Obsidian Entertainment is looking to take its RPG sensibilities back to a fantasy setting with Avowed. With a launch date set for February 2025, I was invited to play a brief demo of Avowed, exploring its prologue and opening hours. It left me excited about the potential of its combat system and curious to learn more about this new world.
A living, breathing world
Source: Xbox Game Studios
Avowed is set in the world of Eora on an island known as the Living Lands. This magical region is home to a diverse set of creatures and environments. The region is not only new to the player, but the protagonist as well. Your character is sent from a distant empire to investigate and find a solution for a magical plague known as the Dream Scourge.
In just the prologue section of Avowed, I traveled from a beach and through a forest before eventually making my way to a city. During the journey, I interacted with different characters and was able to select dialogue options based on my attributes and background. In several instances, dialogue options were blocked off because I didn’t meet a prerequisite attribute value. These stats are determined when creating your character and can be increased through leveling up.
In one instance, I came across a character locked in a jail cell. They swore that they were innocent and would help me reach my destination if I freed them, but my accompanying NPC didn’t trust them. I was given the optional quest objective to find a key and free them. It’s in this way that Avowed feels a lot like The Outer Worlds, Obsidian’s space-set RPG; characters and player decisions are at the heart of a branching storyline.
Magic, swords, and guns
Source: Xbox Game Studios
Avowed’s combat system is what stood out the most during my time with the game. It takes a freeform approach that lets players equip whatever weapons they like in either hand, allowing for fun combos like a spellbook and an axe, or a wand with a blunderbuss pistol. It feels like an evolution of Skyrim’s inventive combat system.
While fighting a group of enemies near a body of water, I used a grimoire to cast a lightning spell to electrify the water and damage everything within it. I later used the same grimoire to freeze an enemy with an ice spell. Since its health was low enough, one swing from my axe caused it to shatter into tiny pieces. Players will find that enemies have unique weaknesses and resistances to elements and attack types.
The elements seem pivotal not only to combat, but exploration as well. There were multiple areas that were blocked off by brambles, which I had to burn away with fire. This could be done with a fire spell, or by commanding my ally Kai, who was equipped with a gun that shot flaming bullets, to destroy it.
Source: Xbox Game Studios
Upon leveling up, players can spend points into one of five categories: Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, Godlike, and Companion. The first four increase the strength and efficiency of your weapons and abilities, while the Companion tree can be used to strengthen and unlock new abilities for the NPCs that aid you in your journey. Players can respec these abilities at the cost of gold.
In addition to weapons, you’ll need to equip armor and gear that best suit your playstyle. TGear can be looted from enemies, discovered in chests, or purchased at shops. I was delighted to learn that I could not only hide my equipment, but also transmogrify to make it look like I was wearing a completely different item in my inventory.
Weird fantasy
Source: Xbox Game Studios
Avowed makes a solid first impression as an RPG that emphasizes and rewards creative playstyles. It feels right in line with The Outer Worlds, while taking inspiration from beloved fantasy RPGs. With Avowed being set in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, I’m looking forward to seeing how Obsidian Entertainment expands the mythos in the full game.
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replyDonovan Erskine posted a new article, Avowed's dynamic combat system is at the heart of its magical world
