“There are choices you can make and consequences of actions you can take or not take, whether they are forecasted to you or not, that will impact the future of entire settlements, individual people, groups of people — the whole spectrum basically,” says Region Director Berto Ritger.

This felt evident as soon as I got off the boat in the game’s first region, Dawnshore, as the entire zone is essentially laid out in front of you, waiting to be explored. Everywhere I looked was an opportunity to engage with this world, either through circumnavigating old houses to find loot, or talking to locals that would yield side quests — and this was all before I even stepped foot outside of the port city of Paradis.

Obsidian has learned through iteration that sometimes these goals may be too hard to find for some players, so they would gradually layer in more hints, references, and suggestions. However, part of making choices feel personal for the player is feeling as though they’re opting into them – Obsidian doesn’t want players to feel like they’re being led around by the nose. It’s a balancing act achieved through playtesting, iteration, and careful attention.

“When it comes to consequences, if every choice and outcome is entirely predictable, it’s not necessarily rewarding because you miss that novelty,” says Game Director Carrie Patel. “But if things feel like they’re coming completely out of left field, it can be jarring. As the player, you are the protagonist of a story, and we want outcomes and consequences to feel earned. We hone this through a lot of iteration and internal testing to ensure we foreshadow choices, especially the big ones, and their consequences.”

Then there are the personal choices you can make that will have deep consequences for individual characters, or small groups of characters. “There are choices that will impact how your companions feel about you and whether they will stick around,” explains Ritger. “They will also react and respond to how you play side quests and main story quests — some of their quests are intrinsically tied to where the main story goes. They’ll respond to how you decide certain things in quests and give you their thoughts.”

All four of the companions you encounter in Avowed are from the Living Lands, who you will encounter as the story progresses to build up your party. They have an interest in what happens and the choices you make, which is why they’re willing to tag along with you on your journey — to make sure you don’t make too much of a mess of things. So far, I’ve only played with Kai as a companion, a blue-skinned Aumaua, who often provided needed context about the Living Lands, commenting on locations, characters, creatures, and historical events during our time together. As a former soldier, he excels as a tank, soaking up damage, drawing enemy fire, and utilizing incendiary ammo. Learning more about the other companions and how they’ll interact with us is one of the things I’m looking forward to discovering when the game comes out.

“I think it’s a good pacing mechanism (for those choices). We know roughly what you’ve done before you’ve gone to the next thing. It’s still a very open structure within those zones, where you can do whatever you want for the most part, but it’s not one contiguous area where you could be anywhere at any moment.” says Ritger.

Obsidian can build on those experiences over time and manage the pacing accordingly. It also allows them to stay focused as designers to ensure they’re delivering a coherent, thematically consistent story in each region by understanding the essence of each area. What are the stakes? Who are the main figures? What are their goals? What kinds of choices will be presented to you? The zones, in particular, help maintain this focus.

“We know that for the players who find those secrets and experiences, it’s going to give them that same sense of delight and surprise that it sounds like you experienced,” Patel says. “What makes RPGs special, and what makes our RPGs special, is the idea that we’re building a lot of content. We know that no one player is going to have the exact same experience, and part of what makes it fun and rewarding is when you find something and think, ‘I found this on my own, and I wonder how many other people did.’”

The team commits to these ideas as early as possible so that they have the time to really push those limits, and don’t feel tacked on. It’s an ingredient that they bake into how they build their games — they want to ensure there are core, impactful choices that will fundamentally alter the way Avowed plays.

“As a designer, I love making stuff that I know people won’t see, that a handful of players are going to encounter. I know that those handful of players, there’s going to be one or two in there that really love it and are astonished,” adds Dollarhyde. “Then they want to go tell somebody else about it, and they get to have a cool moment with their friend who played the game and missed that stuff. I love popping onto Reddit or the forums or whatever and just seeing what people are excited about because that’s the most fun part of making games.”

Obsidian’s objective is to explore a range of emotions, offering you the opportunity to engage deeply with different aspects of the game in whatever way you choose. Whether it involves extensive dialogue to learn more about the world, or participating in combat simply for the thrill, Avowed is structured so that you can always focus on your preferred activities, be it combat, exploration, or conversation in the Living Lands.

It all means that Avowed is shaping up to deliver one of the most deeply engaging and personalized gaming experiences this year, where your decisions will matter and each playthrough has the chance to be a truly unique experience. Obsidian’s meticulous attention to detail and the thoughtful combination of choice and consequence that defines this remarkable game, ensures your journey to Eora and the Living Lands will be a memorable one.