Fresh details of the role -playing game Avowed from an interview with developers

PC Gamer has interviewed AVOWED developers, thanks to which we learn more details about the role -playing game, the events of which are taking place in the world of Pillars of Eternity.

At the beginning of the game, your character arrives in the remote corner of the Eora world called the living lands as the messenger of the AeriR Empire, where you were sent to investigate mysterious plague. "Not all in living lands are delighted with the presence of the Imperials in this distant land", – Says director Carrie Patel. "So the adventures continue".

The General Director of Fergus Urkhart said that in its scale AVOWED is more reminiscent of the Obsidian Role -playing games, such as The Outer Worlds, and not a large -scale open world in the spirit of Skyrim, although this was the original idea of ​​Obsidian. When the developers sat down at the table and focused on the fact that Obsidian did best – stories and companions, in particular, a more compact scale turned out to be by itself.

"As a person who has gone through the development path as a narrative designer, the companions are a huge part of the experience and attract me as a player and as a developer", – Says Carrie Patel. "In Avowed, we wanted to do one thing – to make sure that the companions are indeed an integral part of the story. In some games, they can be recruited at will, but in Avowed they are deeply attached to the plot, tied to your party. We really wanted to create the feeling that you are on a large wild border, you are going to this adventure-opening, and a small but united team with you. The feeling that you are traveling together in wild places, sharing discoveries and dangers. These people are the same part of your story as the big events in the center of which you find yourself".

The way you interact with other characters in Avowed will be like The Outer Worlds, where your dialogue versions reflect the tone that you want to use.

We try to find that point of the support when writing dialogue options, when we invest enough individuality so that these options are funny and interesting, but at the same time we leave enough space around them so that the player can invest in this option everything that he came up with for his character.

Patel did not talk in detail about the plot of AVOWED, but gave some basic information about what form of role -playing game can be expected from avowed:

• You have an established role of the imperial messenger, but your "Personality, appearance and philosophy that you bring to this role depend on you as a player".
• You can play for a person or elf, but not for other races.
• This is an exceptionally single game – without a cooperative.
• The world is slightly systemic: think about the interaction of water and lightning, but not about the old trick with a bucket on the head.
• At the same time, there will be two companions, with your military specialties and, of course, characters.
• There are several trees of abilities in the game, and you will not be attached to a certain class or style of game.
• You will increase the level, but the main attention is paid to the discovery of abilities, and not a set of glasses for the growth of characteristics.

In the early stages of development, when Obsidian decided to give preference to the plot, "more oriented to depth than latitude", The first -person battle was also won. Patel said that this is an example of how part of Avowed was surprisingly fascinating on the first vertical cut, when the team has to decide what to allocate more resources and what to reduce. The battle has become a key accent, which should become music for the ears of each player Elder Scrolls, who always considered a sword to be waving a little weak. "Our battle turned out very, very good, and the bones were there from the very beginning", – She says.

Patel noted that a lot of time was spent on setting up sensations from waves with a sword, a mace and an ax to make the battle correct, but the options available to the players seem to be a more important element in the game. You can use double weapons, at the same time own the magic and weapons of near -combat, and, as in Pillars of Eternity, there is a good old weapon here. In the game, KTSTATI, there will be no annoying loot with inconspicuous differences in stats.

We tried to approach this issue towards a smaller amount, but significant improvements. If you improve your weapon from one level to another, you must feel the difference. If this is a slight change in the number next to the name of the subject, it will not be as significant as if you go through the modernization process, try the weapon again and understand that it applies much more damage. Less, but more significant levels of improvement.

Judging by today’s trailer, the magic looks like it can become the part of the game Avowed, which will really give it its own fantasy flavor. There is an excellent animation of the hands when the hero draws runes in the air to conjure a ball of a ball, and later raises a pulsating void into the sky, sending a bunch of guards to a weightless orbit around it. Therefore, it’s nice to know that you can mix magic with a near battle without being tied to any class.

When Patel was asked what she was not able to do in the isometric role -playing games Pillars, and what she will be happy to do in Avowed, she, without hesitation, returned the question to the interlocutors.

In most of our games, the companions were optional, which, in my opinion, gives the players a great opportunity to choose, but this means that there is a restriction on how deep you can connect them with the main story. In Avowed, we decided that the companions would be the main. They will be part of the experience. This means that we can invest in them much more and connect them much more closely and personally with the events and parts of the world that the player faces.

To the question, "Can they die"? A pause followed. "You will have to see", – Said Patel.