Obsidian Entertainment is well known for their deep and impactful RPGs over the years. Starting off withStar Wars Knight of the Old Republic II, they made quite the first impression and went on to be known for creating sequels to games that outshined their predecessors. Over the last decade, they have been exploring more new IPs such asPillars of Eternity,The Outer WorldsandGroundedto varying success, but their latest entry,Avowed, looks to turn everything on their heads. Going back to the roots of traditional RPGs, canAvowedlive up to the studio’s stellar reputation?
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Lore Master
The story ofAvowedtakes place in a fictional world where the player shapes their own backstory as a Godlike, a being that has been blessed by the gods themselves. There are a couple of these types of Godlikes you will run across on your journey, but for the most part, they are rare entities that people are not used to, and they’ll express as much due to your appearance. Because of this, you’re in a unique situation where you’re not some run-of-the-mill character starting off from nothing and working their way up to an important status; you’re an envoy for the Emperor himself, so people already have a degree of respect or recognition towards your presence.
We travel to the Living Lands, a plagued island that the empire you are a part of that wants full control over, but to do that, they need to find a cure for the Dreamscourge. This is a borderline invisible virus that devolves people and animals' minds into madness, essentially turning them into a zombie not too dissimilar to the infected in The Last of Us. And similar to a zombie flick, the deadliest part of the world are the inhabitants instead of the infected, as there are numerous factions fighting for control, along with the various conspiracies and plotting behind everyone’s backs. There’s a lot of political intrigue where choosing allegiances wisely is not an easy decision, because no matter what’s done, they’ll always come back to bite you in the butt.
The lore of the world is immense and can fill encyclopedias with just how much that can be dug into. Throughout dialogue choices, you can pause a conversation and look into the lore of a specific phrase or deity someone has mentioned, because for the most part, the game treats it as if you should know all of this information already. It’s similar to Final Fantasy XVI’s Active Time Lore where it will give a brief explanation of what the word means and how it relates to the world itself. This is a smart way of handling the immense amount of loreAvowedhas, as it’s better to study than long, seemingly out-of-place explanations by characters.
Consequences of Actions
Avowed feels like a traditional RPG with consequences for your actions. While most modern games feel like your actions don’t actually hold a lot of weight nowadays, or only make minor adjustments to the story,Avowedhas significant ramifications for what you do in the story or what you fail to do. For example, there’s a side quest in the second area that, from the outside, looks like a standard off-the-beaten-path quest. Little did we know, participation or lack thereof in this side quest can level cities, literally. The fate of an entire hub area is weighed on what’s decided, as depending on the choice in the matter, the outcome is entirely different. Then there are smaller things, such as avoiding a boss battle if none of the hostile forces in the area are slain, because as we learn later on, they’re not necessarily enemies, but creatures living their lives.
While the story has an impressive setup that can be shaped and molded into how you see fit, the pacing is off. While we appreciate how this isn’t purely an open world, but large segmented areas, how it’s handled leaves a little to be desired. Each area is short when considering how few main story quests there are, with the bulk of the content being centered around the optional side quests.
It’s hard to critical pathAvowedpurely because it almost forces exploration in the vast areas before doing anything. When relocating to a new location, most of the new main story quests are on a much higher difficulty. That’s not to say you won’t be able to do them and continue the story, but it’s significantly more challenging. In order to reduce the difficulty, you’ll need to go out into the wilderness, collect materials and participate in the vast majority of side quests in order to level up and upgrade equipment. Role-playing games always require a bit of grinding, but it’s how this is paced where it feels like it needs to be done as soon as entering the new area.
…Avowedhas some significant ramifications for what you do in the story, or what you fail to do.
Choosing Your Poison
Combat feels gratifying due to its highly-varied options. While there are only six different attributes that points can be put into, you’re never locked out of any play style. If you want to wield a great sword, you can do so. If you want to go glass cannon, you can go down that path. There are no restrictions to how you play, relying heavily on your skill over anything else. Best yet, respecing is a simple button press in the menu for a small fee, meaning experimentation is highly encouraged with few consequences. Because of this and the various branching paths through dialogue options,Avowedbecomes immensely replayable.
With that said, while combat is fun, it can also be finicky. Dodging can be frustrating at times because not only does geometry consistently get in the way, but enemies have a tendency to jump across the map in order to hit you. Their range when attacking can not only be comical, but downright annoying, which leads to mistimed dodges or parries. At the very least, magic looks and feels good, and unique weapons give combat an extra layer of strategy.
Closing Comments:
Avowedtook us by surprise. While Obsidian Entertainment has an exceptional track record, they were somehow able to exceed expectations. This is a traditional RPG through and through, with highly-consequential decision-making that can literally level cities and a massively-diverse combat system that encourages experimentation. With that said, it’s not perfect, as while the story does have compelling components, the pacing is a bit off, with a stronger focus on essentially forcing the player to do side quests and explore the world before continuing. The combat also suffers from issues when it comes to dodging and enemy gap closing, causing frustration in heated battles. Regardless,Avowedends up on top, being a highly engaging 50+ hour RPG that’s well worth your time.
Version Reviewed: PC
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