Summary
Spoilers ahead forMortal Kombat 1and thePillars of Eternityseries.
Avowed, being developed by Obsidian Entertainment, will be the studio’s latest entry in the first-person RPG genre. While seeming like aSkyrim-adjacent title,Avowedhas its own identity and flavor, as it is based on and set in Obsidian’s previous dark fantasy world from thePillars of Eternityseries.Avowedwill take players to locations within the existingPillarsworld, ostensibly incorporating portions of its history and prior events in its tale. While this may not seem abnormal, as plenty of games have done the same, there is a particular plot element, and cliffhanger, that the secondPoEcontains that theoretically will inform a large part ofAvowed’s story in a manner that is almost unavoidable.
In a similar situation, in 2023, NetherRealms Studios’Mortal Kombat 1’stimeline reset and canon characterization rebootfor a number of franchise figures stirred the pot and set the stage for some major changes and threads that fans will likely see the results of in the next followup.Avowed, then, should be sure to take some cues fromMK1in this instance, as the above creates some compelling reasons to acknowledge and integrate the development mentioned into its core narrative.
Avowedhas officially been given a Fall releasewindow, though no exact date as yet.
Avowed Should Incorporate a Plot Element From Pillars of Eternity That’s Similar to One From Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1’s Timeline and Universe Reboot
Although starting like many earlier fighting games, eventuallyMortal Kombat’s character roster received more fleshed-out backstories, personalities, and motivations; and its extensive library of titles added richer and deeper lore with each release as the franchise went on, expanding to a dense (and at times, confusingly convoluted) chronology and chronicle of its overall plot. In a more recent development, in the wake of 2019’sMK11Aftermath,Mortal Kombat 1’s timeline resetsaw, among other shakeups, the reordering and structuring of its various Realms, with iconic champion Liu Kang becoming a Fire God, while longtime series villain Shao Kahn was reduced to a different role than that of previous iterations.
With these and its other major shifts,MK1set up a variety of interesting possibilities and new paths forMK2in a way thatPillars of Eternityhas forAvowed.
Avowed Has to Address a Major Plot Development From its Predecessor, Pillars of Eternity
Spanning two titles between 2015 and 2018,Pillars of Eternitywove an epic tale involving ancient gods and their secrets, and the unsettling truths behind the soul-powered magics and related life cycles of its population in the land of Eora. At theconclusion ofPillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, Obsidian dropped a narrative bombshell on fans, presenting them with an earth-shattering revelation.
Eothas, one of the living gods of Eora whose incarnation emerged from beneath the main character’s own home, and that they have been following in his literal, giant-sized, footsteps as the main quest, revealed that he was going to break the soul cycle, forever altering the people of Eora’s very existence and afterlife. The implications of this in-universe are immense, and the result was left hanging.
Although not necessarily a 1:1 ratio regardingMortal Kombat 1, this is of a magnitude to what it means to the series' lore that it would be hard to ignore. With it being such a hugely impactful turn, anyAvowedfans who may already be familiar withPillars of Eternitywill likely be expecting to see what comes from it. It could be the case thatAvowedis a prequel, or is otherwise unrelated toDeadfire’sevents, although this would arguably be a much less interesting angle, given that it was such a momentous occurrence, and its ramifications are difficult to understate.
Depending uponhow Obsidian chooses to approachAvowedin this regard, though, it may be caught in a bit of a sticky situation, since it will have to also provide at least an initially accessible gateway to newcomers. But the open thread is so ripe for potential, and all the work that has already gone into setting it up should almost assuredly be paid off in some form inAvowed.
