If finishing Tyranny [official site] has left a hole that can only be filled by subjugating peasants and acting like a magical Judge Dredd, don’t fret. Bastard’s Wound, the first — but hopefully not last — Tyranny expansion is due out today. Better dust off that gavel.
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Since its foundation in 2003, Obsidian Entertainment has worked with seven different publishers. Commencing with LucasArts on Knights of the Old Republic II, Obsidian has since signed contracts with Atari, SEGA, Bethesda, Square Enix, Ubisoft and most recently, Paradox Interactive. In fact, up until Pillars of Eternity [official site], every single game Obsidian had made was funded and distributed by a different publisher.
This is a highly unusual state of affairs, and has proved precarious more than once in the company’s history. But it has also provided Obsidian with a unique insight into how the world of publishing works, and how the relationship between developer and publisher has changed in the last couple of decades. This topic is especially pertinent today, as new methods of funding and distributing games have seen a significant shift in the power dynamic between developers and publishers.
I spoke to CEO Feargus Urquhart about how it all works (and doesn’t).
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. (more…)
Most games that put you into the shoes of the bad guys are about reveling in evil, gleefully causing havoc and destruction like a toddler who’s got into the stationary box. Obsidian’s RPG Tyranny [official site] is different.
I find a lot of fiction that centers around good versus evil tends to be unsatisfying, as evil always exists as a strawman for the ill-prepared underdogs to beat up with the power of na ve violence and good intentions, says Matt MacLean, narrative designer for Tyranny. I think video games often try too hard to make sure you don t relate to your victims, and so villains are made unrelentingly villainous, and allies are made into some combination of saccharine hangers-on or tear-jerker red-shirts waiting to be killed in order to shock you into thinking death means serious storytelling.
But how did it all work out, and what new cruelties will the upcoming expansion expose us to?
Tyranny may not have been the commercial success Obsidian and Paradox were hoping for, but it’s not been forgotten. Its first expansion, Bastard’s Wound, continues the story of fighting or working for Kyros, the titular tyrant, and is due out on September 7.
Bastard’s Wound opens up a new region for players to explore, where a settlement has sprung up far from Kyros’ gaze. Your goals there will largely depend on how you finished the main game. You might end up trying to bring Kyros’ unpleasant justice and order to this hidden realm, or maybe you’ll find a way to undermine your old boss.
Though my playthrough ended in a series of mostly unsatisfying fights, it remains one of my favourite RPGs of recent years. Obsidian really doubled down when it came to giving players the ability to shape the world around them, and did so without making the game 50+ hours long. The ending left me with a lot of unanswered questions, though, so I relish the chance to return.