Avowed is a first-person fantasy RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. Releasing February 13 in early access and February 18 for everyone else, this incredible game plunges us into Eora’s rich and immersive world, previously explored in the Pillars of Eternity series.
Obsidian’s been at the forefront of its craft for years now. With every new game the Irvine-based studio delivers, it delivers something extraordinary. They’ve been the maestro behind hits like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Fallout: New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, The Outer Worlds, and many other games you’ve played.
Anything Goes In The Living Lands
Avowed’s breathtaking art direction pulls you right in from the very first moments. The landscapes of the Living Lands, a mysterious island where the adventure unfolds, are spectacular. While the Pillars of Eternity games previously showed players the area circling Defiance Bay and then the Deadfire Archipelago, it is the Living Lands, an area found in the north of the Aedryn empire, which I found to be the most forested, with arid deserts, winding caves, and verdant valleys creating a diverse world. Every environment is crafted with care, making exploration both rewarding and exciting. From the earliest moments of finding yourself shipwrecked on the coast to the port city of Paradis to the Emerald Stair, there is not one place you won’t find something catching your eye. Without a doubt, this is Obsidian’s most gorgeous world brought to life yet, and it’s hard to find one thing I did not like about it.
Let not that lawless continent’s sullen, wild people continue to suffer.
Avowed’s controls are intuitive and highly responsive, allowing players to adapt quickly. Whether you wield a sword, cast spells, or use firearms, the combat mechanics feel fluid and dynamic.
The ability to switch between different combat styles on the fly (dual-wielding weapons, shields, spellcasting, etc.) adds a layer of strategic depth that makes each battle engaging.
The combat system is easily one of my favourite aspects of Avowed, especially with the build I’ve crafted. I play as a battle-mage hybrid, switching between melee and devastating magic. On the one hand, I wield a flaming sword and a frost axe, allowing me to adapt my attacks based on enemy resistance. When I need to be more defensive, I bring out my shield to block and counter, but I also love swapping to a grimoire packed with powerful spells or a wand for ranged attacks when I want to keep more control over the battlefield.
What I enjoy the most is levelling up my Mage skill tree to make my spells devastating. I can unleash chains of lightning that jump between enemies or summon a rain of ice shards to freeze them in place before finishing them off in close combat. This combo lets me weaken my targets from a distance before closing in to deliver the final blow with my enchanted weapons.
Of course, to keep all this running smoothly, I always make sure to have plenty of essence potions on hand. I also pay close attention to my gear as I wear armour that’s sturdy enough to absorb some hits but not so heavy that it slows me down. Mobility is key to dodging attacks and ensuring my spellcasting remains quick and uninterrupted. The fluidity of combat and the variety of strategies make every fight incredibly satisfying!
A Captivating Story With Meaningful Choices
Avowed delivers a gripping narrative that blends war, intrigue, and ancient mysteries. As an emissary of the Aedyr Empire in 2831, your mission is to investigate a strange affliction known as the Dream Scourge. While locals are wary of imperial influence, Inquisitor Lödwyn of The Steel Garrote believes the plague is linked to deeper chaos and urges you to restore order.
Meanwhile, Giatta sees the chaos as essential to the island’s identity and urges you to embrace and protect it. You face three choices: end the Dreamscourge, tame its chaos, or become the land’s protector. As a godlike with a mysterious divine connection, you uncover ancient secrets threatening the island and your soul. Shortly after Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, the story explores political intrigue, conflicting factions, and metaphysical themes of gods and souls.
While wandering in Avowed, I met some companions, but two of them stood out. The first was Kai. While speaking with him a few times, especially at our campsite, I learned that Kai was a soldier in the Rauataian Navy fighting in the Deadfire Archipelago campaign before landing in the Living Lands. But he eventually had enough and deserted. After a while, Kai grew restless and wandered through the region, craving a fresh start. He ultimately found himself in Paradis, where he worked as a mercenary for six years before meeting me.
My other favourite companion was Yatzli, a lively, quirky, and flirtatious wizard fascinated by Godless and their artifacts. You’ll first meet Yatzli in Emerald Stair, just outside Fior, where she’s battling a swarm of sporelings.
Your choices shape your destiny: forge powerful alliances or ignite deadly rivalries. Every decision has a tangible impact on the world and how companions perceive you. This is undoubtedly one of the most amazing parts of Avowed.
However, one major flaw taints this immersive experience: the lack of voice-over in some languages. While the text is translated, not being fully voiced in most languages diminishes immersion, particularly in emotional, dialogue-heavy moments. For example, I tend to play video games in French, as I am from Quebec, and most of my reviews have to be in French, and French voice-over is unavailable.
So, all we have are discussions with only labial movements, and we see the conversation in a textbox at the bottom of the screen. When you have a character following you who speaks and has some narrative impact, I sometimes miss conversations because I am more focused on finding loot and secret areas instead of reading what’s on screen.
The Living Lands—Where Nothing Is Certain
One of Avowed’s greatest strengths is the freedom it offers players. You can go from point A to point B right from the start or wander around, complete a few sidequests, find hidden treasures, and end up on your first quest, already geared up and levelled.
You can be a valiant hero, a ruthless antagonist, or something in between. But be warned! The world is filled with complex characters with hidden agendas, and it’s all too easy to be manipulated or deceived by those you thought you could trust.
A standout moment in my journey was meeting an Oracle. At first glance, he appeared wise and benevolent, his words full of insight. But the more we talked, the more doubt crept in. Who was he? And, more importantly, had I made a mistake in trusting him?
Throughout your adventure, a mysterious voice occasionally echoes in your mind. It guides you toward the Adra, a mystical substance with enigmatic properties, adding an extra layer of supernatural intrigue to the journey—this and finding some weird echoes of memories of the past.
Deep and Rewarding Character Progression
Expansive skill trees allow you to customize your play style. Want to be a fearless warrior, a powerful mage, or a mix of both? Avowed gives you that freedom. While you won’t get the depth The Pillars of Eternity offers you with its skill tress, what Avowed does is commendable.
Abilities are unlocked by spending points earned through levelling up. Each class has unique skills available at levels 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20. For example, the Fighter’s Charge ability is unlocked at Level 1. As you level up, new skills and their upgrades become accessible at higher levels.
Abilities have a progression system with multiple ranks, starting at Rank 1 for the basic function. You must reach the required level and unlock the previous rank to upgrade your ability. For example, Rank 2 unlocks at Level 5 once Rank 1 is obtained, or some Wizard spells are unlocked permanently if you have unlocked the grimoire’s ability, found a grimoire that contains these spells and put a point in that spell in the skill tree.
Active abilities require Essence to use, like Charge, which costs 20 Essence per use. Essence is limited, so managing it is crucial in combat, but some enemies drop Essence when defeated, making it manageable. Abilities also have cooldowns, preventing continuous use and requiring a wait before they can be activated again.
You have four main skill trees to pick skills from — Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, and Godlike. Skills like Tanglefoot are pulled right from Pillars of Eternity and tangle enemies in vines. The Fighter call features early skills like Charge, a dash forward that sends enemies flying and disrupts them, and Wizard features Chill Blades, which sends blades of ice at enemies. Every skill comes with three ranks and levels up with you. You can even manage your companion’s skills since they have their own abilities.
Abilities will be used in the environment as well. Charge may help you break walls, Chill Blades will freeze rusty doors for you to break them, and Fan of Flames allows you to burn down lumps and spider webs to earn access to some unknown areas.
Combat is intense and dynamic, requiring both strategy and quick thinking. The sheer variety of enemies and combat scenarios keeps things fresh and challenging.
Crafting: A Feature-Rich System for Ultimate Immersion
Crafting plays a significant role in Avowed. Players can forge weapons and armour, brew potions, create enchantments, and cook meals to enhance their abilities. You can find decent recipes to help you. May it heal you, fill your essence gauge, boost your attack, essence power and defence for a specific period, give you extra heal points or essence points and more. And, believe me, you will find these meals helpful!
You can upgrade unique weapons by enchanting them. This either boosts the weapon’s main effect or adds new abilities, depending on the weapon. For example, I had an axe with an ice damage enchantment, and I could choose between two exclusive enchantments, which would replace the original effect. Of course, to enchant a weapon, you’ll need specific materials and some currency, which are used up when you apply the enchantment. The exact recipe is used for both enchantment options.
Equipment (weapons and armour) has five qualities: Common, Fine, Exceptional, Superb, and Legendary. Each quality has a base level and three upgrade tiers, shown as “Common +1/3” for a common weapon with one upgrade.
You can upgrade two types of items:
- Normal items: Fixed quality that can be upgraded three times within that quality.
- Unique items: Can be improved to the next tier.
Upgrades boost the same stats across all equipment types. For example, each Common Light Armor upgrade adds +1 Damage Reduction. The only exception is Common +0/1, which has no stat boost.
Upgrading needs specific materials and currency copper Skeyts. Materials match the item type; for example, you’ll need metal to upgrade a plate armour. Higher-quality items need rarer materials, and two-handed weapons cost double. When upgrading within a quality, material needs increase steadily. Unique items, like Adra, require special materials to increase their quality. You can salvage some materials by breaking down upgraded items, not the currency spent.
Gathering resources and uncovering recipes add an extra incentive to explore, rewarding those who take the time to scour every corner of the world.
After more than 30 hours of gameplay, I still feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Eora has to offer. I intend to complete at least one more playthrough as another character and see what other choices lead to. There’s a lot of content you’ll gloss over the first time, so having an additional playthrough seems ideal.
With side quests, hidden artifacts, and countless secrets, the game constantly pushes you to venture further. Every corner of the world holds new surprises, making each play session a unique and unforgettable experience.
Verdict
Avowed kicks off 2025 with a bang, delivering an epic RPG experience. It already stands as one of the year’s defining titles. I’ve spent much time exploring The Living Lands and am having difficulty pulling away from its enthralling call. The world, the lore, and the people are some of the most thoughtful creations I’ve encountered, and they show how much detail and care went into creating this world.
Obsidian Entertainment has crafted a masterpiece; every RPG fan owes it to themselves to play Avowed. With a breathtaking world filled with wondrous sights, incredible companions, thrilling combat, intricate customization and deep systems, you’ll come back to The Living Lands time and time again to find something new.
[The publisher provided a copy of the game for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PC
This is the only game you’ve given a 10 to. Is it really the best game you’ve ever reviewed?