Avowed review

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As a gamer, I’d say Avowed has its merits, but there’s an air of resignation and routine to its quest design and narrative that sometimes makes it feel like a checklist of Obsidian staples, hastily ticked off without much thought or passion. The end product is reminiscent of someone hurriedly describing an RPG to you as they dash for a bus.

As a gamer, I must admit that while Obsidian’s latest release didn’t quite hit the mark for me, many others would still jump in due to its availability on Game Pass. For now, it seems we’re all left biding our time, eagerly anticipating the moment when the gaming universe implodes.

Oh my goodness, this open-world game is absolutely breathtaking! It’s a triumphantly strange, sprawling playground of fantastical nature that I just can’t get enough of. Discovering the first magical ring and gaining a 15% boost to parkour speed feels like an adventure all on its own!

Disregard about two-thirds of the weapons, let’s focus on the magic casting aspect instead to witness a shift from conventional melee combat to electrifying spell battles. The difference in quality is so immense, it feels like playing two distinct games. I spent approximately 27 hours experiencing mediocrity until an update from Nvidia’s troublesome app erased around 200 screenshots, forcing a restart. I then decided to try the wizard class. Why not? And suddenly, I was vaporizing entire lizard clans with chain lightning, grinning like Emperor Palpatine in a pet store.

Among all the statements I thought I would make about Obsidian’s newest game, “it’s an enjoyable blend of magic, treasure hunting, and parkour in an FPS format” was not among them, yet here we find ourselves discussing just that.

The story begins with a creature resembling a multi-colored lemur, known as a snifflebeast, playfully exploring ivy-covered branches. It eventually disturbs a swollen, plant-like growth that releases harmful gases, causing the lemur to collapse and die on the forest floor. As darkness falls, other lemurs arrive at the scene, but instead of finding their comrade, they encounter a ferocious, fungal zombie – once a member of their group. This is the chilling impact of the Dreamscourge, a mycelial disease that has the power to infect all life in the treacherous and untamed Living Lands. As an emissary of the Aedyr emperor, your mission is to uncover the truth behind this terrifying outbreak.

As a fervent admirer, let me share my take on the immersive world you find yourself in: The atmosphere is tense for numerous reasons beyond the Big Shiitake. Your initial destination is Paradis, a haven for rugged outlaws who, much like their fellow inhabitants of the Living Lands, are not exactly welcoming to the new Aedyran occupation or the intrusive Steel Garotte, a band of supercops known for their iron grip. They value their customs so highly that they’d rather defend them with muskets. Followers of ancient magical practices? Consider it a one-way ticket to the pyre.

The game grants you the freedom to choose your type of supercop, as you navigate through various uprisings and attempt to appease locals or suppress resistance at your discretion – provided that you’re willing to select between a few obvious options, along with the occasional self-serving villain option when it’s conveniently included. The dialogue often feels like this: “What’s it worth to you?” “This much money.” “Thank you for my money.” “No, thank you for taking my money from me.” I may have embellished the last two parts, but that captures the essence. It seems everyone is easily swayed, either by actual wealth or their resolve in general.

At first, the side missions lacked emotion or mystery; instead they faded out without much impact. However, the main events presented complex moral quandaries but seemed isolated and rigidly programmed. Worst of all, a divine entity keeps intruding with uninteresting riddles, ruining the enjoyment. My character’s actions rarely felt genuine, rather it seemed like I was only given the illusion of choice and its impact, as if it were a required aspect of this type of gameplay.

In the cities and towns, there’s a growing, organic feeling of political and social tension, which occasionally surfaces in amusing ways. For instance, I encountered an unexpected bandit leader on the street who threatened me without warning. “I have no dispute with you,” I explained. “You had better find a reason for one soon!” he countered, sounding surprisingly like a sofa mimicking human speech. Since I couldn’t ask him to clarify, we ended up in a fight. The game Avowed is filled with such spontaneous encounters and conversations that enrich the lively atmosphere of its settlements.

In one instance, I assisted a guard at the gate in searching a trader’s goods for contraband, discovered two grenades, kept them hidden, then denied seeing anything suspicious. In a secluded alleyway, I met an extravagant mustachioed man named ‘Cutty Pete’, who deals in illicit goods. One of his wares was a magical pistol called ‘The Disappointer’, which came with a fascinating backstory that emphasized its poor performance.

As a gamer, I’m itching to splurge on Avowed, but its equipment progression system is so strict that it sometimes feels like it’s taking away the joy of freeform exploration. The game demands you carry appropriately tiered gear to take down certain enemies, and if I don’t have the right stuff, I either have to shell out millions of in-game currency or spend hours gathering resources to upgrade my existing equipment. And let’s not forget about those magic items that suddenly appear after a couple of hours, making all my resource-gathering efforts feel futile.

Exploration is amazing, and I’ll discuss why later, but there’s nothing more frustrating than getting lost in the game only to realize I need to complete a series of quests in a particular order just to earn enough money to continue enjoying the game. It’s like hitting a wall that doesn’t let me keep exploring freely.

Surely, you might choose to play as a wizard, which doesn’t undermine the gating mechanism, but it does make it simpler to defeat lizards that are beyond your usual weight class. Melee combat, on the other hand, lacks intrigue. You can settle into a consistent pattern with it, but you’ll find yourself repeating the same actions from hour 30 as you did in hour one: watching your character slash, parry, and block while you bark commands at them through a megaphone filled with baked beans. Firearms are intriguing in theory, yet it appears that years of collective gun knowledge about recoil and weight have been disregarded, resulting in headshots being indistinguishable from opening a web browser tab.

In this game, it seems we’re dealing with magic! With a spellbook in one hand and a wand in the other, we’re ready to cast spells. One-handed wands might seem quaint, but they can still stun a bear effectively – just drain its stamina first, then give it a good ‘Bibbidi-bobbidi-boot’! Better books unlock more powerful elemental spells that you can assign to hotkeys through your class skill tree. There’s also a different skill tree for stats like perception and might, which can sometimes be used to negotiate your way out of fights. As a wizard, you’re quite fragile, but that’s where your companions come in to help!

I’d rather not delve deeply into the characters, except to mention that I found only Brandon Keener’s Kai somewhat appealing, albeit minimally so. They do engage in conversations at camp, which is a pleasant touch. Moreover, each character has unique skill trees with customizable hotkey abilities that can complement your strengths and counteract weaknesses. For instance, if you wish to immobilize a troublesome guard using an axe, a tracker dwarf and a charisma void Marius could lay down some trapping vines.

Avowed adores vines, no exaggeration there. ‘Are those roots tearing the bridge apart, or holding it together?’ Kai queries, such a profound and fitting phrase. It’s my favorite line in this script brimming with scant wit but immense fascination for brevity. This could encapsulate Avowed’s entire philosophy on environmental design; nature consuming nature, swallowing civilization, then regurgitating it in captivating, handcrafted forms. The exterior landscapes yearn to be explored. The dungeons and caves seem born from a Boomer Shooter fantasy, filled with monumental, flowing structures and secrets waiting to be discovered through concealed pools or shattered walls.

If you own Game Pass, it’s definitely worth downloading for its exploration and jumping features, and who knows, you may encounter some unique characters that resemble fantasy insurance advertisement extras, flipping through lore books with the occasional humorous dad joke scribbled in the margins. Remarkably, there is a dialogue option about the size and usage, which was written and approved. Yes, a clever little willy joke has found its way into this RPG! Quite delightful indeed. Now off I go, to scale lighthouses and approach distant horizons. Occasionally, it truly is the size that matters. This could well be the most stunningly detailed, handcrafted semi-open world in gaming. Unfortunately, I’m not as enthusiastic about spending time within it as I would like.

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2025-02-13 17:25