What’s it like to watch a smash hit TV show set in the backyard of a game you’ve made? It’s a question which Fallout: New Vegas project director Josh Sawyer is uniquely qualified to answer.
“The show really does capture the aesthetic of Fallout 4 and 76, while also feeling like it is set on the West Coast,” he says. “If you’re a fan, then you can see where the plot elements have been pulled from in previous entries. And if you’re new to it, thankfully, those plot elements are fairly straightforward. So I think it’s a good show for fans and a good show if you’re new to it, even though there’s a lot of stuff going on. I’m certainly interested to see where they’re going in the second season.”
]]>Obsidian Entertainment design director Josh Sawyer has said that he'd be well up for making a new Pillars of Eternity RPG, given a budget on par with Baldur's Gate 3. Specifically, he'd like to build on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire's combat system, and use a "scripted 3D camera" that avoids some of the fuss of exploring the world and navigating the interface of Larian's game.
]]>If 2023 is remembered for one thing, it's that it was a 100% critical success year for the RPG. Role-players across the land have been feasting exceedingly well these past few months, what with the stonking success of Baldur's Gate 3 (and to lesser extents, Starfield and Diablo 4), so we thought it was about time to celebrate your favourite RPGs of all time. Your votes have been counted, your comments have been sorted, and the cream of the RPG crop has been assembled. But which of the many excellent RPGs have risen above all others? Come and find out below as we count down your top 25 favourite RPGs of all time.
]]>Crowdfunding platform Fig will go offline on Sunday, May 28th, and all pages related to previously funded campaigns will disappear along with it. That means that creators who were continuing to use the platform to communicate and deliver rewards to backers are currently scrambling to transition to alternative methods, including the likes of Double Fine and Gearbox.
]]>You know how your parents will invite you over for that one meal that's best when they make it, letting you totally stuff your face before telling you there's dessert too? That's this month on Xbox Game Pass for PC. Microsoft have already packed the service full of some favorite Bethesda games just last week. But wait, they're serving up even more good games for their subscription library before March is over. Please, Microsoft, I can't eat another byte.
]]>Winter brings out a part of me that immediately seeks a mountain of blankets in which to burrow. Even in my seasonally confused state of Texas, the weather has tended towards the chilly and left me with little excuse not to have a kettle boiling interminably as I layer on socks and pull the biggest comforter from the top of the closet. But this presents a problem likely familiar to other cozy connoisseurs: how does one game while properly bundled?
I will admit it does limit possibilities considerably. That's why I've curated a small selection of games perfectly playable while your other hand keeps coffee or tea always within sipping range.
]]>Ahoy there, you salty sea dog! If you're looking for the best pirate games on PC, then you're in the right place. Below, we've listed our favourite pirate game adventures, where you'll need to master the sword, the art of thievery, and the quest for treasure. Aye, even being a pirate in space counts; swashbucklin' ain't reserved for just the seven seas.
]]>Sales of Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire were disappointing enough that Obsidian Entertainment would need to "re-examine the entire format of the game" before making a hypothetical third, game director Josh Sawyer has suggested. Writing in response to a fan asking after a third game, Sawyer explained that the sequel sold worse than the original, and he'd need to understand why before they were to do another in the same style. He makes clear that whether Pillars 3 happens is not a decision he himself has control over, but this does sound like the series is at least taking a break.
]]>Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire didn't set the charts ablaze the way I'd hoped, but that hasn't stopped Obsidian from giving the piratical RPG some top-notch support. Released yesterday, Patch 5.0 is set to be the final major update for the game, marking the end of beta testing for its turn-based combat mode, overhauling the ship interaction UI and adding some new story stuff. They've even gone as far as roping in the original voice actors to provide new dialogue to help flesh out the main plot arc. Below, a video overview of the changes, plus a challenge for only the maddest of players.
]]>Obsidian have done well supporting piratical RPG Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire, but adding an entire (optional) genre shift is a cut above. As of today's update - Patch 4.1 - starting a new game will prompt you if you want to play the seafaring adventure with Baldur's Gate style pauseable real-time combat, or tactical and turn-based. Looking a bit like The Temple Of Elemental Evil or (more recently) Divinity: Original Sin 2, the new combat style opens up a lot of options for tactical planning. Below, Deadfire director Josh Sawyer explains how and why this mode came to be.
]]>According to sources close to the deal, Kotaku report that Microsoft are just shy of sealing the deal on acquiring prolific RPG studio Obsidian Entertainment. According to Kotaku's sources, things have proceeded far enough to make it "a matter of when, not if". Obsidian are recently notable for the Pillars Of Eternity series - a throwback to Baldur's Gate style party-based roleplaying - but have produced some excellent games over the years. While rough, Fallout: New Vegas remains my favourite Fallout game, and I'm curious what Microsoft could have planned for the studio.
]]>Those of you who've found the time to sail through Obsidian's piratical RPG Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire have good reason to dust off your flintlock and buckle your swashes once more. The first of three planned expansions - The Beast Of Winter - has burst forth from the churning sea, adding a vaguely Norse myth-themed adventure to the game. There's apocalyptic prophecies abound, and an icy dragon with the means to fulfil them, so it's off to save the world through judicious application of rum and violence once more. Plus, a big new patch and a bit of free DLC too.
]]>After a string of wee free additions with new pals and doodads, developers Obsidian Entertainment have announced plans to launch Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire's first proper expansion on August 2nd. Beast Of Winter, as it's named, will send fantasy fightmen to maybe stop the icy end of the world. Spoilsports. Beat Of Winter was originally expected to launch some time in July but hey, the deeper it gets into summer, the more satisfaction you'll find in standing your party somewhere icy then pressing your face to the screen and pretending this summer isn't quite so unbearably hot.
]]>We've just passed the half-way point of 2018, so Ian Gatekeeper and all his fabulously wealthy chums over at Valve have revealed which hundred games have sold best on Steam over the past six months. It's a list dominated by pre-2018 names, to be frank, a great many of which you'll be expected, but there are a few surprises in there.
2018 releases Jurassic World Evolution, Far Cry 5 Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Warhammer: Vermintide II are wearing some spectacular money-hats, for example, while the relatively lesser-known likes of Raft, Eco and Deep Rock Galactic have made themselves heard above the din of triple-A marketing budgets.
]]>While Rear Admiral Walker of the good ship RoPapSho wasn't entirely enamoured with Pillars of Eternity II's blend of Baldur's Gate-ish CRPG'ing and fantasy Caribbean piratical adventuring, the game has certainly found its niche, and the chanting from the crowd is loud and clear. People want more Pirate Stuff to do, and more pirates to hang out with. A little chunk of free DLC released today - the Rum Runner's Pack - adds a bit of both, if your idea of Pirate Stuff is getting blind drunk on delicious dark rum with a new buddy.
]]>You look a little tired, friend. Let me just adjust this slider for you. There, wide awake. Now you’ve got some energy, how about listening to the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show? This week we’re talking about character creation. Which games spoil us with choice? And why do we always end up creating the same sneaky elf?
]]>Hallo! John's away so I'm taking over for our latest weekly rundown of the biggest-selling games on Steam over the previous seven days. Familiar faces are here, of course, but the charts also include more survival games than I've seen in yonks. The slightest peek of sun outside and you lot start acting as if it's the end of the world, eh?
]]>Pillars Of Eternity II is seemingly infinity hours long. Despite a week of playing, I'm still going, so here's my in-depth thoughts about the game excluding the impact of its ending. I will update later.
What a lot Pillars Of Eternity II feels like it has to do. It needs to be a completely new dozens-of-hours-long RPG, while it also needs to be a sequel to 2015’s stunning first outing, while it needs to feel like it’s evolved from then, while it needs to feel like it’s faithful, while it… In many ways, it succeeds despite being tugged in all these directions. And in others, it feels wearily stretched from the process.
]]>A doomsday cult, a treasure island, and wizards will be the centre of Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire's three DLC add-ons. Yup, though Obsidian's fantasy RPG isn't out until next month, details on DLC plans arrived today. Arriving across July to November, the three DLCs will explore new areas, quest new quests, fight new fights, and loot new loot.
]]>It feels like it was just yesterday when the world turned to crowdfunding to spur the creation of a new generation of old-school CRPGs. We were so desperate for something, anything on the level of Baldur's Gate or Planescape: Torment again. Now, we're drowning in them, struggling to find the free time to finish one before the next crashes across the bow. We're still lurching from Divinity: Original Sin 2.
The next big impact looks to be Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, seafaring sequel to Obsidian's broadly land-bound game of party management, dungeon crawling and extensive dialogue trees. While it might have missed its initial release date by a little, it's back on track and due for a May 8th release, and we've got one more trailer for you to peruse; probably not the last, but packed deep with interesting tidbits.
]]>Obsidian's throwback RPG sequel Pillars Of Eternity II: Deadfire was due to launch in a few weeks, on April 3rd, but now it will not. The developers announced today that they're pushing the launch back to May 8th, as testing feedback has indicated the game's not quite ready yet so they want to polish it up. Which, yeah, sure, great. If you can afford to release a game later so it can be better, please do so.
]]>Here, check this out, I've got a joke: you won't need to wait an eternity for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, as developers Obsidian have announced they will release it on April 3rd. Wordplay. I only recently found out about 'jokes' but I'm very into them. I'm told it's good if jokes also tell a truth, so the truth is: the fantasy RPG sequel really is due on April 3rd. I don't want to boast, but I think I'm crushing it. A joke for the ages.
]]>When Obsidian Entertainment started work on Pillars of Eternity [Official Site], the studio had two goals in mind. First, it wanted to recreate the style and tone of the classic Black Isle RPGs – particularly Baldur's Gate. Second, it wanted to modernise that style, taking advantage of today's technology, and avoiding mistakes made the first time around.
]]>Dungeons are sometimes great and I guess dragons are OK every once in a while, but if I'm going to spend hundreds of hours in a fantasy world, I want to explore a big old city and mingle with its inhabitants for at least a few of those hours. Perhaps I haven't been paying enough attention to Pillars of Eternity II [official site], but I thought its archipelago setting might mean smaller settlements and monster isles without any talkative inhabitants whatsoever. How pleasing it is, then, to see precisely the kind of big old city I want to visit in the latest update video. It's called Neketaka, a name I will always enjoy saying out loud but will almost certainly mangle the vowels of every time I write it down.
]]>Following the launch of its crowdfunding campaign on Thursday, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire [official site] reached its goal in one day and has already started barrelling through stretch goals. Turns out, quite a few folks are up for Obsidian continuing their fantasy RPG - this time with pirates aplenty. Our own John declared the first game "A wonderful, enormous and spellbinding RPG, gloriously created in the image of BioWare’s Infinity classics, but distinctly its own." I'll have to quiz him on pirates.
]]>Obsidian Entertainment today formally announced the sequel to Pillars of Eternity, their 2015 throwback fantasy RPG which John enjoyed so. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [official site], for that is its name, is set across the Deadfire archipelago, obvs. A god has unexpectedly returned to life and gone a-wandering there, which may cause a few problems. Better go ask him politely to knock it off. As with the first game, Obsidian have launched a crowdfunding campaign to collect pennies.
]]>'Project Louisiana' is the name of oft-revered RPG studio Obsidian's next game, they've revealed, along with a graphic implying farmlands and a quote about facing up to some grim reality. Now, last summer rumours flew that a 'Fallout: New Orleans' was in the offing, based on an unverified and subsequently removed European trademark registration.
A whole mess of people looked at Obsidian expectantly, given that they were behind - don't mention the war - well-received Fallout 3 spin-off New Vegas. They all but shot down the idea - but now they've pointedly codenamed their new'un after New Orleans' home state.
]]>Maybe it's safe to assume that any remotely successful game has a sequel in production, but it's still nice to hear confirmation. Obsidian's trad-fantasy RPG Pillars of Eternity, which John enjoyed so much, has a sequel in very early production, says the company's CEO.
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