I’m enjoying Avowed so far. It feels like an old-school RPG with proper side quests and a vaguely interesting main story. You know, like Fallout: New Vegas or something. I built my mushroom mage, grabbed a Grimoire, and set about roasting the enemies of the Aedryan empire with my holy flames.
Truth be told, I’m roleplaying a wizened old wizard, and he’s not too sure about this whole ‘colonising the Living Lands’ thing. He understands existence on more planes than just our mortal one, and this holistic view of all things living evokes sympathy for those whose lands have been forcibly invaded and are living under the militaristic rule of the empire he represents.
Avowed lets me roleplay this pretty well, which is impressive. It also does a great job of building this world, through conversations and textbooks alike, so even players who have never touched Pillars of Eternity (guilty!) get a full understanding of the wider context in which our small story takes place.
It’s a lesson in worldbuilding and roleplaying that many developers could take notes from, but there’s one area where Avowed falls down: its combat.
Hack And Slash
Now I’m not saying the combat in Avowed is bad. On the contrary, I quite enjoy it. Roaming into the wilds at level two makes every Xaurip a potential assassin, and every assassin… Well, you can’t escape that killing blow.
Magic is particularly fun in the game, but I’m sure you’ve already read my colleague Stacey Henley waxing lyrical about that. So what’s the problem? The problem is that the combat doesn’t make sense.
Take your average horde of Xaurip in the opening hours. There’ll be one Fighter in their number, and probably a Priest, too. Then anywhere between two and five regular little guys. They’re quite cute really, when they’re not trying to kill you.
These fights take it out of you. As you’re learning to conserve your stamina, essence, and items, I found myself using more and more resources just to make it through dense groups of foes. Health potions are hot property when they cost 75 dollarydoos apiece, and I was using at least two every time I encountered a group of bandits or lizardfolk.
Scranning an entire salmon during a fight isn’t beneath me, either. I bet it tastes better than some mystery concoction.
I want to reiterate: I like this. It’s challenging, a steep learning curve. They’re chaotic, but true to the narrative of the wilds. I don’t want to breeze through fights like I’m some kind of godlike creature. Wait… You know what I mean.
Big Bads? More Like Bad Bigs
But then you get to the boss fights. The first is a scripted fight against a bear under the malaise of Dreamscourge. It’s a sad fight, to be honest, as this poor creature is clearly suffering. But it’s also an easy fight.
I appreciate Avowed’s commitment to the colourful fungus of the Dreamscourge. It really brightens up what can so often be a dull, grey genre.
1v1, I can take a fungal bear. It’s easier to manage your stamina and essence when you don’t have to worry about multiple opponents. But this fight isn’t 1v1. It’s 2v1. Kai is with you, eager to tank the beast’s attacks – or at least distract it – while you reset with potions or a three course meal. It makes for a narratively excellent but mechanically underwhelming fight against what should be the most difficult enemy yet.
The next boss I faced was the Godless Executioner, who gets around this absurd difficulty system by spawning a bunch of skeletons to soak up damage and distract you from his own vicious attacks. Before you know it, you’re overwhelmed and you’ve perished in the caves beneath Dawnshore.
I suspect I’ll have to fight Sargamis, too, but I hope that the roleplaying comes back into play and I can talk him round, godlike to godlike. If we do end up coming to blows, I wonder whether he’ll be an easy solo boss or if he’ll summon minions as artificial difficulty inflaters. Or perhaps Avowed will eschew my expectations and somehow create a difficult 2v1 scrap.
In the opening hours of the game, Avowed presents a difficulty dichotomy. Combat is only tricky if you’re fighting a horde of enemies. I hope that it proves me wrong quickly because bosses need to be impressive not only in terms of their narrative design (both the Dreamthrall Bear and Sargamis have this in spades) but also their combat prowess. I’ll be disappointed if Sargamis relies on summoning spooky skeletons to make my life harder, but at the moment, that seems like the only way Avowed knows how to make things hard.
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Avowed’s Loading Screens Look Better Than The Game
Avowed looks fine, but the art of its loading screens and flashbacks is so much more vibrant.