Avowed hands-on preview — Magical in nature

Obsidian Entertainment is one of the premiere western RPG studios. What might be the funniest thing about the path they’ve followed, however, is how they’ve mimicked the cadence of Bethesda Game Studios. Think about it, we’ve gotten a Fallout game from them, Outer Worlds which, while first, is Starfield-esque, and now Avowed follows in the footsteps of Skyrim. That doesn’t mean they’re copy-pasting though, as the first two have their own unique feel to them that makes them special. Avowed must confront the challenge of easy comparisons ahead of it, but after two hours playing it, I can see the familiar fingerprints of Obsidian shaping it towards its own identity.

Everything starts, of course, with making your character. There are a plethora of options, along with some decent depth to these features, like sliders for adjusting your eye positions or how big your nose is. One unique idea is the godlike features: odd markings or hair that designates your character’s birthright. I appreciate that Obsidian allows you to turn this off, but still have the NPCs react as if you have it on.

Speaking of birthright, you are a bit different than everyone else, touched in the womb by a god which has endowed you with the special features mentioned. While no abilities have come because of it, this designation makes your character noticeable to the king of Aedyr (yes, the one mentioned in Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity series). Becoming an envoy to the empire, you’re sent to the Living Lands to investigate a plague that is ravaging the island, although not without a few bumps along the way. There’s some real interesting lore here I look forward to following.

This voyage is where things really heat up, and where the meat of my several hours of gameplay was found. After sailing towards the Living Lands, a fort fires upon your ship for unknown reasons. Thrown to shore, you awaken to a fellow shipwrecked companion – Garryck – who explains what’s going on as you complete this opening tutorial.

I was immediately struck by the visual fidelity Obsidian has achieved in Avowed. My initial impressions from previous trailers made me think this might still hover closer to The Outer Worlds, but boy, was I wrong. It’s not just the overall sheen, but the detail that’s impressive. Garryck is a short, blue, and furry creature called an Orlan, and each hair stands out as you take him in for the first time. Your first real companion, Kai, is an Aumaua, somewhat of a fish-like humanoid, but his features catch your attention in how intricate his scale pattern is.

Beyond this, I love the choice of a daytime cycle. There’s still a chance we’ll play through the darkness of night – and when I set camp I saw a little bit of it for that portion – but my demo only took place with the sun high in the sky. This led to everything being much brighter, which matches the vibrant setting of the Living Lands. The more vivid palette suits this fantasy world, making it stand out like its older brother, The Outer Worlds. Atmosphere and ambience carries a lot of weight when playing a game and Avowed has them in spades.

Similar to art style, I was concerned with the combat from the first in-depth look we saw. Thankfully, if it ever was a problem, Obsidian has stamped out whatever issues were previously in that build. I did have a few moments where the gameplay was a bit clunky or janky (some of which I cleaned up through adjusting some PC settings), but overall it’s a very smooth experience.

Whereas many first-person melee games don’t feel good, Avowed does. Each weapon has its own heft and feel as you use it. Stabbing with a spear is completely different from bludgeoning an enemy with a mace. It doesn’t feel wild either, with a decent amount of aim assist helping out as you fight. This goes for long range weapons and magic as well, although magic sticks to the nearest enemy – it’s more medium range – while you’ll have to do your job aiming the arrows you’ll fire. Something interesting in this build, I didn’t have to find arrows or ammo when using the long range arsenal. Seems like that’s a feature, not a bug.

The ability to swap between two loadouts is a nice touch in Avowed. Given the amount of weapons you’re sure to come upon, Obsidian has unlocked your capabilities by providing two hands for use. I ran around with a spear in one hand and a grimoire in the other so I could freeze an enemy then stick them like a kabob. If it were better to get a few shots in beforehand, switching over to my bow was as simple as hitting my Y button. Approachability certainly seems to be the dev team’s intent, and it’s working for Avowed.

In Avowed, you aren’t locked into a class. Similar to Skyrim, just pick up whatever weapon you’d like to use and it’s ready for you. The only way to get better with them is to unlock different perks or percentage bonuses from your skill tree, which tends to be more general with these percentages applying to a group of weaponry (like two-handed weapons) instead of directly to a singular blade or club. There are plenty of different passive and active abilities available, alongside multiple classes to work through at your own leisure. You can also reset your allocated points for a small fee, which is appreciated if I wanted to go a different direction after a while.

Traveling around the Dawnshores area I was able to explore in preview, I came across plenty of interesting characters. There’s a ton of dialogue in Obsidian games in general, and it’s great to see Avowed won’t be any different. Where the team excels, however, is the tone, sticking with their more irreverent styling. It’s not as crass as The Outer Worlds, but when you walk up to the first person on the Dawnshores docks after arriving, listen to her spout about “how the envoy never arrived, good riddance”, only to mention who you are and have her drop an F-bomb, it’s clear this is indeed an Obsidian game.

Following the tone, the dialogue is also rich in depth. Not only will your choice of back history open up specific options, but also what you level up. Different interactions will offer different answers and solutions, so simply leveling up intellect isn’t the skeleton key to dialogue. Resolve, an attribute that unlocks better stamina, allowed me to glare silently after the aforementioned interaction on the docks, making things even more awkward. This system adds a lot more life into your conversations, and makes you care to spread your points around for more unique dialogue. When it’s written so well already, more is better.

Venturing into the open-world, there are two specific takeaways. One, the scale of the Living Lands is going to be very similar to The Outer Worlds. Nothing is too large, which makes it easier to fill with worthwhile quests and exploration. I doubt this game will feel padded.

Two, there’s a lot more verticality than I expected, which leads to a lot of fun platforming. There’s a lighthouse to the left of the docks where you begin, and while there isn’t a reason to go there, I went to tour the site in case any treasure was lingering around. To my surprise, there was a very competent climbing section to complete. It’s nothing over the top or revolutionary, but adding this verticality makes you have to consider it when looking to get into different nooks and crannies. I love the intentional design, and I’m looking forward to where it goes in the full game.

While I don’t think Avowed is a basic game by any means, my playtime proves the team has looked to strip away some complexities from the RPG formula. For example, there was no thievery inside any city areas, meaning I could simply walk up and take things. There weren’t many items laying around that felt like I was stealing them though. Stealth feels a bit useless, beyond keeping away from larger packs of enemies or slumbering ones. You can’t attack random, docile wildlife for consumables or the suchlike. There are less pieces of armor with a chest piece, boots, and gloves. Even crafting is only done in your campsite, with an inventory of items that seems sparse in comparison to other RPGs. Simplification is the word I’d best describe this approach, and while I think it’s great, players looking for more elaborate systems might be disappointed.

Considering I wasn’t completely sold on Avowed at first, it’s almost surprising how sad I was for my time in the Living Lands to end. Things were just starting to come alive in the narrative, the combat, and my understanding of the mechanics. To say I’m hungry for more of Avowed is an understatement. The world is captivating and the gameplay loop is engaging, with stimulating dialogue that only Obsidian seems to have a finger on. There’s something magical about Avowed that pulls you in, and if it can stay this compelling for the duration of its campaign, this is a clear cut Game of the Year contender in 2025. Don’t sleep on Avowed, which arrives on Xbox Series consoles and PC on February 18th.

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