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If you released this game in 2011 as the successor to Oblivion, gamers would have pooped their pants with joy and this would have been GOTY for a generation. However, the year is 2025, and Avowed is best not looked at as a successor to Oblivion or Skyrim. It learns some lessons from them, but is more akin to Drova, Kingdoms of Amalur, Elderborn, Dishonored (high chaos paths) and Atomic Heart. People will inevitably compare this game to the Elder Scrolls, but this is not specifically a fantasy RPG: it is an action RPG. The action comes first, the RPG comes later, and it's a big difference that has often left gamers leaving negative reviews (see: Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Inquisition, Starfield, etc) due to criticisms of bad writing.
This does not mean this game is bad, just that you may not get the same narrative depth as one does in KCD:2 which will overshadow this game like a mountain.
It is a good game. On the Skyrim front, Obsidian has accomplished a few things that not even the most devious Skyrim modders have been capable of injecting into the game, like:
- dual wield any weapon (I haven't personally tried shields, but you can't attack with one so unfortunately we're not at Fromsoft levels of confidence yet here)
- guns (pistol/rifle)
- a meaningful spell learning and upgrade system (no, you do not click on the book to learn the spell)
- throwable items
- meaningful cooking
- a dodge that works
- meaningful power attacks
- frost magic freezes water (yes, this has been a big thing in Skyrim modding)
- destructible environment, barrels
- potion animations
- treasure behind waterfalls
- companions that can actually help you in combat and don't get in your way most of the time
There are a lot of familiar systems in this game that happen naturally, like status debuffs, upgrades, etc. that aren't worth mentioning because, well, they're just there. If you've played any modern game you will be familiar with what's happening. Nothing's particularly standing out because everything works together. However, despite Garrus Vakarian returning to delight us with his presence, there are some serious calibrations needed in the systems. Some issues I've had:
- there should not be a hard 20% damage inflicted/reduction gap depending on the quality of the weapon and armor. Currently, this is a way for the game to tell you to 'come back later, you're not strong enough.' There's a large minority of people who did not like the radiant levelling system in Skyrim where everything was matched to your level (KCD 1 and 2 have this issue too, by the way, but it's far less intrusive). As it is, the difficulty of enemies seems far more dependent on your item level rather than your character level because you will receive a 20% penalty to damage inflicted if your weapon (and damage taken if armor) is too low of a quality. This happens almost as soon as you start wandering around in the first area and is quite jarring.
- upgrading system seems to take away more than it adds to the game; the unique weapons you obtain even in the first area instantly overshadow anything that you can upgrade yourself
- there is minor stealth gameplay that seems to have been an afterthought; you can get about one stealth kill before everything notices you because your stealth kill makes a huge amount of noise
- lockpicking is borderline nonexistant; you 'lockpick' chests by having a certain number of them (ie, they're usable items)
- there is no crime system, which is also jarring when you start taking stuff and people say things about it
- you can see every magic spell available to you in the game at the start; there's not a great amount of diversity there
They've taken away things from typical fantasy RPGs because, hear me out, Obsidian games typically do not have them. If we look at this game as a successor to the Outer Worlds as well as PoE1 and 2 (I've only played The Outer Worlds, which I loved, but I've been spoiled by Owlcat CRPGs), which it is but for some reason was not marketed as, then all of this makes sense. I am also a firm believer that not every game needs to have every fantasy stereotype available and that sometimes it can be a good thing (looking at you, Kratos).
If you take this game as it is, you will enjoy it and be happy with it. It's more like Kingdoms of Amalur than any other game, and is just as action packed. If you like that game, you will most likely enjoy this one.
If you're looking for the next Elder Scrolls, this isn't it. Go play Tainted Grail when it gets updated again - that might be more your thing. Or do the traditional thing and download a few hundred gigs of Skyrim mods.
However, unlike Bethesda, Ubisoft, Bioware, and other gigantic studios, Obsidian genuinely deserves your support. I recommend the game with caution in case you don't like hacking and slashing things in your fantasy RPGs. Smaller dev studios like Larian, Warhorse, Owlcat and Obsidian are the ones who keep gaming good for us and this is just a good fun game. It doesn't need to change your life or gaming reality for the next decade. It just needs to keep me happy for a few more fleeting moments until I am crushed under the weight of my own despair whilst pondering the time I lost writing this review which means about as little as my own life in the grand scheme of things.