Why Didn’t Anyone Say ‘Avowed’ Had A Third-Person Mode?

Obsidian Entertainment gave another look at their upcoming RPG, Avowed, during the Xbox Games Showcase. For those who haven’t heard anything about it, Avowed is the latest title to take place in Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity universe. The Microsoft Store page describes the game as follows:

Obsidian Entertainment gave another look at their upcoming RPG, Avowed, during the Xbox Games Showcase.  For those who haven’t heard anything about it, Avowed is the latest title to take place in Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity universe. The Microsoft Store page describes the game as follows:

“Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger. Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.

You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?”

But none of that has anything to do with the real issue here, which is that this is the game’s third showing and not a single one of them bothered to mention the game offered a third-person mode. No, that was mentioned separately in an Xbox Games Showcase “Deep Dive” podcast a day later:

Worth noting that several of the top comments — with hundreds of upvotes — are mentions of the game’s third-person mode, information buried about ten minutes into the podcast itself.  It’s an insane choice, given that a large part of the enjoyment of Western RPGs are the customization options, which are far less interesting when the camera perspective4 never actually shows the character.

There are a few options that might explain this decision. One, they legitimately didn’t realize how important third-person perspective is to players. Or two, they’re still working on getting the third-person perspective down and thus don’t want to show too much of it yet, as its only shown in a few seconds of footage in a 27 minute podcast that shows multiple missions. Either way, a third-person mode instantly elevates this game from being slightly interesting to a contender with Dragon Age: The Veilguard in the eyes of more than a few fans. More people really should be talking about it, as Obsidian has created a truly gorgeous world with Avowed.

Avowed launches for Xbox Series, Steam, and the Microsoft Store sometime this Fall.