21st February
Hello and welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we’ve been playing this week. This week, Tom O chickens out of the Dead Space Remake because it made his baby gate scary, which is an odd thing to type; Tom Phillips reunites with Garrus but in a very different world; and Jim goes full circle by returning to Pillars of Eternity after playing Avowed, and delights in the unwitting references already visible back then.
What have you been playing?
Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We’ve Been Playing archive.
Avowed, Xbox Series X
It’s not often I play a game with my eyes closed – it does not help me play it better – but I’ve been resting my head back and listening to Avowed at certain points this week. And more specifically, to my aquamarine fish-man companion Kai.
Kai is voiced by Brendan Keener, who Mass Effect fans will know as everyone’s favourite companion Garrus, and playing Avowed with him as my sidekick is honestly like going on a new adventure with my space friend again. Except for the fact he looks like a fish-man, hence my eyes being closed.
The similarities, appearance not withstanding, are uncanny. Kai comes from a militaristic race different to the main character’s own, is encountered very early in the game, and looks to want nothing more than to be your new buddy. He can also shoot things and make them explode. Hello, Garrus?
There’s a lot more to love about Avowed, too. It is gorgeous, with Unreal Engine 5-powered vistas and wonderfully detailed dense forest glens. I also appreciate the game’s introduction to its world, as someone who never played Pillars of Eternity. While not unique, the way you can look up key terms with a handy lore guide during conversations is a god-send, while the game doesn’t baby you by simplifying its writing.
Would I be enjoying Avowed so much if I didn’t have Garrus with me? Probably not. But once again, BioWare’s trusty companion is smoothing my first steps into a new world as I explore deeper into Eora.
-Tom P
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, PS5
Spoilers in that header, but I’ve moved on from Dead Space. I think it’s a brilliant remaster, but the stress… my god, the stress! As I’ve previously mentioned, even the sounds of doors shutting in the game managed to put the willies up me, so when I almost fell down my own stairs due to a baby gate swinging shut behind me I knew it was time to stop. I give up. You win, necromorphs! You’ve made me fear for my life via the actions of a device designed to make my home safer. Sounds like a horror movie, that.
Anyway, I’m on The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe now, which was one of the monthly PS Plus games a few weeks ago. I’m not sure how I’d never played the original game, so started this assuming memories of playing it would come flooding back, but no, I really hadn’t ever played it. What a fun little game it is, and a wonderful departure from the persistent fear of Dead Space. It’s nice not to have to worry about… oh, I’m dead on the pavement, a woman looking over my motionless body. Oh well, I’ll play something straightforward and simple next. Maybe Pony Island.
-Tom O
Pillars of Eternity, PC
After having an absolutely wonderful time with Avowed, for reasons that both Bertie and I have covered extensively in our recent, er, coverage, I felt a great pull to go back to the start of the Pillars of Eternity saga.
The thing about the world of Eora is that it’s just an exciting place to be. Often dangerous, full of intrigue and hidden secrets. But more than that, it’s a setting that sucks you in like a story book. Avowed has this in spades, and I think that’s why it’s so moreish: once you’re there, you don’t really want to leave.
Going back to the original game, what’s most remarkable is how fully-formed the universe is right from the character screen. When choosing your background, for example, you can elect to be from The Living Lands, which is described as a mountainous island continent where civilisation butts up against a wild frontier. This is exactly what we get in Avowed, which finally takes us there after two games worth of lore drops.
Despite the fact that one of these games is in an entirely different genre, the entire ‘trilogy’ feels like a cohesive whole. A marvellous thing to pull off. I hope we get a sequel to Avowed in future, but I also hope we get a proper Pillars 3 at some point, given how easily the two different ‘strands’ of Eora based games have been shown to co-exist.
Hey, while we’re at it, let’s have an isometric Outer Worlds as well, classic Fallout style. Bring it all full circle. Obsidian says it has a 100-year plan for staying in business, so there’s plenty of time!
-Jim