Avowed Review: A Deep Dive into Obsidian’s Latest RPG Masterpiece

Step into the immersive world of our Avowed review, Obsidian’s highly anticipated RPG that promises a breathtaking blend of stunning visuals, deep character customization, and dynamic gameplay. Whether you’re a seasoned adventurer or new to the genre, this review explores everything from its exhilarating combat system to the small details that make its world come alive, while also addressing the areas where it falls short. Ready to uncover whether *Avowed* is the fantasy experience worth your time? Keep reading to find out!

Avowed Review Pros:

• Beautiful graphics.
• 77.4GB download size.
• 1000 Gamerscore.
• Accessibility options – UI text size slider, auto continue conversations, interaction icons, and loot shimmer.
• Camera settings – third person, head bobbing, head bobbing strength slider, local camera shake strength, world camera shake strength, camera sway strength, and animated camera strength.
• Subtitles options – chatter subtitles, subtitles text size, subtitles background opacity, and subtitle minimum display duration.
• Game options – crouch mode, sprint mode, incoming attack warnings (disabled/flinches only/always), attacks towards target, aim assist, and aim assist magnetism slider.
• Field of view slider.
• Controller settings – Invert axis, sensitivity sliders, dead zone sliders, vibration and intensity slider, and controller preset to default or south paw.
• Auto save frequency.
• Character creator – 24 presets or face type, male/female, God like features, face preset, hair, facial hair, eyes, brows, nose, face shape, mouth, and ears sliders for positioning and size etc, complexion, lips, facial scars, eyeliner, make up, set background, allocate attribute points, and then set voice, and how you identify (he/she/they).
• Five background choices for your character – Arcane scholar, Court Augur, Noble Scion, Vanguard scout, and War hero.
• Five game difficulties – story time, Easy, normal, hard, and path of the damned.
• Amazing FMV sequences and in-game character interactions.
• Action adventure gameplay.
• Tutorial pop ups as you play.
• You can skip and fast forward interactions and cutscenes.
• Multiple choice interactions that can change outcomes and opportunities, but the success can also be tied to stats and will show.
• A full 3D game world with 360 degree camera control.
• The game can be played in first person or third person.
• Save and load when you want.
• Any earned exp will pop up on screen.
• Loadouts can be set up and swapped between them with a button press.
• You can pause the game.
• The radar on screen will help with tracking objectives and show enemies.
• Many breakable objects you can smash.
• Aside from weapons, you can attack bare-knuckled.
• Actions-wise you can climb, hang onto ledges, and jump.
• Stealth has a handy border around the screen to denote you are in stealth amd you can do one hit stealth kills.
• When you find food, you can pick it up or eat it straight away.
• Life bar and stamina system.
• I like that you earn exp from just exploring.
• Hack and slash style combat.
• Weapons can be dual-wielded or two-handed depending on what they are.
• You can see the enemy’s health bar.
• Full inventory management.
• Play how you want and do quests in any order.
• You have a main story branch of quests and then many side quests which are optional.
• Loot has rarities and can add buffs and bonuses.
• Puzzle elements scattered throughout the world, and can be simple little things or huge area spanning adventures.
• Radial menu for abilities casting.
• Earn EXP and level up to put points into attributes and abilities.
• Combat feels good from casting mage to firing arrows and smashing people with a sword.
• Satisfying level up screen.
• Major loot list as enemies can drop items, Breakable may house gear, and of course rewards and treasure chests.
• The map uncovers as you discover it and adds in points of interest.
• Find and use fast travel points all over the world.
• Companions can join your party and follow and fight alongside you.
• A living breathing world.
• Collect notes and lore to add to the story.
• Skill trees exist for fighter, ranger, and wizard. Then you have one for your Godlike powers and one for each companion.
• Godlike powers are rarer and more powerful, the townspeople will react to your Godlike appearance.
• Set up and choose items for shortcut uses in the d-pad.
• Lootable enemies will show as Xs on the radar.
• Find materials and resources for upgrading items and gear at work benches.
• At large Adra stones, you can set up camp, which changes time of day, shows the camp and in it you can speak with companions, manage your loot, and do any tasks like upgrading and crafting.
• You can enchant weapons.
• Pay a price to undo enchantments on weapons, but also reset your skill points.
• Central party stash chest you access when in your camp.
• A cool little thing is you can fast travel to a camp anywhere in the map, and after using it, all you can then choose to stay in that area or go back to the actual spot you were at last time.
• Unique weapons will have to be crafted with particular materials and the weapons themselves may have a story or quest attached to them.
• I really like how side quests and interactions can just flow through the game and I’m not going after them separately.
• You can break down weapons and gear to turn it into materials and resources.
• Very generous respawn points after a death, the game saves a lot of what you have done and you are not repeating a lot of content.
• The story is fantasy as hell, but it has great pacing and visual sequences that keep your attention even after a lengthy break.
• Doors, walls, and other obstacles can have elemental effects to them in that only a certain attacker, like fire or ice, will break through them.
• You can freeze water to make platforms or cast fire to burn bushes and trees away.
• Gear shows in your inventory when it’s available to upgrade.
• Lock picking is a simple hold button down affair.
• So many cool and interesting characters.
• I love the writing.
• It is a game that shows how a smaller world with more dense action and story can really keep the player hooked and allow much deeper interactions.

Avowed Review Cons:

• You cannot remap the controls.
• No graphics settings, and this is more of a deal on the Xbox Series S as it can help.
• Only two voice choices for male and female.
• Doesn’t have a name generator.
• A lot of screen tearing and performance issues in the Xbox Series S.
• You have to be quite precise in lining up the cursor to pick up items and interact within the world.
• It’s not easy to know what can or cannot be broken.
• Animations can look a bit wooden.
• Texture pop is noticeable in cutscenes.
• Combat can get quite chaotic and in third person it’s a lot harder to time. (the game does warn you of this)
• The menu side of assigning abilities and items is a tedious affair and I gave up with it very quickly.
• Once you hit the main portion of the game, it does get somewhat overwhelming with so many icons and text pop-ups going off.
• Usual bugs like falling through floors, characters getting stuck.
• Invisible walls are everywhere and a real immersion breaker.
• Lock picking is just a simple hold a button down, nothing fancy.
• The constant decision making does slow the game down somewhat.

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Avowed:

Official website.

Developer: Obsidian

Publisher: Microsoft

Store Links – 

Xbox