Giving Avowed it's chance

 

I have been very skeptical about everything that Avowed has shown off ever since that initial reveal trailer built up expectations to a product that was never really in the works. Not just to the scale they seemed to be implicitly implying by the frame of the game, but even on a visual artistic level that original vision seems almost unrecognisable to the game we're seeing nowdays. That being said I am a huge fan of Pillars of Eternity and find the promise of the franchise expanding out a bit, particularly towards the direction of The Living Lands, a place I was always interested in since playing the original, peaks my interest quiet a bit. Of course it's not the game I wanted it to be, but I think we're all starting to come to the realistation that Obsidian are never going to be the company to make those kind of grand visions come to fruition ever again. They're happy how they are, and that's just the way things are.

Avowed promises to do something actually pretty stark in the gaming world- they want to create a satisfying first person melee combat focused game which isn't a heavy medieval simulator. In fact, the question of 'Gamefeel' seems to be something the team kept going back to try and improve for knowledge of just how integral that would be. That's how we're getting the quick switch magic system with it's dual wielding beams of magic for all the flash and pomp you could possibly want as you cut down the country side! Of course, many of the core rules of the universe are being scuppered in order to make the more action-RPG crowd happy and in doing so expanding this universe out into more than just a digital TTRPG. Whether it comes together is nigh on impossible to determine from an outsider's glance. I would need it in my hands. But it looks good, at least.

What the team are now trying to insist is that common war between showcases and marketing we always see brought up whenever RPGs go to bat- that there is player agency and consequence to the actions that you take. Avowed already had a gameplay event from a year ago touching on a little conversation with branching conclusions, but what we've seen recently is a more dynamic example of the same sort of thing. A colony of dangerous creatures you are required to infiltrate throughout which the slaying of the inhabitant enrages their queen mother inspiring an unavoidable boss fight, whereas successfully sneaking past and around them opens up the possibility to negotiate. Now sure, this is literally taken note for note from Deus Ex Mankind Divided- but it was a great idea then and that remains now- I love that level of intentional consequence you can stumble upon by just being a dumb careless gamer!  

Another addition to the way this world works is that of weapon improvement. That sure existed in the first game, albeit in static tiers that were supposed to represent + 1, +2 and so on - were we to use DnD parlance. Essentially this creates a power creep throughout the stages of the game where enemies will start to become resistant to your lower area weapons requiring improvement. I've never been a fan of this kind of scaling for how easy it is to screw up and make it all feel excessively contrived- but there are ways to make this work. Visual and audio cues, different classes of enemies, different species of enemies- I think a smart enough game designer can pull this off without breaking immersion- and Obsidian tend to have a reputation for housing smart artists.

I also have to say that visually I'm really starting to come around on the game. It's still not quite as gorgeous as that reveal trailer had led us to believe, and I still think that Aumaua look downright ugly up close, there's a pleasing gentle stylisation that retains the spirit of true-to-life fidelity whilst seeking a more evergreen balance that it sure to still impress in years to come like The Outer Worlds still does. I also notice the lighting appears to veer towards the more cinematic Spacer's Choice school of design. For somewhere as supposedly vibrant as the Living Lands I'm really starting to buy that this was actually a really appropriate choice in direction and scope.

Remixing the Unreliable from The Outer Worlds, Avowed allows you to interact within a camping environment which evokes sensations of  Baldur's Gate 3 in the best way. It's always nice to have that special little space away from the action and carnage to mingle with your close group of allies- and having them all interact and live together really amplfies that sensation of being 'part of a unit. I really hope they lean into this more than just in the surface level manner, allowing party mates to move about and have interactions with one another in way that makes them feel alive. That was one of the problems with Mass Effect in my opinion, your team never left their set areas of the ship and thus felt separated- which is why Andromeda was so wise to update that and have people pop up all over the place to go visit each other! Another careful concept I want them to take their time with.

And lastly there is general game-feel- not just in the moment to moment action- but in the actual way it feels to move around the world. There's a weight here that seems all but absent in Bethesda games, regrettably, and I envy the connection to the game world that imbues. Simply feeling the weight of a short hop down a small cliff face feedsback in that natural way you expect, rather than the stiff and stilted way that Bethesda Creation Engine games feel like they have to. But of course, Game-feel does extend to combat. Feedback looks effective, I'm seeing actual honest-to-goodness recoil from sword slaps. Some people might be umming and ahhing about sponginess- but I consider that a non-problem in games like these. I'm genuinely vibing with the offerings so far.

This might be the first time I've given Avowed the time of day and to be honest- I still can't get myself hyped about the thing- not to a level of "imagine the possibilities!" But I can appreciate what's there and see the game at it's own level and pick up some cool little factors about it that sound like they're coming together. A great game is just one where all the pieces slot together in something of a satisfying manner and Avowed- well, that's what I think it's shaping up as. It may be the ultra-realistic gritty game that most of us were seemingly sold from the reveal, but it is seemingly a title somewhere up my alley to some small degree. It really depends how much they lean into the 'Immersive Sim' angle. I'm hoping a lot. Never had a fantasy Immersive Sim before (outside of Dishonoured) could be cool.

IS Avowed allowed to be exciting?

 

With a release date late this very year and more than enough build up to start a fan club rubbing our hands together for it- why am I not excited about Avowed even so close to launch. At this point this really isn't a case of 'wait until I see more and then it'll hit me', I just don't seem to be feeling the game at all and that's both a reflection of what the game actually is and what the fool version of myself wanted it to be so very badly. Obsidian are not a company I hold in any small regard, I consider them some the great RPG creators of the modern age and will die on several hills to defend the absolute majesty of 'Tyranny'- rest in peace for what was an evocative world that could have spawned a absolute cracked of a series! Outer Worlds practically had me frothing at the mouth when it came up to launch! So what is Avowed just making me sigh?

Unfortunately I think The Outer Worlds might have had something to do with it. As much as I enjoyed the game at the time, The Outer Worlds  just didn't manage to live up to everything I wanted it to be at face value- lacking the malleable RPG dripped world and story which made Fallout New Vegas unforgettable to me. There is choice, to be sure, and significant paths towards finishing the main story- but nothing that is a patch on what New Vegas offered. No complex factions that balance against and around each other as they struggle over the narrative, no ability to play an evolved game of cat-and-mouse with all the leading factions as you play them off one another- No ultimate pathos between you and your companions as you reach the apotheosis of your journey. The Outer Worlds was a good RPG, don't get me wrong. But I expected something great.

For everything we see of Avowed the more it looks like something on an almost identical path to what The Outer Worlds was- and indeed the studio themselves have even evoked it's name to give people an idea of what to expect and, more importantly, what not to expect. Avowed has no interest in giving us a simulation of a world to live and explore in at our own past, like the Elder Scrolls series does. Avowed does not want to bother translating it's complicated Tabletop inspired gameplay systems faithfully over, like Baldur's Gate 3 did. Avowed isn't even going to give us an open world. And I'm just... not feeling a game produced to the exact same standards that The Outer Worlds was. And what makes that especially strange, is the fact that I think the Pillars universe has some crazy potential!

Pillars 1 and 2 are kind of dark fantasy verging titles that are made special and unique by the bizarre relationship the player character has with the various gods that rule the world and the how they work with the idea of souls. Pillars 1 really put the mechanics of the world at the forefront of the narrative you worked through how the universe functions on the metagame and the way in which theological divides shape, develop and destroy lives amidst even that, the armpit of the Eora. Pillars 2 put you in direct contention with the personalities of the gods themselves, hearing them bicker, forging their favour, splitting hairs over philosophical diatribes. It really did offer an experience like no other. 

The universe that Avowed is entering has so far teased itself tantalisingly over the years but now- maybe I'm just finding my first glimpses at the so called 'Living Lands' underwhelming. Deadfire wowed with it's incredible isles dripping with culture and character, and if Avowed actually manages to follow that framework for storywork we could have a suitably spongy narrative to play around with at the very least, which at most might give us hints of what we could get if Obsidian ever put their backs into a New Vegas 2, but I can't see this meeting them at their best- which feels a bit odd after all these years. If working under Microsoft with their money, and stepping on the best franchise to get a leg up, isn't enough resource for their best effort yet- are they ever going to get there? I get that Obsidian pride themselves on great smaller games, but they have the talent punch above their weight too, don't they?

It was definitely the ambition of The Outer Worlds that soured me so much. The story they decided to tell within their worlds space felt so ludicrously tiny that I just couldn't accept being told the universe was any bigger than the confines of the playspace I was navigating. It's like the polar opposite of Starfield's problem, where the scope of the world building is so grand nothing you ever explore feels of consequence or immediately interesting- The Outer Worlds felt so tiny I genuinely bawked when I see The Outer Worlds 2 announced as I said "Really? What more story is there to tell?" Which really shouldn't be the case with an RPG! Perhaps their DLC really picks up the slack in that area, I haven't had the pleasure yet. (But I intend to, at some point.)

I'm trying to ignite my fandom, every few months I come back on this topic. I'm trying to extract all the positives, put myself on the road, but I just come away hollow. Maybe I've lost the capacity to love. Other Obsidian fans are getting there, rising up the hype train, getting on the band wagon, and I'm cold to it all. The good ending is that I'm off base and when the game drops it's that special brand of Obsidian that has me hooked and laughing and loving once again, but that's everything I wanted out of their last game. I think it's myself to blame for expecting so much out of this studio that clearly aren't interested in the same things that I am- but I still want to hold on hope that the Obsidian I love is in there somewhere.

Pillars is on the back burner following the under performance of 2, Tyranny never got off the ground because people brushed by one of the best RPGs of it's time, Fallout is a maybe depending on how desperate Bethesda gets. I guess I just thought Obsidian were in a healthier position than they are, and Avowed isn't their big stab into the AAA world, but more another gentle hop on the road they've been on for over a decade now. And to be fair, looking at how the industry is eating itself around them, maybe it's better they aren't sinking triple A budgets into triple A games and turning over triple A numbers of staff in the process.

Avowed might have lost me

I see it in my dreams everynight

In the many years it has been since the hey day of Bethesda and the release of Skyrim, it's been like sitting on a bed of needles waiting for the next aspirant to seize the throne of western action RPG king. Sure, we get all of those ceaseless faux-RPGs that stitch together a sad levelling chart and call that 'Role Playing Mechanics' (Looking at you; Assassin's Creed) but no one really has what it takes to match up with Bethesda, which I guess tracks given how simply huge Bethesda is. Of course, some of us remember the majesty of Fallout New Vegas, a game which took the engine Bethesda built for 3 and reshaped it into a compelling world with rich factions and fertile conflicts- and that's what put Obsidian at the top of our list for the next Bethesda competitor. The Outer Worlds felt like their warm-up to one day making a proper open world RPG and the reveal of Avowed sold the world on the fact that this was it- the blow-out Obsidian game we've all been waiting for!

And it isn't. A full blown open RPG, that is. Avowed is an adaptation of the Pillars of the Eternity world and systems to an RPG more in the vein of The Outer Worlds; and to be honest that kind of sucks the excitement I had built for this game right out of the window. And I know- it's my fault for getting so worked up, but what do you expect? The pedigree of Obsidian is well know, they've been getting more and more ambitious with their games, Avowed was announced with a grand sweeping cinematic of a trailer that purposefully employed sweeping land-covering shots as though to imply our play space would be grand and open... but it seems that was all a red herring. Avowed is constrained, act based, focused with choice and consequence- nothing bad at all, to be clear- just oddly safe for a company that seems keen on pushing itself in so many aspects.

That is to say, we know they can make games like this! The Outer Worlds is already out and we know The Outer Worlds 2 is in the pipeline; so what new facet of creation will Avowed push? We've seen Obsidian cover long dead RPG subgenres and bring them back into vogue, get experimental with smaller internal projects that both saw some commercial success and pushed one simplified CRPG which to this day I argue is criminally underrated. (Justice for 'Tyranny!') Avowed kind of reminds me of Bioware or Telltale games when they were entering their 'rut' phase. It's an instance of- "Oh, it's another *insert studio here* style game. I pretty much know exactly what experience I'm going to get here, so I'll base my expectations accordingly." And no, I'm not ever going to compare such a phase with whatever terminal malaise that Ubisoft is going through right now-  these studios still have some creative spirit left.

Out of everything we've heard since the gameplay trailer, none of it excites me or sells the idea that this is Obsidian's biggest project yet- if that's even an idea they want to sell to begin with. We know that the narrative isn't going to focus around a Watcher, but we're still going to be following some sort of soul-themed malady that has afflicted the living lands. Maybe it's my misgivings tainting my perception, but instinctually I hear that and roll my eyes. "Another soul-based plotline? Does anything not soul-themed ever threaten this damned world?" It's like how 'Bad Daedra' is the cause of most Elder Scrolls evils past Morrowind, or how the bad guy in every 'original' LOTR adaptation is always some incarnation of Sauron- it's taking a wide and open fictional world and limiting it down to the same few reoccurring plotthreads.

We will have companions on our journey but, curiously, they won't be optional members of our journey but mandatory appends to the adventure. In their defence Obsidian have claimed that this allows these characters to be central to the narrative, but lacking any comparative for companions so essential they can't be optional it's hard to know how to take these. Do they mean this is like Dragon Age: Inquisition wherein each companion was significantly tied to a major world faction? Or maybe like Mass Effect 2 in which the entire first act was dedicated to finding and recruiting specialists for some sort of job? Because neither of those two options preclude going solo whatsoever, although I will acknowledge that later Bioware games really did nail how to have companion interactions reinforce the idea of a familial unit. But then again, Tyranny wasn't so bad at that either and companions were still optional in that game. Strange news, I'm still processing.

But the most troubling news we've heard on the game so far comes down to the class system. Much ado was made about an action adventure based off the surprisingly in-depth character building of Pillars, but it seems that is going to serve as merely a base template for Avowed's 'flexible class' system. Yes, it's another one of those games where you build a class by picking as you go, slightly betraying the cohesion of the world space. Spell casters no longer require a lifetime of study, you can pull that off with a mild fancy to magical talent. I know several DnD adaptations over the years have played it fast and loose with classes and level building, but I really did kind of hope a property looked over by a single caretaker would have a stauncher backbone for keeping it's world sensible.

It's not that a flexible class system can't work, it's that the replay value of these fundamentally different styles of playing defined classes always feels more significant than deciding half-way through a game that you're sick of a wand and starting to beat people around the head instead. Typically this manifests as underbaked class architypes that aren't quite all-around satisfying to mainline, necessitating players to become a sort of 'jack of all trades' and for every 'build' to essentially end up roughly the same. Just like how every Fallout or Elder Scrolls character ends up with the same rough stats at some point. Cyberpunk did prove me wrong with it's more constrained approach to this ideal, but that game has some of the best action RPG combat ever made, I struggle to see a world where Avowed matches that.

I don't want to be pessimistic about Avowed, I really wanted to love this game: but it isn't what I was looking for out of a studio I expected the world from. Now to be fair, I thought the same thing about Starfield and have recently performed a full 180 on my feelings there- but I just don't think Avowed is as ambitious in the areas I wanted Obsidian to push in.  I suppose it's my own fault, expecting Obsidian to expand into becoming a AAA studio out of nowhere when at this point I'm starting to see that's not only not where they're at, that's not even what the studio wants. I expected them to pick up after an infirm Bethesda flounders or bloats itself too large, but Obsidian have their hearts elsewhere, which is probably why they're reticent to take on a Fallout project. Avowed will probably still be a solid game, just like The Outer Worlds was: I just hope it leaves more of an impact on me than that game did.

We've seen Avowed!

 Were we wowed?

Given the all-covering shadow of a gameplay dive as robust as Starfield's, it's quite easy to forget literally everything else shown off around it even when some of those other projects were the type we'd been waiting literally years to see. As much as 'adventures in space' might be our call to action, the RPG lovers who have dwelled with Bethesda all these years harbour still their crushes for that fantasy halcyon paradise- mythical adventure through mystical environments, reality bending or simply just face scorching arcane spells and grand world-defining epic narratives where the fate of all the world is at stake. We ain't gonna get that from Bethesda this year, which is why it's so very nice that Obsidian have stepped up to the plate to feed our empty bellies with the dropping of Avow- oh wait, it's not this year? They haven't given a release date at all? Seriously? Oh... okay then I guess I might as well go sell an organ and get Final Fantasy XVI then. Still, at least we got to see Avowed.

A single player action RPG to fill the void left behind in the universe once Bethesda finally leaves the well flogged horse called 'Skyrim' to fester in the valley- the title pushed to and beyond it's limits. RPG enthusiasts like myself still remember that hot flush of excitement for that Avowed reveal trailer all that time ago- not just for the promise of beautiful first person magical fantasy adventure but the idea of it bringing the increadibly rich and vast world of 'Pillars of Eternity' to a new sub-genre of RPG. Anyone who had the joy to play through the Pillars games knows that a world that deep rarely has the chance to be depicted to any main-stream-appeal style of game- there's just too much needed to process. Pillars is a fantastic fantasy world rife with increadibly interesting living deities, heady and complex world factions swathed in vast weaves of political drama and a fascinating unique grasp on the nature of the world's reality and the magic that lives within. Pillars' universe alone carries a promise of quality with it.

Which is probably why I still find myself enthused with the prospect of Avowed even after that gameplay trailer tease we saw seemed to do it's utmost best not to leap-frog off the excitement of that initial announcement. Of course I fully understand that the unabashed expectations of the community do own some blame here- the original visually popping CGI demonstration, whilst not visually impressive enough to definitely imply it would be unrepresentative of the final product, was still obviously not gameplay at the time. Still, it built a mood and spoke a visual language that this real-life gameplay reveal just doesn't. Avowed looked like Obsidian's very first AAA video game under the guidance and resources of Xbox, now it looks like another decent quality AA title that's going to impress but maybe not print that lasting impression we know this company is capable of when they're given the time. I wanted another New Vegas out of Obsidian, but it seems we're getting another 'Outer Worlds' instead. And 'The Outer Worlds 2' as well- I guess we're getting both.

It's not just that the visuals aren't what the original trailer promised, to be honest when I saw that original trailer I wasn't all that impressed with the way it did not resemble the lavish oil-like frescoes which make up the isometric game's backdrop. I think Pillars looks gorgeous, even as it depicts one of the grubbiest and most visually-dull fantasy worlds ever imagined, and Pillars 2 looks practically jaw-dropping in it's most lavish sections. But Avowed doesn't even match up to Pillars. Whereas Pillar's visual style was smooth and weaving, blurring colours and effluent light in an almost dream-like pulse and mix- Avowed seems static and jarringly popping- like a increadibly thin-lined cell shaded game. Honestly, along with the lacklustre facial animations and impact-lacking melee combat we saw glimpses of- it doesn't look all that appealing.

And then there's the simply bizarre fact that for some reason Obsidian seemed to have gone out of their way to make Avowed's trailer sound as generic as humanely possible. The narration started it out by talking about investigating a 'plague', literally the most overdone beginning plotline of any fantasy game ever (Warcraft 3, WOW, Wasteland 2, Neverwinter- the list goes on) and then moved onto some impressively vague affirmations of power. 'You're so powerful!' 'You're either here to save us or kill us!' 'We're all super scared of you!'. Its sounds like the ultra common guff of any RPG game which goes no length to demonstrating the amazing pantheon of personalities, the sprawling geopolitical state of the world- or even show off some of the more interesting DnD style spells. I mean sure, lifting a bunch of people into the air is real interesting to folk that haven't played Pillars and don't know about calling down bolts of light from the heavens or erecting giants Wall of Many Colours'. Is that higher level mage stuff even going to make it into the final game?

But of course I haven't lost my spark of excitement for the game, but now it's driven by what I know of the source material rather than for the marketing Obsidian has provided. I know how great of a universe this can be and how brilliant a title an immersive open world title could be in this world... even if my hope in the ambition of this game is slightly diminished. In a naïve sense I hoped that with the backing of Xbox this was going to be Obsidian's tighter and more to-the-point answer to Skyrim, but according to the team themselves it's going to be more like their other games. Isolated play spaces that we travel between on little problem solving gallivants. Which isn't all bad, I endeavour to clarify, but it's not quite the 'open world' we hoped for. 

Avowed is still going on the list of games to watch, but I fully admit this wasn't the best showing of the game and fully understand the freshly blossomed doubtsince the gameplay reveal. At the very least they were by no means the most underwhelming of the year, nor the most talked about- Which I guess brings this to a question of 'which is worse': to be mocked or to be ignored. I want Obsidian to be the best they can be and stretch out their capabilities, and maybe in that regard it's for the best they save off their best until they get the rights Fallout New Vegas 2: then they can really spread their creative wings once again. Until then Avowed seems to be another stepping stone on the road to what Obsidian was destined to become- the successors of the Western RPG.

RPG Class systems: Old Versus New

 Gemini Classes 

The world of Role Playing Games is so very simple when you first approach them; it's all about just jumping into a game where you pretend to be someone else. Heck, with a view on the genre that simple one might call any game an RPG. But then you realise that it more has to do with 'making' the person you're playing as, whether that be from the ground-up as a character or merely through selecting the way they evolve as the story progresses. Then you start to learn that RPG-fans really care about levelling trees, and having unlockable skills and abilities. Oh, they also like the game to have some heft to them, and not be your prototypical 5 hours and done fest. You'll also see that they really care about story choices, multiple endings and replayability. Then there's the various different types of RPGs, from modern, to classic, to Sandbox, to action adventure, to squad based. And then somewhere along the line it stops being fun and becomes intimidating again when you realise that there are decidedly too many types of RPGs out there in the world. That's why I like to sanitize everything down into small digestible nuggets for myself, and thus why today I want to talk about RPG classes.

Or rather, I want to talk about the contrast between typical RPG classes and these adaptive-type classes that once were ubiquitous, but are slightly waning in popularity as Classic RPGs slowly become the rage again. This conversation is one sparked by the recently unveiled The Wayward Realms, which I was quite hopeful for whilst simultaneously being decidedly critical against, and one of the points of contention that I merely touched on back there was the class system. It goes a little like this, The Wayward Realms hails from the creators of TES 1 and 2, and therefore they played into their own lineage by touting how 'Classic RPGs' were at the heart of this project. So they say out of the shadows, it would seem, because when push comes to shove it's clear that their game is leaning towards having no class systems, at least not in the traditional sense. Now classes are some of the most fundamental building blocks of Classic role playing games, thus I gawked a little when I saw this, and it got me thinking about the drawback and drawtos of classes in general.

But first, let me explain the difference between the class systems that I mentioned. Traditional RPGs have a 'fixed' class system whereupon when you start the game you get to choose the 'class' of the character you play as, typically variations upon the core three of: Mage, Warrior and Rogue. Choosing this class informs the way you play the game, what weapons you wield what armour you don, and how you approach each and every encounter. A Warrior might consider martial ways to lock down a room full of enemies, whilst a rogue might see which shadows they can exploit to sneak around. A mage might try to use wide-range spells to slowdown a room of enemies at once, whilst a warrior might try to find a way to funnel them so he doesn't have to deal with too many at once. It's a system typically hand-in-hand with hard rules, (I.E. certain gear and tools you simply can't use if you're not the correct class) but the benefit comes in the fact that it feeds beautifully into replayability as when these classes are handled well it can feel like you're playing a completely different game.

What I've chosen to coin as 'adaptive' class systems are something of a modern invention and a direct rejection of the 'ruleset' of old. These are systems where you aren't asked to pick a class, because your character will fall into the role best suited for them as the game goes on. It's more natural, encourages the character to experiment more and tells the player 'no' as little as possible. You could be a warrior who decides they need to pick up a wand and cast some spells for a specific mission, there are no barriers to hold you back. The big draw is that skills and abilities might be made with a certain class in mind, but they're available to be learnt by anyone, theoretically making it possible for a player to 'make their own class', as these games are fond of marketing.

Obviously, for casual players and early game in general this sort of class system is perfect as it's nowhere near as punishing to mistakes. However, the big problem is that by the endgame most every single character is playing roughly the same, because by the very nature of making all abilities available to every class, you're usually not making these abilities transformative enough to change the way the game plays. So a full powered hero rogue is pretty much on the same playing field as a wizard would be. (Usually wearing the heavy armour and wielding the most powerful sword, because nothing is telling you to wear those robes or pick up that shortsword) There are exceptions of course, games that handle the balance exceptionally well, as well as players who just buy into the roleplay enough to hardlimit themselves. But such games just don't usually lend themselves as naturally into that desire for replayability, which in some people's eyes is the most important draw to RPGs as a genre.

So then why was it ever decided that the old Class system needed to be replaced anyway? (Aside from just to change things up for varieties sake, I mean.) Well the key reason would seem to be because the perception that specific classes limit roleplaying, due to the way that they give you confines within which you must operate rather than allow you to be as wacky as you want to. Defenders will say that levelling systems live off of their min maxing anyway, thus there's no need for restrictions that only muddy the waters. And isn't there a sort of purity in a world where the ultimate hero always ends up with the same capabilities?  These sorts of systems have worked fine in the Elder Scrolls, Deus Ex , The Witcher and the countless other 'freeform' RPGs out there, so what's the problem?

A response which I understand, yet will push back on anyway. Because as with many aspects of art, I don't see 'limitations', I see 'guidelines' in the traditional class systems. Of course there are many ways to screw it up so that classes are boring and uninteresting to level up, at the end of the day it all comes down to the skills of the designers afterall; but for the vast majority of the RPGs I've played, I find the experience of mastering a class a lot more interesting than just maxing out all the skill trees for my Fallout character. That's because within a class is inbuilt a role, and mastering that role in gameplay means coming to terms with, and understanding, the tools at your disposal and working with them. Being a top rogue doesn't have to mean you can hide really well, it can mean you're a master of locking down a battlefield with traps, or isolating enemies and hitting them with punishing sneak attacks, or perhaps you're just a poison fiend. Operating within the guidelines forces you to use the limitations within your hands and sometimes get creative, rather than just to default for the strongest weapon you can find which kills things the fastest. Sure, that tactic is what the Warrior class will go for anyway, but the very fact that other classes have different goals epitomises the class variety that I don't feel from free-form adaptive classes. 

So there is a compromise to be made somewhere along the line, this much is obvious, because hard-line class systems really belong more with Classic RPGs and free-form systems belong with modern RPGs. (Until Avowed comes along and changes that power dynamic entirely.) I like to think there's space for specific class systems that allows for equipment, at the very least, to be worn by all classes, because in that there's a lot of 'Adaptive' potential without sacrificing the uniqueness of class abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Let the specific disadvantages of wearing a heavy piece of armour have an effect (beyond just cancelling out spells altogether) in order to allow players to come up with their solutions and draw their own lines in the sand. Maybe heavy armour increases spell cast time, but if someone wants to play as a heavy battle mage this suits them just fine. I just maintain that old school classes have yet to run their course and we'd be foolish to leave them behind completely; and The Wayward Realms needs to get on board with actual real classes. (At least that's my two cents on the issue)

Avowed

We have always know war.

I like hype. I like the feeling that is generates for the masses that it enraptures, I like the imagination it can stir and the conversations it can spark, I like the communities it can build and the ceilings it can shatter. Hype is fun. But I'm careful with awarding that sort of investment to just anybody, least I end up a hopeless hollow stuck forever ramping up for a game that's long doomed to fail. (Sorry Star Citizen, that's just the truth.) And in fact, even when proven developer rides up on their horse and flashes their teeth about I need a little more than just a studio name to get excited. Unless it's Elder Scrolls 6. I literally cried at that announcement. (Don't you judge me!) So it's with an acceptance to the fact that I'm about to get flamed, with which I announce that I don't get the hype for Avowed. (Do your worst, I've got thick skin.)

Now don't get it twisted, I love Obsidian, we all do. Back in the day when 'Fallout: New Vegas' first launched, I thought it was impossible for my love of Fallout 3 to be topped, only to have that love completely redefined by the infinitely superior sequel. 'The Outer Worlds' managed to sneak in not too long ago and prove a devastatingly successful space RPG despite it's small stature and within the hugely delayed marketing cycle for Starfield. They are also the ones responsible for the sequel to one of the greatest games ever made, and easily the greatest Star Wars game, 'Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic'. (Yeah, the original was better than 2 but I think a lot of people overlooked the intensely smart writhing of the second game.) So I'm more than just someone who actively likes Obsidian, I practically love their brand and am excited when anything comes out of it; but that just doesn't extend to anything that comes out their mouth. Why? Experience, dear readers, that is what has jaded me so. Remember when Blizzard were heroes of the gaming industry? When Valve made games? When Bethesda weren't... whatever the hell they are now? I remember all of that, mostly, so I know things can change on a dime.

That being said, I'm not looking at Avowed like any impending disaster on the scale of Fallout 76 or Diablo Immortal, god no; I'm just not letting my skirt get blown up by what basically amounts to an excessively sparse teaser trailer. Let's go over it, shall we? The camera fades in over rolling mountains covered in flame and ash, obviously indicative of some large scale martial action to let us know that this is a world of war- and maybe some crafting too. Some dialogue is said that isn't really all that interesting or impressive without context, probably not even with context either, but it is what it is. We see parapets lined with archers with incredible aim, as they manage to let loose from their hilltop hidey-holes and rain death upon a battlefield filled with slowly plodding skeletons. The camera pans down, and we get to see the first person view of the player's sword, their cool wavy magic hand and a lumbering beast making it's way through the cave system. That's it; cool trailer, glad I came. Why are people losing their minds over this again?

In terms of what one would expect from a fantasy world, we saw literally nothing deserving of extreme excitement. The world looked pretty standard for what one would expect for an environment based on Earth. (Hills and trees, got it.) The aforementioned dialogue was pretty generic, saving all your good lines for the game I guess, no shade. The only enemies we actually see from the game are literal skeletons. Skeletons! The most dime-a-dozen enemy in fantasy RPGs everywhere, edging it out just above Rats! I would have taken a glimpse of some of the armour, so we can see if this is a world full of ridiculous Warcraft proportions or sleek, sexy, Dark Souls armours, but nope; we get some prototypical, paint in the lines, no assembly required, Skeletons. (Goshdarn!) And the finale of the trailer shows off some placeholder animations which absolutely does not constitute gameplay because I can see that unnatural head-bob, Obsidian, I know that's a mock up! (The magic hand animation did look kind of badass though, so points there.)

Now, if I were just a guy with hardly any knowledge of the latest video game news, (were only it so) then I would look at this and likely instantly forget it tomorrow, which is why this isn't a trailer I can board my hype train off of. It's just generic and bare, what can I say? But the reason why I do understand why some-people are getting themselves all a-flutter, is because of the name that's attached; Obsidian. This year saw the Beta release of 'Grounded', a small scale Obsidian title with none of the sweeping RPG majesty that people love the company for, as is self admitted by Obsidian themselves, but here is the announcement for Avowed to fill that void before it even has a time to fester. The wider gaming world can really learn some things about basic marketing strategies from Obsidian. Whatsmore, whilst there is precious little information about what this Avowed is, there is enough to base significant hype on.

When I was ragging on the world and the fact we were fed skeletons as the primary focus of a reveal trailer (A REVEAL trailer! Talk about putting your best foot forward!) I intentionally omitted the fact that some information has been released on this world. Rather, the fact that this game is poised to be set within the same universe of 'Pillars of Eternity', at which point everything starts to make a lot more sense. POE is Obsidian's answer to Baldur's gate, as an isometric top-down party-based Kickstarter success story, and in it's brief life cycle it managed to scoop up enough love and accolades to mount a sequel. This is a world of beauty, great storytelling and thrilling adventure, so when people became aware of a first person single-player RPG set within that world; they felt justified in their fervour. Once again, smart move on Obsidian's part, way to market your game. But that might also explain why I'm unaffected.

I never played 'Pillars of Eternity.' I know, I know. But it was only because I fell for the lie that the game was another Diablo-clone, (I don't know who told me that but they were a lying ass) so I just wasn't interested at release. I don't have that basis of 2 great games to base my expectations of this world so all I can do is look at what was offered and go, "don't look like much." That being said, now I can acknowledge that this franchise (as I suppose being connected to POE makes this part of that franchise now) is beloved, so there's a little bit of relief on that front, but I'll need more then that to really get going. I mean, at this point we don't even know if this is going to be the 'Skyrim killer' that everyone wants it to be, or just another 'Outer Worlds'. Smaller in scale and not really a replacement for the games already on the market. (Although, in the defence of that argument, Fallout isn't exactly all that comparative to 'Outer Worlds' anyway, aside from in raw gameplay where neither game is exactly a shining beacon for the industry. Although modern Fallout does slightly edge out there, to be honest.)

So that's where we are; Avowed has been announced and now it's in the hands of the Internet to either soak it in or balloon their expectations to unreachable, and unpromised heights. (>Sigh<. They're doing that second one, aren't they?) Look online and you'll find plenty of understandably excited fans buzzing about how this game will be the next big thing, and whilst that's sweet and all, I operate in the realms of reason, and until we've some clearer idea on the scope of the game, I'm going to hold off on the applause and partying. Obsidian certainly have the talent to make a spectacular game, so in my kingdom of hearts I hold some excitement for this title, but I wanna hear it from the horses mouth. "Yes, this will be a simulated world", "Yes, this is a large scale RPG", "Yes, we're bringing our great writing and humour", "Yes, you can kill domesticated chickens and set the entire village on you". Until that day I wait patiently. Congrats on Avowed, Obsidian, I hope it's everything people want it to be.