I am one of Pillars of Eternity's strongest soldiers here at PC Gamer, a Sardaukar of Cipher builds, a praetorian for Obsidian's deceptively philosophical fantasy universe. One of the most exciting things about Avowed since its first proper reveal has been how much it nailed the aesthetic and feel of Pillars from an entirely new perspective. That holds true for the final game, which is somehow both faithful to a cult, hardcore series of top-down RPGs while also managing to be a game I'd heartily recommend to Joe Sixpack demanding, "Just give me something like Skyrim, why didn't they make another Skyrim?"
It impressed me just how well Avowed managed to thread the needle on this challenge that seriously stumped Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a similarly actionized follow-up to a lore-dense, tactical RPG series. Obsidian didn't have to contend with a decade-long attrition of staff and a parent company with no understanding of the studio and IP it had invested in, but I think failing the balancing act of placating series fans while also creating new ones made for a final nail in The Veilguard's coffin, so it shocked me to see another studio stick the landing immediately after.
