Avowed Review – OBSIDIAN’S GREATEST?!

With all the recent buzz of Xbox rolling over several select titles to the salivating Sony Ponies, Team Green still has a few dark horses left in the tank. Avowed certainly fits the bill, but is it one of Xbox and Obsidian’s last—and best—major exclusives? That’s what we’re here to find out.

Axe Meets Wand

For a game that’s meant to be played as an action-based, first-person fantasy RPG, one of the most surprising features of Avowed is how easily the game lets you shift from first to third-person camera in real time. By just holding down the right stick or pressing the letter U on a keyboard, you can easily swap back and forth between the two perspectives. While the third-person animations look a little… stiff, I found it much easier to manage the battlefield, especially when hordes of skeletons, lizards and literal sleep paralysis demons started scootin’ towards me. Spookeh!

For its roughly 15-20 hour main campaign, the enemy variety and combat were just diverse enough that it didn’t start to feel like Groundhog Day. Considering the simple swings, strikes, charge attacks, throwables and an adequate amount of spells on offer, I still had a blast switching between different weapon types and picking my chosen three party members’ abilities the whole way through. Even though you can’t change your two teammates’ battle behaviours, they did a decent enough job of culling the crowds and taking the pressure off our poor silent protag’s shoulders.

I also loved how Avowed lets you link together all sorts of weapon load-outs like an axe and gun, or a greatsword primary and wand secondary, and routinely dish out some big boy numbers; swapping both loadouts on the fly. Regardless of your character’s chosen background or the stats you upgrade: might, dexterity, intellect and so on, you’ll still be able to experiment with a range of different combinations and have access to all of the game’s unlockable abilities. For example, you could summon a ring of fire around yourself and casually block with a sword until your opponents burn up like a completely unaware lobster. It’s all up to you. I just wish there was a little bit more to it. Though as I said before, the combat is very entertaining; being quite challenging on the higher difficulty levels.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

On that note: if you move from one main mission to the next on Hard or Very Hard, you’re going to find yourself dealing less damage and taking more over time. Due to the way equipment is classed into five tiers, the general enemy behaviour makes it pretty tricky to keep up without grinding or picking up a side quest or two. Fortunately, the optional content is definitely worth seeking out. From bounty hunting to extensive dungeon diving, there’s an ample amount of side hustles to dive into. 

As you trek through Avowed’s visually striking fantasy dungeons, you’ll kit yourself up with quality gear and witness some silly misadventures as well. Players will find trap-infested bases, nerve-wracking platforming segments and maybe even a religious fanatic that has… loose morals, to say the least.

The world of Avowed is constructed in a way that encourages exploration, and it’s one of the biggest assets that keeps this game so captivating. However, moving through major towns and cities in the PC version dramatically dropped my frame rate from 60FPS, all the way down to the 40s and 30s. Coupled with some shoddy textures and straight-up frame hangs right after fast-travelling or loading into new zones, and these technical issues really yanked me to South America and back.

Bam! And My Good Memories Are Gone!

The music wasn’t doing this game any favours either. Most of the soundtrack is just a bunch of long, drawn-out strings, with melodies that are as generic as it gets. Honestly, for most of the games we review, the OST is usually a highlight. Yet when it comes to Avowed, it was anything but.

The story suffers from a similar problem as well. Think of the most basic plot you can fathom about corruption spreading across a land, with a mysterious voice that only speaks to our super special, not-so-awesome main character—and that’s Avowed in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen. Nothing here is new, nor does it push the envelope in any meaningful way.

That being said, the voice-acting is solid and the character writing between teammates and the various NPCs of the world is rich and lengthy—in a good way. Albeit, I could not care less about any of the fluffy fantasy jargon that’s thrown around the main plot. It tries way too hard to be majestic and mysterious but just comes across as daft trite more than anything.

Decision

Should this game be considered one of Obsidian’s flagship titles? Well, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of debate online, that’s for certain. But from my perspective, Avowed is an alluring action RPG, perfect for a weekend-long sesh. Even though its main story is full of boring nonsense, and the frame rate drops like a bunch of rocks in major cities, its addictive combat, varied weapon combinations and heavy emphasis on exploration and strong side content make it tough to put down. Avowed might not be the most epic RPG you’ve ever played, but since it’s on Game Pass, you’d be the silliest of Billies to not give it a shot.

By Anthony Culinas – Reviewed on PC

Great

Avowed delivers satisfying combat, engaging exploration and fun weapon-switching combinations, making it an enjoyable action RPG despite its generic story, weak soundtrack and frustrating technical issues. Whether this is Obsidian’s greatest is debatable, but its strong side content and Game Pass availability make it at least worth a playthrough.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Microsoft. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.