In a 31-minute Gamescom preview of Avowed by GameSpot, Obsidian has lastly revealed when within the Pillars of Eternity timeline its upcoming motion RPG, Avowed, takes place. The primary-person Pillars spinoff begins sooner or later after the tip of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire.
Avowed was by no means billed as a direct follow-up to Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity video games, however fairly one other story in the identical setting of Eora. Nonetheless, the occasions of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire particularly have been so huge, so transformative, and with so many ending permutations, followers like me needed to surprise if Avowed happened after the unique video games, or sooner or later in Eora’s distant previous.
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And my assumption—which gave the impression to be the neighborhood consensus—was that Avowed would go the prequel route. Its first trailer appeared a bit extra medieval than the gunpowder-infused age of sail in Pillars correct. And if you wish to get actually into the lore weeds, the prominence of the Aedyr Empire—Avowed’s protagonist is the emperor’s envoy—lent additional credence to the prequel concept. Aedyr’s entered its “terminal imperial decline” period by the point of the Pillars video games.
However nope, not solely is Avowed set after Pillars of Eternity 1 and a pair of, the hunt on the heart of its Gamescom preview cheekily references the occasions of Deadfire earlier than instantly confirming the timeline. The hunt sees you serving to out a priest of Eothas—the godly antagonist of Deadfire, who possesses a magic crystal colossus to wreak existentially-motivated havoc—in digging up a relic of Pillars’ most “problematic fav” deity. Within the background, you possibly can see that the disturbingly serene priest is constructing some sort of large crystal effigy to Eothas.
In deliciously basic Obsidian vogue, the pleasant priest is definitely a little bit of a freak, similar to his god, and the crystal statue is a bit magic Gundam he is ready for the Eothasian artifact, a type of mini me to Eothas’ continent-killer kind in Deadfire that is equally powered by damned souls. Lest you suppose it is only a meta reference for gamers to get, dialogue within the quest instantly references Eothas’ Deadfire rampage as a previous occasion.
So Avowed is shifting the world of Eora ahead, which is especially thrilling given how a lot Deadfire’s ending upended issues: Irrespective of your selections, Eothas manages to undo the setting’s cycle of demise and rebirth, leaving the folks of the world to wrestle with the implications. The Residing Lands’ remoteness from Deadfire and the Dyrwood, in the meantime, frees the workforce from having to handle the nitty gritty of how gamers left the world, although I am excited on the prospect of seeing a well-known face or two. We’ll know every little thing for certain as soon as Avowed lastly releases on February 18.
