Avowed: Experience Unmatched Freedom on Your Own Adventure

In one of the game’s intriguing quests, you encounter a situation involving xaurips who have taken over a settler’s home. This mission offers multiple ways to approach it: you might choose the direct route by fighting the xaurips head-on, or you might opt for a stealthier method by scouting the place and reporting back your findings. However, as is often the case with quests designed by Obsidian, there’s more beneath the surface if you dig a little deeper. In this instance, I stumbled upon an unexpected spiritual link to the xaurips. This is a perfect reflection of Obsidian’s gaming philosophy: the more you explore, the richer your experience becomes.

Narrative Designer Kate Dollarhyde explains, “My instinct is to leave as much to discovery as possible for the player. If everything in the world is spoon-fed, the sense of mystery diminishes because there’s less unearthing to do. Our goal is for the content to be clear enough for players to understand what’s happening and how to progress through quests, yet we avoid making the solutions too obvious. It’s like having a conversation between us, the designers, and the player. We’re providing a platform for that interaction, encouraging players to participate as actively as we are. We furnish tools to facilitate this, while allowing players the freedom to craft their own path.”

The narrative team carefully crafts choices into short-term, medium-term, and long-term categories. Short-term decisions occur during dialogues, potentially leading to new insights from NPCs, different quest resolutions, or even negative reactions. Medium-term choices might change the outcome of a single quest. Meanwhile, long-term decisions can have an impact across multiple quests or even the game as a whole. Dollarhyde notes, “When plotting out the main storyline, the regional narratives, and side quests, we’re always considering these different choice timelines. It can get a bit tangled trying to ensure it all meshes well, but fortunately, design is an iterative process.”