition, of course, on the PC, and not only that, with all its baggage of technologies is impressive and some of which will with little doubt be part of the technical equipment of the Avowed. With spectacular views of the Nanite, the virtualization technique of the geometry that promises millions of polygons to the screen, and a detail is crazy, and Lumen, a dynamic real time lighting, more light of the ray tracing, should marry perfectly with the system distruttibilità Chaos. Of contour, moreover, there is a system of animations, all-new spatial audio of the new generation of technology, Niagara designed to improve the yield of flocks of birds, swarms of insects and creatures that could no doubt find a place in the world of Eora, perfect for an RPG when for an open world Epic.The world of Eora belongs to a classic fantasy setting full of continents, of races, of cultures and creatures, with 12000 years of history behind it that range from huge waves generated by the two moons up to reincarnation. A fascinating world in a new guise the epic and action could reach a massive audience by giving away to Microsoft and Obsidian a success capable of pushing the GamePass and the new Xbox. But to find out if all this will happen we will probably have to wait a lot. Although the development team has already tons of material between the hands, the large number of assumptions, between late 2019 and early 2020, when Grounded, a second expansion of The Outer Worlds , tons of dialogues, and the possibility that there are dynamic multiplayer, even if it were only co-operative, means that it may take years to get to the finish line. Something that would be consistent with the removal of the Xbox One from the page of the game. But the idea of a title built entirely on a new generation hardware, with all the technical advantages of this approach, not sorry for anything.
The combination between the writing ability of Obsidian, the sturdy shoulders of Microsoft and the Unreal Engine 5 could give a bigwig in the field of RPG fantasy. Of the detail and structure of the world know little or nothing, but we know that Avowed rests on the solid foundation of the narrative, and we hope that Obsidian knows how to seize an important occasion, perhaps spurred on by the possible direct comparison with the next the Elder Scrolls.
