Avowed's massive anniversary update adds new playable races, but they don't get any unique dialogue because there were 'no dedicated narrative people available'

Avowed - Kai smiles happily at camp — (Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

Avowed's 2.0 update, also known as the anniversary update, is a meaty one. New stat bonuses, custom difficulty modifiers, NG+, the new staff weapon type, a photo mode—it's a lot. The most significant new addition, though, is undoubtedly the arrival of three new playable races.

If you've not played Avowed yet, you might be surprised to hear that, until now, only humans and elves were playable. This is a significant departure from Obsidian's previous games set in Eora, the Pillars universe, which offered plenty of choice at character creation.

Chatting to RPG Site, gameplay director Gabe Paramo explained this omission. "It was actually quite difficult," he said of introducing the new races. "It took a ton of work from our gameplay engineers and character artists to make sure all of the character customization options worked across the new races, and that our in-world interactions all synced up properly regardless of the player's height or proportions."

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Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.

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