Avowed is a game I have had my eyes on for four years now, even before I set eyes on any gameplay. Obsidian Entertainment and Xbox Game Studios always manage to pull me in, and with a game that looked very Skyrim adjacent, I couldn’t help but hope it would tide me over until Elder Scrolls VI. The good news? I was right. Avowed has all the makings of a great Elder Scrolls, but it does just enough to make it its own game, even if many of the similarities are glaring nods to my favourite franchise.
The plot in Avowed is mysterious by nature, and saying too much would do a disservice to the game’s story. The basics are that you wash up on shore and are quickly swept into chaos. A mysterious illness plagues the land, causing gorgeous but eerie mushrooms to grow out of people—it looks cooler than it sounds—as they descend into madness, usually attacking anything in sight.
What makes this even more interesting is that you are something called a Godlike, which is also shrouded in mystery, and you learn more as the story unfolds. Essentially, you are touched by a god, and Godlikes are marked by their respective gods. The physical features are shockingly similar to those of the afflicted, leading to interesting interactions throughout the game.
“Everything you see in Avowed is enveloped in beauty.”
Your first step into The Living Lands puts you in the character creator, and I will be honest—this is not my favourite. Something about the premade characters, and even those you create yourself, feels off. This is even more evident when you jump into the game and your character seems underdeveloped next to some truly stunning character models.
As mentioned, there are physical features that go into being a Godlike, and I would best describe them as coral and other nature elements coming out of your face and head. Thankfully, there is the option to hide them, much like a hide-your-helmet feature in other games, and I am grateful. Some of them even remind me of Cordyceps—but prettier— from The Last of Us, and that goes into some of the enemies you meet as well.
Once you wash up on the beach, your journey begins. Everything you see in Avowed is enveloped in beauty. The worlds you explore are nothing short of stunning. Even when you reach grittier, darker zones, they are still somehow beautiful in their ugliness. The biggest disservice to Avowed is the lack of a photo mode. Every time I logged in, I was taken aback by something breathtaking.
“I absolutely loved the combat in Avowed, and I knew that in my original preview.”
As I mentioned earlier, much of Avowed is similar to games like Skyrim—complete with cheese wheels—but that is often the case for action-adventure games and RPGs set in a medieval era. The Elder Scrolls has become the standard to beat, and very few come close. I am happy to state that in terms of combat and art style, Avowed can compete with the best of them.
I absolutely loved the combat in Avowed, and I knew that in my original preview. Avowed features a weapon and ability system that is truly unique and customizable. You don’t have to choose between the usual rogue, warrior, mage, etc., style of system. You can combine any ability with any weapon, and the choices are vast. For a while, I would master a sword and shield with a second set carrying a bow. But eventually, I found a love for the wand and grimoire and even the mace.
Usually, in games like Avowed, I have a preference, and I stick to it. Even in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I stuck to a mage and didn’t even want to bother with anything else. In Avowed, I was consistently trying new things. With options including an axe, mace, sword, dagger, pistol, arquebus, wand, bow, various grimoires, and many more, it was hard not to be curious. You could also re-spec talents if you found something you wanted to change and master, and it was never too expensive, though it did cost you gold.
As usual, you spend character points to level skills that enhance strength, health, casting and more, but your abilities are not locked to one tree. You have a Fighter, Ranger and Wizard, and I found myself generally spreading points between them. For instance, I put mastery into the grimoire but also developed skills that allowed me to bash through enemies and interrupt them. Even if you don’t use a caster weapon, you still have additional spells available, so magic is always an option.
Godlike and Companion abilities have their own tabs with separate points. Companion abilities vary, and each companion has a specialty. Kai is your warrior/tank, Marius is your ranger/rogue, Giatta is your caster/healer, and Yatzli is your caster/DPS. Godlike abilities are unlocked as the story progresses or when you find Ancient Memories, and they sit on a timer rather than using essence to cast.
My only issue with combat was weapon availability. Early on, common-level weapons are everywhere, which encourages you to try different options. However, you need to swap out or upgrade your weapons, as they don’t level with you. Once I had settled on my sword, I never found a fine-quality version, and as I progressed through the story, I needed something stronger. I ended up having to swap to another weapon because I didn’t have the materials to upgrade enough times to bring it from common to fine or exceptional.
“As a complete package, Avowed is an outstanding adventure soaked in beauty and creativity.”
It is a double-edged sword, really, because I like that it pushes me to try something different, but it bottlenecks me in choices. I want the option to stick to my preference if I want to, yet I still enjoy that it pushes me outside my comfort zone. I can see some players having an issue with this, but it is also possible I just wasn’t looking in the right areas.
I found that two-handed weapons were far more common to find at higher qualities, and though I was pushed and ended up loving the arquebus, I couldn’t find the things I truly wanted anywhere. It wasn’t until I finally made enough money and caved, buying a better grimoire and wand, that I even saw better ones. The wand, sword, grimoire and pistol felt very uncommon to find at higher levels, and I never saw them as Unique Weapons.
Unique Weapons are special in that you can enchant them to do different things. I found a few of these on my journey, including Umpara’s Spear, Giant’s Slumber, Star of Unbeing and Hel’s Tongue. None of them were any that I would use until I was desperate for something stronger and learned to love launching people with my mace. Enchants for these could be anything from reducing enemy damage, adding poison, or creating an area of effect. You cannot enchant regular weapons, though. I would imagine there are more, and I can’t wait to find the ultimate weapon for me.
My other issue with Avowed was the story overall. Something felt very disconnected to me, and I found myself drudging through dialogue and conversations with dread. I wanted to click through quickly or not have the conversations at all if I am honest. Whether this is because of the way you interact with the story through dreams and voices in your head (which look utterly strange on screen), I am unsure, but I found it all a bit cheesy. It wasn’t until I started heading toward the end of the story that I found myself interested or even deeper into Kai’s story that I cared—and cried.
Unfortunately, I think the story should grab you from the get-go, not be something that gets better later on. I think there are some really great characters and many I would love to delve into more, but something about the first 10 hours just made me not care. That being said, now that I have gone further, I don’t want to stop. I want to explore every inch of Avowed, and trust me, it is no small adventure. There are maps within maps within maps, and the main story doesn’t cover it all.
There are a few graphic errors and quirks on occasion. A few times, the Companion ability screen wouldn’t let me select anything, and I would need to close and open it again. Once, a map marker was missing. These are incredibly small issues that will likely be addressed in patches, but they are still something to note anyway.
As a complete package, Avowed is an outstanding adventure soaked in beauty and creativity. Though I had to push through the story a bit, in the end, I found something that was worthy of my time and pushed me to explore games in ways I usually don’t. For anyone who is looking for a new take on combat and a vast world to explore, Avowed is the game for you.
- Premium Edition SteelBook includes: Avowed base game, Avowed SteelBook, Living Lands map, two Premium Skin Packs, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack.
- You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands—an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness.
![Avowed Premium Edition - Xbox Series X|S And Windows [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51cQZDt8neL._SL160_.jpg "Avowed (Xbox Series X) Review")
- Premium Edition includes: Avowed base game, Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for each of your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
