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Obsidian's new first-person RPG Avowed channels Baldur's Gate 3 in one key way: 'The core of RPGs that makes them special is missable content'

Avowed, Obsidian's upcoming first-person RPG, draws inspiration from Baldur's Gate 3, emphasizing missable content and player-driven narratives, creating unique experiences through vertical exploration and environmental storytelling, evolving Obsidian's RPG legacy.

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Obsidian Entertainment is continuing to expand the world of Pillars of Eternity with its upcoming RPG Avowed, this time from a first-person perspective, but despite the camera angle switch-up, the game is still channelling the best bits of another isometric hit: Baldur's Gate 3. 

Speaking to GamesRadar+ for our Big Preview of Avowed, environment region director Berto Ritger said he thinks the "core of RPGs that makes them special is missable content, to be honest, and it makes the experience feel so much more personal to how you play the game." Water-cooler conversations about the secret questlines in Baldur's Gate 3 or the Breath of the Wild island that turns the game into a survival test are some of the coolest parts of those games, so I'm glad that Avowed is leaning into the same joys.

Ritger explained that sharing secrets with friends, potentially tucked away in the corner of the village docks, is cool. But what's even cooler is finding something special "and your friend doesn't, they found something else, and it creates a very interesting dialog about the game. And it makes your experience feel more personal to you."

Avowed facilitates this "in terms of the design" with an added level of verticality. "We want to draw your attention to things we want you to engage with," Ritger said. "Like the lighthouse is very tall, and so everybody's going to see a big, tall thing and want to go climb. And so we want to support that as well. And you can do that, and you can jump off into the ocean, if you like. And so we try to draw your attention that way."

Avowed is "an evolution" of Obsidian’s past RPGs, including Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds.