Obsidian Entertainment has never been a studio to shy away from a challenge—or from a convoluted lore bible. With Avowed, the developer returned to the first-person RPG genre it helped popularize, but this time it planted its flag in the world of Eora, the same setting as its beloved Pillars of Eternity CRPGs. The catch? Avowed was explicitly designed to be welcoming to players who wouldn't know a glanfathan from a godlike. That's a bit like hosting a family reunion where half the guests have never met the family and the other half expect you to remember what happened at Thanksgiving 2015. Hilarity—or disaster—could ensue.
Now that Avowed has been out in the wild for a while (it launched in early 2025, after a slight delay from its original Fall 2024 window), we can look back at the tightrope Obsidian walked. The studio insisted that no Pillars of Eternity homework was required, yet it also leaned heavily on Eora's established factions, history, and metaphysical baggage. The result was a game that had to satisfy two very different audiences: lore-hungry veterans who can recite the names of all the gods of the Engwithan pantheon, and curious newcomers who just want to swing a sword and maybe pet a dog.
The Lore Tightrope: A Table of Expectations
| Audience | What They Want | What They Fear |
|---|---|---|
| Pillars Veterans | Deep references, continuity, answers to Deadfire's cliffhanger | That Avowed will ignore or contradict established lore |
| Newcomers | A self-contained story, clear explanations, no required reading | That they'll be lost in a sea of proper nouns |
Obsidian's solution was to set Avowed in the Living Lands, a region of Eora that had been mentioned but never explored in the Pillars games. This was a smart move: it gave the studio room to world-build without stepping on too many established toes. The player character, an envoy from the Aedyr Empire, is sent to investigate a mysterious disease that's messing with both the local populace and the region's natural stability. The Aedyr Empire, for those who skipped the lore, is basically the big colonial power of Eora—think the British Empire but with more magic and worse fashion choices. The envoy's mission is simple: figure out why people are turning into something weird, and try not to get distracted by the Living Lands' many, many side quests.
The Deadfire Cliffhanger: A Giant Eleventh-Hour Elephant
Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire ended on a cliffhanger so dramatic that it left fans clutching their monitors and demanding immediate answers. Without spoiling too much, the ending involved a massive statue, a god, and implications for the entire world of Eora. So when Avowed was announced, fans naturally wondered: when does it take place relative to that? If it's soon after, why doesn't anyone mention the world-shaking event? If it's far in the future or past, does it even matter? Obsidian had to decide how to handle this. The studio could either address it tangentially or ignore it entirely. Ignoring it risks alienating veterans who feel the game is disconnected from the larger story; addressing it risks confusing newcomers who have no idea what a 'Wheel' is or why it's made of adra. It's a classic no-win scenario, like trying to explain the plot of Inception to a toddler.
Smaller Scope, Smaller Headache?
One factor that may have helped Obsidian is that Avowed was designed to be a smaller, more focused experience compared to the sprawling Pillars CRPGs. That means the game doesn't have to tie up every loose end from Deadfire or explore every corner of Eora. Instead, it can tell a contained story that just happens to be set in the same universe. This approach is like inviting someone to a potluck and telling them they only need to bring one dish—it's less overwhelming than asking them to cater the whole event. A smaller scope also opens up the possibility of Avowed reinvigorating interest in the Pillars IP as a whole. If new players enjoy their time in the Living Lands, they might be tempted to go back and play the older games. And if veterans get a taste of Eora in first-person, they might be hungry for more. It's a win-win, assuming Obsidian sticks the landing.
In the end, Avowed's handling of Pillars of Eternity lore was always going to be a delicate balancing act. Obsidian had to court two audiences without alienating either, all while telling a story that felt meaningful in a world already dense with history. Whether the studio succeeded is up for debate—some fans praised the game for being accessible, while others lamented the lack of deeper connections to the CRPGs. But one thing is certain: Obsidian didn't take the easy way out. It walked the tightrope, and if it wobbled, at least it did so with style. After all, in the world of Eora, even the gods have been known to stumble. 😄