Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is almost here and fans of the original RPG are excited to see all of the massive improvements made in the sequel. With more dynamicism than ever before, this experience has a lot of hype surrounding it – and for good reason!
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Part of its charm is that this RPG really is a tribute to some of the greats. More often than not, it’s compared to the notorious likes of the Baldur’s Gate series, while still standing on its own with a unique gaming experience. It’s because of this that the team has every right to be confident in their project, but one member in particular hopes to inspire others in the industry.
Obsidian Games’ Josh Sawyer dares his fellow devs to be more “radical” in their visions and to stop playing it safe. With another developer earlier today stating that many companies are relying on crutches to fit into the market (battle royale, anyone), Sawyers’ statement stands out even more.
Sawyer’s recent statements came courtesy of a recent Reboot Development event, mentioning “fans tend to skew towards the more hardcore cases and they tend to be fairly resistant to change. I don’t want to paint too broad of a stroke there but RPGs can be a lot more than we have done with them so far. There’s much more than we can do and it’s much more radical.”
Now he’s not saying every new project has to be a “never before done” game, even acknowledging that both Pillars of Eternity 1 & II follow traditional role-playing game guidelines. No, his proclaimation is about fluidity, risks, know what works within your own vision. He even cited Bethesda’s success within their Elder Scrolls franchise, “The traditionalists probably get angry about this stuff, but Bethesda’s RPGs are very different from isometric RPGs.”
He added, “They’re much more action orientated, much more focused on the immersive experience. That shows there’s more room for RPGs to grow than just to be what they were 20 years ago. It’s really a matter of finding an audience that matches up with that.”
As a huge RPG lover, I can respect his message. There are many long-standing franchises out there that manage to provide something ‘new’ while maintaining a familiar feeling of ‘coming home’. Immersion can’t be lost for the sake of “what’s hot,” if “what’s hot” goes against the very core of a project – it might be time to take a stand.
