You might take one look at Avowed and dismiss it as some lesser Skyrim clone. I don’t exactly blame you. Both games are first-person, fantasy RPGs that emphasize player choice. And Skyrim’s enduring legacy in the genre is inescapable, so comparisons to it would be hard to avoid.
However, Avowed’s similarities to Skyrim end on the surface. Fundamentally, the two games couldn’t be more different. They incorporate the same genre elements, yes, but they take vastly different approaches in terms of storytelling and design.
Skyrim is vast and ambitious, while Avowed is smaller and more focused. The world of Skyrim is bleak and gritty, while the world of Avowed is vibrant and whimsical. I could go on, but that would be beside the point of this review. And if anything, I’d argue Avowed shares more similarities with developer Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds than it does Skyrim.
Perhaps Avowed’s greatest strength is that it’s not trying to be the next Skyrim; it’s just a fun little RPG that delivers enough diversions to keep you engaged for a couple dozen hours.
Lawless frontier
In Avowed, you play as the envoy of the powerful Aedyr Empire, tasked to investigate rumors of a mysterious plague that afflicts the Living Lands, an isolated frontier teeming with secrets and danger. Your expedition takes a downward turn, thrusting you towards the chaos between the local factions and the Aedyran forces. Lawlessness reigns in this part of the world, and none of its inhabitants are rolling the red carpet for your arrival.
The game wastes no time in letting your own adventure unfold. Almost immediately after the opening chapter, which also serves as a tutorial, you’re let loose to explore the Living Lands.
Much has been said about Avowed not being fully open-world, which again goes back to the Skyrim comparisons. But I’d argue that the design decision to have multiple, more contained spaces instead of a single contiguous space actually works for the game.
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You get denser, more curated spaces that are not only interesting to behold but also to explore.
The best example of this is Paradis, the first city you visit in the Living Lands. This dockside hub for scrappy seafarers seeking fortune is bustling with activity. Everywhere you turn, there’s something to catch your attention and sidetrack you from the main story, be it some local in need of help or a tucked-away secret to uncover. It’s a play space bursting with detail, where every square inch feels meticulously handcrafted and everyone has something to say or do.
Obsidian’s devotion to player freedom also shines in Avowed. The sheer breadth of freedom in how you might overcome environmental obstacles or approach a multi-layered quest, among other diversions, is almost dizzying.
Not all encounters, for instance, have to end in combat. Interactions can play out differently depending on your decisions and your character’s stats. Having high enough Might sometimes gives you the dialogue option to intimidate your enemies into running away, while having a high enough Intellect lets you reason your way around a hairy encounter.
None of these mechanics are particularly revolutionary, but they do make the character-building and role-playing aspects of the game so much more fun. You can essentially shape your character the way you want to, even though you’re still somewhat bound to the greater, overarching story.
Unconventional weapon combinations
You also have a lot of freedom in combat. When you create your character at the start of the game, you’ll be asked to select one of five preset character backgrounds. Each of these backgrounds sort of represent traditional RPG archetypes and determine your starting gear. However, you won’t be locked to your selected background’s gear for the rest of the game. In fact, as early as the tutorial, you can already mix and match the different weapons you find to see which fit your character and playstyle best.
The combat is purposely designed to encourage experimentation. As reliable as a sword-and-shield combination is, running with something more unconventional might prove more enjoyable to play. For example, in the early game, I had an axe in one hand and a pistol in the other. Such a combination sounds silly on paper, I know, but it’s actually rather effective in practice.
With it, I was able to hack away at my enemies and pop a shot or two while backing away. Later in the game, I traded bullets for spells by replacing the pistol for a grimoire, which proved just as effective. This emphasis on player freedom is what makes the combat encounters in the game so refreshing and varied.
What’s more, the overall feel of the combat in Avowed is great too. Whether you’re using a melee weapon or casting a spell, attacks here feel satisfying because they have a lot of oomph behind them. The excellent sound design and animation work, as well as the punchy damage numbers that pop up on screen with each hit, also do an incredible job of selling the sense of impact of your attacks.
In terms of difficulty, I’d say the combat is just about challenging enough to force you to engage with all its mechanics. While it’s no Souls-like, you sure can’t just throw attacks willy-nilly and hope to survive. You have to know how to counter or avoid your enemy’s attacks, while managing your stamina in the heat of action.
Never alone
Combat is also slightly more forgiving because you always have companions by your side. Companions are a core part of Avowed. You’ll recruit a total of four throughout your adventure, with two being able to accompany you at any given time. Each one has his or her own set of abilities and can fill a specific role in your party: tank, damage dealer, and support. They’ll attack on their own, but you can also issue commands for them to perform specific actions.
Outside of combat, you can chat with your companions to get to know them better. They have distinct personalities that impact the way they may interact with you. Sometimes, they may even try to talk you out of certain actions. But regardless if you listen to them or not, they won’t ever leave your party.
I have pretty mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I love how each of them are fleshed-out characters, complete with distinct backstories and personal beliefs. On the other hand, I do wish your actions throughout the story had a stronger impact on your relationships with them. There’s almost no consequence to choosing to go against their advice. The most they’ll do is let you hear about their displeasure in dialogue.
Additionally, I wish the game had more active skills for the non-magic class skill trees like Fighter and Ranger. If I’m not mistaken, these classes only have around four active skills, making a pure Fighter or Ranger build less fun to play compared to a pure Wizard. I know you’re encouraged to make hybrid builds that incorporate skills from the different trees, but it feels somewhat limiting that non-magic builds have less active skills to play around with.
Also worth mentioning is the game features a third-person perspective, which you can toggle at any time. Personally, however, I’d stick to the first-person perspective. The game gives the impression that it was primarily designed in first-person, with movement, traversal, and combat feeling somewhat floaty in third-person. The only reason I wanted to switch to third-person during my whole playthrough was to get a good look at my character.
Admittedly, in RPGs, I like having the ability to make cool-looking characters that I can role-play. And Avowed lets me do that with plenty of freedom — genuine freedom, not the illusion of it — which is more than I can say for some, big-budget RPGs. That’s why, for me, the game is another major triumph for Obsidian. It’s a tight and confidently crafted fantasy adventure that’s just fun to play, plain and simple. Although its scope is not as big as Skyrim’s, the game is in no way small. Besides, what it lacks in size and scope is more than made up for by the intricate worldbuilding and the excellent combat.
Avowed releases on Xbox and PC on February 18, 2025. – Rappler.com
Disclosure: Microsoft provided a game code.
