Avowed’s Lore Tooltips Are the Best of Both Worlds

by

Avowed's Lore Tooltips Are the Best of Both Worlds

Key Takeaways

  • Avowed is based on the world of Pillars of Eternity, bringing fans to a new region of Eora.
  • Avowed will have a “lore tooltip” option as a quality of life feature for players either familiar or unfamiliar with the setting.
  • Avowed’s lore tooltips may provide in-depth and useful information without disrupting the flow of the larger story.

As a seasoned fantasy RPG enthusiast with over two decades spent immersing myself in the rich tapestry of lore-heavy games, I am thrilled to see Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming masterpiece, Avowed, addressing the often-overlooked issue of exposition in immersive storytelling. With a career that has seen me navigate through countless tomes and scrolls of game manuals, I can attest to the importance of finding a balance between world-building and maintaining an engaging narrative flow.

The upcoming dark fantasy RPG by Obsidian Entertainment, titled Avowed, has sparked excitement among gamers ever since its unveiling in 2020. Over the development process, the team has shared insights into their strategies for direction and design of this project. A significant aspect of Avowed is that it will be set within the world of Obsidian’s CRPG series, Pillars of Eternity. In Avowed, players will journey to a new part of the world of PoE’s Eora, an area that has been hinted at before but never fully fleshed out or clarified.

At this year’s Gamescom event, developers offered a more in-depth look at the gameplay of Avowed, focusing on an early quest. While showcasing its numerous other aspects, one intriguing addition was spotted. Although Obsidian Entertainment has mentioned that players do not need to be acquainted with Pillars of Eternity to play Avowed, it will inevitably have connections to the original IP. To cater to this, Avowed will feature a “lore tooltip” option as a convenient quality of life improvement, which is expected to be beneficial for players who are either familiar or new to the established universe.

The scheduled launch of the game “Avowed” has been moved from its original Fall 2024 release window and is now slated for February 18, 2025.

How Avowed’s Lore Tooltips Could Benefit Both New and Returning Fans

Avowed is Built Upon an Intricate Web of Lore

Many fantasy video games are known for their rich lore, which helps build immersive and engaging worlds. However, this can sometimes lead to an overabundance of explanations or expositions about the game’s setting, potentially overwhelming players. The world of Avowed, set in Eora, is already familiar due to its appearance in two previous games. Despite being accessible to everyone, there are fundamental aspects that will require some explanation, even if only in a general sense.

Avowed’s Tooltips Are a Natural Way to Ease the Burden of Storytelling

Avowed seeks to address the issue at hand by incorporating an accessible and intuitive feature that allows players to familiarize themselves with Eora’s diverse aspects using its in-game lore tooltips. In the gameplay of Avowed, these seem to function as a practical, in-game reference library. Players can focus on terms or names mentioned during dialogues and interactions, and delve deeper into them for comprehensive information. The tooltips serve to elucidate crucial points by offering brief summaries of key elements and additional details without making the conversations overly expository. In this way, they prevent discussions from becoming lengthy explanations.

Declared aims to steer clear of a common issue found in other games, where scenes or situations might appear contrived or unrealistic due to excessive exposition from NPCs. This can make the characters seem artificial and potentially disrupt immersion. However, notable examples like Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader and Final Fantasy 16, with their Active Time Lore and codex respectively, have effectively managed this challenge by offering players an efficient means to delve deeper into the story, understand key items, and grasp essential context that enhances their experience of these grand narratives.

Even though tooltips might seem small in significance compared to other aspects of Avowed, they contribute thoughtfully to enhancing its overall narrative. These tooltips allow players to quickly grasp extra details without characters needing to explicitly explain things, thereby preserving the continuity of the larger story. Tooltips can be particularly useful for absorbing information at a glance, and they serve as handy reminders for fans who are familiar with Pillars of Eternity, but might need a refresher on certain key points. By catering to all types of players in this way, Avowed could offer a smoother gaming experience for everyone, and it’s possible that other games may adopt similar features as a result.

Read More

2024-08-26 13:33