Avowed Review

I solemnly swear that this game kicks ass

Note: There are some minor early game spoilers in the images for this article.

I’ve been a big fan of Obsidian’s work for a long time, and I don’t really want to skirt around that fact. There’s just something about the way they deliver their stories and develop their worlds that just speaks to me on a fundamental level. From games like Knights of the old Republic II and Fallout: New Vegas, to more recent entries like the Pillars of Eternity (the first CRPG I ever played) and Pentiment, Obsidian has never failed to deliver an interesting experience for me. So, when I first heard Avowed was being developed and would take place in Eora (the same world as the Pillars games), I was definitely excited. But I was a little nervous, too. 

For starters, being in the same world as those Pillars of Eternity games carries a lot of baggage on its own. Would Avowed be set before, during, or after the events of the previous games? Would those events matter in any way? Would the world be handled with the kind of care I felt they should be? Second, I don’t typically love first person games, and first person sword fighting (melee combat in general) is so frequently boring, I had concerns about the type of game we’d be getting — despite third person perspective being an option.

In retrospect, some of these concerns feel a bit silly. It’s not my world, so what does it matter if they handle it differently than I would want? Plus, Obsidian has delivered fun first person adventures in the past with games like The Outer Worlds, so that concern is a bit unwarranted. I don’t really know what I was expecting, as I purposefully avoided much of the lead up to the game, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how much I would end up loving this game.

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released on February 18, 2025 for Windows PC and Xbox Series X/S.

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Avowed is a story-driven RPG in the same vein as other Obsidian classics, with a heavy focus on roleplaying and choice and consequence. As the envoy to the Aedyran Empire (lovingly referred to as The Envoy), the player character is on a mission to find out about and ultimately put an end to a mysterious disease plaguing the Living Lands, known as The Dreamscourge. As the journey unfolds, The Envoy fights more than just disease — lizard people, fascists, and even the land itself are all out to kill them.

Something I really admire about this game is that it never pulls its punches. Dialogue may sometimes be long-winded, but it never feels out of place by explaining things to the player. In-world events or terminology that your character would know about are highlighted in the text, with the option to pull up a side menu to catch up on the vocabulary, but the world assumes you live in it. Rather than characters constantly pulling you aside and explaining things you would definitely already understand, the game leaves it up to the player to explore these events and ideas. This is not the first time I’ve seen something like this implemented, but it may be the best version out there. This facet of the game is also just plainly useful, even beyond making the dialogue flow more naturally. For players new, old, disabled, disadvantaged, or otherwise unaware, this spot lookup function becomes an excellent tool for keeping track of events as you explore the Living Lands.

All of this allows the player to experience the story and dialogue scenes in a more meaningful and immersive way. The Envoy becomes a party to the events unfolding, instead of an outside child who needs their hand held at every turn. As so many of the events within the game are serious or dark, it allows the player to engage with them earnestly. That’s not to say that the game is devoid of levity, in fact it’s quite the opposite — sarcastic companions, absurd journal entries, and even dialogue options for the player litter the entirety of the game. The dialogue options are particularly refreshing, frequently offering you the option to outright dismiss or berate even important NPCs.

Without going too far into the particulars of the game’s events, I will say I really enjoyed the story experience. Even beyond the overarching plot of the Dreamscourge, there’s a lot of mystery, adventure, and intrigue to be found. While it may not be the most reactive game ever made, I did enjoy how often dialogue choices or actions in a quest might shape the way a quest develops or how factions of people might treat you. Those choices feel impactful in the moment, and resolving some side quests can have big impacts on how major events unfold. The companions will comment on events in your chats with them, or even offer asides during a dialogue to give you a little more info or just chime in with their opinion on the situation. Journal entries and notes that you find in the Living Lands will give greater context to not only the events happening around you, but also the world at-large.

Obsidian has crafted something special here. A world that feels truly lived in — not just by the inhabiting NPCs, but by the player character, as well. It’s a world full of events and goings on outside of the player’s immediate vision or control. That goes beyond the text, too. Tarps hanging over the streets for shade, stalls peddling goods or gossip, farms on the outskirts of a city — every bit of this game is built to make it feel like The Envoy is a part of the world, not its focal point. And it's a world that is exciting to explore through gameplay as much as it is through those texts and dialogues.

I hear you, girl.

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There’s an intentionality to the way every street or cave is built in this game that astonishes me, even now. Nothing feels out of place or haphazard. The parkour system lends itself beautifully to this design ethos, with every aspect of the word begging you to look for hidden alcoves, or to try and find your way around a cliffside to scale it and find something neat. Avowed also has a level of verticality to the world that is rarely seen in RPGs like this — it’s built for you to climb, jump, and play around in it. Even your combat abilities can help you in your exploration with moves like a charging attack being used to traverse large gaps, or ice spells freezing water so you can walk on it. This exploration is also instrumental in upgrading your gear, with crafting materials or unique items strewn about the world.

In fact, the game may be a bit too reliant on this exploration and collection aspect. Upgrading your gear is wildly expensive resource wise, and even if you break down every piece of normal equipment you find, you’ll never have enough resources to upgrade all of your unique items. This leads to some tough decisions early on, as you’ll have to decide which unique items to break down for rarer materials and which ones to build into early. And you do need to upgrade your gear. Even beyond the flat numbers of damage or damage reduction, the game’s gear system works on a rarity scale. If your gear is a lower rarity than your enemies’, you’ll take more damage and deal less as a percentage. The way to avoid this is to upgrade early — especially your unique gear, as upgrading those has the added bonus of forcing all future unique gear you find to be at the same rarity level or higher. There are caps to this, of course, with some materials only being available in specific areas, so you can never outpace the zone you’re in. As the quest unfolds, you will inevitably come across enemies of a higher gear level than what you have, despite all of your best efforts, so it’s here you will have to make the choice of whether to tough it out or run and come back later. It is possible to beat enemies of a higher gear level, it just becomes a test of your patience as enemies will take much longer to kill and your companions will constantly remind you to upgrade your equipment. I’m a completionist at heart, so this isn’t much of a pain point for me, but I do wonder how it goes for those who would rather just play the main story or only a few side quests.

Speaking of the combat — it is phenomenal. Fast, fun, and often frantic, the battles are a real test of your awareness. Large groups of enemies swarm you, priests stand in the back line to heal and try to run from you to keep their buddies up, and environmental hazards or effects are always present for you to be aware of. Managing your own abilities and those of your companions in real time can be a bit tricky, but bringing up the ability wheel will pause time and allow you to select your next move more carefully. I love the battles here. There are so many abilities and spells to try, and with so many different combinations of spell effects and weapons to wield, you’re never out of options. You’re not locked into any one build, either. You can change your points spread across attributes or abilities at any time — for a price. 

The exploration, combat, and story are the three major pillars of the game — and all are excellent.

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I should point out that the way the attributes work in Avowed is probably quite different than what many RPG players are used to. Might is the damage stat for all characters, even mages, Dexterity increases action speed and so on. All attributes are beneficial for all classes, to some degree or another. A full spread across all attributes is a totally viable way to build your character. I put points into everything except for constitution, as I played an evasive style and rarely got hit. 

The art direction in Avowed is also top-notch. Stunning vistas, colorful flora, fauna, and clothing, bits of graffiti, and even the architecture — all of it left me in awe. You can really tell the team behind the game cared about this world. I can’t tell you how many times I exited a cave only to stand on a cliff and just take in the view of cities and seas in the distance. The way the visual style and world collide conveys a clear focus from that art team in making something look so cool.

I have read that this is meant to be a smaller scale game and take less time than your average open world RPG, but I ended up with around 70 hours played when credits rolled. It is by no means a small game, but it is focused. Avowed knows what it wants to do, and does all of that exceptionally well, but it doesn’t sweat some of the small stuff in ways that may or may not be missed. There are no theft or jail systems, not every object in the world is fully interactable, and not every NPC is a plaything for the players’ whims. Instead, Avowed offers a closer look at a specific place in a developed world with colorful characters and an interesting story to tell. The more I play it, the more I end up loving it and appreciating what we have here. I think that’s more than enough.

Verdict

Avowed is a game full of exploration, wonder, intrigue, and laughs. You can get lost in the world in so many ways — whether it’s the story that draws you in, the deep characters you fall in love with, or the parkour that keeps you playing, there’s so much to see and do. It may not have the most expansive map in the history of RPGs, but this adventure contains interesting exploration paths that are open to player creativity. While the combat and characters were the most arresting portion of the game for me, real lore sickos are in for a great time, as well. Avowed is a tremendous game with a clear focus, and does what it sets out to do exceptionally well. It’s proof positive of Obsidian’s continued greatness, and I hope to see more of Eora in the future.

Image Credits: Taylor Rioux