Avowed Review

I remember when Avowed was first announced in 2020 as a gritty, dark, atmospheric RPG that seemed poised to challenge The Elder Scrolls. Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, renowned for its work on titles like Fallout: New Vegas and Knights of the Old Republic II, Avowed emerged as an extremely promising prospect for the studio’s fans and RPG enthusiasts in general.

At some point during development, the game’s visual style shifted significantly, moving away from its dark fantasy aesthetic to a more bright and colorful approach. Despite this change, many fans remained confident in Obsidian’s exceptional reputation, especially following their recent successes with titles like Grounded and Pentiment.

Avowed is not for everybody, as are the usual RPGs that Bethesda comes up with, and some choices here will be very divisive. While Avowed may not be the masterpiece that fans anticipated or the next incarnation of The Elder Scrolls, it is a solid RPG with some missteps that prevent it from inching further.

A New World

For fans of Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity titles, Avowed will evoke a familiar feel as it is set in the same world of Eora, but in a new region known as the Living Lands. Players assume the role of an Envoy from the Aedyr Empire, who is also a Godlike—an individual imbued with magical powers—to investigate the cause of Dreamscourge and rid the land of the plague.

The overarching narrative in Avowed may either captivate you or not. It took me about four hours to truly engage with the story. I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, but it feels like a step down from what we typically expect from Obsidian. That said, it’s not necessarily bad; it just didn’t grab my attention immediately, even though the premise itself is interesting.

The Living Lands are quite different from what we initially expected Avowed’s world to look like based on the first reveal. Although we haven’t seen much beyond that one-minute trailer, the final product showcases a bright and cheerful landscape that is vivid, colorful, and visually appealing. While the original concept was more intriguing, this final version is still impressive in its own right.

As expected from Obsidian, the game world is vast and rich with lore. The worldbuilding is impressive, featuring numerous notes and stories scattered throughout. Although there is a lot of jargon, the game includes a “History and Lore” button during conversations that explains these terms, similar to the Active Time Lore system in Final Fantasy XVI. This feature helps to some extent, but players might feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information presented so early, especially if they are unfamiliar with the game’s universe.

Fortunately, the Living Lands in Avowed are enjoyable and rewarding to explore. The parkour and platforming mechanics are excellent, and the world offers a wonderful sense of discovery. There are nearly always branching paths and alternate routes to discover, often leading to valuable rewards, such as resources, equipment, or other loot. Avowed emphasizes choice, and if you take the time to explore the world thoroughly, you’ll find amazing treasures awaiting you.

One consequence of exploring too much in the game is encountering enemies at a higher “level” than your character. The equipment system determines this “level,” and if you lack the appropriate items, it can feel nearly impossible to get past this artificial gate. While this makes sense logically, it can feel like Avowed is pushing you to stay on a more narrow path and play through the game rather than fully explore.

This changes when we arrive at towns, not in the sense of exploration, but in their interactivity. Before I proceed, Avowed was never going the be the next Skyrim, as its director likened it to The Outer Worlds more. Still, it’s pretty disappointing how much of that interactivity has been stripped down. You can steal from people, but they won’t react to your actions or fight you. You can’t enter most (if not all) homes. The list continues, and the towns and cities feel empty and lifeless. It’s a certain level of RPG you’ve come to expect from these Microsoft studios, and while I keep reminding myself that this isn’t The Elder Scrolls, a certain amount of it would have been appreciated.

In that sense, Avowed doesn’t really do anything extraordinary, and that’s fine. What it does, it does well enough, but the game is also hobbled by glaring missteps that take a toll on the experience as a whole.

Create a Godlike

As mentioned, you are an Aedyr Envoy tasked to investigate the plague. You are also a Godlike, blessed with powers, and this manifests directly into your character as soon as the character creator screen.

The character creator in Avowed is functional, but it has its limitations. Interestingly, I played Avowed around the same time the Monster Hunter Wilds beta was released, and the difference in the scope of their character creators is significant. Although the lack of variety in character customization doesn’t impact Avowed as much—since the game is primarily played in first-person mode (there is also a third-person mode, which I’ll discuss later)—a more robust character creator would be appreciated. While you can still create a range of attractive and unattractive characters, the options available are not as diverse as one might expect.

In your quest, you will encounter four companions: Kai, Yatzli, Marius, and Giatta. These characters can serve as valuable party members, but you can only take two while exploring the Living Lands. It’s vital to choose companions that complement your character to ensure you can effectively handle all aspects of combat – Kai wields a sword and a gun, Yatzli is your typical spellcaster, Giatta serves as the ever-helpful support member, and Marius takes on the role of the hunter.

Fortunately, and somewhat unexpectedly, combat in Avowed stands out as one of the game’s strongest features. However, similar to other aspects of the game, it takes a while to truly develop. Initially, combat can feel rather simplistic, especially for melee-based characters. Most encounters will involve the player primarily focusing on hacking away at enemies while dodging or parrying their counterattacks. This can be frustrating, as enemies tend to feel spongy and have a limited range of moves. Additionally, there’s a stamina system that depletes when you attack or block, so it’s important to monitor this resource. However, the stamina management is fairly forgiving.

As combat unfolds, thanks to the skills you learn and unlock, it becomes an amazing experience. Players can dual-wield weapons and equip an alternate loadout, allowing them to hold a sword and shield while switching between a grimoire and a wand. You can also perform combos while healing with potions, adding depth to the gameplay. Additionally, you can give commands to your companions, which enhances the overall enjoyment, contrary to what the trailers portray. The enemy AI is quite competent and will prove to be a capable opponent despite their middling variety.

One issue with Avowed is the limited number of skill points you receive. I struggled to fill out my skill tree throughout my gameplay, even while specializing in just one branch. There are numerous skills, each with its upgrades, but the few skill points available make it discouraging to experiment with different combinations. The absence of a new game plus mode also makes this problem even worse.

Speaking of companions, one other thing Avowed fails to do is to have your character make meaningful connections with them. Again, not Skyrim, but there’s no semblance of an affinity system that makes your choices matter less because there’s no real consequence. This again goes back to the interactivity of the world as a whole, and again, while it is not Skyrim, the systems feel too stripped down that it hurt the overall experience.

Players can also choose to play Avowed in third-person mode, and while I would normally prefer this over a first-person mode, it didn’t feel as satisfying. Player animations are not as fluid as you’d expect, and it feels clunky compared to the vastly fluid first-person experience.

Xbox and PC Performance

Here’s the system we used to play Avowed on top of our Xbox Series X:

• Ryzen 5 5600x, 16 GB DDR4 3600 RAM, NVIDIA 4070 Super, 1TB NVMe SSD

Avowed’s PC performance is quite impressive. At 1440p with ray tracing and frame generation on with DLSS set to balanced, we were able to hit upwards of 90-100fps in towns and over 120fps in open fields. There were some noticeable dips when entering areas for the first time, but overall, the framerates held steady for the most part, resulting in a pretty smooth experience.

The performance dip was not as heavy as I thought it would be at epic settings. Roaming around towns resulted in a dip to around 75-90fps, while heading to more open areas will boost it to 100fps. This is still very impressive, given that this is an Unreal Engine 5 game, so playing on a PC with enough power is a good choice.

As good as it plays on PC, Avowed plays respectably well on an Xbox Series X. It is a joy to play on Balanced Mode (40fps on supported TVs), almost sticking to its frame targets with hardly any noticeable drops, as far as we can tell. While there are other modes (Quality and Performance), Balanced is definitely the way to go to enjoy the game’s sights without sacrificing too much in terms of performance.

One thing I’d also like to point out here is that after playing on the Xbox Series X and then moving to Steam, I had the option to log in to my Xbox account and load my save there. This is an underrated feature, in my opinion, and it may be one of the first games (on Steam) Xbox is trying out as part of its “Play Anywhere” initiative as it furthers its publishing push.

Verdict: Buy it!

Avowed is an impressive release from Obsidian Entertainment, showcasing a strong RPG that shines in both combat and exploration. The Living Lands offers a delightful environment to explore, filled with hidden corners that provide satisfying rewards for discovery. Additionally, encounters with enemies are exciting, thanks to the engaging and intricate combat system.

Sadly, it falls short of being something great, as the game has stripped down its RPG systems to an almost bare minimum, negatively affecting the immersiveness of its beautiful world. Cities and towns feel lifeless, and this sense of emptiness extends to your companions as well due to the absence of systems that enable you to build meaningful relationships with them.

*Avowed was reviewed on an Xbox Series X and PC with a review code provided by the publisher.