The action RPGAvowedis absolutely a return to form for Obsidian, as the developer has delivered the quality storytelling it is best known for, and it did so by avoiding the missteps ofThe Outer Worlds, a game whereawkward attempts at forced humor badly undercut any investment in its story. Obsidian and BioWare both connect back to Black Isle Studios, the publisher of the originalBaldur’s Gate. Obsidian’s formative hits were sequels to BioWare-developed games, and Obsidian’s skilled storytellers arguably outdid BioWare in most cases. The shift to pursuing studio-owned Intellectual Property is an understandable one.
Among those who have playedStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicand its sequel, many agree thatKotoR 2has a better storythan its predecessor. This is doubly true when comparingNeverwinter Nights 2with the prior game. These early Obsidian hits helped define a house style of sorts for the studio, and it carried this over intoFallout: New Vegas, a game that is widely considered the best in the franchise. While not every game was a critical and commercial success,Obsidian gave every RPG it developed a deeply engrossing storyprior toThe Outer Worlds’release.
The Outer Worlds Undercut Its Drama With Forced Humor
Obsidian Failed To Balance Humor & Gravitas, Making Outer Worlds A Joke
Some playersenjoyedThe Outer Worlds’gameplay, but few thought its story was on par with games likePillars of EternityorKotoR 2. The biggest hurdle to enjoyingThe Outer Worldswas its insistence on putting humor above drama. In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter,The Outer Worlds’co-director Leonard Boyarski notedtwo of the game’s major influences wereFireflyandFuturama. When compared to games, it’s more of aFalloutanalogue than it is Obsidian’s answer toMass Effect.
Avowed Has Reached 5.9 Million Players Since Launch, Outperforming One Of Xbox’s Hit First-Party Titles
Avowed surged past 5.9 million players in its first month, outperforming Indiana Jones while dominating Steam sales despite Game Pass availability.
Afew games, likeDisco Elysium, can balance sidesplitting humor with weighty stakesand masterclass character development, but it’s not easy to do.The Outer Worlds' Phineas was Rick Sanchez-inspired, but the game rarely approached the humor of a goodRick and Mortyepisode or even that of the similarly-toned gameHigh On Life.
The Other Worldshad a fairly fascinating and compelling premise on paper. It deals initially with conflicts between hard-working colonists and the far-future capitalists who funded colonization efforts, in essence. These could have been presented with all the gravitas of the class struggles inDisco Elysium, but inThe Outer Worlds,both sides are reduced to ridiculous caricatures, leaving no one to empathize with.
The poor judgment Obsidian exercised may have been about more than humor. Boyarski also said thatThe Other Worldsis not political, despite its inherently anti-capitalist, anti-corporate themes. In an interview withVGC, he explained, “I don’t want people thinking this is a really hard, politically-charged game; it’s supposed to be fun, it’s supposed to be humorous.”To countless RPG fans, however, deeply immersive and hard-hitting narratives are fun, and that’s exactly the kind of fun that made Obsidian a studio worth caring about in the first place. Shying away from this did no favors toThe Outer Worlds’story.
Avowed Leans Into Obsidian’s Strengths In Its Storytelling
The Game Treats Its Characters As People & Grants Its Narrative Added Weight
Fortunately,Avowedreturns to Obsidian’s classic storytelling, with real dramatic stakes that aren’t constantly undercut by grating humor or a reticence to showcase meaningful themes. The Living Lands is presented as a fully realized place populated by real people with real concerns, not the outlandish buffoons that plaguedThe Outer Worlds.Avoweddoesn’t hide its anti-imperialism message behind gags and nonsense likeThe Outer Worldsdid with its critiques of corporations and capitalism. It iswilling to present complex, challenging subject matter and trust that RPG fans are mature enough to handle it.
PS Plus Is Finally Countering Xbox Game Pass, But It Needs To Move Faster
Game Pass received an amazing day-one released RPG with Avowed. PlayStation Plus getting Dragon Age 4 next month is a solid counter for RPG fans.
WhileThe Outer Worldswas too silly for its own good,Avowedcould be a tabletop RPGwith its masterful world-building, diverse cultures, and nuanced conflicts that promote immersive role-playing. The characters inAvowedarebelievable people, and players can become emotionally invested in their struggles. This includes party members and NPCs, like the various village leaders forced to make difficult choices for the good of their people. When there is humor, usually a joke from an ally like Kai or Yatzli, it adds to their humanity instead of detracting from it, because it is part of who they are.
Games likeTyranny,Pillars of Eternity, and evenAlpha Protocoldidn’t opt to reduce themselves to the level ofFuturamaepisodes out of fear of being perceived as “political.”
While Obsidian’s recent gamePentimentisn’t exactly an RPG likeAvowed, it also did a better job balancing humor and dire stakes,letting you execute innocent peoplewith its ambiguous mystery format. When a game likeThe Outer Worldspushes so hard to keep things light and apolitical, it dehumanizes the people it depicts. Dramatic conflicts should be weighty and meaningful. Political messages in fictitious analogies are features, not bugs, as proven by everything fromThe Twilight ZonetoDisco Elysium.Players cannot be invested in loosely drawn, cartoonish conflicts designed to avoid any real-world political connections.
Obsidian Can Follow Avowed’s Good Example In The Future
By Avoiding Humor & Fearlessly Embracing Political Messages, Obsidian Can Thrive
Obsidian does not needOuter Worlds 2to compete withStarfieldin the size of its maps and worlds, but it does need to step up its storytelling and seriousness. While far from a perfect story,Starfield’s central narrative was compelling, and itdid not sabotage its drama with excess humorlike the firstOuterWorldsdid. The house style of storytelling Obsidian popularized itself with is well regarded for a reason. Games likeTyranny,Pillars of Eternity, and evenAlpha Protocol, didn’t opt to reduce themselves to the level ofFuturamaepisodes out of fear of being perceived as “political.”
Avowed Is Great At Everything That FF7 Rebirth Isn’t
With similar map setups, Avowed and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth still approach RPG design differently, but come out to being great games for all players.
It takes a rare talent to merge relentless humor and even more relentless drama, likeDisco Elysiumdid, and we may never see that lightning strike again, since the original team of ZA/UM has disbanded (unwillingly in most cases). Even so, there are still plenty of opportunities for games to tell meaningful stories by avoiding a complete descent into silliness.
Instead ofaiming for the gravitas of a science fiction epic,The Outer Worldstried to have all the drama of aSouth Parkepisode.Avowedis a reminder that Obsidian can still tell quality stories that players can care about, but the studio needs to avoid an over-reliance on humor and play to its strengths.Avowedshines in every areaThe Outer Worldsfailed.
