- Tested Xbox Series X on a 60-inch 4K screen.
- Code transmitted by the publisher.
- Game completed in a little 30 hours, distributed between 20h cool adventure and about 10h rush.
- Player not knowing the universe of Pillars of Eternity originally.
- No disclosures to be made in this article.
- Home screenshots, made (most often) by removing all the ATH to give the illusion of a photo mode (usually absent from the final game).
It is sometimes complicated to make an opinion on a game based on the simple feedback of professionals. Avowed, the one that the putaclic and soulless media have nicknamed « Skyrim of Obsidian », is not easy to identify. Certainly cleavage, the RPG in subjective view, taking place in the same universe as Pillars of Eternity, knew how to over charm some fans of the genre and studio, like leaving a taste of ashes in the mouth of those who, perhaps, could not moderate their expectations, or simply left defeatists. So, which side of this binary spectrum is the author of this article after about thirty hours on the counter?
The importance of expectations
If I had to sum up my list of Western RPGs, Bethesda sauce and others, I could mention my hundreds of hours accumulated on Fallout 3, New Vegas, and The Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim. Not content to have returned these titles, which I voluntarily store in the same basket, in all senses, I have also restarted them many times since their release, and have taken pleasure in discovering the rest of the catalogue of their creators in search of the least forgotten nugget. On one side, Bethesda therefore, arming productions aiming ever wider since Morrowind, while keeping a relatively similar game recipe in play, story of being able to reuse different assets, save time and money. And this until recently Starfield which is beginning to seriously accuse the age of the said recipe, on which I would come back soon enough in these columns, because it seems to me that there is still much to say. On the other hand, Obsidian, studio having made his weapons on Star Wars : Knight of the Old Republic 2, an exceptional game surpassing, in my eyes, its eminent predecessor directed by Bioware; then Fallout : New Vegas, which will definitely stick to the skin of the company, among other experiments and control sets, of which the excellent South Park : The Stick of Truth I highly recommend you.
Two studios that are easily combined due to regularly similar Game Design choices, and to the other universes. But I would have liked to tell you that Avowed is not « Skyrim of Obsidian », since this single suite of words is enough to mutter, but the truth is that behind the putaclic is a small part of true. No, the two games do not share much in artistic direction, and their ambitions remain very distant. On the one hand, one holds a vast open world and a wealth almost without bounds, so popular that it was carried on about everything that could accommodate it, up to a Nintendo Switch version that was particularly well felt. On the other hand, a game with more concise words, with narrow exploration, offering vast areas but nothing comparable to a real Open-World as it usually appears, all with minimal use of physics. But we have to go to the obvious, for the lambda player, these are two Western RPG oriented Fantasy, arming a gameplay in subjective view making the part beautiful to medieval weapons and magic, all in large hostile environments. We quickly understand where the parallel comes from.
A parallel that may seem flattering for the game of Obsidian, since Skyrim remains one of the biggest commercial and critical successes that the video game has counted since its creation. However, even if it continues to offer new versions and regular updates, this « masterpiece » In spite of all this, the Western role-playing system has become very old. It is from this observation that I personally find the comparison rather unpleasant. Because, of course, Avowed is a game born old, we will come back to it, but at the risk of triggering the animosity of Bethesda fans who would read us, he outperforms in many points the latest productions of Microsoft studio, even if only in World Building and writing. So I'm hearing thatObsidian had two acclaimed games to refine his universe and prepare the story or characters of Avowed, but this does not diminish the feeling of exploring his world rich in narratives. However, since I can't stand up to this point of detail, which is a matter of horror, we have to talk for a moment about all the ink that the game has been running since its announcement.
There is first of all his artistic direction which, like The Outer Worlds A few years earlier, there was no unanimity. Which, let us be honest, is perfectly understandable. At a time when the trend is rather to the dark worlds and the worlds of Dark Fantasy peasy (we refer you to our article on Final Fantasy XVI), to offer a colourful environment that makes the part beautiful to a bright and green vegetation can only divide. Kind of like Enslaved : Odyssey to the West in its time, Avowed thus evolves against current in its own genre. This assures him of lasting score, but also of being left behind by a certain fringe of the players. But, more importantly, there is everything about the very development of the title, and the company in charge. I was able to read everything and its opposite, even before the release of the first criticisms, on the inclusive orientation of Avowedand the comments made by the artistic director of the project. The About I would call it racist, let us not be afraid of words, advocating discrimination against white people in favour of those from minorities. You have to believe that to work at Obsidian, it is no longer enough to be gifted in what you do or to have a nice resume, but that a simple skin color can open doors.
Now, I find it problematic, not to say scandalous, even if it finally engages only one of so many creators in the developer, fortunately, and arrives well upstream of the release of the game, having moreover nothing to do with its qualities and defects in fine. Much more problematic than anything about inclusiveness in Avowed, pointed at by many players, of which I doubt half touched the title. Because, of course, after words like these, it was not to be expected from the project that he would make the apology of the musculoskeletal white male. What is not a bad thing, we understand well (and we will have enough of Gears of War : E-Day to satisfy the lovers of the frenzyed action and bodybuilders wet in 2025. The adventure is therefore composed, in large part, of non-female players, and/or non-white skin colors. Well, in fact, it personally pushed a few eyebrows up, when the said female characters, no more ostensibly muscular or powerful than the others, are constantly placed in key positions in the armed groups they meet. A detail that remains what it is: a detail therefore. But which can cause a relative suspension of unbelief in some players, that goes without saying.
The possibility remains to choose the pronoun of its protagonist, from a list of three (one of which is not recognized by the Larousse, and will be used several times in the last minutes of the plot to qualify a key character), something that never impacts dialogues. There is nothing to fear if inclusive writing and its derivatives throw you away, so ‘except, as said earlier, in the last moments of history'. And of course, as in many fantasy universes, among which Dragon Age Origins and Baldurs Gate 3 are examples, it can happen that we talk about sexuality in Avowed. Here again, the title gives prominence to minorities, ostensibly speaking of homosexual relationships. It does so with a certain poetry, moreover, with a lot of tact too, abandoning all the heaviness of a statement such as that of Dragon Age : The Veilguard who, whatever one thinks of it in substance, pushed his political intentions too far to the point of becoming suffocating, even though his characters were rather poorly written. Avowed, he, presents various personalities, never defined by their sexuality, gender or race, but by real traits of character that contribute to what is attached to it. As far as I am concerned, in addition to the few eyebrows raised, nothing really came out of the story after I plunged both feet together. Because the story ofAvowed is more than just political, it is above all a great adventure.
The island
So of course, any great adventure he is, Avowed is obviously not perfect, and suffers from some inaccuracies in its gameplay. With his first-person view, he offers strategic fights, offering some beautiful moments of bravery and rather gloomy sensations, both during a nice blow as well as a perfect parade or a last-second escape. But it is true that one is sometimes frustrated when a blow does not strike, when one does not decipher the distance that separates us from an enemy, or when one takes an arrow that we did not see coming because of a passenger lack of legibility, the latter being the most regular problem. At least as long as you keep the sight in the first person. Because Avowed can also be played in view of the third, which, on paper, sounds like an excellent idea. But in fact, I can only advise you not to even try it: this puts too much emphasis on the aging animations of the title d'Obsidian, in addition to not fixing anything to the defects mentioned a few lines above. And in a way, it can also be said that it breaks the immersion yet at the heart of the experience, having played a major role in my appreciation of this RPG. The game is thought of as an FPS, and it feels from end to end. Especially in view of the studio's experience in this area, having already given birth to very friendly Fallout : New Vegas, The Outer Worlds and Grounded.
An experience that, in fact, allows the studio to offer us an absolutely impeccable Level Design, making Arkane Austin and her Redfall in spite of the developer's reputation (also owned by Microsoft). Comparison which only aims to throw a little more ground on the coffin of the multiplayer FPS of 2023, which we would all have preferred to see cancelled in favour of a Dishonored 3 or Prey 2... Anyway, at Avowed, since it's about him that it's about him, we like to explore, and every step of the way in its vast environments or dungeons is rewarded with some useful potion or loot. Moreover, the title succeeds in intelligently measuring its resources, never by offering too much, and never too little, for a balance that makes sense and never gives too much bonus to the most diligent player, or sick for those who prefer the straight line. Even if you have reached the maximum transportable weight, any equipment or weapon can be dismantled quickly from the menu. Unlike a Horizon Zero Dawn or any Ubisoft experience of the last ten years, Avowed does not disseminate a grueling amount of bitches to pick up in its decors, which makes us take advantage of the landscape, not being constantly stopped by a brilliant grass or rubbish on the ground; Even if it does not escape a system of resources to collect, obviously.
And the landscape is certainly one of the greatest qualities of the Obsidian RPG. Singularly beautiful, with its successful light effects and a day/night cycle that has rarely made so much sense, the title benefits from original design ideas that will divide it, but nevertheless give it a good identity. Avowed does not resemble any other current game, with its fluorescent mushrooms or wild vegetation, and every moment spent traveling through the Living Lands, the name of the continent that hosts the action, is a delight to the eyes. This despite uneven textures, a sometimes disastrous Character Design, rigid animations and several minor technical problems, such as a certain Aliasing, haircuts that derail in full dialogue and some dispensable blur effects. As said earlier, Avowed is born old, which implies that the recipe of Obsidian, held since Fallout : New Vegas and refined on The Outer Worldsreached some very visible limits in 2025. With at the top of the list a staging that would have gained to separate from the traditional field / against field during the dialogues, or to offer more rhythm and intention to its few cinematics. We wouldn't have been against finer textures too. The game is hardly to be taken as a lesson, but it is however good student, and its developer has been able to take advantage of various influences to offer a sauce that takes well, despite some heavyness, forgetfulness or anachronism. Personally, I hope The Outer Worlds 2, also waiting for this year, will raise the level.
Personally, I preferred the first area of the game, which I found more inspired, making me think at times of the Xenoblade Chronicles with its incongruous rock pieces coming out of the ground in the distance. As with the title of Monolith, some passages seemed more generic, this is the case of the second somewhat misty zone that we are offered to discover, but most of the time I was simply blown in front of the environment. I have rarely gone through a title offering such a nice match between image and noise, the wild nature having here something very organic, despite a wildlife that struggles to show itself. Bird's cry, echo of waves breaking on the coast, rustling of herbs under our feet... It's all there, and nothing seems to ever be a stain. Even the dubbings, while in audio, are very good, participating there again in immersion. The game nevertheless makes the choice of an integral English for the voices, which may throw away some of them, but has the merit of avoiding an industrial catastrophe of the Kingdom Come : Deliverance II. Here, the level remains constant, and no one really gets out of it. If this is perhaps the excellent Kai, a character accompanying the player during the adventure, and certainly my best friend for nearly thirty long hours. Nevertheless, I regret a soundtrack which, although rather pleasant to the ear, is far from date.
Oniric rhythm
But let's go back to exploration, will you? Because it looks like nothing, although the game is quite short and its environments are rather thin compared to other experiences of the same kind, we spend a lot of time getting lost in Living Earths. What they therefore owe to a well-feeling construction, but not that. The narration, and a grid by level of enemies, force us to explore in small keys, unable that we are, anyway, directly to the borders of the different zones whenever we are allowed to change. While I personally used a little Grind to get to places that were intriguing or to be able to pursue history faster, it nevertheless seemed to me that the side quests judiciously placed on my road filled their office perfectly, offering the necessary experience to progress at good pace (at least in normal mode). Too bad these are uneven. Most of them were very pleased, with an emphasis often placed on the various possibilities of approach, regularly highlighted by dialogues or Level Design. But we also find the classic bonuses to recover by eliminating one or more specific enemies, whose interest remains questionable, or treasure hunts not really stimulating. I would have liked them to lead me to explore great tombs filled with puzzles, Tomb Raider, rather than just busting friable walls and finding cave entrances in search of large, hard-to-miss chests.
Overall, however, Avowed is a well written game. His characters, playing an important role in his narrative, which passes exclusively through dialogues (although a little environmental narrative is to be found here and there) are successful. We are also forced to four companions (although only two truly accompany us, it is up to us to choose which ones), and each one knows how to make himself attached or relevant. Moreover, unlike many games of the genre, they are also very useful in combat, and it is possible to use their abilities to reverse a situation badly engaged, or simply to open passages in the scenery. Everything is there for us to enjoy this little team, and to count on it. A fortiori when humor mixes, though rarely, and he often tends to fly (in any case for me). A detail that is very important, since Avowed This often gives rise to interesting discussions, or accurately distilling a lore that does not fail to captivate. Besides, this third entry into the same universe makes me very much want to try to Pillars of EternityEven though it is a very different experience.
So I had a pretty good time on Avowed. However, some fairly important elements seem to me to be revisited, including the overall pace. Even though the main quest rained, from end to end, I have to recognize that the few goings/returns to it are not very exciting, and sound false, as if they were only artificial ways to prolong the story. Although the game is generally well written, it also sometimes struggles to impose its stakes, to offer them a real impact within the adventure. The dead and some reversals work very well at the beginning of the game, and at the end, but what lies between two is a bit disappointing. Between two which, in my view, suffers from less original and disparate visual ideas. But the biggest problem of the game, even though its confrontations are pleasant in the first place, it is an emetic profusion of adversaries to fight that makes exploration much less appreciable, even detestable at times. Opponents who always arrive in groups, with, after a certain stage, compositions that are clearly aimed at slowing us down, often including a healer and a tank, sometimes even an invocator. I had the very unpleasant feeling that the developer wanted to hold me indefinitely in his dungeons, facing his enemies with yet interesting patterns at the beginning, and slow me down in the exploration of the past world the first zone. Again, certainly in order to inflate the lifespan, when it absolutely did not need this.
Because Avowed may not be the longest and most complete Western GPR on the market (turn to Kingdom Come II or Oblivion If that's what you're looking for), but that's exactly what, in my view at least, makes it so appreciative. Thus, if my experience had lasted about thirty hours, I think that ten to twelve fewer would have been necessary to avoid all the attached content. And it's very well so, no need to look further, a fortiori as far as Avowed offers different Builds and several choices, bringing de facto certain replayability (even if the absence of a New Game + seems deplorable to me). However, the title is not as easy as a Skyrim, and will ask, in Normal or higher mode, strategy and patience to get out at times. As said earlier, adversary groups that pull out often aim to hold us back, which turns out to be quite frustrating past a certain stage. As far as I'm concerned, I've been on the mode of difficulty History over the last three or four hours, stricken that I was by these eternal fighting. At least, when AI was not a durite, which rarely happens, but can completely break a confrontation. If he was born old, Avowed lands with flaws that stick to the developer's skin, including a myriad of bugs, sometimes trivial, sometimes unfortunate. There are, for example, a lot of small visual problems, pieces of scenery that don't display correctly, or completely crazy animations, which are rare again. Less rare, however, small slowdowns, which can become quite massive when too many systems are solicited at the same time, or problems of sound (which have been personally affected after each screenshot, as if the console were in trouble).
Finally, I would have liked a system of progress less academic, more surprising. Because in fact, Avowed offers a small amount of skills to be unlocked via points that are gained in level, but that the said skills are not very exciting. So we're a long way from the skill tree of abrubbling Cyberpunk 2077 (read our article) with its small percentages of additional damage inflicted in such a very precise situation. But it must be said what is: at this level the game of Obsidian does less well than the vast majority of the productions that it does everything not to singer, Skyrim in mind (yes, again him). And of course, since it seems impossible to block this mechanics in 2025, there remains a very basic Craft system, allowing to improve its equipment, and consequently ship the fighting faster. As far as I'm concerned, nothing interesting to find here, especially since it's the same overall as in 90% of games of the genre. Yes, it is "useful", and not obvious to cut it, even though the game offers us some legendary weapons without it having to look for (because neither do we cut at the detestable level of scarcity of weapons, finding sense in a Destiny but not in the RPG in my opinion). However, don't tell me that you find it gloomy to spend five minutes on a somewhat bland menu to vaguely increase the statistics of a sword that, perhaps, you will bazaar without thinking about the next interesting loot.
Avowed is an unequal RPG, offering captivating writing and endearing characters, but also a singularly flat staging and far too regular fights that will not please everyone. His greatest strength, he draws it in my opinion from its globally displaceable environments and offering a fairly impeccable Level Design, in addition to intelligibly encouraging exploration. Nevertheless, one will regret a level of finishing that will remind of happy memories to those who had the chance to touch in Fallout: New Vegas in its time, not facilitating immersion in this world so pleasant to travel. So, I'll be tempted to finish by telling you that if you have crouched atoms with previous studio productions, and are willing to invest several dozen hours to avoid frustrating peaks of difficulty, then you have every chance of fully joining Avowed. Otherwise, you may not have an excellent time, despite the undeniable qualities of the title.
For
- Very convincing writing
- Captivating story from end to end
- Endearing characters
- Level Design impeccable
- Eye-friendly environments
- Thrilling battles to a certain point
Against
- Fights too long and regular
- No staging effort
- Technically dated
- Bugs and troubles that stain
- Dispensable craft system
- Deplorable returns/returns
I didn't try it, but personally I felt that it's a game that tends rather to enchant people who have never played Pillars and disappoint those who have already made them, in the sense that, CRPG obliges, the Pillars were really very well written and proposed a fascinating and dark universe, and that there Obsidian proposes something much less niche.
Since the Pillars are one of my favorite games I fear to be of this second category of players.
However, I would not lose anything to try the game on occasion to forge my opinion. Case to follow:-p There I come out of Kingdom Come 2 So I'm taking a little RPG break!
Having not done the Pillars (but it will not be soon I think), I cannot answer with certainty; BUT I felt like I was facing a game modelled on the model of a New Vegas or a The Outer Worlds, and we're clearly more niche than that...