Avowed Hypecast - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast – Avowed Hypecast Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast
• Host/Author: Kinda Funny
• Description: Weekly video game reviews, previews, and analysis of the biggest topics in gaming, covering the latest in PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and more! Hosted by Tim Gettys, Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Blessing Adeoye, and Andy Cortez.
• Episode: Avowed Hypecast
• Release Date: January 29, 2025

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1. Introduction and Setup (00:25 – 05:19)

Greg Miller opens the podcast alongside Paris Lilly, briefly discussing their personal lives and current ailments, setting a casual and relatable tone. The conversation transitions to the main topic of the episode—Avowed, Obsidian's upcoming first-person RPG.

Greg Miller mentions the anticipation surrounding "Avowed," expressing how it has dominated his gaming thoughts since the initial preview last November. He states, “Avowed has never left my thought process” (01:43, emphasizing his eagerness to dive deeper into the game.

2. Avowed Hypecast Introduction (05:19 – 08:41)

Greg introduces the episode as an "Avowed Hypecast," aiming to discuss and build excitement around the game's release. He reflects on past hypecasts and believes it's the right time to focus on Avowed as its release date of February 18, 2025, approaches. Paris Lilly echoes this excitement, highlighting her long-standing interest in seeing what Obsidian can achieve now that they are fully funded by Xbox.

3. Character Creation and Backgrounds (08:41 – 12:56)

The hosts delve into Avowed's classless RPG system and the unique character backgrounds available to players. Drawing comparisons to other RPGs like Starfield and Dragon Age: Valewarden, Greg highlights how Avowed's backgrounds offer both narrative depth and mechanical advantages.

Greg Miller shares his excitement about the background options, such as the Arcane Scholar, stating, “...these character backgrounds are sort of playing double duty to suggest a starting point for your character's mechanical fantasy” (08:42). Paris Lilly adds that these backgrounds will influence interactions within the game world, enhancing role-playing elements.

4. Combat Mechanics and Gameplay (12:56 – 25:35)

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Avowed's combat system. Greg and Paris explore the flexibility of switching loadouts on the fly, integrating swords, guns, and spells seamlessly. Greg is particularly enthusiastic about this integration, comparing it to the freedom found in Kingdoms of Amalur.

Greg Miller notes, “I want to make sure that there's varied enemies and varied enemy encounters and it's not brain dead” (23:31), emphasizing the importance of dynamic combat.

They also reference the Xbox Developer Direct presentation, where Gabriel Paramo from Obsidian outlines the combat philosophy aimed at empowering player choice and tactical decision-making. Matt Hanson, Obsidian's Art Director, further elaborates on the visual and strategic depth of combat encounters.

Paris Lilly highlights her positive experience during the preview, stating, “...when you're in character creator I chose the backstories I just read through” (24:18), underscoring the integration of character backgrounds into gameplay mechanics.

5. Story, Choices, and Replayability (25:35 – 34:16)

The hosts discuss the narrative depth of Avowed, focusing on how player choices will have profound consequences within the game world. They reference a side quest example where decisions impact character relationships and story outcomes.

Greg Miller expresses his desire for meaningful storytelling, hoping that Avowed will offer choices that resonate emotionally, unlike some previous RPGs he found less impactful. He remarks, “...for it, the combat never to become too easy” (30:08), linking the challenge of combat to the satisfaction derived from meaningful choices.

Paris Lilly concurs, emphasizing the importance of varied story paths and the potential for multiple playthroughs based on different decisions, fostering high replayability.

6. Visuals and Art Design (34:16 – 38:34)

The conversation shifts to Avowed's visual aesthetics and world-building. Matt Hanson discusses the inspiration behind the game's diverse biomes and vibrant setting, the Living Lands, aiming to create a rich and immersive environment.

Paris Lilly reflects on her interactions with the art team, noting the “excitement on his face” (32:00), which translates into the game's detailed and dynamic design. This enthusiasm is mirrored in the gameplay footage, showcasing stunning landscapes and intricate environmental storytelling.

7. Expectations, Speculations, and Community Engagement (38:34 – 47:56)

As the release date nears, Greg and Paris speculate on Metacritic scores and overall reception. They acknowledge the high expectations based on Obsidian's track record and ponder potential pitfalls, such as combat becoming monotonous if not properly managed.

Greg Miller shares community sentiments from live chats, including excitement from long-time Obsidian fans and concerns about maintaining the game's quality standards. Paris Lilly remains optimistic, hoping that Avowed will meet or exceed these expectations.

The hosts also engage with super chats, highlighting listener support and discussions around Avowed’s features, such as the absence of romance options and its impact on player experience. Paris appreciates the focus on camaraderie over forced romantic narratives, aligning with her preference for authentic character interactions.

8. Final Thoughts and Launch Expectations (47:56 – 49:42)

In conclusion, Greg and Paris reiterate their excitement for Avowed's release on February 18, 2025, anticipating a robust launch that allows the game to stand out without being overshadowed by other major releases. They express confidence in Obsidian’s ability to deliver a compelling RPG experience and promise to provide thorough reviews post-launch.

Greg Miller emphasizes, “...you could watch exclusive recordings of shows like In Review this afternoon when we do Aliens before anybody else gets them” (49:42), encouraging listeners to stay engaged with Kinda Funny’s content for ongoing coverage and analysis.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Greg Miller (01:43): “Every game I play, when I sit down, I turn on a system... but fuck, I really want to play Avowed because it just seems like such a nerdy ass RPG.”

• Paris Lilly (06:00): “I really want to soak up all the lore that's going to come out of this and understand what this world looks like.”

• Greg Miller (08:41): “Avowed has a classless RPG system, meaning any character can invest into any combination of its Ranger, Fighter, and Wizard skill trees.”

• Paris Lilly (12:56): “I love it because you're going to be able to experiment with that stuff. You're not going to be locked into a certain class...”

• Greg Miller (23:31): “I want to make sure that there's varied enemies and varied enemy encounters and it's not brain dead.”

• Gabriel Paramo (19:34): “Players will have ample choices for how to build and progress their envoy in the world of the living lands.”

• Greg Miller (30:08): “One of the things in the chat here... I hope this is going to continue to challenge me as we go and not get to that point where I feel like, okay, cool, I'm just blitzing through everything.”

• Paris Lilly (39:24): “I was very excited to play both of these games, which, you know, in the grand scheme of things, good on you, Xbox. You're finally hitting the dominoes are falling.”

Conclusion

The Avowed Hypecast episode of Kinda Funny Gamescast provides an in-depth exploration of Obsidian's highly anticipated RPG, Avowed. Through engaging discussions, Greg Miller and Paris Lilly cover character creation, combat mechanics, narrative depth, visuals, and community expectations. Their enthusiasm, backed by positive developer insights and player feedback, paints a promising picture for Avowed's future. Listeners are left eagerly anticipating the game's release, with the hosts committing to comprehensive reviews and continued coverage to keep the community informed and excited.

For those interested in following along, the hosts encourage participation through live streams, Twitch interactions, and their various membership platforms, ensuring fans remain connected and engaged with all things Avowed and beyond.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two year contracts, they said, what the are you talking about? You insane Hollywood. So to recap, we're cutting the price of mint unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a [e-mail] Switch $45 upfront.

[Greg Miller]

Payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first 3 month plan only. Taxes and fees. Extra Speed slower above 40 gigabytes. E details. What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Wednesday, January 29, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller, alongside the best voice in the business, Paris Lilly. Hello, Paris.

[Paris Lilly]

Hello, Greg. How you doing?

[Greg Miller]

I'm excellent. How are you?

[Paris Lilly]

I'm doing okay. I'm getting over being sick and I blame me being in the studio for getting sick. I've been sick since and I want to get in sinus infection.

[Greg Miller]

I appreciate that you blame the studio and not my sick son, the three year old that I. I had you around at dinner all night long because that's why I'm sick. That's why my wife's sick, that's why my son is still sick. We have just that toddler germ. He just doesn't go away. Yeah, see over here, J. Best in the Chat says, or JT Besta, Greg has been sick since 2023. And it feels like that at the house right now. It. It definitely feels like that. How are you? Are you okay? You're okay?

[Paris Lilly]

No, I'm okay. Like I said, it turns out I got a sinus infection because my wife has been mocking me for about a week going, what is wrong with your eye? Because one of my eyes is like swollen. It's been all red and just a fricking mess. So got a bunch of antibiotics. I'll be all right.

[Greg Miller]

See, that's interesting because this is a whole thing we talked about on the shows throughout the last week. There was a whole, does Ben have pink eye or does he not? And it was like, I was like, he clearly does not have pink eye. And then other people were like, no, he does. And this would make more sense because it's. It never developed into pink eye. But sinuses because he still has the boogies just like everybody. You know how it is. But that's a three year old for you. You thought you were out. When does it stop. Paris, you have adult children.

[Paris Lilly]

It never stops, damn it. It'll never stop. You will go to your grave and it will continue. It never stops.

[Greg Miller]

Well, that's not. That's not.

[Paris Lilly]

Buckle up.

[Greg Miller]

I'm buckled up and I'm going to have a.

[Paris Lilly]

And it gets more expensive than being sick. Everything. You'll see. You'll see everything. Everything is more expensive.

[Greg Miller]

I don't like that one bit. I don't appreciate that one bit. But what I do like, Paris, is video games. And that's why each and every weekday on the Kind of Funny gamescast, we talk to you about the biggest topics in gaming. Whether they be previews, reviews or hypecasts or we just want to gush about the things we're excited for. If you're excited to be a part of that, we love you and thank you so much for it. You can watch live on Twitch TV kind to funnygames and YouTube.com kindafunnygames listen on podcast services around the globe. If you're watching live, you have a special job. Be part of the shenanigans by by going to YouTube.com kindafunnygames and super chatting right now. Of course we're gonna be talking about Avowed. I wanna know if you're looking forward to Avowed. Why you are, why you're not, what's got you stoked, who you're gonna roll all that jazz while we talk about Obsidian's upcoming rpg, While we're talking about us being all about you, I wanna give a shout out to All Ups. All Ups in the Twitch chat right before we went live was saying they just got a dog. Congratulations on getting a dog. That's a lovely, wonderful part of life. I'm glad that worked out for you. Of course, if you like us, why not pick up a kind of over on YouTube.com kindafunnygames patreon.com kindafunny Apple or Spotify, you can pick up the Kinda Funny membership to get all 20 of the shows we do each and every week. That's nearly 80amonth. You get them all ad free. You can get the ability to watch the afternoon podcast live as you record them like today's aliens in review. And I assure you, you don't want to miss what Nick and I have planned. And of course you'd also get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series we call Greg Wayne. Some housekeeping for you. Of course, we are an 11 person small business all about live talk shows. You've already gotten kind of Funny games daily today, talking about the BioWare and PlayStation shakeups. After this episode of the Gamescast, you're going to get more Kingdom Hearts 2 with Mike on the stream. Of course, you can catch Those later on YouTube.com kindafunnungamespodcastservices around the globe. If you're a kinda funny member, you can get today's Greg Way about when it was time for me to leave the newspaper business. And like I said, Aliens in review this afternoon, which of course will be up with ads tomorrow on YouTube.com kinda funny games and podcast services. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by Better Help and Built, but we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin the show with what is and forever will be topic of the show. This is your avowed Hype cast, Parris. We've done hypecasts in the past, but we haven't done one in a very, very long time. So I think there's probably a few people here who are like, what the hell is this? And this is basically a support group because, Paris, I'm sick of checking my email looking for the review code for Avowed. Avowed. I cannot believe the hold it has on me. We previewed it last year. Before what? Either I think November maybe it was December.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, it was November. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Previewed it there and it was that thing where I played it and I'm like, oh man, I like a lot of the stuff that's going on here. I'll be interested to see if it pays off. And since then, it has never left my thought process. Every game I play, when I sit down, I turn on a system. I turn on my PlayStation, I turn on my Steam deck. I'm like, whatever I'm about to play, I'm like, that'll be great. But fuck, I really want to play to Vowed because it just seems like such a nerdy ass rpg. And of course, we are so close now to, to the February 18th release date that I said, you know what? We've been talking about doing hype casts. We haven't done one in 2025. It's time to do it for Avowed and just talk to my boy Paris Lilly about this. Paris, how excited for Avowed are you?

[Paris Lilly]

I mean, I'm very excited for it on, on multiple levels. I've. I've said for years that I wanted to see what Obsidian could do now that they're a part of Xbox and fully Funded and they can do whatever creatively they want. And that's. This is a vow. This is the first opportunity to see what that's going to look like. Not to mention to what you just said, it's going to be a nerdy ass rpg. And going to Obsidian, being able to sit down with the team and see.

[Greg Miller]

How excited they are so jealous for.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, I mean they're excited for us to be able to play this. And I went, we all went many years wondering what the hell was a vow going to be. Turns out it's a part of this Pillars universe and I have no idea about anything Pillar. So this is my introduction into this universe. So I really want to soak up all the lore that's going to come out of this and understand what this world looks like. I'm very excited about the. The various combat combinations of swords and guns and spells and all these crazy things that you're going to be able to do. I want to check out these other regions in this world that we haven't seen yet. That again, talking to the people at Obsidian, they're very excited for us to see what we have not seen already because they have so much in store for that. The artwork that we've already seen such. Such a pretty colorful game. Not to mention, you know, when we first saw looked a little underwhelming right at that one showcase. But then getting this preview and now it's on Unreal 5 all of a sudden you see that visual upgrade to it and it really pops on the screen as well. So yeah, I'm absolutely hyped for this. Man, I cannot wait to, to dive into this and you know, we'll talk about it again for review in a few weeks.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I can't wait for that. But I thought again, I think so many times these games gestate with us and then we come out at review and talk about them there and our excitement for it. I kind of like the using this hyper hypecast. Yeah, yeah. Ideas a way as a prep for everybody to get on the same page about what makes this game. I mean honestly for me this is weird. I'm using 80s contender, but I would say literally a contender for what I think I. I think this will be on my game of the year list by the end of the year based on the snippet we played and based on everything we've seen. And I feel like it's interesting to dive into that because we do the. You know, I want to watch the developer direct from a while back. I Want to read some of the stuff here? I want to watch some of the gameplay videos. Obsidian on their YouTube channel, has been putting up these little snippets of like introducing you to the world, to the lore, to the races, all this stuff. Like there's so much content out there that you could totally blow by or have forgotten about or not know about that. I thought it'd be interesting to try this out and see if the audience cares about it, if it connects with us or them, and the way it connects with us. And so yeah, absolutely.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Greg Miller]

Where I want to start for why I'm so stoked is PC Gamer over there. Ted Litchfield had an article that's titled Avowed's newly revealed Character Creation Backgrounds Tripped my RPG Sicko Radar. This is the headline offering funky fantasies like Noble Scion, Court Augur and Vanguard Scout, first spotted by the gamer. In a recent thread on X the Everything app, Obsidian showed off the character creator for its upcoming first person RPG Avowed, which of course could be played in third person, which we'll talk about in a second, but Paris, if you are in addition to demonstrating the gamut of appearance options like rainbow hair or mushroom frills, Obsidian also revealed all five potential character backgrounds coming to the game. They go Arcane, Scholar, Court Augur, Noble Scion, Vanguard, Scout, and War Hero. In the shared screenshots, we can also see the full description for one of these backgrounds. The Noble Scion quote, you were born to a noble house of great influence, middling wealth and questionable morals. When scandals and secession disputes saw your family cast down, you threw yourself on the Emperor's mercy and he shielded you. Canny yet refined, you have become a formidable force at Court and an invaluable ally to the Emperor. Avowed has a classless RPG system, meaning any character can invest into any combination of its Ranger, Fighter and Wizard skill trees. But I dig the way these character backgrounds are sort of playing double duty to suggest a starting point for your character's mechanical fantasy. In addition to shaping them from the story and the role playing perspective. Sort of like how the Divinities of Sin, originally the divinity's original sin, gave you starting point like Shadowblade or Wayfarer for the similarly skill agnostic systems. Going from top to bottom on a vows list, the backgrounds are giving Mage, Cleric, Bard, Ranger and Fighter respectively. Paris, for me, this was among the first things that made me go oh shit when we did the preview. Because for me, I've talked so much about this where I love Starfield I enjoy Dragon Age of the Valegard. Love Dragon Age of the Veil Guard. But I felt like Veilguard did such a great job with the backgrounds. Okay, cool. I can do this kind of thing. Starfield. I took so long to find who I was to then role play that game. The idea of getting in here and immediately have it. I have a screenshot from my preview where I can tell you the Arcane Scholar background. Right. Because they call this this. If you don't understand why you'd be picking this. The game itself tells you this. Your background provides unique dialogue options and determines your starting weapon. All equipment and abilities are available to you regardless of your background. Arcane Scholars description, which is what I picked on my preview goes like this. After graduating with honors from Braganal Academy, you published a. It's literally a screenshot off my computer. So. Hold on. Or tv. You published a treatise on soul lineages that threatened the legitimacy Andrew. The ire of a local lord. When he had you arrested, the emperor intervened and recruited you into the archives of your imperial court. Of the imperial court. Your mind is a bottomless well of occult knowledge, legal precedent, historic observation and poetry. You've forgotten more than most people have ever learned. Like Paris. These backgrounds jumping in like what worked for me so much in terms of I'm going to be this character. Whether it be my character Becky in Starfield, whether it was Rook and Valeguard. It really is wanting to have a narrative to then make the choices based on. And this being so good. Paris. So good.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah. And that's kind of the thing of. You can see the level of detail that they're going into these character backgrounds. And then the exciting part of that will be what you're saying. If this goes into your decisions as you go through this game, how is that going to affect your interactions with certain characters? Who's going to be friendly with you? Who will disregard you enemies you might make just because of who you are and where you came from? I remember pretty sure I. I was a war hero is what I chose in my background. But again, who knows what I'll do when we actually jump into the final build. But that's exciting about having all these different options to use and what direction you want to go. Because I think we'll see a lot of different water cooler conversations as a result. Which is exciting too.

[Greg Miller]

And this is a conversation me and Andy have had. We had it yesterday talking about the Veil Guard. Right. Excuse me. That we both started with these characters that we were so happy with. That the conversations Played so naturally with. But when Andy went and replayed Veil Guard, that's where he ran into. Oh, I made a different character. I gave him a different background. And so then this conversation didn't make sense or that choice didn't work. Back to why this works so well for me in the preview, it was making these choices and then getting to that first real dialogue conversation. Right there is a woman, I believe it was in a cell, you know, trying to negotiate her eye out. And it was, hey, I have like seven different dialogue options in their bracketed of like, oh, this is because of your intelligence. Oh, this is because of your race. This. And I was like, oh, man. Like, this is what I want. I want to get into the weeds. Because what I. I was so the spongebob meme looking out at everybody having fun right of when Baldur's Gate hit. And there was all these permutations and all these things and I just didn't like the gameplay. First person, you know, basically a first person RPGs in the vein of a Fallout of Skyrim or whatever. Like that is so my bread and butter. That is what I love to play and to get that kind of thing here. I'm so excited for Paris.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, absolutely. Same. And you know, you touched on a little bit. There will be a third person mode there for people that want to take advantage of that too. Of course I. I dabbled around with it in the preview a little bit, but I'm pretty sure I'm just going to go first person. I think that's my preference.

[Greg Miller]

I think I'll.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah. Because that seems to be. That fits my. My gameplay style the most.

[Greg Miller]

I think it also fits how they developed the game. Right when we were in preview and we're jumping in and out of it and somebody gave me shit for looking at. Greg doesn't use the share button. This was preview code on a PC. I didn't have my key bindings. All right, I'm sorry. I couldn't get my share button to work right away. It is that idea of when I did jump to third person in the demo we had, which of course unfinished, it didn't feel nearly as on point. Like maybe the final version will know different. But like if Barrett, if you want to throw up the first. Not the first link, but my first link of the day. What I would say the latest gameplay footage turned heads. This got posted to Reddit and it got a lot of love out there for what it is. And I think it does such a great job of showing what the combat looks like in here, right where it is, here's third person which doesn't look bad whatsoever. But when you're in first person and you have the bone air, you have the sword and shield, you have your magic wand, you have dual magic wands, you're doing all this different stuff. Like I think this is going to be such a fun game and even right there they talked so much in what they've talked about in their previous things of being able to switch your loadouts on the fly. Like I'm stoked for this game and what these permutations are going to be. Paris.

[Paris Lilly]

Oh yeah, same. And again going back to comments that Obsidian devs had made at Gamescom and then again during that preview period when we visited the studio they talked a lot about from a combat standpoint that you're going to see. There's going to be some unique creations of things that they haven't even thought of yet internally at the studio. Like the one person made the. What was it? The blood. I'm blanking on it now, but it was the blood mage or something like that that they just created on the fly when they're at Gamescom and that was just something fun to do. But the fact that we're going to have all these different combinations of weapons and magic spells and things that you're going to be able to use as a player, I. I love it because you're going to be able to experiment with that stuff. You're not going to be locked into a certain class of this is who I am for this entire game. If you realize halfway through it, well, I want to shift my play style over to this. I want to start using swords, I want to start using guns or I just want to be a full on wizard mage where I'm just, you know, zapping people with all these crazy spells. You can do that in a vowed. So I'm very excited to be able to tinker and play around with that stuff.

[Greg Miller]

I want to go and watch the deep dive with you. Of course this is the Xbox developer direct that had happened not the last one but the one before then. It's a seven minute presentation. I think it's a good refresher and a good jumping off point. But before then I want to get some super chats in. Remember, like I said, be part of the show, ride in with why you're excited about Avowed, what you think of it, why you're not if it's not working for you, what doesn't work for you. Anakin JMT super chat and said been an Obsidian fan since Kotor 2 and I'm stoked. Plus it comes out on my birthday. Shout out to 2022 when I got Horizon, Forbidden west and Uncharted movie on my birthday. You're the first person I've ever heard thank someone for the Uncharted movie. But I'm glad it was. I'm glad it worked for you, Anakin. I'm glad that was there for you. Dolphin Corn says, I love Path of Exile one and two. So I'm Poe. Yeah, that's right. POV one and two. So I'm excited for Avowed. And then Trevor says I'm not the type to cave on a special edition to get early access but yesterday with Game Pass I got the 20 ish dollar deluxe edition to get 5 days early. I cannot wait. Oh and then while we were going docs, the fox writes in and says I have faith in Obsidian, at least in the narrative. I think they will crush it. Also shout out to the upgrade system. Game Pass offers Deluxe Edition acquired. So there you go, Pillars of Eternity. Thank you Path of Exile on the brain. You understand I'm a Diablo guy. Thank you very much for setting me straight everybody. Yeah, let's. I mean obviously there and I do want to talk about Obsidian's history, obviously with Pentiment grounded, outer wilds, whatever, but like worlds. But for now, bear run the deep dive and let's watch and we can commentate, we can stop, we can do whatever we want.

[Gabriel Paramo]

Welcome to Obsidian Entertainment. I'm so proud to share with you our upcoming fantasy action rpg, Avowed. Avowed is an adventure into the heart of the living lands, a frontier at the edge of the known world where you must put a stop to a mysterious spiritual plague and discover a secret at the heart of the living lands. At Obsidian, we love creating worlds with deep themes, dynamic gameplay and thoughtful reactivity. And Avowed is no different. We set out to blend the believable and fantastic to give players a world and experience like no other. It's colorful, it's vibrant, it's strange, it's one of the most incredible settings in the world of eora. There's going to be a lot of great secrets to discover, one of which has a really personal connection to you as the player character. And you're going to have a great time getting to know those secrets and leaving your mark on the world. And when it comes to encounters, our combat brings the best of the moment to moment fun that comes with action oriented gameplay and the depth and breadth of choice that you get with an rpg. Here to talk more about avow's combat is Gabriel Paramo, gameplay director here at Obsidian.

[Matt Hanson]

Our team's overarching goal is to empower you with choice. So we developed a flexible combat system.

[Greg Miller]

That's what I want to hear. Empower you with choice. Again, like, this is what I want out of these kind of RPGs. He's about to go into talking about combat and switching up the loadouts, which I think is so cool. But for me, Paris, it's the choices in the narrative, the decisions of who I'm leaving behind, who I'm taking with me. That's what I'm honestly feel like in the RPGs I've been playing lately. I'm so thirsty for. Go ahead, Paris.

[Paris Lilly]

The best. Like we keep talking about these nerdy RPGs. The best RPGs give you that flexibility so that you're creating these branching paths of. Not everybody, when you go and play a game, play an RPG game, is just doing the same exact thing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Paris Lilly]

It's the fact that, oh, man, I made this choice. Oh, crap. That happened to you all, man. I made this choice and all this happened, happened to me. That's the exciting thing that I think about. It's going to be able to bring to the team.

[Greg Miller]

And I think that's the comparison to make right for me. And everybody knows how much I loved Starfield and how much I enjoy Starfield and still love it to this day. But it was that, you know, disappointment of starting Starfield that first time and going into Constellation HQ and starting to shoot people there and then being like, oh, stop or whatever, and they wouldn't die. Like, ah, that sucks. And I understand that's a Bethesda rpg. That's the narrative they're telling. They're doing something very specific. There's. But even to jump to Shattered Space, right, where you get to the ending of Shattered Space and you make a choice there, right. Of who you go with, who you put in charge, yada, yada, yada. And I've heard no one talk about that decision. I can tell you in the big decision what I did, but in terms of who I turned the land over to or whatever, I don't remember. Like, that wasn't impactful because those people didn't matter to me. I'm hoping what we get here is a narrative and a backbone and a vow that makes me feel like it. And we're going back to the dev direct, I swear. But something that was so cool I thought in the preview was how fast they gave you the stakes and drops you into the game where it is the Emperor is sending you out there. You have to go out there into the living lands and deal with this dream scourge. Figure out, go do it. Right. And of course I already know my relationship to the Emperor because in character creator I chose the backstories I just read through. Every one of them involves the Emperor and why you're there. So to get you there, get you off and get you off on the adventure, I'm very excited. Sorry, Even.

[Paris Lilly]

Even before you continue. So one thing that Carrie just talked about at the very beginning and you just said was the living Lands itself. And again, I don't know the Pillars universe. So this is all new to me. So that's again as a part of the excitement is discovering these new biomes and areas and worlds that I know there's fans of it that they're going to be very familiar to them. But as a new player coming in. Yeah, I love this. I love discovering something brand new and not knowing what to expect, you know, when you go into these worlds. So. And we saw a brief glimpse of that just, just in that initial deep dive. It was going to be a lot of biome diversity there as well. So very exciting to see.

[Greg Miller]

All right, sorry, Bear, back to it. You're killing it, Bear.

[Matt Hanson]

Good job. That allows you to quickly swap from spell casting and sharpshooting to melee combat. We want to give you the freedom to mix and match your loadout to fit the way you want to play from moment to moment, uninterrupted. For all battles, you can combine a variety of weapons, attacks and abilities for tactical advantages against a wide range of enemy types. It's not just hacking and slashing. You're making real time decisions about when to use your abilities. Powerful melee attacks, blocks, parries and special attacks. If you choose to approach combat with a one handed wand, it feels quick and snappy. When dealing damage to enemies at mid range using the Tanglefoot ability, you can stop enemies in their tracks, giving you the opportunity to focus on weaker or tougher combatants in an intentional and controlled manner. It's important to pay attention to the types of enemies you're dealing with. Some units are extremely defensive, some are brutishly difficult, and others you must make sure you prioritize for their healing capabilities.

[Greg Miller]

Have you run into him and he's.

[Matt Hanson]

Difficult in a tough spot. To help with the different encounters you will face, we provide customizable loadouts that can Be quickly switched during combat. That means you can play however you want. Equip a sword and shield and charge into battle. Dual wield pistols and control the encounter mid range or even dual wield wands to feel like a gunslinging mage. You could use your enchanted wand to freeze enemies and then use your offhand weapons power attack to shatter them. We've worked hard to keep you constantly engaged as battles unfold by creating a balance between pressure and manageability during combat.

[Gabriel Paramo]

Players will have ample choices for how to build and progress their envoy in the world of the living lands as they get to know the game and the story and explore the many diverse regions.

[Paris Lilly]

Can you pause on that real quick?

[Greg Miller]

Please do.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, just going back to the combat stuff I heard you mention in there. I gave a look. I did encounter a dude at one point where that had the big shield and yeah, it was a pain in the ass trying to beat that dude. You had to actually you could like he, like he's saying you couldn't just hack and slash your way through it. You actually had to be. Be a little more thoughtful about your approach to that enemy to get a shield down, get your blows in and then just. They talked again kind of about. Just about the ease of use of mixing and matching in the combat. I don't know about you when you're in the preview, but it felt intuitive enough that it. It took me a second to get used to it, but once I did and it clicked, very easy to, to. To go in there and manipulate. Do I want to be one handed? Do you want to be two handed? Dude, I'm forgetting it. Pull out the spell book. Am I doing the one? Like all of that made sense to me from a combat perspective in first person. So again I, I think the combat is going to be a lot of fun. I think people are going to come up with some unique combinations out of that. And yeah, I can't wait man. Because yeah, some, those, some of those enemies are not easy. Like I even remember when I played it at LA Gamescom, one dude I ran into, he was almost like a mini boss I guess, right? Oh yeah. I was dying left and right because I didn't know what I was doing. But that was the point. It wasn't just easy.

[Greg Miller]

And so the two things to piggyback off of that for my number one, my preview, I was way too boring and I didn't, it was. I didn't tinker enough. I want. I spent so much time on character creator and all that jazz and then getting in there, I kept it really sword and shield and I think at the very end was using a spell book. And so I didn't. I did not mix and match the way I want to that in the final game or when we actually get going on it. Right. So I'm looking forward to really getting deep into that, experimenting with that. The pistols look great and I never even touched those or did anything with that. The flip of it though, when they show the tangle spell and catching the dude there to work on an ad or work on a heavier thing, the main thing I would like out of my entire devout experience is for it, the combat never to become too easy. Isn't Right. Brain dead, I guess. And what I mean by that is as much as I love Starfield and continue to play it when they drop new dlc, I'm. I'm. I'm a God. Like nobody can stop me. Every gun I have, like, no matter what, you can be a 99 level guy to fight, he's down, there's never a threat of death. Like, I hope this is going to continue to challenge me as we go and not get to that point where I feel like, okay, cool, I'm just blitzing through everything. One of the things in the chat here, the public chat, Yelsing, I believe it was over on the YouTube said, From what you guys play, what did you guys play? Did you enjoy the combat more than the combat in the outer worlds? I've gone back and started. I did started a new playthrough of the outer worlds. Of course I reviewed it back when it launched. Started a new playthrough as I've been sitting here jonesing for Avowed or whatever. And I stopped very early. I did like two or three nights with it or whatever. I enjoyed it. No, no, no shade to it. But my problem was that, oh, this just feels like fallout, which also just feels like Starfield. So I'm just doing the same thing. Yeah, you're with me on that, Paris.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, 100%. Yep.

[Greg Miller]

And so, yeah, I'm craving this. This combat is new, obviously. It's first person hack and slash and magic is not. And there's nothing new under the sun. But again, in the way you're changing loadouts, which I didn't get to really experiment with. That's new. The expansive skill tree, wherever you want to go with it, that's new to me. And again, I know I use this all the time, not in the actual feel of it, but in terms of the freedom of it. It reminds me so much of Kingdoms of Amalur, which I loved so much in using my Glaive or using my sword or whatever. So to get in here and really pick a character and then be like, well, what would this character with this background use? What. What are they going to be like? I'm very excited for.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, same. Completely agree.

[Greg Miller]

Sorry. Back to the video.

[Gabriel Paramo]

Barrett will have you make difficult decisions with profound consequences, like this side quest.

[Greg Miller]

Which is exactly what I want.

[Gabriel Paramo]

The third region you'll explore on your journey through the living lands. As you're exploring, you come across the bodies of these fallen soldiers. And as you explore the remains of the battle, it's up to you to determine who, if anyone, is at fault.

[Paris Lilly]

Just a four of us. Manu, Kiri, Naoki, and me, training under Captain Ruiki, trying to keep the herborn safe.

[Greg Miller]

In other words, you're a gang of vigilantes. Not that I'm one to judge.

[Paris Lilly]

Here, take my badge. Take everyone's. Our families deserve to know we fought and died for them.

[Gabriel Paramo]

Making the right choice isn't always what it seems. We embrace moral nuance and gray areas. Trusting players to make tough decisions in complicated situations.

[Greg Miller]

Fuck. Yes.

[Private Naoki]

My squad and I rested in the cave by the water last night. And as we were sleeping, we were ambushed by those miserable Zorabs. I was so surprised, and it was so dark. I just got separated from everyone else. Look, I can't face those monsters alone. But I have to know if anyone else made it out. Of course he did. Sergeant Assui never has a thought he won't say out loud. So what did he tell you? That Captain Ruiki was sick? That I was paranoid. That I was a dumb baby.

[Greg Miller]

Dumb baby.

[Private Naoki]

I heard it all. Often and loudly. Wait. If you found Sergeant usui, why is he not here with you?

[Gabriel Paramo]

What happened at the end of the quest? You have a choice. When you confront Private Naoki, if you believe the story he's told you, you can hand over the badges and let him go back home.

[Private Naoki]

You're right. Real battle isn't something you can prepare for, is it? It's not my fault. No, they. They should have never have camped in the cave. I'll take the badges. I'm going back to third born.

[Gabriel Paramo]

But if you confront him, if you believe that he fled the site of the battle as an act of cowardice, then he might challenge you to a fight to reclaim his honor. Either way, when you return to town, you'll see the consequences of your actions and the choices you made during this contest. Creating an IMMERSIVE experience like Avowed is anchored in the world we build. Art director Matt Hanson and the team have worked to create a unique, colorful and dynamic visual style.

[Sergeant Assui]

From the outset, we knew that we wanted Avowed setting to feel rich, weird and wonderful. We found inspiration in a wide swath of of real world cultures, helping us create a unique RPG experience. By contrasting the vibrant with the dull or verdant spaces with sickly ones, we can better deliver complex emotional experiences for our players. The Living Lands is a continent of untamed valleys with widely varied biomes, from luxuriant forests to volcanic wastes. And each of those regions is itself is a conflux of storied landscapes. All of the regions have a lot of special things associated with them, but I have a deep place in my heart for Shatterscarp. As you're wandering the wastes of Shatterscarp, you might notice off in the distance, a vibrant jewel of color. By transitioning from destitute muted tones of a wasteland of sand and marching in towards a beautiful oasis, this there's the opportunity there for life, for adventure, and even a little danger.

[Gabriel Paramo]

We hope you've enjoyed this look at Avowed. We're thrilled to share more about the game in the coming months that we're.

[Greg Miller]

Rewatching and making more content about it. You can cut it there, Bear. Thank you so much.

[Paris Lilly]

I'll let wait till it finishes.

[Greg Miller]

Sure. What do you got from Paris?

[Paris Lilly]

No, but I. I would just say when. Even when Matt was just talking right now because I got to speak to him and couple other people from the art team when I was there and it's just the excitement on his face for that. Basically. We haven't seen shit yet when it comes to the world of. Of. Of out of all the stuff that we're going to see and just the love and care that they put into the art design and the level design of this. The Living Lands, I guess it's what it's called. Right. So that again, like I said before, it gets me excited to see that people that making the game are excited for us to do it. Like there was no warrior. Oh, I hope you really like it. They're like, oh no, you're gonna love this when you get it. So yeah, I can't wait, man.

[Greg Miller]

I can't either. And like my hope is, you know that I. There's. I want to talk about the length of it because that's been a big topic of conversation.

[Paris Lilly]

Right.

[Greg Miller]

That is Outer World's length. So that could be like 13 hours for main quest, 26, 30 or whatever with everything, blah, blah. My hope is that I enjoy it so much that when I roll credits I immediately go and start a new character and do it different. You know, I mean, make all the choices I didn't do because I feel like so many of the RPGs we play these days, for me personally not casting this on anybody else, is that I go through, I have my canon playthrough and then I'm like, I don't have another 60 hours to go run this again. I'm happy with what it is. And I will talk to Andy, I will talk to Paris, I will find out what would have happened if I went A, B or C rather than D like I did. So we'll see.

[Paris Lilly]

But yeah, we'll see. And I guess what I heard common seems to be about you could probably do this in about a 25 to 30 hours if you really wanted to. Yeah. But you're encouraged to go off the beaten path and discover side quests and do things which, you know, increase the length of it. But there's also replayability there to exactly what you're talking about. Create another character, try something else, do it, make a different decision, see where it takes you, that type of thing. So I'm looking forward to it. And again, I don't need 100 hour RPG to be satisfied. If it winds up being 3030, 40 hours, I'm good, you know.

[Greg Miller]

And you know the preview we did again, going off the beaten path, going, you know, you want me to go right, I'll go left. Yeah, it was, oh, there is a treasure chest. There is an enemy encounter. There is something going on here. You know, Destin's preview talked about running into a spider boss and all these different things in there. There's tons of things to do and I want that as well.

[Paris Lilly]

But absolutely.

[Greg Miller]

What I also want is you to support us. Remember, we're an 11 person small business all about live talk shows about video games. You already got Games Daily. Today you're listening to gamescast. Now you're going to get a stream after this. If you want to be a member, you could watch Aliens in Review after that, of course, that's what we're all about. The membership here at Kinda Funny, if you go to patreon.com kinda funny, YouTube.com kindafunn games, Apple or Spotify, you can pick up a kind of Funny membership and you can get all of our shows ad free. Get good karma for supporting a small business. Watch the afternoon podcast live as you record them and of course, get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller, in a series I call Greg Way. But right now, you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsor.

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[Greg Miller]

This downtime, Paris, between the preview and the review, and I've had so much time to sit there and go, God damn, I wish I had this game. One of the things I've been trying to psych myself up for, that I just don't think I can do is the godlike features. We talked about this in the preview. It's. It's obviously hinted at in the. The COVID art of it. Your character is godlike. You've been touched by a God here. And what that means is that you are, I would say, what quote unquote. I think they call it disfigured in the game where you have like the Last of Us mushroom growing on your head. It is a thing you, when you're in character, creator, you have a million different options for it. And you can turn it off where you won't see it, your character won't have it, but people will still comment as if you do. And I was shocked during that preview. How off putting I put it. After so much Last of Us content and clickers and everything else, I just couldn't deal with it and I had to click it off and I had to just ride with a normal look, quote unquote, normal looking person or character, whatever class I even was, and then just have them talk about it. I've been trying to psych myself up to actually have it in this, but I, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do it. Paris, are you doing it? What are you doing with the godlike feature?

[Paris Lilly]

I'm doing it because I did it when we did the preview and I just embrace it, man. You know, I, I thought I looked pretty good. So I'm gonna go for it. Put all the mushrooms and flowers you can on me. I'll make it work.

[Greg Miller]

I'll try. I don't know, I'll see what I can do, but I don't know. Not only do I, I'll see what I can do, but no matter what, I really love that narrative decision and that commitment of like, this is what separates you in this world. This is why you have special abilities other people don't have. And for so many people, this is not a good thing. They don't look at you and go, oh, wow, you're a superhero. Like, oh my God, like You're a freak. Get away from me. I love that storytelling feature of it.

[Paris Lilly]

Again, this is what I'm saying. I'm. I'm ignorant to the Pillars universe. So I'm excited to see how all that lore plays out and why being godlike, you know, is. Is a good or bad thing, you know, to certain people in the world.

[Greg Miller]

CJ splits on super chats. I want to get some of these going because we have so many. Thank you so much. And says, do you care about the lack of romance, Paris? Are you upset you won't be getting married in this game?

[Paris Lilly]

I mean, it's not Mass Effect. I'm not Commander Shepard trying to hook up with everybody in the universe. It's fine. It's fine. I mean, it was there. Cool. I would probably embrace it. But it's not like a deal breaker for me that I'm not romancing characters, which, by the way, if I could pause real quick and talk about during the deep dive, is the ability of the companions and utilizing them in combat as well. So I'm gonna love to see the different combinations depending on the companions that I have with me at any given moment, how you utilize them in combat. So again, just another layer to what they're going to be able to bring to the table with it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. You know, for me, what's interesting is I. I, Imran Khan on a hot take games Cash a while back, a while while back now, had made the point that his hot take was romance in video games is always bad. Like, it's not good. And even as somebody who is in a loving, committed relationship with Andre, Jen, Starfield, I could run through everybody else I've partnered up with in other games. I kind of tend to agree with that, that I think romances are often forced in video games and are often very unnatural as you choose a dialogue option that leads to this. But then this is that.

[Imran Khan]

I mean, like, there's so many aspects that you have to, like, write for, depending on how you play it, that, like, it doesn't really feel like any one thing you choose or any one person that you choose in a relationship system is gonna be very, like, satisfying or, I don't know, rewarding in any sort of way.

[Greg Miller]

Right. 100. Right. Where it's like, I understand doing it for the story options and the com. But I think camaraderie is so much more natural, if that makes sense, versus a romance. Right. Where I think even for Starfield, like, Barrett is such a great companion in that, just like he is in real life. Barrett. So funny, so clever, whatever. And it's like, I'm not romantically interested in him, but I do want to have a beer with him and ride, you know, throughout the galaxy, shooting up. And I feel like with them doing so much stuff here, in terms of your companions who you're gonna have, you know, having the Garrus voice actor whose name's Escaping right now, be the first NPC we meet, I'm like, fuck, yeah. Like, I'm already. And I just want to hang out with these people. I don't need to fuck them.

[Paris Lilly]

I think, like, this has flirting in it. I think flirting works just fine. That's good enough. That way you're not committing to anything. You just. I like what I see.

[Greg Miller]

Gondor's Condor has the Sophie's Choice question. Paris, pick one. Avowed or south of Midnight.

[Paris Lilly]

Oh, that's not fair. No, that's my answer.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, you gotta do it. We all. We love both these games. I'll do it. I mean, yeah. I haven't seen. I've only seen.

[Paris Lilly]

Well, then here's what I'll say. Here's what I'll say, because I'm being a thousand percent biased on this. South of Midnight, because they're representing the deep American south, and that is where I'm from. So I'm excited to see all the lore and the legends that will come out of south of Midnight and Two Toe Tom and that pig. There you go.

[Greg Miller]

Fair enough. That's why I'm picking about, of course. Because they got godlike features just like me. No, I am picking about. I. I saw the Midnight looks great, and I can't wait. And that's definitely a Greg ass game. I can't wait to see it. Play it. But Avowed. I've just been frothing at the mouth for so long to get into a nerdy fucking RPG world where my choices will matter.

[Paris Lilly]

And yet, I mean, I mean, being serious for a second, it's legitimately just both. I want to play both of these games. I was very excited to play both of these games, which, you know, in the grand scheme of things, good on you, Xbox. You're finally hitting the dominoes are falling.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, like, the one thing we haven't talked about is what if we're wrong? What if about isn't great? Like, what if we're like. The trust I don't feel is misplaced from what we've played. And then, of course, the track record. And I'm just going with, like, more imminent releases right? Pentiment from Obsidian got an 86 on Metacritic. Grounded had an 83. The Outer Worlds 85. We go back to KOTOR 2. Of course, we can go back to Fallout New Vegas. We can go back to South Park. Like, Obsidian is great developer and I'm expecting great things here, but I really hope I'm not wrong.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, obviously I hope I'm not wrong either. And again, we're obviously going by. By reputation again, what we've already played and what we've already seen, it just, it. It made me even more excited about it because, you know, like, when I talked to Carrie, I. I told her straight up. I was like, I didn't know what the hell this game was. I was very skeptical of this until I actually played it. And I'm like, now I get it. Now it makes sense to me.

[Greg Miller]

What do you think Metacritic is going to be on this one?

[Paris Lilly]

I can see 85.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, 85.

[Paris Lilly]

I mean, potentially could hit 90.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, Paris, damn.

[Paris Lilly]

Look, look, you're asking. You and I, we're the Indiana Jones guys.

[Greg Miller]

So who knows what the, this industry is going to say about video games anymore. I would be, I mean, thrilled but shocked if it hit a 90 because my thoughts are again, my hang up with it and I'm using air quotes. Was that when I started combat? You're like, okay, I get it. And I didn't experiment and I didn't use the different things and I didn't change my loadouts crazily. It was just like, I'm fighting another mushroom dude or whatever. Like, I want to make sure that there's varied enemies and varied enemy encounters and it's not brain dead. That was the other thing, fighting so many goddamn lizards. Right? Like, if they make every one of these encounters rewarding and fun to go, they're going to be fine. But if it ever starts going into, all right, just more guys to fight, I think that's where the Metacritic goes down.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, as long as they. Long as you're mixing it up and you're actually able to try out all the different combinations of things that combat is going to have. Story holds up, decisions actually matter. Yeah. I mean, again, it's going to be a nerdy SRPG, so I think it'll be fun.

[Greg Miller]

Lov says in the chat on YouTube who had a vowed in the open critic league, if you go to kind of funny.com KFLeague 2025, you can see our fantasy critic league and you can see that the one the Only Andy Cortez and Nitro Rifle games have avowed. We will see if that is a good pick for him and pays off for him.

[Imran Khan]

And he has Civ 7. That's crazy.

[Greg Miller]

And he cleaned up and look at their back to back. He's ready to go.

[Paris Lilly]

By the way, side note before you move off of this because I saw a Barrett post on Blue sky about Roger and then I realized like man, Roger's trying to win this. He's going to get everything.

[Imran Khan]

See, that's what it feels like right now. I, I like. I also have the feeling that four of these games are gonna get delayed out of this year and then he's only gonna have $23 to gamble.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because when I saw he grabbed Ninja Gaiden form like crap. I didn't even think to get that right away.

[Imran Khan]

I was like, he drafted it for $56 bears. It's crazy.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

See if it pays off. Bold move, Cotton. Let's get some other chats in here. I like this one. Cow Hand says big fan of the Hypcast formula. Greg, thank you very much that. Appreciate that. Thanks for everybody who's watching right now. Music and Avowed sounds great too. The Outer Worlds 2 theme still sits with me. I. That's for me. I've never been the audio guy. That's a Tim thing. Right. But like I'm interested to see how it plays here and what goes on with it.

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Did it stand out for you at all pairs?

[Paris Lilly]

Yeah, I thought it was good. I mean, you know, nothing. Nothing truly stood out. But it, it was, it was solid, solid, solid soundtrack that was in there. Obviously the background music, everything was going on. It was very solid.

[Greg Miller]

And then our final super chat for this episode of the Hypecast gamescast, George Corona III says renewed three months of game pass for the first time in two years for Avowed and South of Midnight wasn't feeling eternal strands, so I dove into pillars one instead. And as a fan of Baldur's Gate 3, I'm loving it. Can't wait. The best. The best value gave me and being.

[Paris Lilly]

Being real for a second since. Since I wasn't on the show yesterday. And I won't go into a big diatribe about it.

[Greg Miller]

But of course, yesterday's show, Snow Black Mike's beef with Xbox and his lamenting that Xbox is no longer just one box for him, it's everything. And where does that leave him as an Xbox fan?

[Paris Lilly]

I. I think everything Mike said was. Was valid. And it is up to Phil and the team to deliver the vision that they're talking about, they actually we got to see the results of it. But from a game pass standpoint, I think we're here now as far as when you talk about best value in gaming that now you can see the content actually consistently starting to come out for it, that if you're subscribed you're not going to unsubscribe because there's always going to be something next to play. So yeah, I think, I think they're doing a good job with it now.

[Greg Miller]

We've joked for years about the dominoes, but it really does feel like Xbox has a great lineup this year. If they don't, if these all hit the way they should and hopefully like again, one of the reasons for the hypecast is I think a lot of people are sleeping on a Vowed and I understand until you play it. And again, I think even when we watch that the, the latest gameplay turned heads thing I put out from Reddit. Right. Like you look at that and you compare it to when we first saw Vowed and it's like, oh my God, this looks so much better. But that first impression, right. Solidified for so many people. So to get here, hopefully have this game come out to low expectations so it can super exceed them and then hopefully that's off to the races for Xbox.

[Paris Lilly]

Don't completely agree. They did make the right move to bring it to February versus putting it out in November when which allegedly, I guess they never officially said November, but that, I mean with COD around that time, Indy behind it and you know, there's just, there's a lot of different stuff that came out around that time. This might have got lost in the shuffle. It feels like coming out February 18th, I guess seems like it's going to have some room to breathe on its own and let people discover it. Like I was actually surprised when you read super chats before that people were taking advantage of the game pass stuff to get it five days early.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Paris Lilly]

Because I honestly didn't think there had been enough recent marketing and talk about a vow that it was top of mind for people to get excited about it. I would imagine they're about to start ramping that stuff up. But. But yeah, I mean, hey, I'm really looking forward to it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, we will see, I imagine. Yeah. You know, once we get to February and you got those two weeks counting down to early launch five days early, what the 13th? Then I think you'll see it ratchet up quite a bit. But we will wait and see. Of course, when we can, you will get an Avowed review from us. Paris, you're going to be on that with me. I forget.

[Paris Lilly]

I'm pretty sure I am.

[Greg Miller]

Hell yeah. That's what I want to hear. Of course. Ladies, gentlemen and enbies, avowed comes out February 18th. Like I said five days earlier, it would be the 13th unless I have my math wrong, which is possible with crazy Xbox math. We'll be talking about it, we'll be reviewing it, because that's all we do here at Kinda Funny Games. Of course, you can see us each and every day with live talk shows about video games, YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Twitch TV, kinda funnygames, Apple Spotify, you name it, we're there. Talking games. You already got games Daily, you're about to get a stream from Snowbike Mike, and of course, if you like all this content we put out, please pick up a kinda funny membership. 10 bucks a month gets you all of our shows ad free. That's 80ish a month. Of course, you also get your daily dose of me in a series we call Greg Way. And you could watch exclusive recordings of shows like In Review this afternoon when we do Aliens before anybody else gets them. For now though, it's time to say goodbye and watch that inbox in wait for Avowed. Until next time. It's been our pleasure to serve.