Deep in the vivid rocky hills of the Living Lands, miles from the closest city, I creep towards the hidden camp of three sibling bandits. Planning my stealthy ambush just right, I fire charged shots from my single-shot rifle, dispatching the trio’s devoted followers from afar before switching to my trusty wand and grimoire to deal damage to the wanted criminals up close.
As I collect proof that these scoundrels will no longer terrorize the good people of Emerald Stair, I notice a local Ranger locked in a cage. He tells me he’s one of several in his ranks to go missing in recent months. After reporting my findings to his superior in the far east, what started as a simple bounty for gold spins out into a winding conspiratorial investigation. Chasing leads across the region, I eventually discover the gang had an inside man in the Rangers who’d been helping them set up ambushes. And it's up to me to track down who among them is the traitor.
Diverging questlines like these keep me captivated throughout my 50 hours with Avowed. Much of what Avowed is doesn’t stray far from the formula developer Obsidian Entertainment established with 2019’s The Outer Worlds. But when that formula is executed so exceptionally well, with smart quality-of-life features to boot, it's hard to argue with the decision to sail on such familiar waters.
Bon Voyage, Envoy
The Living Lands, Avowed’s folkloric setting, is a vibrant collection of regions brimming with life and points of interest.
Avowed follows a player-created character known as the Envoy. You’re a trusted messenger for the Emperor of the Aedyr Empire sent to The Living Lands, a sort of wild west continent made up of a patchwork of cities and diverse factions. Word of a deadly soul plague known as the Dreamscorge threatens the people of this faraway land, and it's up to you to investigate and stamp it out before it reaches the shores of the Empire.
Avowed is the fourth game set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. While the three previous games were isometric role-playing games like the Baldur’s Gate series (the first Pillars game was actually a crowdfunded spiritual successor to the first two Baldur’s Gate games), Avowed is an action RPG that can be played in first or third person. While prior knowledge of the Pillars universe is rewarded in some of the game’s lore-heavy dialogue, new players are never left out of the loop. There’s a helpful compendium with quick definitions for proper nouns, catching you up to speed without pausing the adventure.
The feature is a godsend as Avowed’s story, while pretty darn good, can quickly get in the weeds of its complex mythology. Still, the game’s biggest moments don’t lean too hard on what’s been established in past games. Avowed’s twists and emotional payoffs are impactful and rely on the drama it sets up in its own tale. Avowed is a pitch-perfect introduction to this universe, one that left me curious to revisit the Pillars Of Eternity series.
Life In The Living Lands
There’s plenty to see, do and discover across Avowed’s four regions.
While the main story serves as a captivating push through The Living Lands, the continent's four regions are the true stars of the show. Avowed’s world is a vibrant, varied landscape that feels like walking through a fable. From sweeping vistas to cave systems saturated with color, the Living Lands constantly invites players to visit just one more location in the distance. While Avowed isn’t a technical spectacle, thanks to some dodgy lip-syncing and the occasional wonky character model, the design of its world and various cultures is a masterful showcase for how strong art direction can win the day.
Exploring that world is just as rewarding. Each of these regions is dense with dungeons, gripping side quests, and opportunities to better understand the inner workings of these respective areas. Miraculously, however, the game rarely feels overwhelming. Every square foot of these open-world regions appears designed with purpose.
You can’t wander too far without bumping into an encampment of enemies guarding valuable loot or an interesting NPC to talk to. And the fallout from many of these quests often culminates in difficult and impactful decisions to make. There’s little listlessness in Avowed compared to other games in the genre, as it strikes a nice balance between the openness of something like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the more focused hub and mission-based structure of a Mass Effect 2.
The Violent Art Of Magic
Avowed’s combat is impactful and requires tactful use of your party’s abilities to succeed.
Like its exploration, Avowed’s combat offers plenty of choice while still being finely tuned. Melee options include shields, swords, maces, two-handed claymores, ranged weapons like bows, pistols, and single-shot rifles, and magic implements in wands and grimoires enable abilities your character hasn’t yet mastered.
Weapons can be mixed and matched in unique combinations with their own strengths and weaknesses. Using these deadly combinations is one of the game’s strongest elements. Avowed has the best first-person combat since Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. Swords hit with a satisfying heft with brief pauses to accentuate impact. Wands and magic attacks feel appropriately powerful once you start investing in the right skills. And firing a rifle or bow feels badass, especially when paired with a slowdown ability.
“Avowed has the best first-person person combat since Indiana Jones And The Great Circle.”
Combat can be challenging. Groups of enemies you fight can be just as well rounded as your party, with healers that hang back, rangers that lay down suppressing fire from afar, and swordsmen that rush you. After the first open world area, reading the battlefield and using your companions’ abilities tactfully is mandatory.
Speaking of companions, players can take two of the four members of their ragtag party with them at a time. Like your weapon options, companions have abilities that synergize well together. They can be a little squishy at the start of the game before they gain access to all of their abilities. But once you do, discovering how their powers can mesh together and fill in the needs of your specific build is a ton of fun.
An RPG That Respects Your Time
Allies can fill gaps in the players’ offensive and defensive strategies.
What impressed me about my 50-plus hours with Avowed is how much it maximizes its moments. I never walked away from a play session feeling like I accomplished nothing, regardless of how much time I just put in. And that’s because it gets so many things right from the very start of the game.
Quality of life features like the ability to send items in my inventory back to my camp stash to avoid over-encumbrance, and easy transmogrification are from the start. Even its progression feels refreshingly narrow for a game of this budget, with a skill tree that offers tons of build options that are easy to understand. Revising a character’s build is cheap and can be done at any time. And all of the game's collectibles feed into a gameplay system players will engage with.
I do have a few nitpicks, however. The world doesn’t scale with you, which means you’ll have to craft equipment upgrades with resources found in the world to keep up with the difficulty curve. While this isn’t an issue in the first three-quarters of the game, Avowed can be stingy with upgrade materials in the final dozen hours of the main quest’s runtime. The game always signposts how powerful enemies are, so avoiding optional encounters you’re not ready for is easy. But beginning a linear story mission only to find out you’re under-leveled can make for frustrating difficulty spikes, as there’s no way to upgrade equipment in these sections.
As expected, I did encounter a few bugs during my playtime, including disappearing quest items, and a UI bug prevented me from leveling up my companions. But all of these issues were solved with a quick reload or restart of the game. I anticipate Obsidian will fix these issues after launch.
A Divine Quest Worth Taking
Like The Outer Worlds before it, Avowed cuts much of the bloat that so many games (particularly RPGs) feel obligated to include. It never obscures itself with obtuse gameplay systems or elements players must fight to fully grasp. Its quests are compelling and underline its wild folkloric setting. Combat feels great from the start and gets even deeper as things progress. And exploration never feels pointless, thanks to rewarding locales and branching decisions that pockmark your adventure.
It’s clear Obsidian once again prioritized quality over quantity. That’s not to say Avowed is a small game, as I still have plenty of side content to get to after two weeks of playing. But everything it presents feels tailored towards making the experience as fun as possible. Avowed is a concise and tightly designed RPG that never sacrifices the ambition of its grand adventure.
9/10
Avowed launches on February 18 on Xbox Series X|S and PC. Inverse was provided an Xbox Series X|S copy for this review.
INVERSE VIDEO GAME REVIEW ETHOS: Every Inverse video game review answers two questions: Is this game worth your time? Are you getting what you pay for? We have no tolerance for endless fetch quests, clunky mechanics, or bugs that dilute the experience. We care deeply about a game’s design, world-building, character arcs, and storytelling come together. Inverse will never punch down, but we aren’t afraid to punch up. We love magic and science-fiction in equal measure, and as much as we love experiencing rich stories and worlds through games, we won’t ignore the real-world context in which those games are made.
