Avowed, Monster Hunter, and Other Exciting Releases

The discourse around Avowed’s release was fascinating. It felt like a process of elimination, the wider gaming public trying to work out what Obsidian’s RPG wasn’t, before it could figure out what it actually is. It’s not like Skyrim, as some had tried to say it would be, and it’s not like a BioWare RPG either, with 100+ hours of intricate questing. It’s also not like Pillars of Eternity, the isometric traditional cRPGs from Obsidian in whose universe it takes place. But when this all eventually settled, the result was something an awful lot of people realized was exactly what they wanted: a manageable first-person RPG with a rich story, great characters, and chunky combat, that “only” asks for 30 to 40 hours of your life.

By stripping back various elements from the genre, and creating a more focused interpretation of a usually more sprawling format, Obsidian was able to give great emphasis to the excellent combat, making a game that felt enormous and still offered huge amounts of side-questing and exploration, but also maintained a clip that propelled you toward its narrative conclusion. It’s also just tremendously fun, and despite the plague-ridden setting, maintains an upbeat feel that matches its colorful design. A splash of happiness is just what we need. — John Walker