Avowed’s Moral Dilemmas Are a Nightmare Worth Having

In classic Obsidian Entertainment fashion, Avowed is very much about the choices that players make, especially when it comes to the game’s narrative. Throughout Avowed‘s story and its side quests, players are given countless opportunities to make defining decisions that impact the outcome of those narratives in both major and minor ways. Regardless of where they are at or what they are doing in Avowed, players are almost always faced with an opportunity to choose, with some of those choices boiling down to complex moral dilemmas that would challenge anyone to think twice.

Freedom of player choice is arguably where Avowed shines, no matter what other areas it may fall short in. Many of these choices are made in the game’s dialogue, which not only offers players an unprecedented number of paths to take but is also unpredictable in its design. Players never know whether a conversation in Avowed is going to allow them to exhaust every possible line of dialogue or whether they will simply have to come to terms with their choices once they are made. This unpredictability is especially felt in some of Avowed‘s biggest moral dilemmas, where players are faced with decisions that are going to disappoint someone, no matter how hard they try to wriggle out of it.

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Avowed Review

Avowed’s first-person combat and respect for player choice make it a journey worth having, but flaws in its story and design make it a one-way road.

Avowed’s Moral Ambiguity Is a Refreshing Change of Pace

Most Choice-Driven RPGs Are Too Black and White

What causes Avowed‘s choice system to stand out so well is the path that many other RPGs take in their own choice systems. Specifically, most choice-driven RPGs paint too clear a picture of right and wrong, good and evil, thereby essentially stripping players of their power to choose. If players become aware of the fact that choosing one route over another will benefit them more, they will simply choose that path and not think twice about it. Generally, this preferred path is the route to a “good” character, and it makes the path to evil less appealing for multiple reasons.

Avowed’s Biggest Moral Dilemmas Will Leave Anyone Stumped

Avowed, on the other hand, steers clear of the traditional black-and-white choice system of the role-playing genre by offering players an immense amount of freedom to shape, not only the personality and arc of their own character and the relationships they have with others, but also the outcome of the story. Rather than offering players two clear paths to take that are distinctly black and white, Avowed specializes in moral ambiguity to leave even the most seasoned role-players stumped.

Players may be presented with a dual set of paths to take in Avowed, but those two options won’t be as clearly good and evil as they would likely be in a different RPG. Instead, players might be presented with two choices in Avowed that are neither good nor evil, but simply two choices that will unavoidably make someone the player cares about upset. Given how often choice-driven RPGs like to hold the player’s hand when it comes to decisions such as these, Avowed‘s moral dilemmas are a nightmare indeed, but a nightmare worth having.

By refusing to categorize choices into simple “good” or “evil” paths, Avowed forces players to engage with its narrative in a way that feels deeply personal and, at times, uncomfortably real. Every decision carries weight, not just in how it shapes the story, but in how it challenges players to confront and accept the consequences of their actions. In doing so, Avowed delivers one of the most compelling choice-driven experiences in the genre, proving that true role-playing isn’t about chasing the best outcome but about living with the choices one makes.

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Released

February 18, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence

Publisher(s)

Xbox Game Studios