Article / News

Avowed to Bring Vibrancy, Flexible Combat in Fall 2024

A screenshot of key artwork from Avowed. It depicts a skeleton wielding a one-handed sword whose bones and armour is a mixture of coral, leaves, fungus, and growth. The word Avowed is centralised in stylised lettering directly above where the heart would be.

Microsoft and Obsidian Entertainment have given players a deeper look into their upcoming fantasy action RPG Avowed via the latest Xbox Developer_Direct. The near-eight-minute segment showcased its first-person combat, art direction, and choices at play within the heart of the Living Lands. It also confirmed an autumn release window this year for Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Xbox Game Pass. Check it out below!

Avowed anchors its combat in player expression and tactical freedom. It aims to enable players to switch freely between customisable weapon load-outs. This allows players to suit their offensive and defensive strategies to any given situation through stylish switching between spells, steel, and guns.

Beyond combat, Obsidian promises that Avowed‘s story will give players wide-ranging and nuanced choices that will affect the Living Lands and its inhabitants. The segment above showed players a summary of a side quest involving a mystery surrounding dead soldiers. Through investigating and questioning, the player-character known as the Envoy finds a survivor one can either accuse of abandoning his comrades or forgive given the circumstances. Both choices will affect the Envoy’s standing in the Living Lands, especially in the soldiers’ settlement.

Avowed Screenshots

Lastly, the presentation highlighted the art direction and visual theming at play within Avowed. A wide expanse of biomes was shown, including ruined temples overgrown with bioluminescent fungus, tidal pools behind shattered mountains, and deserts dotted with vivid oases. Obsidian confirmed that the juxtaposition of vibrancy, dullness, colour, and drabness within the Living Lands is deliberate and intended to provide “complex emotional experiences”.

I’m curious to see what Avowed brings to the landscape of roleplaying and gaming when it releases later this year. It represents Obsidian’s full transformation from its isometric RPG roots in the Pillars of Eternity duology to a first-person action RPG funded by a major publisher. If the above presentation is accurate, then it will at the very least be a beautiful world to explore.

Stay tuned to RPGFan for all news Avowed and RPG!

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Trent Argirov

Trent Argirov

Trent is a news editor for RPGFan. If not writing news or lending a voice to the odd podcast, he can be seen, in the Australian wild, drinking copious amounts of iced coffee, working on various manuscripts, and keeping the occasional wandering cat company. His video game backlog stretches far and wide, and sources swear he's slowly working on it, one day at a time.

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