ItmeJP interviewed Carrie Patel about Avowed:

Suicide Squad Impressions + Interview w/ Avowed Director - Carrie Patel | Dropped Frames Episode 377

0:00 - Tangents
5:00 - New Twitch subs
22:00 - Donuts
25:50 - Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
42:55 - Too many GaaS
51:00 - Embracer lays off more
55:50 - Palworld sells 12 million copies
1:27:25 - Enshrouded
1:42:50 - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
1:52:20 - Granblue Fantasy Relink
2:00:40 - Lightyear Frontier
2:02:05 - Nightingale
2:08:35 - Tekken 8
2:14:30 - CD-ROM-A-THON ends
2:18:00 - Shoutouts for Zeke
2:19:15 - Interview with Carrie Patel, Director of Avowed
2:47:35 - Shoutouts

Patel shared additional information on the game throughout the interview:

1. There are no mini-games in Avowed
2. The game features a day/night cycle, but it doesn't affect gameplay
3. There are no mounts, although some gear may affect movement speed and there are some movement abilities like charge
4. Magic won't be limited to wands; grimoires are an option, too
5. While skill trees are classless, it will be possible to specialize in more classic archetypes
6. Companions in Avowed have skill trees, too, although they are more limited
7. There is a weapon upgrade system
8. Once again, Obsidian reiterates that the scope will be similar to The Outer Worlds.

Thanks Couchpotato!

Interesting interview from Eurogamer with the Avowed leads. One interesting tidbit:

What's going on in Avowed?

[...]

"You can't romance your companions in Avowed," Patel confirms. "I know we did some romances for companions in Deadfire, but the thing we found, which I'm sure any developer who has tried them has found, is that to pay them off, you really have to invest a lot in doing them well. And you also want to balance whatever you're putting into romantic relationships with ensuring that players who don't choose the romance path still have a fulfilling and complete experience with those companions."

[...]

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Player Choice is the key - says Carrie Patel at an interview with Gamesradar:

Avowed's commitment to ubiquitous player choice could make it 2024's standout RPG: "At Obsidian, it's your world, your way, right?"

Interview | In combat, in questing, and in everything between, Avowed puts you at the heart of everything it does

Avowed could change the face of the RPG genre. That's not to heap undue pressure on Obsidian Entertainment, the studio now lining up its latest venture under the Xbox Games Studios umbrella following 2018's high-profile acquisition. But if recent history has taught us anything in this space, it's that role-playing games can, and often do, make a splash when mixing the right ingredients. 

2023 alone delivered some of the most unforgettable, genre-defining experiences we've seen in some time, with games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Sea of Stars helping to push the boundaries of what RPGs can, could, and maybe even should be moving forward. Player choice, in combat and narrative terms, was a driving force in last year's biggest success stories – and so with a studio so well-versed on both fronts at the helm of Avowed, the fantasy-with-firearms role-player already has a lot going for it. From Fallout: New Vegas to South Park: The Stick of Truth, The Outer Worlds, and the Pillars of Eternity series, after all, Obsidian is no stranger to leaving its mark on a tried and tested formula.

"Player choice is really key to all of our games at Obsidian," says Avowed game director Carrie Patel. "And for us, that is really about letting the player build and express their character. It's about who they want to be in the fantastical worlds we build, and the dilemmas and challenges we put in front of the player. I personally find that to be really effective in games where you have some sort of starting premise that prompts roleplay and gives you something to make difficult choices around."

[...]

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Mortismal Gaming shares his thoughts about Avowed:

My Thoughts & Reservations About Avowed

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According to PC Gamer Avowed will focus on combat:

Obsidian's next RPG Avowed won't have the option to do 'a pure pacifist run'

Avowed has a 'focus on combat'.

Discovering just how many pacifist choices you could make in the original Fallout was a delight, because not only were you allowed to talk or sneak your way out of problems, but the game recognized you were doing that and rewarded you for it. Subsequent RPGs and immersive sims sprinkled peaceful options in, but an entirely pacifist playthrough often ends up being a masochistic challenge that feels more like you're breaking the game than playing it. Just have a look how much of a hassle it is beating The Outer Worlds as a pacifist.

Given that Avowed is drawing inspiration from Vermintide's best-in-class first-person combat, it's no surprise that Obsidian's upcoming RPG won't let you go 100% nonviolent. Speaking to PC Gamer this week, game director Carrie Patel said, "This isn't a game where you're gonna have a pure pacifist run."

That doesn't mean spilling blood will be the only way to clear your questlog, however. You'll still be able to talk your way out of some problems, like you could in Pillars of Eternity. "Players can expect to see solutions and opportunities to use dialogue, maybe take advantage of reactivity with regards to characters they might have helped or met earlier in," Patel went on, mentioning there will be "some stealth solutions," but players should expect a "focus on combat."

[...]

Thanks Soola!

Mortismal Gaming checked out the recent Avowed podcast:

Avowed: More Details - Skill Trees, The Dream Scourge, & More

Xbox has a video with the game developers that explores Avowed in more detail.

On this bonus episode of the Official Xbox Podcast we dive into even more Avowed gameplay while chatting with Game Director Carrie Patel and Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo. Enjoy!

00:00 Introductions
01:25 What makes Avowed an Obsidian game?
03:19 Mission location
05:19 Combat and weapon loadouts
10:14 Crowd control and elemental damage
12:49 Branching dialogs and companions
16:16 What is Shatterskarp
19:07 What it's like developing the game
22:39 What the Avowed title means
23:43 Final thoughts & goodbye

Mortismal Gaming presents new info about Avowed:

Avowed - New Gameplay & Details

A Deep Dive Video for Avowed that shows some gameplay.

Explore the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger in this first deep dive into the gameplay experience you can expect in Avowed, our upcoming fantasy action RPG set in the fantastical, vibrant Living Lands.

Learn more about how we incorporate world-building with profound themes, dynamic gameplay, and thoughtful reactivity and bring them to life in Avowed, where you can make choices to shape every step of your adventure.

Avowed will be available Fall 2024 for Xbox Series X|S, Windows 10/11, Steam, and day one with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.

Gamerant asks what we can expect from Avowed in 2024:

What to Expect From Avowed in 2024

Obsidian's upcoming RPG, Avowed, is set to release sometime in 2024, with fans hoping for more information or a firm date soon.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Avowed is an upcoming open-world RPG from Obsidian, known for its rich worlds and engaging gameplay.
• While it may resemble an Elder Scrolls game, Avowed has a smaller scope and scale, but still offers a lot for fantasy RPG fans.
• The release of Avowed is scheduled for 2024, with a potential release date in May or Fall, and more updates are expected soon.

[...]

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Fextralife checked out Avowed:

Avowed Gameplay Deep Dive - Can it Top Pillars of Eternity?

Timestamps
0:00 - Avowed Preview
0:53 - Story and Setting
3:00 - Gameplay and Features
8:34 - Final Thoughts

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Eurogamer reports that Avowed was originally planned as a co-op game:

Obsidian says Avowed was originally co-op but it just wasn't Obsidian enough

"We realised that we weren't focused on the things that we're best at".

As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, Obsidian Entertainment has been airing a documentary series digging into the studio's history, and the newly aired final episode has a little to say about its future too, sharing a few details on the upcoming Avowed, including the revelation it started life as a co-op experience before pivoting to a single-player RPG.

"When I look back at 20 years, there's decisions of mine that I feel really good about, there's decisions that I feel not so good about", studio head Feargus Urquhart admits at one point in the documentary. "One of the things where I really pushed was that Avowed was going to be multiplayer, and I kept on that for a long time."

Urquhart says his insistence on multiplayer came from the belief it would make Avowed more interesting to publishers. At the time, the studio was independent - its since been acquired by Microsoft - and Urquhart reasoned, "When you're asking for 50, 60, 70, 80 million, you've got to have something interesting to talk about and multiplayer made it interesting."

"I know, in the end, it was the wrong decision to keep on pushing on it," Urquhart admits, at which points Obsidian head of development Justin Britch takes over the story, shedding more light on the tangle Avowed's early multiplayer focus was getting the studio in.

[...]

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WolfheartFPS checked out Avowed:

Avowed RPG - Should You Lower Your Expectations?

Timestamps:

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:46 Skyrim like? Nope
• 4:15 Companions
• 6:54 Player Character
• 7:20 Setting
• 8:10 Player Character
• 8:59 Choice & Consequence?
• 9:40 Character Development / Classes? / Combat
• 12:12 Loot / Upgrades

Thanks Redglyph!

Mortismal Gaming checked out Avowed:

What To Expect From Avowed

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ESO reacts to the Avowed gameplay trailer and a Obsidian interview:

We NEED To Talk about the Avowed Gameplay!

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Feargus Urquhart tells PC Gamer what type of game Avowed is:

Avowed started as Obsidian's Skyrim, but evolved to focus on depth over breadth, 'where Obsidian really shines'

"We backed up and said again: What are we good at? What's our lane?"

When Avowed was first announced with a CGI trailer back in 2020, the headlines and discussions that it sparked all pointed to one specific game: Skyrim. Even though the teaser didn't give away much, the similarities were clear. First-person view; a sword in the right hand, a spell in the left. Surely this was Obsidian's take on an enormous Bethesda-style RPG?

And yes, it turns out that was the plan—at least at first. "Originally we were pitching, in essence, our Skyrim," confirms Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart in an exclusive interview with PC Gamer.

But that is not what Avowed, as it currently exists, is going to be. "I think over the course of time as we worked on it… Bethesda makes an awesome Skyrim. Mojang makes an awesome Minecraft, and Turn10 makes awesome racing games," says Urquhart, referencing a handful of Obsidian's sister studios at Microsoft. "What we do is we make our awesome RPGs, right?"

The feeling, then, was that Obsidian were better served not following Bethesda's example of a grand, open world, but instead staying true to what an Obsidian game should be. "That's when we backed up and said again: What are we good at? What's our lane?" That core, for Urquhart, is Obsidian's dedication to storytelling. "Outer Worlds is the greatest, latest example of that, and even Pillars. Pillars is less linear than Outer Worlds, but it's still a game that has you go through a story. And [Pillars of Eternity] 2 was even less linear, but still again you have this core story as you're going."

For Avowed, the focus is going to be specifically on your companions, and how their story relates to the driving narrative of the game. "We could go off and create an 8km x 8km open world and then deal with all the consequences of that—because that makes it a different style game. But we want to tell more confined stories that the player can experience with their companions, and then move from part of the world to part of the world. And, like I said, in the end, that's us."

[...]

Thanks Henriquejr!

WolfheartFPS summarizes what we know on Avowed, facts, some speculations or leaks, and speaks a little about its lore.

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CHAPTERS

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:28 What We Know
• 02:43 Release Date?
• 03:13 Setting
• 03:54 Lore (World Races)
• 06:41 Gameplay & Speculation
• 09:18 Runes Deciphered

Windows Central has posted an article according to which an early working version of the game would be close.

Details on Xbox exclusive Avowed: The Outer Worlds meets medieval fantasy

[...]

Sources familiar with internal plans have reached out to us in recent months offering details on Avowed, moving through pre-production towards a playable alpha state. Indeed, Obsidian is likely close to having a working early version of the game, with many mechanics and core gameplay pillars already implemented. I can't be sure how old some of the footage I've seen is, and there's a good chance it's far further along.

[...]

The Outer Worlds fans already have plenty of reasons to be excited about Obsidian's upcoming slate, given that The Outer Worlds 2 has been confirmed. Avowed seems to be based on a similar, albeit enhanced engine from The Outer Worlds, complete with action-oriented first-person combat and deep RPG exploration and narrative systems. We were told Avowed will feature multiple class playstyles and borrow from Skyrim's two-handed combat system. You could wield two daggers and be a stealthy rogue, or dive into archery with a two-handed bow. You could use a combination of swords and magic, or go full two-handed magic, which is required to wield some of the game's more potent spells and abilities.

Avowed will feature many elements Pillars of Eternity fans will be familiar with. Wizard spells like Jolting Touch, which can fry enemies with forks of lightning, will be present. Two-handed spells like Fireball are conjured using complex-looking hand gestures, but decimate enemies in a storm of magma and fire. I also saw status effect spells like Fetid Caress, imbuing enemies with corrosive poison. Weapon enchantments seem to be a big feature too, with magically enchanted swords and frozen arrows, as examples. Pillars-style guns may also appear in the game, similar to the muskets and arquebuses found in the original two titles. Familiar creatures such as the lizard-like Xaurips will appear, alongside much larger and deadlier threats, all the way up to wyverns and drakes.

The combat seems to be more loadout-based than The Elder Scrolls, which gives you mountains of spells in a gigantic list. Warriors will get access to more physical attacks like swordplay, powerful kicks, and shield bashes, while casters will be given a range of spellbook options to customize and tailor their combat style, with attacks bound to specific buttons.

[...]

PC Gamer has collected some info and rumors about Avowed:

Avowed: Release date, gameplay, and everything we know about Obsidian's Skyrim-like RPG

Avowed is a big, first-person RPG set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity, and it looks like it might be Obsidian's spin on The Elder Scrolls. It would make a lot of sense: Over the past decade, Obsidian has garnered love and praise for taking beloved RPG subgenres and adding its a modern spin. Pillars of Eternity was a love letter to cRPG greats like Baldur's Gate, while The Outer Worlds evoked the grim satire and meaningful choices of Fallout: New Vegas (which it also created). Now it looks like Obsidian is inching into Skyrim's territory, and with The Elder Scrolls 6 likely still years away, the idea of a big fantasy first-person RPG is exciting.

[...]

Avowed - Obsidian Entertainment’s next epic, first-person RPG set in the fantasy world of Eora - has been announced:

Avowed - Official Announce Trailer

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Thanks JDR13!