The Outer Worlds: How It Could Stand Out by Diverging from Avowed

In our discussion it is necessary to note that The Outer Worlds became a breakthrough game for Obsidian Entertainment. After spending years working on smaller-scale titles, the Irvine-based developer finally created a new AAA first-person RPG, the first from the company since the launch of 2010’s Fallout: New Vegas. It was not the desolate RPG sequel in the vein of a Fallout: New Vegas 2 fans had expected or dreamed of; however, it was, nonetheless, in many ways Obsidian’s reply to the Fallout series. It had a lot of the same black comedy a lot of audiences appreciated in the post-apocalyptic series, and it was very violent and tied to choices, like many of the company’s other creations. The Outer Worlds was not completely devoid of criticism on the internet but was a big success for Obsidian and acclaimed both by critics and public.

More than five years after the launch of The Outer Worlds, Obsidian is gearing up to release its next AAA RPG: Avowed. The most promising of them, which is set to be launched on Xbox Series X/S and Windows PC in February 2025, is a new fantasy first-person RPG that includes guns and magic. If compared to the first game, the second one is qualitatively different in some aspects, such as the environment and the fighting system. The Outer Worlds can, however, go even further in offering its ideals if Obsidian takes the series in an opposite direction from which Avowed went.

Stated is that it is part of the Pillars of Eternity series, which mostly comprises isometric CRPGs

On the face of it, a name Avowed may give an impression as if it is a new IP game. Indeed, for those who didn’t play or hear about the game before looking through some game play screenshots, they would probably assume the game is not part of any multimedia adaptation and just stands on its own. Nonetheless, the situation is not like that. It might come as a shock to some gamer, but Avowed is an offshoot of the Pillars of Eternity series of games that was developed by Obsidian Entertainment. As for Pillars of Eternity it is not as popular as IPs like The Elder Scrolls or Fallout, although it has its right to be mentioned being a video game franchise. The series, up to this point, only consists of two games: I’m recommending two games here: Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire. Both titles came out in modern iteratively in mid-2010s and both were isometric CRPG with real-time with pause combat. The complete design of the Pillars of Eternity franchise owes much to the Baldur’s Gate games, to be precise, BG1 and BG2, judging by the combat and roleplaying systems.

Both Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 were greatly appreciated by the press and fans but, compared to other releases of Obsidian, those games are not the pinnacle of success. Specifically, the second game did not sell as expected in the company sheds, possibly because it was specialized. The poor sales of Deadfire may be why Obsidian is deviating so radically from the Pillars of Eternity model with Avowed. By making it a first-person title instead of an isometric one, the game can appeal to a broader audience, particularly gamers who are fans of Fallout: Obsidian Entertainment, The Outer Worlds, New Vegas, Fallout 4 and all first person action RPGs.

Obsidian Should Release an Isometric CRPG Spin-Off of The Outer Worlds Franchise

Pillars of Eternity 2: Perhaps, in the past, Deadfire could have been a disappointment, but with the CRPGs’ resurgence – thanks to the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, it really might be high time for Obsidian to come back to the genre. Maybe instead of creating the entirely new mainline Pillars of Eternity game it could create the isometric Outer Worlds one? They know that currently there is a lot of demand for choice-driven isometric RPGs So, to point in the opposite direction from which Obsidian is heading with Avowed would make a lot of sense. A computer role-playing game spin-off set in the world of The Outer Worlds could also do same if done in the spirit of the earlier Fallout RPGs which were Interplay published games.