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- [00:00]
Angie Hicks
Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of angie. One thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. And for decades, Angie's helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. Get all your jobs done well@angie.com.
- [00:23]
Tim Geddes
What'S up and welcome back to the Kind of Funny Games cast for Thursday, November 21, 2024. Of course I am your host, Tim Geddes. I'm joined Paris Lily hey, good morning.
- [00:34]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
How you doing?
- [00:35]
Tim Geddes
Good morning Blessing. Adio junior.
- [00:37]
Angie Hicks
Good day.
- [00:38]
Tim Geddes
Tim and Greg Miller.
- [00:39]
Greg Miller
Kalu Kalei, how you doing?
- [00:40]
Tim Geddes
Hello. Kalei to you as well. Of course. Everybody. This is the Kind of Funny Games Cast. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the latest in video games. Whether it's reviews, previews or just big topics we want to discuss. That's what we do right here. If you love that, please support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free. Can watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show called Greg Way Greg. What's it about today?
- [01:06]
Greg Miller
It's a three part one today. Three parts, right? That's right, yeah. Because I couldn't remember what the gregway was supposed to be in the first part because I had a great one. Then I remembered it was about trying to convince my cousin who's not a gamer through Xbox Game Pass. And then it was an update because I had to stop the video to text her to see what she thought.
- [01:22]
Tim Geddes
Wow.
- [01:23]
Greg Miller
Still need to edit all three of those pieces together. I could do it right now in Cap cut. Give me a second and I'll send it over to Cool.
- [01:27]
Tim Geddes
He's such a professional. Everybody Cap Cut. For a chance to be part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats today we are talking about having played a vowed. So if you have any questions about our time with it, please super chat away. A little housekeeping for you. You already got Kind of Funny Games Daily breaking down Sega's latest huge sales numbers. And then coming up after this we got Mike and Nick heading into the beautiful, apocalyptic and extremely muddy wilderness of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to face off against Mutated beast and bounty hunters. In order to experience the game's best performance possible on PC, we're teaming up with our friends at Nvidia GeForce going full RTX on with kind of funn GeForce 40 series GPUs which gives us super boosted performance with Nvidia's AI powered DLSS technology. It's the best way to enjoy the game and it's the best way to watch the game being played. So go check that out right after this episode on Twitch and YouTube. If you're a kind of funny member, you can get today's Greg Way in the afternoon. You can also watch our Gladiator in review, which I'm very, very excited because it's my first time ever watching Gladiator. I can't wait to talk about it with people. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs and Delaney Twining. Today we're brought to you by Sonic the Hedgehog at topgolf. By the way, I've tweeted out, I'm pretty sure kind of funnies at this point. Also tweeted out a like mini vlog social video of our time doing Sonic and topgolf and it's just. It's a blast. And you gotta stay till the end of the video because Snow Bike Mike. Snow Bike Mike's like only Snowbike Mike can.
- [02:51]
Greg Miller
Okay, what that means. I like that.
- [02:54]
Tim Geddes
Anyway, today we're about to buy Sonic topic off aura frames and visual triangle merch. But we'll tell you all about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the topic of the show we played. Avowed. Avowed is an upcoming action role playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Avowed takes place in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity in The World of Eora.
- [03:16]
Greg Miller
The Living Lands is scheduled to be.
- [03:18]
Tim Geddes
Released on February 18, 2025 for Windows and Xbox Series X and S. Before we started, Paris was like, oh, it's going to get spicy today. So where do we want to start? Whose opinions do we want to start with?
- [03:32]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Who's played? I think I should start. Who do you think I should start?
- [03:35]
Greg Miller
I would have told you. I think Paris should start as well. Who's played the most? We've all played the same demo. Un. Unless I'm incorrect on that. But Paris went to the studio.
- [03:43]
Tim Geddes
True. Okay, so you got that. That deep, deep stuff going on. Paris, what'd you think of about how much have you played of it?
- [03:50]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So I played about two hours at the studio and then I got to do the same digital preview that you did. So I maybe played another additional four, so probably about six in total. I'll just start it off this way because I did go to Obsidian last week. So again, I want to thank everybody at Xbox Obsidian for setting that up and inviting me extra special love over to Shila at Obsidian because she made sure that everybody was taken care of. That was a part of the press, people that attended, that got all our needs taken care of. I got about two hours. I sat down with various team members from Obsidian. I mean combat team, art, environment, sound, obviously narration, and ended it where I got to speak with Carrie Patel, who's the game director as well. So I got various perspectives on Avowed and just how they were putting it together, obviously from their various strengths depending on what team they're on. But the common thing that I heard about Avowed was the exploration in it about them giving you, rewarding you for going off the beaten path in this world in these various zones that we'll be visiting in it. And then from a combat standpoint, just the ridiculous amount of combinations that you're going to be able to put together, you know, be it two handed weapons, one handed weapons, bows and arrows, swords, guns, obviously the Grimoire with all the different spells that you'll be able to get, the enchantments that you're going to be able to put on the weapons, things like that. Then you dive into the Skill tree, how you'll be able to enhance it even more. Like, like as far as spells go, there's a perk in the Skill Tree where you can have spells that you don't need the Grimoire anymore, you'll be able to cast them without it, things like that. So there's a lot here as far as variety with the combat and exploration. The other thing that stood out to me because this was my second time playing Avowed, I got to play it during gamescom as well, was the visual upgrade to it. Even just from what I saw in August, it really popped off the screen from what I got to see. And I'm sure you guys will have your opinion about it as well. But it looks really good. I think the dialogue in there, just like the conversation I had with the narration team, you know, it's. There's a lot of variety there. There's a lot of different things that, that stood out to me. Like just the fact that they're openly cursing in there. I don't know why that just. That has really got me, the fact that they had that in there. But your actions will have consequences depending on your choices that you make. I had one scenario where I ran into these, these two street, street kids and they were kind of talking tough to me and I was like F you guys and pulled out my sword and killing them. Then I immediately felt bad and there potentially could be a consequence to that down the line.
- [06:48]
Greg Miller
I killed them and I felt right at home. They deserve to die.
- [06:52]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But. But no, I. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I really enjoyed Avowed. I. I think this game has potential. This is, it's in the Pillars Universe because I effed that up when, when Carrie and Gabe were on kind of funny, you know, a few months back. But this is the Pillars Universe and I think this screams Obsidian RPG to me. I enjoyed what I played. I thought it was great.
- [07:12]
Tim Geddes
Do you have any history with the Pillars Universe?
- [07:15]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No, I don't. Just other than, you know, what, what I've read about, I've definitely educated myself over the past few months about it. But this takes place in that universe. There is lore that will lead back to previous events in that universe as well, but they're obviously with a vow, trying to, you know, chart their own path, but they're staying faithful to the, to the Pillars Universe at the same time.
- [07:39]
Tim Geddes
Cool. Bless. I want to go to you next. What did you think and how long have you played and what are your thoughts on about.
- [07:44]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, I played about two and a half hours. I didn't get to a point in the demo. So either Greg or Paris. You can let me know if, like.
- [07:50]
Greg Miller
There'S an end point where. Thank you for playing.
- [07:51]
Angie Hicks
Okay. Thank you. Okay. Because I didn't get to that.
- [07:53]
Greg Miller
Right.
- [07:53]
Angie Hicks
I played two and a half hours and for me, playing this demo was one of those ones where I was kind of sad while playing it because I just want to be playing the full thing. Right. Like immediately from the get go, I am getting into dialogue options. I am, you know, having those unique options that pertain to my specific character that I chose for, like, who my class is and what my background is. I am like, you know, putting in stats into. Oh, man. No, I want to be, you know, more into intelligence than I am into this other thing. Right. And from the get go. It's funny coming into this in the last couple of years of being shown and talked about and us getting trailers, it's been one of those ones where it's not grabbed me from the trailers. And I think I've been a little bit worried about it just from the sense of, okay, it seems like it's going to be, you know, like a smaller fantasy rpg. We're coming off of getting games like Baldur's Gate and we, you know, we're coming off Dragon Age recently and it's been one of those things where I'm like, oh, what is avow doing to stand out and grab my attention and playing it. Immediately I'm like, oh yeah, it's Obsidian. They know what the fuck they're doing. Like, they know how to make a good ass rpg. I played outer worlds and I really, really dug outer worlds. Granted, like, that setting speaks a bit more to me than any fantasy setting, but this setting in avowed, I am immediately like, immediately like, man, this is exactly what I want from these developers as far as how it feels like my dialogue is going to matter what I'm getting out of. Like, oh man, I love hanging out with my companions so far. Like, I'm still in the place of. I want to get deeper into those characters and deeper into those relationships to really judge. Like, one of the notes I wrote down here was the fact that this game feels hefty from the get go. There is jargon that I'm like, I have no idea what you're talking about. And I'm sure if you're a pillars fraternity person, you're going to catch these different terms, these different references and all this stuff. But for me, as somebody who didn't play pillars, you know, I'm like, oh, I don't know half of what we're talking about here. And I'm sure, you know, over time I'm going to get to learn. But you know, they don't waste time throwing dialogue at you. They get to the heart of like, the matter as far as like world politics and character backgrounds and jargon that you might not be up on yet. And one of the particular notes I want to read verbatim that I wrote here that I think really drives home how I feel about it so far in this preview stage where I've only played two and a half hours of what feels like a hefty RPG is the fact that I can also feel the heftiness as I pick up side quests in the first town as I look at the map and see how much there is to explore already and look at the stats and abilities I can unlock. There's meat on the bone and I don't know if the meat is good quality yet, but it smells nice. And that's where I'm at right now, where I'm like, I went from being like, oh, we'll see if I play a vow to, oh man, that smells nice. I need some of that. Like I'm going to, I'm going to feast on this thing. And honestly, after this preview, I cannot wait for it.
- [10:26]
Tim Geddes
Hell yeah.
- [10:27]
Angie Hicks
Yeah.
- [10:27]
Tim Geddes
Greg, what about you?
- [10:29]
Greg Miller
Yeah, I would echo Pretty much all of that. And I think especially to not give it. I still want to know where Paris thought this was gonna get spicy or in it or whatever. For me, it would be the thing.
- [10:39]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Why? Why? I'll say why. I. We were having an offline conversation yesterday and the vibe felt kind of negative. I was like, oh, wait, I don't think they liked it. I go, this is going to be interesting because I did like it. But it sounds like you did.
- [10:53]
Greg Miller
It's. For me, the thing about it is, is, you know, everything echo, everything bless said and what we're going to talk about here. But like, what I love about it is that it is a nerdy ass rpg, right? Like for me, like starting it up. And we talked about this on gamescast for my hot takes where I'm just in between games and what I want. I'm the same way of playing this. I was like, ah, if this was out right now, this would be my life. This is what I want, right? Of like starting your character and jumping in and like, do you want to be arcane, scholar, court, noble science, blah, blah, blah. And they all have their little backstories and what it means. I'm like, that's awesome. And then they click through that and be, all right, here are your attribute points. You know what I mean? You have this much to play with in might, constitution, dexterity, perception. And I'm like, oh, man. Like, fuck, yeah. This is exactly what I want right now. To go through and tweak and see how that goes. And so doing all that and jumping in and then getting those dialogue options and seeing, you know, it's something so many people wanted out of Dragon Age veilgard. But as not being a Dragon Age fan, I didn't miss it. But that idea that you could be a horrible person, you could be a dick and it would actually matter. Like, I've always thought BioWare struggles with it because like in Mass Effect, Paragon, Renegade, I'm like, these are actually kind of dumb. I don't like this. But like in the conversation choices, I do enjoy that. And so having it here where this guy's being mean to me, all right, fuck you. I'm going to kill you. I'm going to walk away. Or this person needs me to get them out of jail. And I'm actually debating in this one little instance that's not going to play out. I am debating, am I going to help them or I just can take the information, like, you know what I mean? Like my character on the fly developing of well, how are you treating me? And that'll have it go. And that'll do it. Two hours or I guess for me, it was like a little hour and a half, a little less. Really not enough of what's going on under the hood here. I really enjoyed what I played. I would probably tell you I loved what I played. I do think that, you know, when the lizard guys show up and come to fight me, I was kind of like, all right, you're just lizard guys. And, like, I'm just fighting lizard guys right now. But again, like, well, it's the choices, the dialogue. When I get the companion of Kai, right, Who is the voice actor of Garrus, Brandon Keener, right? It's like, oh, you're fucking on another level already. And I'm enjoying the banter and what you're telling me and the way we're all. So it's like, that's going to be the experience of fighting the mobs of whoever. But will it live up to it? Will it stick with it? You know, I was using sword and shield, and then I switched to sword and grimoire, and then I was using bow and arrow, and I was enjoying them all enough. But it wasn't. It wasn't Dragon Age combat, which I think is on another level. It was cool. I'm playing for Skyrim content to some degree, or Skyrim combat to some degree, which I enjoy. But it's one of those weird ones where I want 20 hours with this game to see if it all is going to last and play out. And, you know, again, like, it's early. The build we had, some animatics are still going on there. You know, for it to be a PC build and not to be an optimized PC build, dumbass Greg Miller is like, this isn't potato quality. And I'm troubleshooting everything in the game and then going out into my PC and finally getting it to somewhere. But again, it's like. Then it's like, well, this frame rate isn't running. There's all these things I'm jumping through. I'm like, I wish this was just running on an Xbox Series X. And I could go to. But I'll pass it to Paris. My top level is incredibly excited. This is the kind of game I want. I just hope it delivers.
- [13:56]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, Paris. So just. Just on the optimization aspect of it, because I did ask Carrie about that, because there was some stuff during Gamescom about is a valid. Gonna be 30 frames per second on Xbox, things like that. So I straight up Asked her and what she said was at a minimum it will be 30, but that is not the target. She did not specifically say 60, but it sounds like they are trying to get in the final optimization, get this up above 30 frames per second on console and then obviously, you know, PC is going to have dlss and all that. So I think we'll be fine there. But they're aware of it, but they, they won't 100% commit to 60. But that is the goal is from, from what I interpreted from what she said.
- [14:38]
Greg Miller
And so, yeah, you jump out and it's like, again, how much of this is placeholder? Where I feel like the UI is like, it is a nerdy ass rpg. It's not wowing you with the ui. It's not wowing you with its visuals for the most part. Colorful for sure. Very colorful, Very colorful. It has a style, it's got a great art style. Whereas. And again, unoptimized. I don't know what I'm doing with the PC, yada, yada yada. I was like, well, is that a problem or is that just where we're at with this preview build? So chalk visuals up to whatever. I love the art style of it, honestly. One of the first things I was shocked in that this is not a thing that comes up in games, I guess, but they have this choice, right? If you look at the avowed box art, the key art for it, right? You have like the last of us mushrooms growing out of there, right? When you start this game and you jump into character creator and it's like, all right, your character is a God touched character, right? Which has this whole backstory in the universe and it's going to play in. And they were like, make your character look how you want the character and like going through, like you have to.
- [15:33]
Tim Geddes
Have what's your God like feature.
- [15:34]
Greg Miller
You have to have these godlike touches that are the mushrooms or you know, like coral reefs growing off of your head or your hair or whatever. And I had like such a visceral like reaction to it where I don't know what phobia it is, but I was like, oh man, no, I can't, I can't do it. And like there are options to hide it. And they're like, you can hide it, but like characters will still talk like you have it because it's key to the story or whatever. And I was like, fine, let's do that character look like Dana Barrett Ghostbusters, because the hair physics great. Oh, you know, I go into character Creator and like, oh, that looks like, oh, there it is. I got it. It's Dana. Boom. Did that. And it was just like, wow. And I really enjoyed the way they talked to me about it, but I could not deal with my character actually looking like it.
- [16:13]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. That's like me in the hands in Elder ring where I'm like, I look at it, I'm like, this just does something to me physiologically that I can't.
- [16:18]
Greg Miller
Get fight or flight kicked up right now. I can't do that.
- [16:20]
Angie Hicks
It's funny because I relate to you as far as, like, going earlier into what you're talking about with, like, even the lizard guys. Right. One of the notes here is like, if I have any critique, I think the world design and the character design, I think feels a bit samey and a little bit uninspired. Even though uninspired might seem harsh. I don't mean that as in it looks bad, more so that, like, I look at some of the creatures and I'm like, all right, those are lizard creatures. I've seen lizard creatures in a million games. Or like one of the first companions to come across. I forget his name, but I look at him. Kai. Yeah. And I'm like, I don't really like how Kai looks.
- [16:47]
Greg Miller
But that fish man who. In that one film from Guillermo del Toro.
- [16:50]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, that film.
- [16:51]
Tim Geddes
I never.
- [16:51]
Angie Hicks
It was like, nominated for Oscar, though.
- [16:52]
Greg Miller
Yeah. Shape of Water.
- [16:53]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. Didn't they, like, miss call that one? No, I'm thinking of La La Land in the other movie. Moonlight. Yeah.
- [17:01]
Greg Miller
God, La La Land. What a film.
- [17:02]
Angie Hicks
What a film. But the world still looks pretty, even though it's like, not great art style. I don't look around and I'm like, it doesn't necessarily stand out to me as a. Oh, man, this feels one of a kind. There is a good, I guess a prettiness to it. Like, I like looking off in the distance and seeing, like, structures or mountains and stuff like that. And I'm like, yeah, this is a. It's a pretty game to look at.
- [17:22]
Greg Miller
And it's a. It's a. An alive world. You know what I mean? Like, again, you're in this two hour long preview and I. Paris, I'd be interested if they gave you a walkthrough. I noticed so many of the previews today talking about the bickering divorced couple in the. Do you see this in the preview? Did they call this out?
- [17:37]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, they. They kind of gave us a presentation of stuff like that ahead of time.
- [17:41]
Greg Miller
So there's two stalls in the market, right. And there's a divorced couple who works across from each other and bicker and stuff like that. And it's like, I've seen it now noted to death in the previews because we all did the same thing. I didn't see it in the game, actually. I blew past it. But there was the confrontation on the bridge. That didn't matter. It was the, do you want to help this person get out of there? It like, then it doesn't really matter. Like, it doesn't matter in the way of, like, it didn't seem like it had universe redefining things, but it was like a fun decision to make in that moment or a thing to catch.
- [18:05]
Angie Hicks
Played some of this game, right?
- [18:06]
Tim Geddes
I did, yeah. We got the opportunity to preview this. And y'all know me, this is very out of my wheelhouse in terms of taste of games.
- [18:13]
Greg Miller
So I was proud of you for.
- [18:14]
Tim Geddes
Doing it at all. And I was like, I'm going to give this a shot and see, like, what it's all about. And if it can grab me. Did not grab me. Just mainly just these aren't my type of games and that's fine. Having said that, playing through what I did, I was, like, pretty impressed with what they had. I really like how nerdy and deep it can get. It's not for me, but I'm like, oh, people are gonna like this a lot. Like going through the menus and being able to use your left hand and right hand and have the different options of having bow and arrow, having your little mace, having the different kind of spell powers and figuring out what balance you want to have there. It felt very customizable in a way that I feel so early on in the game. I was like, oh, this is pretty impressive because I really did feel like making those changes made the combat scenarios feel dramatically different. And I feel like the ease on process of kind of learning the different things in the early game, I feel like was well paced and I was like, all right, cool. I have my head wrapped around this, which is good because, like, going to the menus, like, there's just a lot to. To take in a lot of different, like, items to that you're constantly collecting. And I was very impressed with the art style. Again, like, I feel like, yeah, there was a lot of, like, performance issues. Not so much in, like frame rate, but more just like I. It felt a little placeholder. It felt like unfinished and clearly like it was. All right, cool. They're going to add things here.
- [19:32]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [19:33]
Tim Geddes
So because we were Playing a preview. So that made sense. But I was pretty surprised to see the godlike stuff, the fungus stuff, be so in the game because we saw the art, the key art for it, and I just thought, oh, that just looks cool. I didn't realize that that was going to be like, oh, these are the characters in world we're actually dealing with and having to choose your godlike fungus thing. I was like, oh, this is really awesome. And I spent a fair amount of time in the character creator just kind of like checking out those different options because I liked having options that weren't just your typical, you know, like, what facial hair do you have? And like, how tall are you? And like, skin color and all that stuff, but, like, having these other features to kind of deal with. I was like, like, that's. That's a neat thing that I'm not used to in character creators. So I thought that was great. And then to the point of the. The world and the lore and me not only not playing any of the Pillars games, but also just not playing Obsidian. Obsidian games, not knowing any of the stuff at all. There's so much lore, so much world, so many names and characters and stuff. I really love. They have this, like, dictionary feature where you can just click in and anytime you're having a conversation, it'll explain what things mean. I was like, hey, this is. This is great. So as an outsider to this, I was very impressed and I think that they are onto something here where this is going to speak to the people that have been looking for this type of game. Especially hearing you guys talk so much about Dragon Age and seeing people where it didn't hit for others, this feels like, oh, this is going to solve.
- [20:56]
Greg Miller
That for this, you know? And again, I don't mean to set up expectations it can't meet, but what I got from it and what my hope is for it is that for me, this will be the Baldur's Gate that I couldn't. Baldur's going to be for me, where I just don't like the combat of Baldur's Gate. So I loved all the choices and characters and all that stuff, but I couldn't get into it. Going into the dialogue options and seeing how many they were, how plentiful they were, the ones that were based on what you. Your stats were the ones that were locked because you didn't have whatever it was like, it really was like, ooh, if you can do the permutations. And that's what they've talked about, right? This is In Paris. I'd love to hear you talk to this. I'm sure it came up of this being a smaller rpg, right? You can create a little path it really quickly in the hope that you could go and play it again or you could live in it for forever. Like, I really hope that this is the. Oh man. Me and bless get a weekend with it. We come back and I'm like, where are you? How did you even. Oh my God. What about this? You never met him. You killed him. Oh my God.
- [21:46]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, and that's the thing. This isn't going to be Skyrim. I don't think anyone should set their expectation for it to be that. But I think, Greg, what you said earlier about this being a really nerdy rpg, that's what this is. And it's on a smaller scale, but at the same time, like, they kept saying over and over, you are rewarded for exploring, for finding things. Like, everything's handcrafted in here. By the way, the art director, he's one of the coolest mfers you'll ever meet. The conversation I had with him was fantastic. But it's that whole point about level design and them strategically placing things within the world for you to go find and discover. So like you said, Greg, you have those water cooler conversations like, oh, shit, did you find this? Did you find that? I didn't. Oh, you got to go over here and do this. Like, like that's what they're setting this up to be. And the fact that it's a classless system and you're not punished for if in the middle of the game you decide you want to spec into something else, they're not over penalizing you for that. They want you to try out all the different various classes and weapon types and spells and all this. They want you to just go nuts with the game. Another common theme that I had talking with the team is they're so excited for people to get their hands on it because despite what they may have been testing internally and qaing, they know people are going to create some just batshit insane stuff that they didn't even expect. As far as the weapon combinations and spells go. Like one that was created, this was during Gamescom, I believe it was called a Blood Mage, where instead of like, you know, you use up your essence when you're doing all the magic and stuff like that, you can perk into. I believe, and I could be saying this wrong, so I apologize if I'm saying this wrong. But instead it'll at a certain point Start draining your health so you continue to fight.
- [23:32]
Tim Geddes
Right.
- [23:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So you have to balance that out. But that's just one example of different things that you'll be able to do in the game from a combat standpoint that you don't have to do. It's only if you want to do it. Like you're saying, Greg, you could probably just power through this in 20 or 30 hours maybe. But if you want to soak in this world and like, like someone like Tim that doesn't understand the lore of Pillars, and really soak it in and understand what the whole Pillars universe is about, you'll probably extend your time another 10, 15, 20 hours just on that. So I think this is a good balance. You know, we talked about this on X Cast for years. I always wanted to see what an Obsidian RPG would look like backed by Xbox.
- [24:16]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [24:17]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And this is what we're getting with Avowed. So, yeah, I'm excited for February.
- [24:22]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. Baldur's Gate 3 is one that came to mind as I was playing through the preview as well, in the sense that I, you know, coming off of Baldur's Gate 3, I always, I always wondered, how do we follow up on this? Like, you know, how does anybody put out a great fantasy RPG like, after this one that sticks with people, that history people and all this stuff? The thing that I liked playing during this preview is the fact that there are so many RPG isms, fantasy RPG isms, that feel like even though I know obviously this game has been in development for years, it's not like Baldur's Gate 3 could directly influence it in any major ways. It was really cool getting to a camp and being like, oh, I'm going to set up my camp. Oh, I can talk to my companion and hang out here for a second and like, you know, take a breath and heal and do all this stuff and then go back about my business.
- [25:01]
Tim Geddes
Right.
- [25:01]
Angie Hicks
And like, again, this is more of an Obsidian thing, but again, the dialogue options and being able to look and see, oh, this stat is affecting this thing. Oh, I'm also spec'd into this so I could say this and like it. Feeling like dialogue truly matters. That's one of the things that I ask for so much in RPGs like this. And I feel like this has given me like the nice in between point, between what you would get out of maybe a Bethesda RPG with the first person talking to people, all that stuff. And then also something that is like a Baldur's Gate 3 that is a bit more, hey, how do we heighten up the RPG elements that are even outside of combat, that are you exploring, meeting characters and all that stuff?
- [25:34]
Tim Geddes
I'm so with you. Where the dialogue options. I was very impressed with how immediately I could see the choices I made being reflected in terms of, like, my skills and attributes and, like, giving me other options. And the options it gave me did feel very different than the other, like, stock options you get. I was like, oh, that's. That's cool. And like, I like that they even like, flag it to, like, notify you, like, what that meant. Because it did make me want to go like, oh, if I change this, what would that be? Because, like, a lot of the words they're using, like, I don't know what you're talking about here in terms of not the classes, but just kind of like the skill sets. But yeah, that was cool. And I did really like the early back and forth dialogue with your companion. I was like, this seems like a very well written, like, the. The words have intent, which I think is nice. It's not just kind of like throwing things out.
- [26:17]
Angie Hicks
One of my least favorite things a game can do. And like, great games do this all the time, where you're hanging out with a companion and they tell you exactly how to solve a puzzle.
- [26:25]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [26:26]
Angie Hicks
Here I had one of those moments, but it felt way more natural where I'm like, in a cabin. You know, I take out some guys and now I'm collecting stuff in the cabin and my companion's like, you know, he's like, oh, yeah, there's stuff up there. I wonder if we can access it from outside. And I was like, that is a. That's a nice way to do that without me feeling like I'm being tired.
- [26:42]
Greg Miller
We should go outside. There's a big hole.
- [26:43]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. It was like, oh, you see the stair over here? There's a stair over here. It wasn't that. It was like a, hey, let's maybe check outside to see if there's a way to get upstairs. And I was like, I appreciate that. That's actually helpful. But going back a little bit to, I think it was Paris mentioning how this game doesn't lock you in into certain classes. Right. Like, you have the freedom to kind of move around in terms of what you do. One of the things that I like, and I think Tim, you mentioned this as well, is the loadout system being able to press Y on the Xbox controller and switch back and forth. That is something that I don't think you get from many fantasy RPGs right. Like, that's like a first person shooter type thing. But I like how it functions here because it is the thing of, you know, you go into your loadout, you figure out, like, all right, I want to dual wield wands or I want to bust out a gun, which I love that this game has guns. But, you know, for me, I was dual wielding at a time like a pistol and a sword. And then I switched or I had a secondary loadout that was just like a sniper type gun or like a rifle, I should say. And I press y, you know, far distance, boom. Take some people out. All right, I'm gonna get close to this bear, switch back to my, you know, short range loadout, take him out from right in front of him. And I'm like, yeah, this feels natural. This feels like a very smart way to do combat.
- [27:56]
Greg Miller
And it did such a great job of encouraging exploration of those combats, you know what I mean? Where it was like, usually I'm pretty locked in on what I want to be. So when I got the grimoire, I was like, okay, cool. And I used it and I was like, all right, well, I was like, well, hold on. Can I put it? Oh, I can't put it in one hand and have the sword in the other hand. Okay, well, then I'm sacrificing the shield. And I also know the bow and arrow. And it's like to go around and like all these things and have it be those finishing moves, those combos when the stagger meters are filled in, like, you know, I'm shooting the bear with like three.
- [28:20]
Tim Geddes
I was a bow boy.
- [28:21]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [28:22]
Tim Geddes
Any chance I got to use the bow, I was doing it.
- [28:24]
Angie Hicks
That's my thing is I love that combat. That actually feels really good in this game because that's one thing that I'm always. I think that's the thing that can sometimes keep me away from, like, a first person fantasy rpg. You know, I remember playing Skyrim and being like, all right, I'm gonna bash this thing with my sword and use this bow and arrow. That feels kind of here. Like I saw somebody in chat that said, you know, glad the combat feels great. It doesn't just feel great. I think it feels snappy. It feels responsive. The options feel great.
- [28:48]
Tim Geddes
Right?
- [28:48]
Angie Hicks
Like, you have a wand that you can use. Just cast spells, but then you can switch to, yeah, a gun to take somebody out. You can have a sword. The sword feels good. Like, all of it from the get go. I'm like, oh, I am invested in my loadout and invested in combat one hour into the game. So I'm very excited to see and hopefully like the permutations when you grow, when you get hopefully there's like way cooler weapons that you collect and like you get the leveled up gun or you get the leveled up bow and arrow to, you know, do special damage or whatever. I'm very excited to see where that stuff goes.
- [29:14]
Tim Geddes
Combat was the thing that turned me off the most. I didn't really like love how it was feeling it. It felt a little clunky and I was playing on mouse and keyboard, which is another thing I'm not used to but. But it just, it didn't feel good to like get in there and it felt a little like looser than I would like it to. But again it did look like it feels like how Skyrim plays and how like other similar games play. So I thought, yeah, you're saying it's good then I trust you more than me.
- [29:37]
Greg Miller
For me, I felt like it was forgiving, which I appreciated. In these kind of games where I always feel like melee combat, first person can be clunky, can be weird. And so I felt like I was noticing that I was having no problem pairing, which is not usually what I do. I still was, you know, dodging to the side, getting behind things. I was still getting attacked too and missing a cue or whatever. So like it was all there. But I don't think I ever died in it. And I think I don't even remember like health potions being a big deal for me.
- [30:01]
Angie Hicks
Oh damn, I died a lot.
- [30:03]
Tim Geddes
Paris, I want to. I want to get your thoughts on combat, but after a word from our sponsors, this episode is brought to you by Sonic the Hedgehog at topgolf, y'all, when you take one good thing and you take another good thing and you mash them together, that is when magic happens. Kinda funny loves Sonic the Hedgehog. Kinda funny loves topgolf. So you know, kinda funny is hyped for Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to arrive at TOPGOLF at supersonic speed on Friday, November 15th with the launch of the new Topgolf game Sonic the Hedgehog. Exclusively available for play at Topgolf venues across the United States. Created for players of all skill levels, which is great for me topic topgolf meets the fast paced action of Sonic in this new in venue game where players go head to head in iconic virtual Sonic environments. Green Hill Zone and Sky Sanctuary. You can play as four iconic characters, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy to hit springs, collect rings and destroy Badniks for players making the transition from a joystick to a club for the first time, topgolf has your back with its new club, the sure Thing, designed to make golf less hard. Come play around with your friends and family at a topgolf near you and try out the new Sonic the Hedgehog game. This episode's brought to you by Aura Frames. The holidays are all about connecting with loved ones, and there's no better way to do just that than with a digital picture frame. From Aura, you could upload your favorite pics of the family to one frame and relive all those happy moments again. Or you could share big news like a new addition to the family. Most people at Kinda Funny have Aura frames at their desks and it's always so fun to walk out in the studio and see what memories they have displayed. It's a great gift for your parents or grandparents and you could even surprise them with their gift being preset with your own pictures. And if that's not personal enough, you can even upload a video message to play on the frame as soon as they plug it in so the first thing they hear is your voice and how much you love them. For a limited time, visit aura frames.com and get $45 off or as best selling Carver Mat frames by using Promo code Kind of Funny at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code kind of Funny this exclusive Black Friday Cyber Monday deal is their best of the year, so don't miss out. Terms and conditions apply.
- [32:18]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
The year is 2024.
- [32:19]
Angie Hicks
Lasers are a commonly used technology. Snakes have been replaced by small robots and nobody noticed.
- [32:24]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
The government tells us we must choose between resolution, frame rate and quality. We will not be lied to. For the first time in this long bloody war, the full power of the visual triangle is ours. On sale now@kindafunny.com store.
- [32:43]
Tim Geddes
So Paris, what do you think about the combat?
- [32:46]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I enjoyed it and the interesting part is is that I got to this is my second time playing it so I had already experienced the combat and I was even mentioning to the team that when I played it in August I was like yeah, it's okay, this is serviceable. But this felt like an upgrade from that. It felt more crisp. I think even how you were explaining playing a mouse and keyboard because I did play with controller, a new mouse and keyboard. Playing with a controller back in August it felt a little janky the controls, but this felt tighter, felt felt a lot better and you know, to the point that we've already been making. I just love the various combinations. It's. You're almost encouraged to want to try out new things. So you don't just. Just stick with one weapon loadout. Like, like I said, when you get the bow, you're like, man, I'm really liking the bow. Then I got the grimoire. I'm like, oh shit, I can do the pistol and I got the grimoire. Like, oh man, I'm really cooking here. You know, the man with a book.
- [33:39]
Angie Hicks
And a gun in his hand.
- [33:42]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But then you can get a two handed sword and you just, you have that power with that. Right? But then you lose the shield. Like there's all these different combinations that you can have. And then when you get the enchantments as well. This is why I'm excited to play more. Because I really want to see how those enchantments on the weapons will just differentiate them. And then there's. And I could be legendary, might be wrong, but I'll just say it for this. There's legendary weapons out there that you can find and use too. So how will those work? And those have like specific perks on them that, that change your play style as well. So yeah, I think combat's going to be rewarding. That's going to be pretty good.
- [34:17]
Angie Hicks
There's also like a dash mechanic that they have in there where if you press a or you press a while holding left or right, you can like dash left and right. It feels.
- [34:24]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [34:25]
Angie Hicks
And like you can hold the attack button. Do like a charge attack. That even works with the guns. And I'm like.
- [34:29]
Tim Geddes
And the boat too. Like the way like you pull the ball back and like you can charge a little bit.
- [34:32]
Greg Miller
Wait for that.
- [34:33]
Tim Geddes
Purple.
- [34:33]
Greg Miller
Yeah. Yeah.
- [34:34]
Tim Geddes
Again, the colors are cool. Charge.
- [34:36]
Greg Miller
You had a charge move in there to take them out.
- [34:38]
Tim Geddes
One of your specials, CJ splits on Super Chats in saying, how is the third person mode for those of us that don't love first person? Did anyone play with that at all?
- [34:47]
Greg Miller
I kicked it into third person. Yeah. I usually like playing my games that way. But you know, for a Skyrim or a Fallout or a Starfield that you usually do stick to first person. I think I'll stick to first person here as well. Once I kicked it out to third person, they. It was. Or even when I went to turn it on because it's a menu option. It's right now not a button to tap in. It was very much like, yo, you can do this. But it like might, you know, make it harder to do some of the things you want to do or whatever. It was fine. But again, it's clearly built, I think, to be first person and have that. What I appreciated, you know, for me, seeing my character is such a big deal. And so, so many of these games lock you behind the eyes and you just can't do anything with it. This was great. Of course, of when you get into a dialogue or option. Right. And it'll kick back to your character when you select what you want to say. So I thought that was nice. It's not voiced right. I'm not wrong about it. There's no voice for it. Yeah. You're picking it. Which I like seeing my character on screen.
- [35:36]
Tim Geddes
How'd you guys feel about how that's presented the dialogue between different characters?
- [35:41]
Greg Miller
Traditional. Yeah, I mean, I think. I think we've seen it before with like what Fallout 4 tried to get in there with the cinematic camera and change all that stuff. And it's. It didn't change that much, nor did people really like it. This is again, a nerdy ass rpg. It's us looking at him getting the thing, looking at us choosing the thing. That's what I want.
- [35:58]
Tim Geddes
Yeah.
- [35:59]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
One thing to add to the third person mode. I tried it out a little bit as well. Very, very similar to Greg. I think I'm going to stick with first person. But in talking with the team about that, they just mentioned making sure they got all the animations and everything right when you're in combat. Because now you're seeing way more of the character and you have to see the sword properly swing and you're casting the wand and all of that. So they're definitely paying attention to detail with the third person mode for people that will obviously prefer that and want to try that in the game. So again, I think it's just good to have the option.
- [36:31]
Angie Hicks
I do feel like the not having the main character voice. I understand the decision based on what Greg's saying. Right. They did it for Fallout 4. Bethesda did it for Fallout 4.
- [36:38]
Greg Miller
Right.
- [36:39]
Angie Hicks
And that was one of those things where it's like he's not saying what I want him to say. The choices feel weird and people I think, like having or knowing, like what exactly am I saying?
- [36:48]
Greg Miller
Word for word I want to say.
- [36:50]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, but there is something, I think that. That feels almost missing when it is. I click the thing and he says nothing. Like he's very silent. And then like the other character speaks.
- [36:59]
Greg Miller
Didn't you read it in your head?
- [37:01]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, but like a little bit.
- [37:03]
Tim Geddes
You do choose a voice though, right? In the character creator. You're right.
- [37:07]
Greg Miller
We do.
- [37:07]
Tim Geddes
Yeah. You do. Yeah.
- [37:08]
Angie Hicks
I wonder if it is for like, if you're swinging a sword and stuff.
- [37:10]
Tim Geddes
I mean, they have vocal lines that they. They read, so it is a little bit weird.
- [37:13]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [37:13]
Angie Hicks
I wonder if there are cutscenes. Is like, specific.
- [37:15]
Tim Geddes
Some of them get it maybe.
- [37:17]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. I'm not wrong.
- [37:18]
Greg Miller
Right. We picked that. I never. I don't remember hearing the dialogue.
- [37:21]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Did you pick voice one?
- [37:23]
Greg Miller
I don't even know.
- [37:24]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Had a bug and there was no. There was no sound.
- [37:26]
Greg Miller
Oh, no.
- [37:27]
Tim Geddes
I had that bug too. But then when I went back to click on it, then it played. But yeah. We got a couple more super chats here. Gator Mash Potato says, really looking forward to this. Big fan of Pillars of Eternity and I can't wait for this to scratch that nerdy RPG itch. Sounds like it's going to be right up your alley. Then Daniel May wants to know, how much of the progression systems did you see?
- [37:49]
Angie Hicks
I didn't get that deep in there because, like, it's a preview. And so one. It's like, I'm not going to get spent a lot of these points and I'm also going to lose all these upgrades that I do. But then also, like, you know, it's not like we had many points to work with, but, like, what did I ask guys about backgrounds and stuff. Right. Like, I guess for as far as progression stuff, you had a couple different menus. I think you had one that was almost like more social progression things like intelligence and stuff like that. And then you have another one that is more so about like abilities and combat and stuff and stuff. Seems deep. I don't know where you guys are at with that.
- [38:19]
Greg Miller
Yeah, it's one of those. I don't even. It was such a glancing look at it in terms of where we are. I don't have any opinion on it because I need time with it.
- [38:27]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, yeah, same. I mean, I guess the one thing like, when you're creating the character, I think I picked the noble, noble person and that affected the dialogue options that I had. So it seems like even when you start to start in that depending, depending on your choices there will affect the dialogue that you'll get in the game.
- [38:46]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. The five different backgrounds you got are the Arcane Scholar, the Court Augur. A U G U R. That's the word I'm not familiar with. You got the Noble sky on. You got the Vanguard Scout and you got the War Hero. And I believe I picked the Arcane Scholar.
- [38:58]
Greg Miller
Ah, me too. Nice. Yeah.
- [39:00]
Angie Hicks
Big old brains.
- [39:03]
Tim Geddes
We got a mellow fellow saying. Do you think there's a chance they move up the date to possibly even Shadow Drop during the game awards?
- [39:10]
Greg Miller
Absolutely not. There's something early access to this game that's as soon as they lock that in you are goodbye to getting this any earlier.
- [39:17]
Tim Geddes
Yeah, no. I also like just playing this preview. I was surprised at like how there were some things that felt incomplete.
- [39:25]
Greg Miller
Sure.
- [39:26]
Tim Geddes
Which I. I thought CG splits on all sorts and how's performance? Did it feel finished? So yeah, not so much from a performance standpoint but just like this preview build, there was some things missing. I was like oh, interesting.
- [39:36]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [39:37]
Tim Geddes
Being this close.
- [39:38]
Greg Miller
Yeah. For being this big taste of it.
- [39:40]
Tim Geddes
Right.
- [39:40]
Greg Miller
I mean I'm glad that they went and did it because I think people need to play it to understand it and talk about it. But yeah. Also interested in it now I do.
- [39:47]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Remember being at the studio and them mentioning the build that we played wasn't the latest. There's a. There's a newer build that resolves some of the. The little quirks that we saw in this preview build. But to the point I, I don't think they're moving it up at all for like you said, the early access stuff but again going back to the optimization of it, I think they, they still need more time to properly get it optimized. So I don't. I don't think there's any chance we'll see it come out earlier.
- [40:13]
Angie Hicks
Well remind me, what's it coming out around again? Is it Assassin's Creed? Is that the big fear that we have with it?
- [40:18]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Thank you.
- [40:19]
Greg Miller
Monster Hunters right after that.
- [40:21]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And then early access is. Was it five days earlier? Three days earlier?
- [40:26]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. So Assassin's Creed Shadows comes out February 14th. Avowal comes out February 18th. Monster Wilds comes out February 28th. And so it's a bit sandwiched in there. Lost Records Blue and Rage comes out the same day is about also. So Greg, you're going to pick one.
- [40:38]
Tim Geddes
This does seem like it is speaking to a very specific audience that. And it's giving them what they're looking for though.
- [40:44]
Greg Miller
Right.
- [40:44]
Tim Geddes
Like I, I don't know that it's necessarily going to get like those games are going to get in the way of this because the people that want this, like yeah, they're gonna, they're gonna be all in on this.
- [40:53]
Angie Hicks
Right.
- [40:54]
Tim Geddes
Like I feel like this is the type of game that if you're looking forward to avowed an Obsidian rpg. You're not necessarily in the same way looking forward to Assassin's Creed or even Monster Hunter. You might be looking forward to all three games, but like, like I think that if you're looking forward to a vowed and especially after hearing how glowing these previews are, like, that's going to be your. All right. I'm all in for that for sure.
- [41:14]
Greg Miller
I agree with that. I do. I think, I think there's lots of crossover. I can't wait for Wilds, but if you put them down in front of me, I would go to Avowed first.
- [41:20]
Tim Geddes
Really?
- [41:21]
Greg Miller
Yeah. I think Wilds is probably going to be the better, more stunning game. But like, I like my single player stories, I like making my choices, I like romantic people.
- [41:30]
Tim Geddes
I'm shocked. You're such a monster hunter person.
- [41:33]
Greg Miller
I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean like that'll be there no matter when. I'm always going to be able to run with somebody and do a thing and this will be as well. But like, again, I want to see the story, I want to make the choices, I want to go do.
- [41:41]
Angie Hicks
What about Assassin's Creed? Like you put all three of those games in front of you.
- [41:43]
Greg Miller
I still am quite worried about Assassin's Creed, so I would still go about over that one. Yeah, yeah. But I think again, like Assassin's Creed is going to have the combat in the Ubisoft open world to go do all and check the boxes and stuff. But like I'm not going to, you know, Odyssey was a different beast. So maybe I'm throwing the baby out of the bathwater. I don't think in Assassin's Creed I'm going to care about every side character interaction, every quest and collectible like that. You know what I mean? Whereas in Avowed, I feel like it's going to be such a personal thing of I've built this character, these are my moves. I'm excited to get that next skill point because I want to put it into intelligence so I can do this. But then I just met this person who needs this. But they're. What they need is against what this person needs. Who am I going to pick kind of thing.
- [42:20]
Angie Hicks
See, if you were to put in front of me Assassin's Creed Shadows, Avowed, Lost Records, Monster Hunter, Wilds and asked me what order is Greg Miller going to play this games. I would have put a vowed dead last for you.
- [42:30]
Greg Miller
Wow, really? No, no, no. I'm such a, you know, open world RPG western guy.
- [42:33]
Tim Geddes
Barrett, you're popping up here.
- [42:35]
Angie Hicks
I was just coming in to give blessing.
- [42:36]
Greg Miller
Shit.
- [42:36]
Angie Hicks
Do you think you're still going to be all in on Assassin's Creed Shadow? With how up? Oh, no, that's my thing is, like, I was all in on Assassin Free Shadows when it was coming out in a month that had no other games coming out for me. Now that it's coming out in February, like, I'm gonna play Lost records before I even touch Assassin's Creed.
- [42:52]
Tim Geddes
So where are you at with the. With the games we just mentioned now you've now played? You got the taste of a valley.
- [42:58]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, I mean, Monster Hunter Wilds isn't like at the top of my list for things I need to play. I'm not a monster hunter person. And I went to do the preview with Greg and like, in that preview, I just had the thing. Oh, this is just more Monster Hunter. And so, like, it might not still appeal to me by the time it comes out. Assassin's Creed Shadows is one that I want to try because it looks cool and it's finally the one in Japan. And, you know, this is the one that we've been talking about. And also pizzas on the line too. And now we have pizzas on the line. That pizza should be void after the delay out of November. I'm just saying. And then what was the other one? Lost Records. Yeah, no, I think Avowed has now become a little bit higher priority for me.
- [43:30]
Tim Geddes
Right.
- [43:30]
Angie Hicks
I went from being like, I'll take it or I'll leave it to okay, no, I legitimately want to play this thing and I hope I have enough time to play this thing. I don't think it's necessarily for me move everything out the way. I need to play a valve when it comes out, but it definitely is a yo. If I get enough time, I'm going to try and maybe put some real hours into a valid because it's scratching an itch that I didn't know I had. And so. Yeah.
- [43:51]
Tim Geddes
Paris, what about you?
- [43:52]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Well, I was going to say I think there's a couple games that we're missing in here that I know people are going to also anticipate because, like, a dragon is around this time too, isn't it?
- [44:01]
Angie Hicks
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [44:02]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And Civ and I like, for me personally, like a valid tie up on my list. 100 can't wait to play it. But Civ 7 is also coming out around that time, so I'm. I'm big on that. But to the other games that you mentioned, I've never played Monster Hunter. Shame on me. I guess I know everyone that played it really likes it, so that one isn't a priority for me to play when it comes out. Assassin's Creed. I am so TBD right now. I. I don't know. I. I gotta see what they're gonna do when it comes out. So I would definitely put a Vowed over those, but Civ 7 would probably be the other one up in there where I'm like, do I want to play that first? Or I want to play a Vowed. But I'm biased because I'm. I'm an Obsidian fan. I love Obsidian games and this fits right into their DNA of what they do. So I'm. I was impressed with what I got to see last week, so. Can't wait.
- [44:52]
Tim Geddes
Are you traditionally an Assassin's Creed person?
- [44:56]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
On and off? It depends. It depends on the Assassin's Creed. I mean, something like Odyssey, I was really into Valhalla. I was not. Syndicate, I think, is one that grows on you when you play, but you go back to Brotherhood and obviously, like I said in screen two, love those.
- [45:14]
Angie Hicks
Syndicate now available with a next gen upgrade to play at 60fps. Yes.
- [45:20]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, I saw that play.
- [45:22]
Angie Hicks
Play the best.
- [45:23]
Tim Geddes
Barrett's always going to push Syndicate. That's awesome.
- [45:25]
Angie Hicks
It is. Because here's the thing, and this is just, you know, spoiling my Assassin's Creed interviews. Everybody wants Ubisoft and Assassin's Creed to go back to the old Assassin's Creed formula. Syndicate is that fully realized and at its peak. And so maybe the setting isn't for you whatnot. That is like, if you want more of what two and Brotherhood did in like a really special way, it's.
- [45:51]
Tim Geddes
Aaron writes in saying. Just want to say you guys rock. We appreciate that. Greg, do you think that this game Avowed is going to do anything new for the genre? Or is this just a different coat of paint on something that people already know and love?
- [46:09]
Greg Miller
I would say, best case scenario, what. What this would do for the genre is remind people of how great the genre was. I feel like that's been the big thing we've seen, as we've seen BioWare Bethesda get bigger and bigger and bigger and become more mainstream. Right? The games have moved more mainstream as well, which is why you see the reaction to Dragon Age Veil Guard be like, what the. Why can't I be evil? Why can't I do this? This. You see the reaction to be Starfield. This is just fast travel simulator. I. Why can't I do X, Y and Z in there? People who love these Games and loved these kinds of games. There's a reason Balers Gate, you know, it was such a crazy success. And so there's a reason the Rezer. The reason people loved Witcher, right, was the storytelling in this and the, you know, the choice for over here. And like, there's so much happening there that is like, great stuff. But I feel like at some point the wrong lessons got taken away from success of these kind of games. And they were, well, let's make them more like a movie. Let's make them more linear. Let's make them. And I mean, in terms of the narrative, in terms of the choices and kind of lose the role playing. When everything became RPG elements, right, we kind of lost the idea that like, well, you play the game and you want to make the choices to do the thing. And so my hope here would be that of sitting in a developer we know is so talented, is so beloved for New Vegas, right, In outer worlds to some degree. Even though that one missed for me in terms of like, what story they were telling and the scope of it, I would hope this would be a return to them being like, listen, look, people do want this kind of game and back to Paris's point, right, of having Xbox behind them for them to support that and say that we are Xbox and we can have all these games of various success levels where not everything needs to be a 13 million unit seller, right? We can go and say this is a nerdy ass RPG and we're making it for the people who want them.
- [48:04]
Angie Hicks
That.
- [48:05]
Tim Geddes
What do you think, Les?
- [48:07]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, it's. It's funny, like, thinking about this. I don't view Avowed as something that is going to really change anything, if I'm being honest, right? Like, I don't think it is. I don't think it's the Witcher 3. I don't think it's like, you know, Baldur's Gate 3. I don't think it's Skyrim. What I do think, and this is a bit back to Greg's point, is that I think it is a return to form or almost like a comfort food type scenario. I don't think it's going to be Baldur's Gate 3, but I think people who played Baldur's Gate 3 and loved Baldur's Gate 3 should play this game, right? Because it's more of that. And I think it is along the lines of, hey, this is a traditional fantasy rpg. This is the kind of thing you like if you play Baldur's Gate 3. And you maybe you then moved on to Starfield because now you're going to get more of that and you're disappointed. Guess what? I think Avowed is actually going to give you more of what you want because it is about the characters, it is about the companions, it is about the choices, it is about the stats, it is about building up the party like it is comfort food. But I don't know if it's something that is or something that even needs to change the world. I think it's fine for something to come out, especially if they've sculpted the right way, if they have, like, the right expectations for it. I think it's fine for it to come out and do whatever sales it is going to do. Right. Like, I just looked up how many. How much did Outer World sell? And pulling from a random Reddit post in 2023. Right. Like, this thing says they sold 5 million copies. Let me check it. This is the R PS5. So that doesn't help.
- [49:28]
Greg Miller
But, no, because it was R, it looks like from the official team.
- [49:31]
Angie Hicks
Oh, yeah, you're right.
- [49:32]
Greg Miller
Yeah. Thank you, Spacers. Five million units sold.
- [49:35]
Angie Hicks
So five million copies sold.
- [49:36]
Tim Geddes
Big numbers, man.
- [49:37]
Angie Hicks
Yeah. As of 2023, and those are big numbers. If we're talking about Game Pass and how that plays into it and how it being exclusive as well. Plays into it. Avowed is exclusive, right? I'm not crazy about that.
- [49:48]
Tim Geddes
Yep.
- [49:48]
Angie Hicks
Okay.
- [49:49]
Greg Miller
Yeah.
- [49:49]
Angie Hicks
Avowed being.
- [49:49]
Greg Miller
For now.
- [49:50]
Angie Hicks
For now. Right. Like, say we're talking, I don't know, 2.5 million sold, and then maybe like 2 million more people playing it on.
- [49:59]
Tim Geddes
Game Pass, which, again, we're. We've talked about this a million times, but, like, this is fully in the era of Game Pass, getting the big releases and this being one of those big releases.
- [50:09]
Angie Hicks
And I'd love to get Paris thoughts on this, because I think if we're talking about how this fits into the strategy or how this fits into, like, the Xbox family, I don't think a valid is necessarily like, the, oh, we're going to sell so many Game Pass descriptions. Game. But I think it is the, oh, we're going to retain. Like, we're going to keep people into Game Pass. It's another reason why somebody should be able to get Game Pass and some. And why people should be paying attention to this service. Like, I think it's additive, but I don't think this is the. The world needs to hinge on this thing, and I think that's okay.
- [50:36]
Tim Geddes
No, absolutely.
- [50:37]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I think you're. You're Spot on with that. And just to answer your question, Tim, I think this is a fresh coat of paint on the traditional Western rpg. It's not going to be genre defining, but I don't think it needs needs to be either. And to add to what Blessing is saying, this goes along with this is why you would stay subscribed to Game Pass. This probably isn't the reason why you would subscribe. That's your Call of Duty's Fable is probably the big game for them in 2025 would be a reason to subscribe to Game Pass. But the fact that you're getting a quality Obsidian RPG day one, as in that service. Yeah, you're gonna. This, this is their, their opportunity now in 2025 to hit that cadence that Matt Boot about of having these tentpole releases every quarter coming coming from Xbox to keep you as a part of Game Pass. Yeah, I, like I said, I don't think this, this reinvents the wheel for RPGs or anything, but I think it's gonna be a damn good RPG that you'll want to play. Yeah. Yeah. And I think if you're a fan of Western RPGs, it's, it's one you're going to want to play.
- [51:42]
Tim Geddes
I'm really interested in the business side of it all of like you saying, like, this doesn't need to be the game to get people in. When you're selling 5 million copies of, of your previous similar game, it's like, like I really wonder what the sales numbers are going to be. And then I have to ask the question of like, is it worth losing out on all of that to put it on Game Pass and doesn't get enough going into Game Pass. Like, what do you think about that, Paris?
- [52:02]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Well, I think the, like, it was interesting that they put this on Battle Net. I was like, huh? Okay, so clearly Battle Net's going to stay around the early access thing because even if you remember they did that with Starfield and we know people are like, oh, I want to play it early. So they purchased. Even though they subscribed to Game Pass, they still spent more money to get early access to it. So I think there's going to be a PC crowd that isn't necessarily going to want to have beyond Game Pass. That's probably going to go by about to play. And I think that's probably what they're banking on. And you know, we jokingly said it, this eventually probably shows up on PlayStation at some point, you know, so let's just be realistic about it so sure, it might get people on Xbox playing it on Game Pass to get some early critical acclaim. Let's say a year later it shows up on PlayStation. Those people have to buy it to play it.
- [52:50]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, totally. I think if we're talking about what this game coming to PlayStation, let's say maybe a year after, right. Like, let's say it comes to PlayStation in 2026, I think you see similar sales. Right. Like this was in 2023, I believe outerworlds came out in 2019. So four years, you're hitting 5 million copies sold. I think Avowed, you're probably talking about the same thing, right? Four years, you're getting 5 million copies sold plus whatever you did on Game Pass as well. And I think I would hope that they look at that and go, oh, that's a success for us. Like, this is matching our expectations.
- [53:18]
Greg Miller
Paris, in talking to them and visiting the studio, was there talk of this is the game we're launching and that's it? Or did they talk about they want to support with DLC after the fact or we just don't even touch?
- [53:29]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, it's funny you say that because I just brought it up in the way of they're clearly going to listen to the community, like if there's a tweak of something they do. Tuning, yes, but adding additional things. It doesn't sound like. Sounds like this is the game that we're getting at launch and they'll obviously just support the game, you know, depending on any issues or community outcry on something that they feel they need to fix or resolve.
- [53:56]
Tim Geddes
Cool. We got a super chat from the Penguin saying, I'm really happy to hear your glowing impressions. Any interest in checking out Pillars? They truly are fantastic and It's a shame CRPGs don't get a lot of eyes on them in gaming media. BG3 excluded.
- [54:14]
Angie Hicks
Don't forget Disco Elysium.
- [54:18]
Tim Geddes
Any interest in checking out Pillars, Greg?
- [54:20]
Greg Miller
No, absolutely not. If Baldur's Gate couldn't get me into CRPGs, it's just not going to happen for me.
- [54:26]
Tim Geddes
Paris.
- [54:28]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean, same. I don't see me going back. Like I said, I've. Again after the dumbass thing I said when Carrie and Gabe were on, I was like, let me make sure I understand what the Pillars universe is. But I just. I just won't have the time. I mean, I just have to, you know, be honest with myself. There's no way I'll go back and play the other games.
- [54:47]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, I'm almost like, I Mean, I will see when this comes out what this does for the community. But I'm almost like, did this even need to be in the Pillars universe? Like, could this have been its own thing? Like, would that is the Pillars universe bringing in that audience to the extent where you're getting all the.
- [55:00]
Greg Miller
I don't see it so much as like, is it bringing in the audience or going one way or the other with it as much like, hey, cool, here's backbone. We don't need to spin up for a year and a half somebody spinning up the entire lore of everything that's happened before. Here's a jumping off point and go.
- [55:12]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, I do wonder. Yeah. If you see that kickback of people that finish about and go, oh, I want more of this world and then go back and play trailers.
- [55:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
See, and I'm glad you brought that up because one thing and you know, we'll. We'll probably never know the truth about it. This isn't the game that we saw in 2020 when they originally revealed it. It has clearly changed. And I do believe Carrie Patel did not come on until later on as well. So to your point, Greg, it makes me wonder if, like, hey, let's anchor ourself with something that we know we can build upon as far as the universe goes versus trying to spin up something brand new. I kind of think that happened. I could be completely wrong. Maybe it was in Pillars the entire time, but what I saw in 2020 doesn't seem like it was.
- [55:56]
Tim Geddes
Makes sense.
- [55:57]
Greg Miller
Hell yeah.
- [55:58]
Angie Hicks
Hell yeah.
- [55:59]
Tim Geddes
Any final thoughts on our time with the Valley, Greg?
- [56:02]
Greg Miller
I wish it was here right now. I wish it had switched places with Stalker. You know what I mean? I think it would have been nice to be able. And I mean we're talking about a million different moving parts. The game's not ready. I understand. Or whatever.
- [56:12]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Blah, blah.
- [56:12]
Greg Miller
They want to polish it. I just would. I want to play this right now. I want to keep playing this right now. And I'll be. I'm fascinated. My hope is it's really going to fucking hit for me. I'm really going to be all in on it. But it could easily go the other way. Blessing did a great job there. Of like the meal smells good but I still need to really get in there and taste.
- [56:29]
Angie Hicks
Yeah, I think this is giving me. This preview has given me a lot more faith in terms of the quality of the game. I think they're. They have this stuff. I'm still. I think I'm in the place now where I'm like I hope people play it in that, like, and I hope there's enough success there and it doesn't get lost in the shuffle between not just February, but just in the year of 2025. Right. Like, we're entering game of the year season right now for the current year. And it's easy to look back and be like, oh, man, remember this? Remember that? Oh, man, that's not getting the shout out that you would have thought during the game award season. And I don't. Avowed is one of those games that I think is great and that I could see entering those conversations in a year like we're having now, next year. Oh, we'll see. Like, I hope. I hope they get their flowers.
- [57:05]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, Paris, I'll just say again and I'll shamelessly plug. I do have an interview with Carrie Patel up on my YouTube channel, which is YouTube.commarcelo696.
- [57:18]
Greg Miller
Yeah, he knows the name.
- [57:21]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But the reason I bring that up is I did ask her basically this question because it really wasn't until August when I played it and this kind of cemented it. Now I was like, I don't know what the hell about it. From everything we saw over the past few years, we don't know what it is. Then when we saw it at whatever showcase that was and clearly they changed direction on the visuals and everything, people were kind of put off by that. And I asked her, I go, so do you feel like Avowed needs a kind of reintroduction to get people to understand what this game is and to show it off? And essentially they feel like this is what this preview is going to do. And I think it does. I think obviously we've talked positive about it. Some of the other previews have been pretty positive about it. I think this visual upgrade that it has here at the very end with polish does a lot for it. And yeah, I think we went many years without knowing what the hell this game was going to be, but now I think we do. Now, obviously it's in the Pillars universe. This is a classic Western RPG and you know, Obsidian DNA is sprinkled all over it. So, yeah, I think they're going to go into February with some. Some goodwill and people willingly want to go check it out.
- [58:32]
Tim Geddes
Well, hell yeah. Everyone, thank you so much for hanging out with us today. Paris, thank you for joining us. Let us know in the comments below if you are hyped for Avowed, if anyone wasn't sold, but now is, please, I'd love to hear from you. You right after this we're about to do this stream that's going to be stock OR two, showing off all of the Nvidia Goodness. It'll be Nick, it'll be Mike. It'll be a good time. So if you're on YouTube, you're going to make the jump over to the other YouTube link. If you're on Twitch, you can stay right where you are until next time. I love you all. Goodbye.