Avowed Review - Instant Classic
AVOWED RPG GAME REVIEW
As much as the Dreamscourge infected The Living Lands, so did Avowed infect my subconscious, as I couldn’t stop thinking about it when I wasn’t playing it and kept thinking about it long after credits rolled. While Avowed isn’t a revolution for the genre, it’s still a magical RPG experience with minuscule problems.
While playing Avowed, I was reminded of the quote from The Office “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good ol’ days, before you’ve actually left them” because Avowed is special and experiences on this level, where everything clicks is becoming a rarity. Avowed is the good ol’ days, and it’s an experience that deserves to be savoured
THE FOUNDATIONS
The checklist for the essential elements of what makes a good RPG can be lengthy, but to become elevated above the competition, three areas that need excellent execution: The writing, the world and the combat.
Before you even take your first footstep on The Living Lands, you’re given the choice to select your origin story that will become the foundation of your decisions for the next 40-50 hours, as you put yourself in the shoes of the godlike. Each of the five backgrounds range from scholar to war hero and will provide unique dialogue options throughout. Freedom will come up a lot, but these backgrounds are less about locking yourself into a class and more about establishing your place in the universe.
You are a godlike, which is a gift and a curse at the same time and you are sent to The Living Lands to help cure the spreading plague known as the Dreamscourge. The overarching plot begins fairly simple, but then it quickly becomes intertwined with an assassination attempt on your life, a voice inside that has become attached to your soul as well deeper meanings including good vs evil and classism complete with pivotal moments where you will have to make hard decisions about where your allegiance lies.
The writing in Avowed is a highlight. The dialogue always feels natural, conversational and at times effortlessly funny. All of the characters, both allies and major adversaries, are very memorable. The overall plot is evocative as you feel attached to the struggles of your fellowship. If you are new to the lands of Eora like myself, which is the same universe in Obsidians other RPG “Pillars of Eternity”, fret not because during dialogue, there is always the option of a glossary, which can help you stay afloat when the intricacies become heavy and complex.
THE LIVING LANDS
Most RPG’s live and die by their world and whether or not it has the ability to transport you to another universe. Obsidian, who have been making RPG’s for decades have outdone themselves with an exquisite world that is full of varied environments that are stunning, vast, and full of opportunity. The Living Lands are vibrant, unique and dangerous all at the same time. The world around you is constantly changing as you move from area to area. Without spoiling anything, Avowed checks off all of the high fantasy settings that you would expect with flawless execution. What separates Avowed is the unique art style full of vibrant explosions of color all around the world, whether that is a giant adra crystal far off in the distant desert drylands or the bioluminescent plants in the underground caves. The art style and your adventure go hand in hand as your interest is always piqued as you feel the need to investigate.
While The Living Lands in Avowed isn’t a true “open world” game, it’s not detrimental because more importantly each open area is packed with player engagement. In addition to all of the main quests, side quests and general secrets to discover, each area has a unique memory to find, which unlocks a rare skill, bounties to track, fast travel beacons to unlock, pargrun caches to plunder, party camps to rest at and strangled adra to set free.
The size and amount of things to do in each area quickly makes you forget that Avowed isn’t open world as you could easily spend 20-25 hours in each area as every inch begs to be explored. I completed Avowed in around 35 hours, barely doing any side quests, with minor exploration and on the standard difficulty, but you could easily sink over 100 hours into Avowed on your first pass.
The Living Lands feels authentically high fantasy reminiscent of something you would find flipping the pages of a Tolkien book and not designed for a game in the 2020’s.
It wouldn’t be an RPG without plenty of treasure to plunder. There is an abundance of loot to find in Avowed, but it always feels earned and rewarding because not all chests are unlocked and the economy, both crafting and currency is well balanced. Deciding to purchase or upgrade an item was always a tough choice as there was never enough money or resources to do everything you wanted. It makes the moments when you find a unique item very special. I never forgot where I found an ancient Xaurup club made from the skull of a great Xaurup warrior.
COMBAT
Where Avowed breaks away from RPG status quo is within combat and the freedom surrounding it. Avowed might start by staying faithful to the three archetypical classes of a true RPG: The Ranger, The Wizard and The Warrior, but the freedom is quickly offered to you with the sheer amount of weapon types that can be equipped. These range from melee based weapons like sword, two handed sword, daggers, axes to ranged weapons like bows, pistols, rifles and then finally also the inclusion of magic based weapons like wands and grimoire books.
In addition to what you equip, you also have the ability to mix and match almost anything in each hand, but you also are given two main load outs that are located on a hot swap button. There are also pretty sizeable skill trees for each of the three classes, but Avowed actually allows you to utilize all three skill trees.
Paramount to the freedom is that combat feels good. Hitting a Xaurup with a dagger will inflict minor damage, but hitting him with a giant hammer will send that lizard flying. Combat in many RPG’s quickly loses it’s steam if your character quickly becomes a god and combat becomes a breeze, but on standard difficulty, there was a lot of dying and times where you need to approach large encounters differently.
When you combine the weapon types, the two load outs, and the ability to select from all three skill trees that are filled with an absurd amount of skills and passives, it ensures that everyone will have a bespoke experience.
Finally, the UI during combat might initially feel out of place or appear a little clunky, but the good news is that once you learn how to adapt to it, you get into a rhythm and by the end of your journey, it becomes second nature.
EXTRA GOODIES
In addition to the core fundamentals, there are plenty of ancillary elements that help the experience shine. For starters, there is an abundance of accessibility features, quality of life inclusions and ways to tailor the adventure. You have the option to play in either first or third person. I choose first person, because that is how Obsidian envisioned Avowed from the beginning. There are damage numbers that feel somewhat out of place, but they can be turned off. Furthermore, when it comes to quality of life features, there is an encumbrance system, but at any point, detrimental to immersion, you can break down items or send them to you stash, which is located at your designated campsite areas.
CRITICISMS
Obsidian sets a high bar for itself that many of the criticisms come from the expectations they created. Avowed offered a high level that it felt jarring when something was overlooked. As someone who pursued a Wizard path, it was shocking that there wasn’t the ability to create your own grimoire from the 30 ish spells you discover during your travels. Wizard loot also felt in short supply, as loot felt a little more skewed towards every other build. It also felt like a missed opportunity not to have armor set bonuses, especially since Avowed is filled with exotic loot, complete with an interesting lore excerpt and a unique perk to unlock.
Avowed was very immersive, but when you go into someone's house and steal all of their food of their dinner table, empty their treasure box and steal their life savings without any reaction from them feels unrealistic. There were also a few loading screens that hampered the immersive experience. Avowed is a massive game with details crammed in every corner and loading between these huge open areas was more than justifiable. Each open area has plenty of secret dungeons to discover and unfortunately some include a loading screen. This breaks immersion because you are forced to think if you want to explore and endure the loading.
Finally, in combat, allies can become a slight nuisance at times. To begin with, they have a tendency to be reckless and will typically charge in as you try to survey the situation first. Furthermore, when they go down in the battle they should make better callouts that they are down and need help. They callout enemy direction during battle and making a callout they have been downed would be great. Finally, during hectic battles, when they become incapacitated, they can be hard to find with all of the mobs and elemental damage happening on screen.
INSTANT CLASSIC
Avowed isn’t doing anything revolutionary, but it just does everything a little bit better. Avowed is a highly distilled and polished RPG that is virtually bug free, which is impressive for a game this size, this scope, that looks, sounds and plays this good.
There isn’t a moment wasted in Avowed. From choosing your character background in the first few minutes to constantly finding new points of interest, traveling to new areas in The Living Lands and meeting plenty of memorable characters along the way. Everything has purpose. Most importantly, Avowed gives the player freedom to approach the adventure how they want.
Avowed feels like an instant classic. A game that I will look back on with fond memories and an RPG that people will bring up when discussing Obsidians best games.