Avowed isn’t the sort of game that rewrites the playbook for the role-playing genre in any way, shape, or form, but it does know exactly what makes the genre tick. Individually, all of its disparate elements could be described as rote or ordinary, but it all comes together in impressive fashion. From combat and exploration to world-building, storytelling, player choice mechanics, and more, all of the most important elements of the RPG genre just click right off the bat in Avowed. It’s another notch on the belt for Obsidian Entertainment.
Set in the world of Eora, Avowed taps into the same vast and fascinating pool or lore and backstory that Obsidian built up with the Pillars of Eternity games. For returning fans, the advantages of keeping the game set in that same universe are instantly clear, not only because of just how much there is to learn about, but also because of how well Avowed uses all of that content. At the same time, however, it doesn’t require players to have any existing knowledge of the setting or the lore. For veteran Pillars fans, there’s plenty in here that’ll be immensely rewarding, but Avowed still manages to feel standalone enough that it is able to stand on its own two feet even if you have no idea what “Deadfire” or “Aedyr” mean going in.
“From combat and exploration to world-building, storytelling, player choice mechanics, and more, all of the most important elements of the RPG genre just click right off the bat in Avowed.“
A lot of that is, of course, down to the fact that Avowed focuses on the Living Lands, a part of the world of Eora that has never been previously explored in the Pillars games. It’s effectively a new setting, but one that is tied to an established well of backstory, allowing Obsidian to have its cake and eat it too. It also works out in the game’s favour because the Living Lands serve as a solid setting in and of themselves. A wild and untamed landmass as it is with a populace of misfits, criminals, exiles, and what have you, the Living Lands are now also being ravaged by a deadly and terrifying plague called the Dreamscourge, which not corrupts the very soul of its victims – plants and animals and people of all races alike – and turns them into frenzied monsters covered in fruiting fungal bodies.
Amidst all of this, you play as an envoy of Aedyr’s emperor, sent to the Living Lands to investigate and deal with the Dreamscourge, in order to help the empire solidify its foothold in the region, which it hopes to bring into its own borders. This is where Avowed’s story hides its most interesting elements. As an envoy and an extension of the emperor’s authority, you get to make decisions that will inform how the Aedyr empire will approach the Living Lands as a whole.
Do you want to support the empire’s expansionist colonial plans, or would you rather remain focused on dealing with the Dreamscourge and restoring stability to the Living Lands? It’s a particularly fascinating question that the game keeps returning to, and it’s a highlight of the experience, especially with the Living Lands’ own complex politics and internal conflicts added on top. No, Avowed’s choice and consequence mechanics are perhaps not on the same level as Obsidian’s best, and certainly you shouldn’t be expecting anything that comes anywhere close to, say, Baldur’s Gate 3’s reactivity, but there’s enough in here to make you actually pause and think about your actions and what consequences they may have in both the short and long term.
Another area where Avowed impresses is with its cast of characters. Companion characters in Obsidian RPGs tend to do that more often than not, and Avowed, too, is constantly flexing with its writing, character dialogue and interactions, and more. Each of the core cast are a unique, wonderfully developed, and excellently performed personality, while the supporting cast also routinely contributes with endearing characters every so often. Writing, world-building, and storytelling have long been Obsidian’s areas of expertise, and the studio doesn’t buck that trend with Avowed.
“Writing, world-building, and storytelling have long been Obsidian’s areas of expertise, and the studio doesn’t buck that trend with Avowed.”
More surprising – at least for me, personally – is how enjoyable Avowed’s combat is. Don’t get me wrong, Obsidian is no Bethesda Game Studios. The developer does know how to make good combat, and has done so several times in the past. Avowed, however, is a level above those past offerings in this particular department. First-person combat in fantasy or medieval settings very rarely works well, but that’s definitely not the case here.
On a fundamental level, every single hit, block, dodge, and parry just feels tight. There’s an immediacy and satisfying responsiveness to all actions, which means weapons feel appropriately hefty, attacks feel appropriately punchy, and movement feels appropriately responsive. Then there’s the sheer variety of weapons- daggers, swords, shields, hammers, maces, axes, bows, greataxes, greatswords, pistols, arquebuses, grimoires, two-handed hammers, wands… There’s frankly a ridiculous amount of variety on offer, and it’s not just for show either. Weapons feel appropriately different to use, in terms of everything from attack animations and attack speed to the damage you deal out, how much stamina you use, and more.
Things become even more interesting when dual-wielding is thrown into the equation. Other than two-handed weapons, Avowed lets you wield two of any weapon at a time, and you can mix and match however you want. A plain, vanilla sword and shield combo? A mace in one hand and a pistol in the other? An axe and an hammer in each? Maybe a wand in both hands, so that you can blast away at enemies with glee? All of it’s possible, and more, and yes, it makes combat incredibly fun. Mix in abilities, companions, grenades, and other elements, and every single combat encounter in Avowed ends up being way more fun than I personally had expected going on.
Progression, sadly, is unable to keep up with the combat side of things. In this department, the game feels a little disappointingly simplistic and straightforward. The triple-A-fication of RPGs has been an issue that has plagued the genre for years at this point (Dragon Age: The Veilguard was an example just last year), and Avowed definitely falls into the trap where its progression mechanics are concerned. Every time you level up, you get to invest in different attributes, as well as multiple skill trees- and it’s all standard fare. Ultimately, the whole process feels a little too restrictive and railroaded.
“Avowed lets you wield two of any weapon at a time, and you can mix and match however you want. A plain, vanilla sword and shield combo? A mace in one hand and a pistol in the other? An axe and an hammer in each? Maybe a wand in both hands, so that you can blast away at enemies with glee? All of it’s possible, and more, and yes, it makes combat incredibly fun.”
Thankfully, exploration fares significantly better. Obsidian Entertainment decided early in Avowed’s development that it wasn’t going to be the Skyrim-sized open world behemoth it was originally envisioned as, instead adopting a smaller, semi-open world structure similar to The Outer Worlds. For my money, it was absolutely the right call. There’s multiple maps to explore in Avowed, each sufficiently large and boasting impressive environmental variety. More importantly, environments are also impeccably designed.
Avowed is excellent at gabbing your attention and distracting you with things in the most organic way possible. It gently nudges you to check out points of interest in your surroundings, side quests, and optional content not by inundating you with markers and compasses and UI elements, but by simply letting the design of the environments speak for themselves. You’ll never goo too long without something unique or interesting catching your eye, and chances are, more often than not, the game will reward you for being curious and treading off the beaten path. It helps that movement and traversal in Avowed are also surprisingly fun, with a basic moveset involving sprinting, jumping, and vaulting encouraging players to explore vertical and intricately designed environments that are always hiding a ton of secrets.
There’s a lot to do in Avowed, perhaps more so than you’d expect going on, and though there’s little in it that sets the world on fire or reinvents the wheel or any other tired old adage you can think of, the game is nonetheless remarkably good at identifying the strengths of an RPG and making sure that it adheres to those rules. No, it’s not the most original, or the most complex, and it doesn’t have the reactivity of a Baldur’s Gate 3 or the depth of a Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. But for those looking for an engaging fantasy action RPG experience, Avowed is an easy game to recommend.
This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.
