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OnceLost Games sells The Wayward Realms as a faction-driven fantasy 'grand RPG' with a gigantic map to explore. In a way, The Wayward Realms is in a similar position to Pillars of Eternity when it comes to its core concept. RELATED: Every Obsidian Entertainment Game Ever Made and Their Metacritic Scores By executing so masterfully on classic RPG elements, polishing them to perfection, and adding enough new ideas to make the old parts feel fresh, Obsidian made a name for itself. Thanks to Obsidian's diligent work on all aspects of the game, it was able to produce a title that made it stand out from other indie developers, turning it into a very valuable property. At the time, Obsidian was still an independent company. The importance of Pillars of Eternity's success to Obsidian can't be understated. Obsidian wouldn't be where it is today without Pillars of Eternity, especially considering Avowed, a new RPG set in the Pillars universe. Pillars of Eternity is especially important because it pulled Obsidian out of financial limbo and made it a stable, influential studio again. Obsidian Entertainment already had fans thanks to its work on games like Fallout: New Vegas , but Pillars of Eternity made RPGs inseparable from the Obsidian brand.
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It received critical acclaim for everything from its dynamic, engaging combat to its expertly crafted characters and storylines. In the end, Pillars of Eternity was a huge hit. It ran a Kickstarter to get Pillars of Eternity funded and found more than enough fans of isometric RPGs willing to fund a return to the style. Even so, Obsidian Entertainment was determined to deliver a game inspired by the classics.
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These games had long since aged out of the game industry, which favored first or third-person RPGs over the isometric perspective that Baldur's Gate used. The game was more than a revival of classic fantasy it was specifically designed as a love letter to early RPGs like the Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate games. In a way, Pillars of Eternity was always a risky proposition. RELATED: The Wayward Realms' Virtual GM Could Be an RPG Game Changer The Rise of Pillars of Eternity Although there's still a long road ahead of The Wayward Realms, it's charting a path pretty similar to that of Pillars of Eternity, searching the most foundational elements of fantasy for something new and appealing to a broad fanbase all the same. The Wayward Realms seems to wear its love of classic fantasy on its sleeve in the same way. A few years ago, Obsidian Entertainment did the same thing when it created Pillars of Eternity. It created a game specifically geared toward fans of classic fantasy, reveling in franchise nostalgia rather than trying to make a wholly new and original fantasy world. Although there's plenty about the game that fans don't know yet, there's also a lot of signs that The Wayward Realms is a blend of classic fantasy elements and new ideas introduced by OnceLost. The Wayward Realms will be OnceLost's very first game, making use of in-house expertise developed by working on The Elder Scrolls. In that way, The Wayward Realms promises to be an alternate look at classic fantasy RPGs. OnceLost Games simply came forward with a trailer and revealed its very first project to the world, setting it on a path toward building a fandom. The announcement of The Wayward Realms came with very little warning.
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