Avowed, the upcoming RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, is known to only allow players to choose between elf and human. As this is set in the Pillars of Eternity universe, limiting the options doesn’t seem reasonable. Previous games in the series allowed players to choose from a variety of races, and the developer has spoken up on why.
In a recent interview with IGN, Avowed game director Carrie Patel spoke on this big concern. The director said the decision was due to a combination of narrative and development factors. From a story perspective, players represent the Aedyr Empire, known for its predominantly human and elven population. Unfortunately, that means that it would only make sense to be an elf or a human.
This aligns with established lore within the Pillars of Eternity universe and shapes the region’s cultural identity, but it’s still a bummer. Patel acknowledged players would be disappointed if they tried to recreate characters from previous games, but he elaborated on the challenges that were faced. The developers have to consider the limitations when creating the game.
“… For each of those, especially in first person, you’re adjusting the height of the player character’s capsule and sort of where their weapons are relative to enemies and how their hits land and how hits land on them. And it’s obviously not that any of these things are impossible to solve, but you’re always making choices and choosing your priorities and development.”
Carrie Patel
Balancing the diverse character sizes within a first-person perspective presents technical hurdles. Adjusting hitboxes, weapon positioning, and enemy interactions for various sizes requires significant development resources, prompting the team to prioritize a more streamlined experience. I have never heard this as reasoning before, but it’s a good one.
While Patel didn’t go into details about the character creator, he acknowledged the importance of considering technical limitations. While the decision and reasoning may not sound very good, the developer was sure it would work out for players.
I want to reserve judgment until after the game releases, but the only reasonable part I see is that elves and humans make sense in the story. Needing to remake hitboxes and such is something that many developers do to get more races in. Maybe this will improve the character creator because it only focuses on two races, but we’ll have to wait and see.
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