Avowed Dev Explains The Lack of Romance Options

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Key Takeaways

  • Avowed’s focus on storytelling and companion relationships led to the decision to omit romance options.
  • Obsidian aims for players to have a thorough experience in one playthrough.
  • Avowed’s departure from including romance options aligns with Obsidian’s approach seen in The Outer Worlds and sets it apart in the RPG genre.

As a seasoned gamer with decades of RPG experiences under my belt, I must say I find Obsidian Entertainment’s decision to omit romance options in their upcoming title, Avowed, quite intriguing. It’s not every day that we encounter a game developer who dares to stray from the well-trodden path of romantic subplots.

The declared director Carrie Patel has revealed the reason behind Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming role-playing game omitting romance options. Typically, romance features are a common element in most RPGs today, but in the case of this game, titled Avowed , they’ve chosen to take a distinct path.

Slated for launch in February 2025, “Avowed” is the latest title from renowned RPG studio, Obsidian Entertainment. Known for masterpieces like “Fallout: New Vegas,” “Pillars of Eternity,” and “The Outer Worlds,” this upcoming RPG has been generating much anticipation among gamers. With fans of the genre eagerly waiting for any updates before its release, Obsidian has been gradually revealing details about “Avowed.” A clearer image of the game’s features is now emerging, with its launch scheduled for next year.

As a dedicated gamer, I’ve learned that in many modern RPGs, romance storylines have become a significant part of the experience. However, during an insightful chat with GamesRadar+, the director of Avowed, Carrie Patel, shared why this game will take a different approach. “It’s a massive undertaking,” she said, emphasizing the importance of doing it justice. This thoughtfulness extends to ensuring that players who choose not to pursue romance but still desire a profound connection with their companions can have an equally rich and impactful experience through friendship or alliance paths. In essence, they aim to tell the game’s companions’ stories and players’ relationships without the need for romantic options.

Avowed Romance Options Would Be “A Ton of Work”

In total, the four companions will play significant roles within the story. The aim is to allow players to explore their individual narratives in a single gameplay session, rather than requiring multiple plays to fully understand these characters. As Patel explained, each companion has a distinct role, personality, and dynamic with others, contributing to the tale of the Living Lands. While replayability is valuable in RPGs, it often means overlooking content during initial playthroughs. It’s clear that integrating romantic elements could severely limit this immersive experience.

As a storyteller, I chose to focus on sharing the profound connections between my characters and their friends, rather than introducing romantic entanglements into the narrative.

It’s not unexpected that the game Avowed doesn’t include romance options, as The Outer Worlds also lacked this feature, which set it apart from many other RPGs at the time. This seems to be a deliberate decision by Obsidian, indicating that they prefer to focus on other aspects for their games. In comparison, Baldur’s Gate 3 stands out in the RPG genre for its strong emphasis on romance storylines, so it’s an interesting choice by Obsidian to omit this feature.

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2024-11-10 18:53