CONNECT WITH US
Gaming

Gaming

Obsidian's Josh Sawyer on RPG cities: 'Compared to a dungeon, generally speaking, a town is 4x the expense per square foot'

PC Gamer logo

Published on

Add as a preferred source on Google
Obsidian's Josh Sawyer on RPG cities: 'Compared to a dungeon, generally speaking, a town is 4x the expense per square foot'

In a new Q&A vlog on his YouTube channel, Obsidian studio design director Josh Sawyer took a question about why there are so few RPGs in contemporary urban settings. Part of the problem, according to Sawyer: They're more difficult and costly to make than other RPG environments.

Elsewhere in this section, Sawyer cited Baldur's Gate 2's Athkatla, Disco Elysium, and the recent Zero Parades as RPGs that land the plane on believable, dense urban environments⁠—though Sawyer notes that the latter two have the advantage of not needing to work in as many believable combat encounters as other RPGs.

A few others spring to mind for me: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Cyberpunk 2077, and Baldur's Gate 3's version of the titular city. But all of those really highlight Sawyer's point about expense and challenge. Vampire and Cyberpunk were notoriously difficult development cycles for their respective studios. I'll always be a BG3 Act 3 defender, but it's definitely the part of the game with the most noticeable seams.

But even if they're hard to make, I love urban adventures in RPGs, whether as part or the whole of a game. Novigrad and Oxenfurt are two of my favorite parts of The Witcher 3, for example. For a real niche example of an urban RPG you should have on your radar, I highly recommend the early access Moves of the Diamond Hand.

2026 games : All the upcoming games Best PC games : Our all-time favorites Free PC games : Freebie fest Best FPS games : Finest gunplay Best RPGs : Grand adventures Best co-op games : Better together


Source link
Related Topics:Gaming

Disclaimer

We strive to uphold the highest ethical standards in all of our reporting and coverage. We TheMorningPulse.fyi want to be transparent with our readers about any potential conflicts of interest that may arise in our work. It's possible that some of the investors we feature may have connections to other businesses, including competitors or companies we write about. However, we want to assure our readers that this will not have any impact on the integrity or impartiality of our reporting. We are committed to delivering accurate, unbiased news and information to our audience, and we will continue to uphold our ethics and principles in all of our work. Thank you for your trust and support.