First Impressions of Avowed — The Skyrim Killer That Took an Arrow to the Knee

Avowed is a new project by Obsidian Entertainment, renowned for hits like Fallout: New Vegas, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 — The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2, Pillars of Eternity, and many others. These folks are seasoned veterans in role-playing games, yet none of their projects have received widespread acclaim. When Microsoft acquired the studio in 2018, gamers anticipated something special. New levels of marketing and funding promised to elevate Obsidian to the big leagues. This indeed happened with the release of The Outer Worlds. The developers didn't delay with a new announcement, and by 2020, rumors of the "Skyrim killer" — Avowed — began to circulate. Five years later, the release has finally happened. The game is massive, and we've already spent about 10 hours in it. That's quite enough to form first impressions, which, unfortunately, will disappoint many.

Narratively, Avowed exists in the world of Pillars of Eternity, which was created by the developers from scratch and has become beloved by many. The good news is that you won't be required to have any specific knowledge. Even before the release, the developers confirmed that they have some Easter eggs for old fans, but that's about it. So we won't be distracted by Pillars of Eternity — we're looking at an original project.

However, one detail is worth discussing — the godlike. And this is the first of many problems. The godlike are a separate subspecies of Eora's (the world) population, which includes representatives of various races. They have only one thing in common — the touch of the gods while still in the womb. Such "moves" gave the bearers special abilities but also changed their appearance. Here you might think of fiery hair, vertical pupils, extra fur, or something similar. But that's not the case.

In Avowed, you start as one of these godlike, whose patron is unknown. However, distinctive marks are present. For some reason, the developers decided that trivial fantasy features are boring, so they added... mushrooms to the protagonist's face. Moreover, you can only choose from two races — humans or elves. This is attempted to be justified by the plot, but the feeling remains mixed. Especially after the diversity of Baldur's Gate 3 or The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

Speaking of mushrooms. No matter what character you create, their face will inevitably be covered with unsightly growths, making the hero look more like a clicker from The Last of Us than the central figure of an epic with whom you'll spend 50, if not 100, hours. Even the most neutral mark options look like an advanced stage of HPV. And it gets worse — the same story applies to hair. You literally have something inexplicable growing out of your head. But the main feature is that all these marks can be turned off. The game kindly informs you that other characters will still see them, but you can disable the display if it's too disgusting.

This means the developers were aware of the problem and understood that growing mushrooms on the main RPG character, with whom many will associate themselves, isn't the best idea. But instead of adjusting the plot, they just give you a patch. Meanwhile, the topic of the specific appearance will pop up in dialogues more than once or twice, and we are left wondering why the main character couldn't have been given, for example, horns or a tail. It raises subversive thoughts about some hidden statements that Obsidian Entertainment might have embedded in the game, but at the start, we have too little evidence to claim such things. For now.

Now, a few words about the character editor itself. Compared to all the latest RPGs, it seems lacking. Absolutely all the faces are extremely unattractive. Even fewer options are suitable for white characters, without the characteristic wide noses and full lips of African Americans. There seem to be many settings, but they either severely ruin the default template or make it comical. It's no wonder the internet is full of videos showcasing players' horrifying creations. And this considering the project was developed on Unreal Engine 5 — one of the most advanced engines of today. Looking ahead — the animations in Avowed are also terrible. They seem to have stopped somewhere at the level of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, and it's impossible to look at the protagonist's face during a conversation without tears.

The next thing you'll encounter is the combat system. It was heavily discussed during the promotional campaign, and foreign journalists were eagerly calling the combat innovative. The essence is that you don't have a specific class. You can upgrade any abilities in any specialization. The same goes for weapons — swords, axes, magic wands, spell grimoires, and bows are all available from the start, as long as you find them. You're allowed to equip a separate weapon or tool in each hand.

In theory, this opens up incredible creative possibilities, but in practice, it's much more trivial. Firstly, you can't attack with both hands simultaneously. The game only allows alternating strikes, which immediately eliminates any hopes of dual-wielding magic wands like a Macedonian. Secondly, each type of weapon consumes its own replenishable resource, most often stamina. If it hits zero, you won't be able to fight for a while. So, you spend stamina on a sword strike in your right hand and on a mace swing in your left, which immediately negates the practicality of dual-wielding.

But there are also magic wands and pistols. Yes, there are. But wands also inexplicably consume stamina, and pistols, although they provide infinite ammo, have very long reload times. Bows are two-handed. The main issue is that you can't block with such auxiliary weapons, and you'll need to block often since even on medium difficulty, enemies are very tough and hit hard. The only thing that provides a decent block is shields. The only thing that unlocks spells is grimoires, which you also need to hold in your hand. Thus, there aren't many viable combinations unless you want to frequently reload due to silly deaths.

The weapon swings themselves are also very clunky. What worked well in The Outer Worlds as blaster shots against armored enemies doesn't hold up when the protagonist hits a bandit's exposed head with a mace, and she not only doesn't die instantly but also fights back effectively. It's a gaming convention, sure. But it's too noticeable, and it could have been handled differently.

There are no combined attacks at all. Stabbing always happens with the same motion. The most you can do is block with a shield or perform a single finishing move that exists for each weapon and occasionally activates. Sometimes the hero doesn't even touch the enemy's model. This is especially noticeable with a mace when a hit registers from 20 centimeters away from the target. If the enemy has a shield, you can be sure the fight will drag on. You don't have a beautiful and quick way to eliminate them. There are many abilities, but they either affect damage numbers or just slow down enemies. Even magic looks flashy at the early stages but is pointless. While you're casting, you can't block again and take damage.

There's also dodging, but there's an issue with it. The problem is that there's no target lock in the game, so when you dodge, you completely lose sight of the enemy. During this time, attacks hit you again, and you can't do anything about them.

Of course, the combat system might reveal itself in later stages. 10 hours for a project of this scale is just the beginning. However, for now, the battles are very boring, and you want to skip them, which is definitely a bad sign for a game focused on action.

The dialogue system also shows itself to be extremely mediocre. There are no significant branching paths. Even if you choose responses available due to leveling up certain stats, like strength, you only get a slightly different line and the exact same information. You can't be bad, sarcastic, or mocking. Such responses are available, but characters hardly react to them. Or, on the contrary, they suddenly become aggressive, and a fight begins. In the end, you only have two paths — be a pacifist to the core, completely forgetting the fact that the main character is actually the emperor's emissary, a local Darth Vader who doesn't have to be polite to everyone, or become an aggressor whose every conversation leads to a fight. No shades of gray. You can't rely on charisma because the character simply doesn't have such a parameter.

The biggest problem with Avowed is the lack of a recognizable face. Visually, the game looks like everything at once. The starting location with a central hub — the port city of Paradiso — features default palms, beaches, and forests. This has been seen in a million RPGs. The city is something straight out of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. There are different races, but they differ only in appearance. No special habits or features. The whole game is a hodgepodge of assets that an experienced player will immediately notice. It's hard to maintain interest while playing through this.

A big emphasis is placed on vertical gameplay. Very often, you can climb somewhere, but you don't feel like exploring the locations. The vast majority of finds are slightly different gear of the most common quality, food, and materials for upgrading armor and weapons. It gets ridiculous when the game directly tells you to go upgrade your weapon, or else you'll take too long to kill. So instead of unusual and cool loot, we have more numbers. Boring. There are also less fortunate developments. Very often, you'll find locked chests. You can only open these with a certain number of lockpicks. If you don't have enough, move on. So there's no actual lockpicking in the game, and lockpicks serve as keys. Needless to say, nobody will return to the chests later. Occasionally, you can find unusual gear. Each such find is special. However, they quickly lose relevance if you don't vacuum the area for upgrade items.

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Of course, this is not the final opinion. We will definitely continue playing Avowed to give the project a chance. However, for now, especially compared to such giants as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, the new release from Obsidian Entertainment looks, to put it mildly, mediocre. Some players claim that there is still a ton of agenda ahead. We haven't encountered it yet, but we're preparing. A full review is coming soon.