Avowed is a Comfortable Return to Eora

Pillars of Eternity and its sequel are two of my favorite CRPGs from the last decade. Steeped in classic isometric vibes, loaded with busy civilian and wilderness settings, and capped with complex game systems, they were a work of real quality and scope. Despite the original selling well, the sequel was not as successful in 2018, with many suggesting a weaker marketing push as the main culprit.

Now, Obsidian are back with Avowed, an action RPG teasing a new story and a new, first-person approach. Gone are the classic isometric perspective and long dialogue boxes, replaced with a design much more in keeping with The Outer Worlds and Skyrim. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the first few hours of Avowed, and it’s fair to say I was pretty apprehensive. Could it offer the same deep world-building? Or the complex and convoluted factions and character relationships? Crucially, would it feel like adventure in the world of Eora?

Avowed begins after the events of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire and is set in the Living Lands, an area of Eora not explored by previous entries. The beginning of the game establishes the main character as an envoy for the Emperor of the Aedyran Empire, whose interest in the Living Lands involves potential colonization and a desire to investigate a growing soul plague rumored to originate there. Your ancestry is reputedly touched by the Gods, and the empire selected you as an envoy on account of this rare potential. In a neat echo of Deadfire, Avowed begins with the envoy involved in a terrible shipwreck before reaching their destination at the coastal city of Paradis. The early evidence suggests that the friendly fort nearby, Fort Northreach, is not so friendly. Once the envoy deals with the Fort and finds the way to Claviger’s Landing, a gateway port for Paradis, the preview opens up into a slice of the open world surrounding the city.

From the jump, graphics feel sumptuous, with lush tropical backdrops and varied foliage. There’s a sense of energy and life about the Living Lands, both of health and vitality, and of the underlying corruption presaged by the game’s opening narrative. There are lots of smaller details to appreciate, too: the first Adra formation jutting from the fortress floor and the basic chalk drawings etched onto rock faces where xaurips gather. Later in the opening area, the journey moves into eerie, ancient Godless ruins, complete with skull piles, strange effervescent lighting, and some beautiful water effects and reflections.

Once the envoy arrives at Claviger’s Landing, the art design adds a different reality and verisimilitude to the setting, something Pillars of Eternity did exceedingly well with their asset-heavy cities and backgrounds, not to mention the sheer range of folk to interact with. While there’s not the same number of conversations or lore dumps here, there’s a lived-in feel to Claviger’s Landing, with the rotten boards, broken houses covered in vines, and huge mushrooms displaying Obsidian’s flair for environmental storytelling. There was a great moment where, ascending an old lighthouse surrounded by rickety scaffolding, I lost my footing and fell into the branches of a nearby dead tree. I considered reloading before I noticed a backpack caught in the branches of the tree and full of goodies. It was a cool moment — perhaps another adventurer had made exactly the same mistake and not survived? Was the backpack all that remained? 

A robust character creator precedes this exploration. As well as the usual tapestry of face and body adjustments (including some intricate Godlike markings), there’s a range of backgrounds (arcane scholar, noble scion, war hero, etc.) to provide context for base stats. Key attributes (Strength, Constitution, et al.) originate from the same base stats as the original games, with stronger characters able to hit harder and carry more inventory. The inability to choose an ancestry other than godlike seems limiting, but as the preview progresses, it becomes clear this is a thematic choice with plenty of potential. Avowed removes a predefined class system for something more dynamic with the option to freely select abilities from Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, and Godlike skill trees. In my playthrough, I designed the godlike to be a two-handed warrior with the ability to charge into combat from range. But as I leveled up, I added an ability from the Ranger tree that could immobilize enemies for a short duration and picked up a grimoire I’d found to provide additional magic capacity to cast a burning attack.

Movement feels smooth; the jumping, crouching, and sprinting are all mapped to familiar triggers with both keyboard and gamepad input. The environments appear to take advantage of three dimensions, with plenty of vertical ascents, underwater nooks, and a few parkour-esque sections in the preview build. I enjoyed the traversal more than I thought I would, and completing some of the more dizzying sections with narrow platforms and precise jumping felt like a genuine accomplishment.

Across the preview, a couple of companions join the main character and add their combat prowess to battle. It was good seeing that Avowed keeps a party dynamic, and some of the early dialogue choices and tensions promise the companion aspect will be personal and full of consequence. You can chat to companions more when you establish a camp, and your group can set these up around the natural adra formations dotting the landscape. As well as party chat, camp replenishes your Health and Essence and provides opportunities for crafting. This feels familiar from earlier games, with several cooking recipes providing bonuses to health or stamina. Weapon upgrades and enchantments function similarly, and there’s a space to display totems or other cosmetics collected during the adventure.

Avowed structures some of its dialogue checks to reflect the player’s abilities. In no time at all, my tough warrior was talking trash and preparing to serve his vengeance on those who would dare fire on the stricken ship, thanks to his high Constitution. In the subtitles, the game highlights and explains lore terms through a handy dialogue toggle. It’s not instantaneous like hovering over static text, but it maintains a reverence for the lore of the world as central to the experience. Dialogue conversations get framed over the shoulder, and they feel well-animated and detailed — they certainly brought to mind the conversations and mannerisms of Baldur’s Gate 3 in their delivery. Full voice acting seems to be the intent, and pretty much all the dialogue in the preview build was voiced.

It wouldn’t be an Obsidian game without some critters and bosses to smash to pieces, would it? Combat feels smooth and comfortably familiar. Both attack and blocking, as well as a healthy degree of strafing and power attack, are crucial when facing mobs. Xaurips are quick and flood in from all directions, with those armed with ranged weapons finding high ground to fire from. Spiderlings are even quicker and tougher than they look with their carapaces. Bears, meanwhile, charge and stomp the ground with such fury allies fall to the ground, at the mercy of their rending claws.

Weapons vary in their stamina cost and attack time, and again this reflects the same considerations made in the original games. They also deal different amounts of Stun to enemies, and maxing this gauge triggers a special attack for extra damage. This feels vital in the boss encounters, where enemy health and damage are more robust.

A one-handed weapon can block enemy attacks, but wielding a shield is more efficient, as this reduces the amount of stamina it takes to block. Armor works in a similar manner, with heavier types providing more stability and less enemy interruption. There’s a stealth system too, where cover from the environment allows characters to sneak up to unsuspecting foes before triggering a unique, Godlike take-down attack. RPGFanners will surely be pleased to note that the sneaky longbow assault is a valid strategy too, although one-shots are rare on normal difficulty!

Magic relies on grimoires or inherent talent much in the same way as the original games. Once found, grimoires are equipped to the off-hand and bring up a radial menu of possible spell abilities, such as a flaming ray or a series of debilitating ice shards. Whilst this offers a very powerful melee and magic combo, it removes the ability to block, so the trade-off from a combat perspective feels important.

For those of us with a real love of the detail in Eora, including the factions and ancestries that call it home, Avowed clearly respects and embraces those institutions. From members of the Steel Garrotte to an Orlan companion and certain intrepid cartographer, there’s plenty of continuity from the previous games. One early side quest has a young lady seeking a Watcher to help her with some pesky xaurips, and this plastered a silly smile on my face as I thought back to what my previous companions might have said in response.

At times, Avowed has struggled to step outside the shadow of Skyrim. However, I was encouraged to see the same core systems and lore approaches from the previous games throughout the preview. Obsidian have obviously spent a lot of time working on how to bring their lore and the breadth of their character systems into the game and give it a fresh approach and feel. Other elements feel like pleasant surprises: the parkour and adventure elements, the detailed dialogue scenes, and the overall themes feel exciting and new. Avowed has me in its grip and I cannot wait to experience more of this world and characters. Does it feel like adventure in the world of Eora? Hell yes.

Make yourself a promise, and keep an eye on Avowed.

We’ll have more coverage of Avowed in future and on the run-up to release on February 18th, 2025, where it will be available for Windows and Xbox Series X|S. Meanwhile, you can preorder it on Steam for those who just cannot wait!