Obsidian's Avowed is closer to KOTOR 2 than Fallout: New Vegas
Expect a leaner RPG in Avowed
Obsidian's long-awaited RPG Avowed re-debuted at the Xbox Games Showcase in an impressive trailer, and the devs are now slowly revealing a few more details about the game - including the fact that it'll be comparable in scope to the studio's excellent Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic 2.
"It's going to be roughly comparable to something like Knights of the Old Republic 2 or The Outer Worlds," game director Carrie Patel said during the Xbox Games Showcase Extended stream. "It is set up as a series of interconnected open zones that players can explore at their own pace. You can invest in discovering every nook and cranny in the world, discovering every secret, finding every sidequest, meeting every character - or you can have a much more focused experience. It's really up to players and how much time they want to spend in The Living Lands, but I'm hopeful they're going to spend a lot of time with us once Avowed releases."
So despite Avowed's first-person viewpoint and fantasy trappings, this isn't Obsidian's take on Skyrim - or even something in the spirit of the studio's beloved Fallout: New Vegas.. A KOTOR 2 playthrough typically lands in the 30-40 hour range, while the much more recent The Outer Worlds lands at an even leaner 15-30 hours, depending on how many sidequests you partake in.
Patel also confirmed that Avowed will have companion characters who'll join you on the adventure, including Kai, the blue-green scaly man we saw in the trailer. You can check out the full video above - it's particularly worthwhile if you're interested in how Avowed connects with the Pillars of Eternity universe.
Obsidian's pedigree certainly suggests Avowed could rank among the best RPGs out there.
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Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.