Obsidian Entertainment's Best List Updated for 2023

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Obsidian’s first game since reforming after Black Isle Studios’ dissolution, The Sith Lords set the tone for the next couple of years when it comes to the developers’ career.

Taking over the Knights of the Old Republic series, originally by BioWare, and with little to no access to the previous game’s storyline, the veterans at Obsidian still managed to release a mighty fine video game. Some even argue it is way better than its predecessor.

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KotOR 2 tells the story of the Exile, a former Jedi cut off from the Force who disappeared for a couple of years. When they returned, they found the galaxy to be a totally different place. The Sith Lords is dark, far less idealistic and more ideologically challenging than its predecessor, which is a refreshing change from the usual space fantasy fare. Additionally, most of the game’s technical problems got patched or modded out, so you no longer have to worry about its rocky release.

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Neverwinter Nights 2

Another sequel, right after KotOR 2, that Obsidian made to a BioWare game.

BioWare’s revival of the old title was a fantastic engine for creating one’s own modules and running them for friends, but as a singleplayer game, it was lackluster, at least before the expansions rolled in. Obsidian decided to throw in a strong story right off the bat, and then do it even better in expansions.

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Neverwinter Nights 2 features several possible companions, some mutually exclusive, and there’s also the whole running your own stronghold thing, including repairs and assigning allied NPCs to important roles. And then there’s the Mask of the Betrayer expansion, widely praised for its storyline and writing, and continuing the story of the base game’s protagonist.

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Alpha Protocol

Alpha Protocol would be hard to mistake for any other RPG.

Set in a modern spy-fiction kind of universe, it embraced just enough science fiction for some of the gadgets and talents to work, but never enough to make it feel out of place and distant from our own world. And although it felt like Splinter Cell mixed with Mass Effect gameplay-wise, its narrative elevated the game above its technical flaws.

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Outside of the missions, the game feels like a movie, and you have a limited time to pick your attitude: Suave, Professional, or Aggressive. Most choices result in a reputation change, and the game is very good at tracking them, and adjusting the story accordingly and smoothly. Few games have as many outcomes as Alpha Protocol does.

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Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas is built on the foundations set by Bethesda’s Fallout 3, but it’s unmistakably an Obsidian game.

From the very first moments, it makes it clear that the story is as important as letting the players express themselves through dialogue and mechanics. With plenty of skills, perks, and viable builds, Fallout New Vegas is at least as mechanically complex as the originals.

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Nevada of FNV is a place where multiple factions fight for domination and control of the Hoover Dam. The New California Republic tries to expand its territory and establish some semblance of government. The Caesar’s Legion is one man’s nascent faction, styled after the Roman legions, but without much pretense of civility, and then there’s Mr. House, who has his own plans…

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Dungeon Siege III

The first Dungeon Siege was an interesting alternative to Diablo II: a party-based game which mostly played itself and had a single, large and linear map instead of levels separated by loading screens.

Dungeon Siege III still features the continuous map, but expands upon the original mechanics while limiting the number of characters in your party. Pack mules are also gone.

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Dungeons Siege 3 is fairly close to games like Gauntlet, Sacred 3 or the more recent Darksiders 3 as far as combat dynamics are concerned, with each character having unique special attacks and an alternative stance. The controls were designed for both PC and consoles, so you can knock back on a couch with a gamepad if you don’t want to clutch your mouse and keyboard all the time.

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South Park: The Stick of Truth

You’d think that Obsidian, known mostly for making rather serious games, wouldn’t be the first pick.

As it turned out their intimate knowledge of fantasy and RPG tropes was a perfect fit for a game about Cartman et al. playing a city-wide fantasy LARP. The Stick of Truth also looks every bit like the show, and the creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone worked closely with Obsidian on it.

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The game has several classes available, has a magic system based on farts, and generally mocks everything it can without devolving into straight-up bullying, so it’s par for the course with the show. There are also tons of cameos and easter eggs for long-time fans of South Park, making sure it’s not only an incredibly fun game, but also a total fan-service.

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Pillars of Eternity

Obsidian took a calculated gamble with Pillars of Eternity, going through Kickstarter to gather funding.

It paid off greatly and helped usher in the new era of story-focused isometric RPGs. Marketed as a spiritual successor to the Infinity Engine roleplaying games, PoE fulfilled that promise with aplomb, delivering a deep, somber game with a stunning amount of lore.

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Pillars of Eternity has it all. The story involves plots spanning centuries and permeating every layer of society. The conversation trees give a lot of room for player agency in terms of narrative choices and role-playing. Thanks to the Disposition system, the NPCs can react to your character’s personality. There are also, of course, memorable companions, and also pets.

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Tyranny

Tyranny received little promotion, launched to little fanfare, and both of these things are terrible because Tyranny is a fantastic old-school RPG with a relatively short runtime adeptly encouraging you to have another playthrough, but with different decisions.

Even character creation nudges some interesting choices your way and lets you define a bit of the setting’s backstory.

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As far as the premise is concerned, you essentially play as a judge, jury, and executioner, as an agent of the Archon of Law Tunon, and a servant, loyal or otherwise, of Overlord Kyros. How you dispense law and order is mostly up to you, but you’ll be sorry if you can’t justify your decisions when questioned. Oh, and there’s a rebellion to deal with. There shall be no more war in Kyros’ lands.

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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

After the success of the first Pillars of Eternity and its expansion, wintry White March, Obsidian decided to take the sequel somewhere else.

As a result, the events of PoE2: Deadfire take place in the eponymous region, the Deadfire archipelago, bearing strong resemblance to the Caribbean with more than a few shades of other island cultures, like Polinesia.

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Once again, you have factions to gain reputation, as well as Dispositions, helping you define your character’s personality and have the NPC reactions reflect that. Now you also have a multi-class system, although you must make your decision at character creation. It also continues the theme of your character’s, The Watcher, dealings with gods of Eora, with interesting results.

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The Outer Worlds

A game announced as a new science fiction game from the creators of the OG Fallout, The Outer Worlds certainly had big shoes to fill.

And by all accounts it did, being a clever game with engaging gameplay, role-playing and freedom. It has several planets to explore, factions, creative weapons, and a lot of flexibility in your builds. So, an Obsidian game, basically.

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You’re playing as a colonist whose ship got lost in space, leaving you in cryosleep for decades before someone found and saved you from the frosty grave. The game is happy to let you kill your way through the plot, just as it is happy to tell you a Charisma-based build isn’t going to increase your chances in battle. And if you fail a lot, you get a Flaw, which might even help you a bit!

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Skyforge

That’s right – it’s Obsidian’s foray into the MMORPG genre. Technically it’s not the studio’s game, as they’ve only collaborated with Allods Team on this project, but it’s still an interesting thing to put on that list.

Set on the planet of Aelion, Skyforge puts you in the shoes of an immortal being who uses their incredible powers in order to defend the world from some nasty invaders. You can explore the lands on your own, but since it’s an MMORPG game, it’s better if some friends, either old or made in-game, tag along.

What’s interesting about Skyforge is the game’s unique progression system. There are no traditional levels or classes. Instead, it’s all based on prestige and changing your class on the fly, whatever you need.

Skyforge is free to play, so you can totally check it out in your spare time and see if you like it or not.

Skyforge - Silver Prize Pack

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Pathfinder Adventures

All sorts of collectible card games have become somewhat very popular in the last couple of years or so. It’s no wonder then that Obsidian also wanted their piece of the proverbial pie.

Described as a translation of “the best-selling Pathfinder Adventure Card Game into an entirely new breed of digital card game”, Pathfinder Adventures makes you work with other players to defeat all sorts of monsters and villains you encounter along the way.

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If you’re a fan of the Pathfinder universe, you should totally enjoy this release, especially now that it emphasizes this world’s richness and diversity, as well as the plot and characters that you’ll meet along the way.

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Armored Warfare

This title is also one of the more unique games in Obsidian’s portfolio. The company traded RPGs for tanks and stuff, creating War Thunder and World of Tanks’ direct competitor.

Set in the 2030s, Armored Warfare portrays a world of the future that descended into chaos and anarchy. Corporations rule it. Those who oppose this state of affairs have migrated to the so-called Badlands. As a mercenary, you get to commandeer a wide variety of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery.

There are both player versus player and player versus environment modes available in the game, including a selection of missions where up to five players fight against AI-controlled units. It’s a free-to-play game, too, so you can try it out without hassle. Who knows, maybe you’ll find it to be a World of Tanks killer?

Important note: As of 2017, the game is no longer being developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Allods Team has taken over these duties instead.

Grounded

“Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!,” but as a video game? Why not? Grounded is certainly one of the most unique games in Obsidian’s back catalog. This survival game makes you one of the kids who have been shrunk to the size of an…ant.

Still, before you discover why all this happened, you need to ensure your survival in the backyard. For that, you need to construct a base, gather resources and defend yourself using a selection of rather primitive weapons.

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You also need to stay fed and hydrated. As far as the insects and arachnids featured in the game are concerned, they serve various purposes. Ladybugs can lead you to food sources, you can cook aphids, and spiders are going to hunt you. You can also play the game in a four-player coop. While the game is set for a full release in September 2022, it’s available through Early Access.

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Pentiment

Josh Sawyer’s latest project, Pentiment actually dates back to the Black Isle Studios days. Now, it’s about to get a release in a couple of months. What is it?

Simply put, it’s a narrative-based adventure game with role-playing elements. It’s set in the 16th century. As Andreas Maler, a journeyman artist, your task is to investigate the murder of a prominent person. It’s pretty personal, as it is your friend who has been accused of such a foul deed!

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The plot spans over twenty-five years and your task is to accuse someone based on either who you think killed the victim or deserves punishment the most. With its visuals inspired by late medieval art, Pentiment is surely going to be an interesting thing to check out.

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