I just recently finished playing through the main story of Avowed, a fantasy video game. Now, typically when a game I really enjoy comes out, I play for completionism (100 percenting main story, side stories, and every achievement). However, I might be leaving this one on the shelf since I finished. Let’s get the story straight; I like Avowed, in fact, I loved the game. My qualms about it rest not fully in the gameplay, but the style of game it aims to be. There’s one aspect of the game that taints my perspective of it since finishing.
As always, heed the warning that there might be spoilers. However, I’ll do my best to keep it spoiler-free for those who hope to play in the future.
A Completionist’s Nightmare
Here’s my biggest complaint, and a valid one (or so I think). Some video games lock achievements behind this imaginary wall of “missable”. For example, in Cyberpunk: 2077 (spoilers ahead!), it is possible to save Takemura in the building that comes down. However, on my first ever play-through, I hadn’t realized, and missed a possible ending with him still alive. Thus, I had to restart my entire play-through as I didn’t have a previous save. However, Cyberpunk: 2077 isn’t the biggest offender of this. Avowed, on the other hand, is very much an offender of this.
One big issue I have with this is not many people look at achievement websites, like TrueAchievements, while playing and won’t realize how many they missed until they finish their play-through. Out of 50 available achievements, 23 of them are missable (46%). While I will do my best in the rest of this article to avoid the complete frustration I feel for this, it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. It will be factored into my final rating of the game’s score.
Game At A Glance
Avowed is the newest video game by Obsidian Studios, a well-established entertainment studio with titles like Outer Worlds, Pentiment, and Fallout: New Vegas. Avowed is a fantasy game, with some similarities with Baldur’s Gate III, Skyrim, and Outer Worlds (of course). As the Aedyrn Empire’s “envoy”, of which you’ll be referred to for the rest of the game, no matter what you’re named, you hope to bring peace to the Living Lands and research a plague on the land called the “Dreamscourge”. Along the way, you meet colorful companions with detailed histories to aid in your adventure.
Characters
This game does characters right, giving each companion, person of prominence (leaders, bosses, etc..), and NPCs human-like qualities. While some other games might simply add NPCs to attempt to flesh out their world, I felt as if the people were really existing in the Living Lands. The many companions you meet along your journey have their own complicated backstory and personal quests. There’s plenty of available character customization for yourself, too, opting to be appearing as a “godlike” or not.
The main boss in the game has a motive, which makes sense given the circumstances, but it’s so ridiculously specific to the game itself I didn’t have any desire to constantly hate them. In fact, I found myself siding with them at some points in the game, hopping between the line of good and bad.
Overall, the characters I would give: 8/10. I think the way the game is played hurts the character score a little, as most of it is dialogue based, not action.
Story
This is going to be difficult without giving some mild spoilers. As the envoy to the Aedyrn Empire, you’re sent to research this plague on the Living Lands called the Dreamscourge. Upon entering the city of Paradis, you’re killed but revived but a God. As the story goes on, you gain trust with the different nations by solving problems for them and eventually, you discover the location of the God. You then make a decision that will determine the outcome of the end of the game.
Almost every decision you make affects the story which I do enjoy. Again, it has its downsides regarding this too.
According to the HowLongToBeat page on Avowed, completionism takes 58 hours, however, I reached 58 hours and have accomplished the main story and half of the side quests. I still have roughly 35 achievements to get, of which I will not end up getting, at least anytime soon. I would argue the game takes well over 100 hours if playing casually/completionist. It’s long enough to keep me interested, but I don’t want to replay the game several times to get every achievement.
Overall, I would give the story: 7.5/10. The story is engaging enough but at times I lost interest in what I was doing. Part of it seemed to be brainless at times.
Setting
In Avowed, you’re traveling around the Living Lands, a continent made of several independent areas. These areas are all uniquely crafted around the territories they’re built in, as well as having a major city in each. While I would argue that some could use more cities/towns to make it feel lively, the interactions you have in the one city per area are more meaningful because of this. They truly feel like a central hub (even if not central on the map) to meet characters.
In all of these areas, such as the first “area”, Dawnshore, there are numerous treasure maps, dungeons, and mysteries to explore in one’s own time. Keep in mind though, if you progress too far you’ll miss out on the opportunity to explore. Treasure chests and loot boxes are spread plenty throughout the map, granting players unique weaponry, upgraded gear, and crafting materials.
I do, however, need to point out some negatives. To further my point above, your decisions will have consequences on the future of certain areas. This means you may miss out on dungeons, side quests, and other valuables. The lands also can feel empty at times, given these times are more rare than other similar games.
Overall, I would give the setting: 7.5/10. There’s a lot to do, but restricting players to advance side quests and exploration before main story hurts the score.
Side Missions
In all honesty, the side missions felt repetitive. I genuinely had more fun just zoning out running around the Living Lands fighting mobs and opening chests. You have a series of side quests that are relatively the same in each area. Most of them are finding people, bounties, and finding pieces of a totem (as well as the totem itself). I’ll give it to the creators though, the bounties are fun and typically not too difficult of a challenge. They provide great loot for your own character too.
I’m going to jump back to this point a lot, but it’s easy to miss side quests. First, they don’t appear on the map unless you’ve unlocked that area of the map. Some are bugged due to the consequences of actions you may undertake. Some side quests you completely miss the opportunity to play through if you’ve advanced too far.
Rarely, you’ll encounter a side quest that actually takes you on a fun little adventure. However, those are indeed rare and most side quests you’ll get are boring and don’t give the best payout.
Overall, for the reasons stated above, side quests get a rating of: 3/10. Most of the fun I had (outside of the main story) was roaming. This rating also includes the ease of missing side quests.
Gameplay
Avowed was similar and dissimilar to most fantasy adventure games. I saw a striking resemblance in combat similarity to that of Skyrim. Dialogue was very close to Outer Worlds (same developers) and Baldur’s Gate III. There was a small learning curve to every weapon in the game. In Dawnshore (first area), I struggled with basic mobs and bosses. However, once you learn dodging and blocking, it’s a whole new ball-game.
My biggest tip is doing all of the side content early on (first two areas) to get strong and then bosses aren’t as strong. Once I leveled up my armor and weaponry, I was an actual force in the Living Lands. I wouldn’t mess with me.
Bosses and bounty targets all have unique challenges similar to Souls games, but never being too difficult I had to set down the controller and take a breather. It’s rare to find a mob by itself in a fight too. You’ll have to learn to multitask with multiple mobs, some healers, rangers, wizards, and fighters. This is where the importance of your companions come into play. You can summon spells, play with sword and shield, or shoot with a bow or gun. The combat is super engaging and fun; I actively sought out mobs once I reached a certain strength level.
Overall, the gameplay gets: 9/10. There’s been controversy on the combat and gameplay, but I really enjoyed it more than anything else.
Worth the Purch?
No. I do not think Avowed is worth the purchase. Unless you’re a hardcore fantasy enjoyer that wouldn’t mind playing several times over, engaging with new lines of dialogue and gameplay each time, I don’t think you should pay $70 for this. I’m ever so gracious for Xbox GamePass to play unlimited Avowed for the month.
The main story all things considered is pretty short for a $70 game. The game has a lot of things going for it, including gameplay, setting, and characters. However, you’d be getting the same quality of game/more game-time if you played Skyrim, which goes on sale very often. For those fantasy writer friends of mine and those interesting in worldbuilding, Avowed is a great piece to study. But, for casual gamers, I wouldn’t recommend buying it for full price. Wait for a sale at minimum of $50 before purchasing.
If you’ve liked this review and would like to see more in the future, comment below what game I should try next.