«A Solid Fantasy Adventure»: Critics' Reviews for Obsidian's Action RPG Avowed
Critics have given their verdict on the new project from Obsidian Entertainment. At the time of writing, the RPG Avowed earned 80 out of 100 points on Metacritic and 82 out of 100 points on Open Critic.
Ratings:
- Digital Trends — 9/10;
- Screen Rant — 9/10;
- XboxEra — 8.8/10;
- VGC — 8/10;
- TechRadar Gaming — 8/10;
- Windows Central — 8/10;
- IGN — 7/10;
- TheGamer — 6/10;
- Dexerto — 4/5.
Avowed is generally praised for its rich gameplay, an interesting world to explore, an engaging combat system, graphics, branching dialogue, likeable characters, and a focus on exploring locations. However, side quests cannot be completed after the main storyline ends, and the game itself is rather a typical fantasy. The "cons" also include a mediocre plot, performance on Xbox, and a lack of anything innovative.
With Avowed, Obsidian Entertainment once again flaunts its writing chops with a fantasy story that is contemporary in its themes and combat that feels better than most other first-person Western RPGs. Whether you've experienced a Pillars of Eternity game before or not, this is a must-play.
Avowed is a solid action RPG with an entertaining script, satisfying combat and impressively detailed environments. The disability to clean up side quests after the main story is beaten can be frustrating, but take your time with it and enjoy everything it has to offer, and you'll find plenty of memorable moments.
Avowed is a valiant attempt at fantasy you can play your way, but while it delivers well enough with combat, the narrative just isn’t there. Too ambitious in what it wants to do, it falls way short. It’s a very mediocre version of the masterpiece it tries to be, but it’s also a solid version of Just Another Video Game.
With awesome worldbuilding and stellar character writing, Avowed reminds me why I fell in love with Obsidian’s RPGs in the first place. However, the bigger picture is that it plays it quite safe, with a by-the-numbers fantasy adventure that’s more familiar than evolutionary, and there’s bear-ly any enemy variety to keep its swords-and-sorcery battles interesting for long.
Recall that Avowed is scheduled for release on February 18 for PC and Xbox Series X/S. The game will also be available in Game Pass.
Earlier, the game director of the new RPG from Obsidian hinted that there will still be bugs at the release, but the gameplay will remain fun. New gameplay details have also emerged.
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Obsidian Shows First Look at Avowed Character Creator
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Avowed Game Director Promises Buggy But Fun Gameplay Upon Release
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Avowed Will Have Different Ways to Start Quests
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You Can Play as a Jerk and Dual-Wield Pistols in Avowed — Tons of New Details Revealed
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Conflict erupts between Elon Musk and Avowed's art director over pronouns in the game