Obsidian’s upcoming RPG Avowed takes place in the same fantasy universe as Pillars of Eternity, but structurally it’s a very different game. Where Pillars and its sequel Deadfire were isometric throwbacks to the golden age of CRPGs, Avowed is a thoroughly modern, immersive 3D experience that, at a glance, has little in common with the likes of Baldur’s Gate or Icewind Dale. And while it’s hardly the first RPG series to make such a jump, with Fallout famously doing the same, the fact that the Pillars games were nostalgia pieces makes this subsequent modernisation akin to history repeating itself.
As such, I was curious to find out why Obsidian chose to make a modern fantasy game in the Pillars universe, and what ramifications this has for Avowed as a whole. Which parts of the Pillars lore does Avowed’s story and systems draw upon? How does the Living Lands expand upon those existing ideas? And just how much of Pillars of Eternity is reflected in Avowed’s presentation and play?
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“It was a very natural extension. If you’re going to make a fantasy game, why invent a second entire new world?” says Carrie Patel, Avowed’s game director. Patel explains to me that the decision to make a 3D fantasy RPG came first, and Obsidian figured they may as well use their existing worldbuilding rather than start again from scratch. “We’ve got a lot of settings [in the Pillars lore] that we’ve described or defined, but never set a game or any DLC content in.”