When we think about the revival of the CRPG brand a few choice games get brought into the conversation, and let me just start by saying that before you say 'Baldur's Gate 3'- nope, that game was long after the revival kicked off. CRPGs really came back into vogue with the dropping of two big titles that re-awoke the world to the possibilities of systems heavy RPG titles based on the rigors of the table top. I'm talking the well received Larian Divinity games and POE. That is 'Pillars of Eternity', not 'Path of Exile'. (Though I've made that mix-up somewhere close to one hundred thousand times.) Pillars was an example of the greatness the CRPG style of development could achieve, whilst Divinity was a more accessible take on the brand that went heavy on the dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay opportunities. Yet both are on the backburner in this modern CPRG enlightened age.
Pillars of Eternity in particular was a critical darling upon it's initial drop, commanding an entire genre's worth of support upon it's initial release- and then Pillars of Eternity 2 just belly flopped out of nowhere. I suspect it was because of the lack of marketing, because in content I consider POE2 to be wildly more engaging and worth playing than the first game. Opinions on the quality of main story aside (I prefer 2 though I know many fans are staunch supporters of 1) there's little denying that Pillars 2 had a more visually and culturally interesting world, better companions, prettier and smoother gameplay, more endgame challenges and oodles of choice atop of consequence carried over from the first game. The only thing I think Pillars of Eternity 2 is missing- is a sequel of it's own!
Obsidian's fantasy world of Eora, writhe with stories about the passage of souls in the constant cycle of rebirth that fuels the universe- feels like it's yet to get that big blow-out fully immersive game which fans have been waiting for. (We though Avowed might be that game, but it has turned out to be more of another 'Outer Worlds' instead.) I think in the void of that wish fulfilment entry people have taken it upon themselves to simply assume that Pillars has yet to find it's core niche- but they're wrong. Pillars' first two RPGs had as much effort put into constructing a fundamental set of world rules, gameplay systems and complexities as has been put into Dungeons and Dragons. Pillars could very easily be turned into a tabletop roleplaying game. (Avowed seems to be wiping it's ass with those foundations a little, however.)
Which is why it is insane to me that although Obsidian seem fully committed to Eora, there's not been hide nor hair of a Pillars 3 announced at anytime! Now sure, this might just be a bluff made from a people cottoned on to the fact that years long waits for games that have been announced are sucky and nobody likes them- or it could be that they're not sold on whether or not Pillars needs another sequel. Which- I think it pretty much does. Just like (Here I go...) just like Obsidian's best CRPG world- that of Tyranny. Another game which hit every note it needed to in order to work but just failed to find it's audience. Something to which I can double attest to given that I found the game by complete accident! I didn't even know the thing existed in Obsidian's catalogue until I booted it up and saw their developer credit! What the hell is wrong with this company's marketing?
Avowed was very much supposed to be the new kid on the block that would swoop us up in a crazed frenzy, but the fact it's going for a style similar to The Outer Worlds has slightly snuffed that flame out for me. Don't get me wrong, I love Obsidian projects and I think Avowed is going to be great- the mere association with The Outer Worlds comes with a slight impression of 'Oh, that's a shame'. The Outer Worlds was a fine game, but it lacks the staying power of Obsidian's previous hits. It also features honestly pitiful worldbuilding for a career RPG studio which made me wonder what on Earth the writing team were distracted by. That interstellar adventure felt absolutely tiny- and I don't think it was on purpose. Hopefully The Outer Worlds 2 will pick up some slack there.
But the point I'm trying to harp on is that Avowed keeping in that wheelhouse, particularly as we explore what are meant to be the wild open plains of 'The Living Lands', feels like a wasted opportunity. I had hoped the Obsidian we knew were big enough to shore up their resources for one damn decent go at a full open world adventure game, but as Avowed appears to be their best effort it seems I overestimated their resources. And compound that with the fact that Avowed appears to be dumbing down the complexity of it's systems in order to cater for a more arcade-style combat: I'm sorry but I just can't gel with this direction for the Pillars universe. I'm sure it'll make for a fine enough companion piece- but not the slam dunk defining media piece it needed to be to fill the Eora void in my life.
Of course, Pillars of Eternity 3 would be in an insanely difficult position to be in where it made, simply for the breadth of choices available for the ending of 2. Without spoiling anything specific, you have the chance to alter the very fabric of the universal cycle through your choices, and taking that into account for a sequel would require extraordinary amounts of reactive alternatives- particularly if the game was to remain close to the theme of mortals playing about in the realms of gods. That doesn't mean I don't want it though- I absolutely want to see what became of the world that my bumbling Warden screwed up with his impulsive side switching. (I betrayed actual gods- just imagine how screwed he is come a theoretical third entry!)
Of course I was going to land on support for a Pillars 3- that was never really up for debate here. More poignantly, I want to impress that Avowed probably doesn't have what it takes to pick up the slack for the CRPG world of Pillars, and we shouldn't let off gently nudging the Obsidian team to remember us CRPG lovers out here! Hell- Baldur's Gate 3 showed us that the audience is still there, and with Microsoft about to literally kill itself on the gaming front Obsidian might as well forget about keeping itself clear for a crossover-game with Bethesda. So let's not ask if there's going to be Pillars 3, but rather when are they going to realise that there is no other way this can feasibly end? Obsidian, you know what you must do- you just need to ask yourselves if you have the strength to do it!
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