It’s 2018, and Obsidian Entertainment—those wizards behind Fallout | New Vegas and KOTOR 2—get scooped up by Microsoft. Fans are buzzing, expecting more of that deep, magical RPG goodness the studio’s known for. Instead, Obsidian drops Grounded, a co-op sandbox about shrunken kids fighting backyard bugs. It’s a hit, but the hardcore crowd shrugs it off as a fluke. “Where’s our sprawling worlds and epic quests?” they grumble.
Enter Avowed, Obsidian’s big swing at a first-person action RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. Spoiler | it’s a mess—a glorious, frustrating, what-could-have-been mess.
Avowed sounded like a dream on paper | a bold leap to shake up the RPG genre, blending Skyrim’s exploration with something fresh. But the reality? It’s a cautionary tale of ambition gone off the rails. Development was a nightmare—reboots, team shake-ups, release dates ping-ponging around like a pinball machine. It nearly crashed into Microsoft’s other heavy hitters and rival blockbusters. What landed in 2025 feels like a half-baked experiment, a testing ground for The Outer Worlds 2 and Unreal Engine 5, dressed up as a full-fledged RPG. Peel back the shiny surface, and it’s a hollow shell that’ll leave you wondering | what happened to Obsidian?
The pitch was wild | back in 2018, they aimed for a co-op hybrid of Skyrim and Destiny. By 2021, that dream was toast—too big, too risky. A flop could’ve sunk the studio. So, they pivoted hard to a single-player action RPG, reshuffling leadership and slashing scope. It’s not a total trainwreck like Dragon Age | The Veilguard’s MMO cleanup, but it’s close. The setting’s got potential—Eora’s lore is rich, the plot’s got classic beats—but in practice, it’s a ghost town. The capital’s NPCs are stiff as mannequins, guards yawn at street stabbings, and the world feels like a museum exhibit | pretty, static, dead.
Combat’s where you’d hope for a win, right? Spells flash, weapons gleam, skills and crafting pile up like a buffet. But it’s all smoke and mirrors. Swap skills? Sure, but why bother—they barely matter. New weapons? Pointless. Spells? Overkill for enemies that don’t fight back smart. It’s a dazzling toybox with no soul, a sales pitch banking on Obsidian’s name to mask the emptiness. Some players vibe with the polish and call it a day; others see through the cracks and walk away disappointed.
Critics went easy at first—Obsidian’s got that legacy cred. “Give it time,” they said. “You’re just spoiled by Baldur’s Gate 3.” But let’s drop the nostalgia goggles | Avowed doesn’t touch Skyrim, let alone Oblivion. The story’s thin, dialogues are bland, and combat’s a fireworks show with no stakes. Enemies are copy-paste grunts, balance is an afterthought, and puzzles? What puzzles? The “open world” is a wide hallway leading nowhere. This isn’t the Obsidian of New Vegas—most of those devs are long gone. It’s time to stop pretending.
Western reviews turned brutal fast. Old-school RPGs like Ultima or Planescape had livelier worlds. Avowed doesn’t feel like a role-player’s game—no real choices, no immersion, no stakes. Are you a hero or a villain? Neither—just a mushroom-hatted errand boy. Defenders say it’s a rebellion against bloated RPGs, stripping away the excess stealth and NPC-killing freedom no one uses. They argue it’s a lean, focused adventure, dodging the trap of wasting dev time on unseen content. Nice theory, but it flops hard. Mass Effect and The Witcher 3 prove limits can deepen a role, not kill it. Avowed’s choices fizzle, companions are cardboard, and exploration’s a lootless slog. It’s got RPG trappings, but they’re broken—a visual novel with extra steps.
Obsidian’s been spinning excuses since day one. Six years, two reboots, and a rushed final stretch led by Carrie Patel, who axed the co-op and open world, focusing on Pillars lore. They claim it’s a middle-ground gamble—safe, profitable, not a bloated AAA disaster like hero shooters or battle royales. A modest hit won’t tank them. Smart on paper, but Avowed still struts like a big-budget beast while delivering GreedFall-tier depth. It’s not a noble pivot; it’s a dodge. Obsidian’s playing it safe while pretending they’re still top-tier, and it’s painfully obvious.
So here’s Avowed | a gorgeous misfire that promised to reinvent RPGs and instead tripped over its own feet. It’s not the evolution we wanted—just a shiny step back. Fans deserved better, and Obsidian knows it. What’s your take—can they bounce back, or is this the new normal?
