Avowed review: Obsidian’s latest is a solid, entertaining ARPG that neatly fills a gap

Avowed may not be the next groundbreaking evolution of the action RPG genre, but when it’s this entertaining it really doesn’t have to be.

With The Elder Scrolls 6 still likely many years away and Fable’s ‘2025’ release window looking worryingly vague, Xbox-owning fantasy action RPG fans are placing their hopes on Obsidian‘s Avowed for the time being.

It’s not just the fans who’ve been keeping their fingers crossed that Avowed is great. Following the critical acclaim received by Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and with South of Midnight and Doom: The Dark Ages on the way soon, Microsoft will also be hoping that Obsidian’s latest offering is the next link in a chain of high-quality titles, something it’s been missing for a while.

Thankfully, Avowed is just that. While it doesn’t necessarily push the genre in a new direction, it’s nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable action RPG with a flexible combat system and engaging dialogue. And although it takes place on Eora – the same world as the Pillars of Eternity series – zero prior knowledge of those games is required to play Avowed. Indeed, Eora itself is barely mentioned, with the game’s setting focused specifically on a region unique to Avowed called the Living Lands.

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As the name suggests, the Living Lands is an area defined not only by its oddly fertile soil, but also the wide array of unusual plants and creatures that populate it. When an unexplained plague called the Dreamscourge arrives, it wreaks havoc on the Living Lands, affecting the animals, plants, and people living there.

On top of this, even without the rather large matter of a plague mucking things up, the Living Lands is already a fairly dangerous place to live, not least because a bunch of different factions all want to stake their claim on the area, in particular the rather aggressive Adeyr Empire.

The player’s character is an Adeyran Envoy, sent by the Emperor to head to the Living Lands to investigate the Dreamscourge and figure out what’s going on. Naturally, this quest quickly grows arms and legs, and the envoy finds themselves having to deal with a bunch of other issues, not least the mystery of their own powers.

The Envoy is a godlike, which means their soul was blessed with a god before they were born, giving them special powers and some sort of physical growth on their skin (be that feathers, horns or what have you). Whereas most godlikes know which god they represent, however, the Envoy has no idea, and if you don’t think that’s going to form a large part of the game’s plot then you must be new to how this all works.

Character creation is far from the most detailed ever seen in the genre but it’s thorough enough to get the job done. You can also decide which godlike growth can be seen on your face – in a nice touch, if you’re a stickler for your character’s appearance you can choose to have no godlike features, but the game notes that NPCs will still react to you as if you have them, for the sake of the plot.

To be fair to it, this is one of the few instances in Avowed in which the plot is non-negotiable. There are numerous moments throughout the game where you’re given decisions to make which have a genuine impact on the way certain factions in the Living Lands will react to you.

These aren’t always simple “which person would you rather accompany you on your quest” decisions (though those are in there too). Sometimes lives can be lost as a result of your choices, and it’s certainly not a nice feeling to make your way through an eerily quiet town that’s reeling from the consequences of your actions and is fully aware you’re to blame.

“Sometimes lives can be lost as a result of your choices, and it’s certainly not a nice feeling to make your way through an eerily quiet town that’s reeling from the consequences of your actions and is fully aware you’re to blame.”

The decisions you make are also reflected in some of the dialogue. Your companions each have their own views on each choice, and will speak to you afterwards with either a positive or negative reaction. Players also get a funny little feeling of notoriety when they head to a new town, and someone brings up a decision they made 10 hours ago, asking if the stories are true. News spreads fast around these parts, it seems.

Given the nature of the genre, there’s, of course, plenty of (fully voiced) dialogue here, and it’s solid enough for the most part. While most of the discussions are serious business, there are a decent helping of lighter moments, too, and the dialogue options available to you (some of which are unlocked if you have certain stats or chose a certain backstory at the start) can be quite entertaining.

Obsidian can’t resist slipping into full-on fantasy gibberish at times, however, with some characters firing out place names and terms that have no bearing on the actual plot just to create some extra ‘lore’. Sample dialogue: “Look at the Siege of Cragholdt! And that was just so that Llengrath could try and show up Concelhaut.” I had no idea who any of them were, and it turns out I didn’t have to know.

That said, those who do actually want to steep themselves in the game’s lore are spoilt for choice. Any time a character mentions a term like the ones above (or terms that are actually related to the plot for that matter), they’re highlighted in blue. The player can then bring up a sub-menu mid-conversation to get a glossary explaining what’s just been said.

Conversations aside, there must have been an explosion at a paper factory in the Living Lands at some point, because you’ll find handwritten notes, excerpts from books and all manner of other text-based collectibles in almost every indoor location in the game (and some outdoor ones too). In short, there’s a hell of a lot of reading and listening in this game, should you be the sort of person who’s into that sort of thing.

And if you’re not? Don’t worry. The game’s main plot, while hardly a Pixar movie, is at least straightforward enough that it’s easy to keep track of all the villains and heroes of the piece and be confident that each time you’re met with another important decision, you at least have all the information you need to make it. Avowed does a great job of letting the player decide whether to swim through its story or simply wade in it, ensuring those who opt for the latter don’t feel like they’re missing out.

“While the main quest can be beaten in around 25-30 hours we’d strongly recommend taking the time to slowly work your way through each area, taking on all the side quests you can, in order to get the most out of the game, because they’re often the most entertaining parts.”

That said, as with many open-world action RPGs, the majority of Avowed’s gameplay is found outside of its main story and in the numerous side quests and bounties that can be taken on. While the main quest can be beaten in around 25-30 hours, we’d strongly recommend taking the time to slowly work your way through each area, taking on all the side quests you can, in order to get the most out of the game, because they’re often the most entertaining parts.

The main reason for this is that – while avoiding spoilers – there’s no post-game in Avowed. At one key point in the game, a message pops up informing the player that once they enter the next area, they can’t go back: this doesn’t just go for that section, it goes for the whole game. If you see that message and you’ve got side-quests you still want to take on, go and do them (or at least create a spare save) because after that point they’re gone for good.

Why take on side quests if the game’s not fun to play, however? What about the combat? Thankfully, as much as we’re all for having a lovely chat with NPCs about every topic under the sun, it’s the actual adventuring and battling that makes Avowed a treat to play.

Each of the maps that make up the Living Lands are enormous, with vast terrain covering a variety of diverse biomes. As with the side quests, it’s possible to play through the game without seeing the vast majority of the land, which is another reason why I encourage the player to take their time and enjoy as much of the game’s content as possible before moving on to the next part of the main story.

Combat is also a joy, mainly because of how customizable it is. Players can assign weapons and shields to their two hands, and can set up two separate loadouts that can be swapped between at any time with a tap of the Y button. While you can set up your stats and skill tree in a way that supports a specific type of fighter – a close-quarters warrior, a long-range specialist, a magic-wielding wizard, for example – this doesn’t restrict you from using any of the weapons in the game.

As such, you may choose to have one layout that gives you a dagger and shield for speedy melee combat, which can then be swapped out for a bow and arrow to attack from a distance. Or, if you want to be even quicker and don’t want the swapping animation, you can forgo the protection a shield gives you and equip a weapon in each hand instead.

“It’s perfectly possible to have a grimoire in your left hand and a mace in your right hand, meaning you can cast spells on your enemies then run up and bop them on the head as they’re recovering.”

It’s perfectly possible to have a grimoire in your left hand and a mace in your right hand, meaning you can cast spells on your enemies and then run up and bop them on the head as they’re recovering. Or swap between a pistol and a spear, using a specific ability in the skill tree that automatically reloads the pistol while you’re using your other weapon.

By the end of the game, I’d decided that subtlety wasn’t my strong point so I settled for an arquebus (a massive rifle that takes ages to reload) to pick off enemies from a distance, switching to a giant Conan-like two-handed sword when they got near. Then I made sure my skill tree and stats favoured speed, recovery and defence abilities to make up for the fact that neither weapon allowed for a shield.

In one sense, Avowed doesn’t do anything that veterans of the genre haven’t seen before. It’s also easy to nitpick at some of its smaller issues – the floaty animations in its optional third-person viewpoint (which I preferred regardless), the lack of arachnophobia mode for people who may need it (and you will), the way it’s sometimes hard to quickly pick up items because you have to point your tiny crosshair right at them instead of just standing near them.

By and large, though, while its themes and tropes are hardly unique – if you were to call it a fantasy version of The Outer Worlds you wouldn’t be a million miles off – what it does is to a high standard, meaning we were still keen for more as the credits rolled – quite literally, given that our side quests were now all locked off.

Players looking to make their way through the main story will get an entertaining 25-30-hour adventure with some endearing companion characters and enjoyable dialogue (even if it can feel a bit ‘pulling random fantasy-sounding names out of an orifice’ at times).

Those who take the time with it, however, and work their way through the side quests as they appear, only moving to the next area once they’ve seen all they can, will easily see that time more than double, maybe treble, as they explore every nook and cranny of each wonderfully designed map while carrying out some of the game’s more off-kilter, quirkier missions.

However you decide it’s best to play Avowed, we’d certainly recommend you play it regardless. It may not reinvent The Wheel – trust me, you’ll soon discover that’s a great reference – but very little about it is presented to anything other than a high standard. Whether it takes you 25 hours or 100 hours to reach the credits, as they roll you’ll agree it was time well spent.