For decades, open-world games have grown larger and larger, intent on creating worlds that feel lived in and alive. While they’ve certainly gotten bigger, these huge games can often feel more overwhelming than satisfying. Sure, games like Skyrim and The Witcher III have an insane amount of content and legions of fans. There’s absolutely an audience for these games. They’re not easy games to dabble in, though; they require a level of commitment and time investment from new players that not everyone is willing or able to give, even if they’d love to play a great RPG. Thankfully, the team at Obsidian seems to get that there’s an audience for great RPGs that are more contained, providing an open world that isn’t too open. The Outer Worlds was a great first step from the studio a few years ago, with a sequel on the way, but Avowed may be an even better example of how you can take this style of game and refine it down to what matters.
For those who are unaware, Avowed takes place in the world of the Pillars of Eternity series, with some returning characters and references. The good news is that this is a standalone narrative, and while there will be nods to those games for fans to enjoy, anyone visiting this world for the first time will find all the information they need. This is very much by design. There’s a reason this isn’t Pillars of Eternity: Avowed. Avowed is a very different sort of game, though one that will likely appeal to Pillars fans.
Survive The Scourge
Avowed takes place in The Living Lands, a whole new area of this world that has long been the home to those looking to get away from the rest of the world. It’s a hard place to survive and just the sort of place for those who need to stay hidden. Recently, though, the Empire of Aedyr has been taking a real interest in the lands, sending their armies to gain a foothold. Those plans are having trouble, though, thanks to a strange dreamscourge plague that is slowly turning people into mindless husks. The Emperor dispatches you as his envoy to put a stop to this plague and get their plans back on track. You’re especially suited to this task as a Godlike, a person who has been uniquely touched by one of the gods and has been granted great power.
Hunting down the Dreamscourge ultimately takes you all over The Living Lands, interacting with the different cities and peoples who are surviving there. Along the way, you’ll meet a number of companions who have their own stake in saving their homes and have to make many difficult choices. I enjoyed the difficult situations Avowed likes to put players in, with many of them being a lot more complex than these games often offer. While there are often options that could be considered good and evil, your choices are rarely as simple as deciding whether you want to be a bad guy. Often, you’ll find yourself in situations where either option could have negative consequences and where the seemingly righteous path may ultimately cause more harm than good.
New Horizons
While I appreciated these individual moments, and there are some fascinating side quests you’ll find during your journey, the main storyline never really grabbed me. I wanted more focus on the people who live in these lands and less on the land itself at times. It doesn’t help that none of your companions are particularly interesting. Of the four characters you’ll eventually recruit, I found two of them to be decent companions, while the other two I found either entirely uninteresting or, in one case, highly annoying. If my two favorite companions were my two least favorite ones, I’d consider this a strong cast, but as is, I found Avowed wanting in the storytelling department, despite excellent moments throughout.
A story that doesn’t grab me is usually a real killer for an RPG, but somehow, despite this, I still didn’t want to put Avowed down until I’d reached the end. Mostly, that’s due to how fantastic it feels to play. All of that starts with movement. Even just running around town and climbing over things feels excellent, to the point where I actually really liked exploring every nook and corner of every new location I found myself in. That’s good because the world of Avowed is quite vertical. You’ll often want to climb, jump, and move around in ways that would be a pain in plenty of first-person RPGs.
Playing With Fire
The excellent movement extends to combat, which might be my favorite first-person combat in any RPG as well. Your character just moves so well. I’m used to these games feeling clunky and stiff, but whether I was slinging spells and shooting firearms from ating up close with enemies and whacking them with a giant greatsword, distance or get I was having the time of my life. I didn’t just seek out combat for the sake of gaining experience or new gear. Fighting each enemy was genuinely exciting, with some excellent boss fights along the way as well. The only knock on the combat experience is the unfortunate choice to put both dodge and jump on the same button for controllers. It isn’t the end of the world; once you get used to not dodging forward, it’s rarely an issue. Still, I’d have preferred to see these separated, even if designing around the limits of controllers is always an issue.
Avowed also looks fantastic. The Living Lands features a number of different areas, each with an entirely unique look. I love that the team at Obsidian have brought so much color and style to this world. You’d never mistake the land they’ve created for so many rather generic-looking games in the genre despite the fantasy style. I could, however, have done with more enemy variety as far too often you’ll find yourself fighting the same few types of enemies over and over within an area. It isn’t a huge issue, most areas don’t outstay their welcome and the main quest isn’t that long for this sort of game, but a few more types of enemy in each area would have gone a long way.
While the characters aren’t always the most interesting of any RPG, the voice acting behind them is uniformly excellent, and the soundtrack throughout the Living Lands is highly memorable. Everything comes together in a way which just made me want to spend more time in this world, even if at times I wasn’t that interested in what I was doing there. Few RPGs can manage that.
Conclusion
I still wish the story of Avowed had connected with me because if it had, there’s a good chance I’d be looking at one of my favorite games of 2025. Even without that, however, Avowed is an excellent RPG that I had a fantastic time with and would recommend to any fan of the genre. It’s the sort of foundation that could lead to a far superior sequel if the team behind it can keep everything that works and improve on the few things that could use some work.
Final Verdict: 4/5
Available on: Xbox Series X (Reviewed), Xbox Series S, PC; Publisher: Xbox Game Studios; Developer: Obsidian Entertainment; Players: 1; Released: February 18th, 2025; ESRB: M for Mature; MSRP: $69.99
Full disclosure: This review is based on a retail copy of Avowed.
