When I spoke with Josh Sawyer, the Design Director at Obsidian Entertainment, earlier this year, he shared his insights into the perceived triumph of turn-based combat versus real-time with pause (RTWP). Notably, he addressed why he believes turn-based mechanics fell out of favor for a period.

Sawyer noted, “I guess we did South Park, but other than that, we hadn’t done turn-based ever, really.”
Interestingly, this raises an important question: how did Larian Studios manage to effectively market a turn-based transition for the Baldur’s Gate franchise, while Obsidian felt anchored to its original gameplay style?

Sawyer remarked, “It seemed like more fans would have been upset by its exclusion if we had not had real time with pause in Pillars of Eternity.” This ongoing tension between catering to nostalgia from Kickstarter backers and the creative vision of the team was a significant factor during development.

He further added, “I always have preferred turn-based to real-time with pause. Especially with Deadfire, I think we did a really good job making [RTWP] more accessible, but I am glad that turn-based seems to be winning out.”

Despite the challenges, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire did implement a turn-based mode in a major update after its launch. Sawyer expressed hope for working on a fully turn-based RPG in the future, eventually showcasing his desire as the industry progresses.