Avowed
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S (Reviewed)
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to Obsidian Entertainment, you never quite know what they’ll have up their sleeves next, especially in recent years. One minute they’ll go from releasing a space-faring RPG to crafting a title all about surviving as a shrunken kid in your own backyard and eventually go on to make a “ye olde” murder mystery with all kinds of unique elements. As such, when Obsidian revealed that they would be working on a fantasy RPG again and would even be setting it in the same realm and universe as their beloved Pillars of Eternity titles, fans were eager to see what Avowed would become. So now that it has arrived and is set to make its own mark in the Pillars universe, is Obsidian’s latest release worthwhile?
Story
Now, before we begin, it is worth noting that Avowed might take place in the same shared world as Pillars of Eternity and in fact does take place years after the events of Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, Avowed tells a completely separate storyline, using the same setting, races, and gods of Eora. This means that newcomers can still enjoy the title as much as possible and the game offers a one-press glossary button to provide details about specific terms and events that may be referenced. That being said, longtime fans of the series will easily recognize numerous past events that nearly shattered the world as they are referenced throughout dialogue options and even the fact that some characters have even managed to survive otherwise terrible fates as previously thought. This means that while newcomers may be able to enjoy Avowed as is, perhaps a little extra research would benefit players before starting.
Players take on the role of “The Envoy,” a godlike whose backstory they will create upon character creation, that regardless of how they developed was chosen and raised to high status by the king of the Aedyr Empire, the strongest and most dominating empire in Eora, and sent to the Living Lands in an effort to track down the mysterious Dreamscourge that has started springing up in these already wildly untamed lands. Those afflicted by the Dreamscourge, be they man or beast, become radically violent and crazed with the only known cure being a quick and efficient death. With Aedyr already gaining a foothold in the Living Lands and seeing potential for further expansion, the fact that this plague is threatening to not only sweep through their potential territory but also travel back to their own empire means it is a devastating threat, though the threat of those already living in the Living Lands will be just as dangerous for the Envoy.
The reason for this is twofold, not only do the residents of the Living Lands prefer the freedom that the wild territory has provided them and see Aedyr’s ever-growing reach as a threat to their independence, but also because The Envoy being a godlike is not only incredibly rare in general, no one has ever seen one like the player before. All godlike bear some mark depending on the god that has touched them upon birth, usually granting them abilities at the same time, but the player’s godlike is completely unknown and has left them with fungal-like (completely customizable) growths on their face and head, something even those in the Living Lands will react negatively towards, especially with its potential ties to the Dreamscourge. With dangers lurking around potentially every corner, new powerful allies and dangerous foes in wait, The Envoy’s journey won’t be an easy one but it will be a highly entertaining one that will feature quite a shocking twists and turns, major reveals, and lasting impression that makes this smaller scale RPG far more impressive than it initially lets on.
While things may start a little slow it doesn’t take too long before the stakes begin to reveal themselves, both through the initial welcome the Envoy receives but also the mysterious voice that speaks only to them through the adra minerals in the land. Combine this with the mysterious Dreamscourge and the fact that the Steel Garrote, a draconian force of paladins eager to slay anyone they deem “unjust” and Avowed will keep players interested and intrigued with how the story will play out throughout its entire runtime. This is helped by the fact that player choices can play a role in how some events play out, including completely talking your way out of conflicts or choosing to even side with an obviously evil outcome if the player wishes, the excellent way that the companion characters are written, and just how lived-in and developed the Living Lands feel as players explore them.
Anyone familiar with Obsidian’s work, or many pseudo-open world style games such as this, will know that there are often locations that players can explore that have their own stories to them that aren’t obviously spelled out and must be inferred through objects in the environment, be they loot, enemy and body placement, and more and this is especially true with Avowed. Numerous optional locations can feature small notes to provide context all while laying out various traps, bodies, and items that tell their own story of how bad things went in the location or what this former fortress turned dungeon once was. It also helps that while exploring towns players can often hear NPCs mentioning various events that have happened by the player’s actions, making it really feel like players are having an impact on the world as they continue their journey. Even the side-quests are often fairly well-written and run the gambit from being serious to quite hilarious and while we won’t spoil them here, there are even some that players can follow up on after completion to complete optional extra tasks or see how things played out.
As for the companions, Avowed keeps things a bit on the smaller scale with only four actual companions throughout the game but this smaller number isn’t much of a detriment because each of these four is incredibly well-written and performed. Not only do all four of them avoid falling into the standard tropes, they all manage to be multi-dimensional and often interject into conversations with other NPCs as the player talks to them. Kai serves as perhaps one of the best first companions players could ask for by being knowledgeable and also haunted a bit by some of his past choices while Marius’ strong front hides moments of his own past as well. Following them, Yatzli and Giatta are also similarly enjoyable as companions, with one being a ‘Godless’ focused character and the other dealing with frowned upon Animancy.
While players cannot directly talk with their companions while adventuring with them, with two at a time, they can camp out at any major adra source and interact with them then, with companions often having something to say about not only major plot points that have happened but even some side-quests and how players handled them. It is a bit unfortunate that some interactions with the world are lacking almost entirely such as a crime system or even any attempt to actually attack normal NPCs and, as mentioned before, players cannot directly talk with their companions outside of camp or even most NPCs outside of quest-givers, making some elements feel less interactable than most players would hope for an RPG.
Gameplay
Avowed is a first person, though it can be played in third person, pseudo open world RPG where players will gain access to the full map of each region, of which there are four primary ones that unlock in sequence as players progress through the story. The maps are designed with a “fog of war” style of design in mind where players will need to travel through the area to map it out fully and also unlock various fast travel points along the way. Something interesting about exploration in Avowed is the fact that the level designs implement a lot of vertical thinking and platforming. This means that many dungeons, story locations, side-quest objectives, and even simple areas to explore, will feature some form of platforming and climbing up ledges to uncover a secret chest or body hidden away. In fact there are even secrets hidden underwater from time to time as well, meaning players can often be rewarded for diving down deep and risking running out of air in an effort to find a sunken treasure or cave.
Of course during this exploration players will also be taking on plenty of enemies and, as mentioned before, they will usually have at least one or two companions with them in a fight. Combat and character load-out in Avowed is a bit of a strange beast but a unique one that offers some extensive customization even if it does lack some depth. Rather than forcing players into choosing a specific class or even a specific weapon type, players can wear any type of armor and wield any type of weapon including some rather unique combos, should they want. Players can have two weapon sets equipped at a time, being able to swap between them at a press of the button and these weapons can range from being a simple sword and shield, a wand and grimoire, or even double pistols. In fact, any single-handed weapon can be wielded in either hand, allowing for a wide array of options such as being able to fire at an enemy at a distance with a bow and swap into two-handed melee when the enemy moves in close.
Skills make use of “Essence” that can be recharged by food, potions, and a little from defeated foes, and once again can be mixed and matched as long as the player has learned them already. Unfortunately, on the Xbox there are only four quick-use slots available, meaning if players want to keep healing potions and essence potions available for quick use, only two skills can be placed on shortcut with everything else requiring pulling up the radial, including giving your companions orders to use specific combat skills. Thankfully the companion AI in fights is competent and they will pull their weight in fights, which is good as rarely does it feel like players are overpowering enemies even on Normal difficulty, unless they return to an old location of course. In fact, there are often times players may find themselves shockingly on the back foot in fights as some foes can be quite hard hitting if players haven’t gotten the hang of dodging or parrying in combat or making use of their tanks if they are built around ranged attacks.
Along these same lines, players can put skill points they earn from leveling up into any of three class trees, Fighter, Ranger, and Wizard. Since there is a level cap of thirty, players will find that they can either spread themselves across these classes, obtaining passives and active skills that can be used in combat or focusing on one class if they want. Thankfully, respec’ing the player’s stats is simple and costs only a nominal amount of currency. Similarly, players will obtain an attribute point as well for every level gained and not only do these attributes that are fairly standard such as might, dexterity, intellect, etc. provide various bonuses to player stats but can also unlock special dialogue options as well. For example, a character with a certain level of resolve can boast about how they felt nothing from an attempted attack while someone without enough perception might find a dialogue option requiring a certain level of that stat completely hidden, making players wonder just how well they want to design their character and make for multiple unique interactions. In similar fashion to skill points, character attributes can also be reset for currency.
One element that is a bit too simplistic feeling is the loot and armor systems. As mentioned before, players can equip any type of armor though heavy armor will lower their total stamina and essence meters while providing better protection. Unfortunately, this is the only real armor players have to work with, as boots and gloves they acquire simply provide additional buffs and the two ring slots and necklace/trinket offer similar bonuses such as increasing a stat, boosting movement speed, or even dealing extra elemental damage with critical hits. While there is some solid variety here, it is a bit too limited feeling, especially when it comes to general looting of locations. While players can often find various treasure chests and bodies a bevy of loot on them, if it doesn’t contain a “Unique” piece of gear it will almost always follow a generic offering of currency as well as upgrade materials and a weapon or piece of armor that matches the level of the location players are traveling in. This can make some exploration feel a little unsatisfying unless it happens to contain a Unique piece of gear, especially since spare equipment is best broken down in favor of upgrade materials since players do have the option to craft higher tiered materials if needed.
Audio & Visuals
The art style for Avowed is a gorgeous looking one and it is great to see that Obsidian has embraced such a vivid color palette for the game. Players will be in for a treat while exploring and uncovering a new grove filled with colorful plants and twisted forms of nature while also battling it out against numerous types of enemies that come with some nice variety that changes depending on the location. The character models and races are similarly colorful and detailed and although gear isn’t quite as customizable as some may like, the title does offer “transmogrification” so if players find equipment they like the look of, they can always change their next better piece of gear to match. It is also nice to note that spells look wonderful in the game and being able to unleash a powerful fireball or chain lightning is as satisfying as making it rain icicles on an area and these are only lower level spells, with even more impressive ones further along the Wizard skill tree. It is worth noting that, at least at the moment, the game features some rather excessive ragdoll mechanics for some defeated enemies, especially those defeated by explosions or heavy hitting blows, and while this may be an unintended feature, it is a real blast to see in motion, making the player feel like a real powerhouse at times, especially in the thick of a fight against numerous monsters, bandits, or even plaguebearers.
The voice acting for the title is handled exceptionally well with Obsidian recruiting a large number of highly talented voice actors to handle the main cast here. Kai will sound just like a certain favorite companion from a familiar sci-fi franchise and other companions are also suitably voiced and it is worth noting that all dialogue in the game is voiced minus the main character.. The player’s character is not voiced, allowing for some of the aforementioned “oddball” dialogue choices to be an option. The background music is no slouch either as Avowed features a solid soundtrack that works well for the theme of the game and its setting.
Overall
Avowed is a surprising RPG that offers some extensive customization and happens to be quite accessible when it comes to the flow of combat once players get the hang of things and its intricate storytelling and well-written companions are wonderful to enjoy. Unfortunately it is a bit lore heavy for newcomers, meaning those jumping right in might feel a bit lost in some elements of Pillars of Eternity lore and both loot and general equipment is quite generic, but even then this does little to dampen the enjoyment of traveling through the colorful but deadly Living Lands and uncovering the mysteries that have woken within them,
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