The recently-released fantasy RPG, Avowed, is Obsidian Entertainment’s first AAA RPG in over 5 years. Unlike some of the company’s other games, such as Fallout: New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity, the reception towards Avowed seems to be a bit more controversial than usual. Reviews of the game have largely been positive, but some longtime fans of the developer have been staunchly critical of it. Although many players have praised Avowed and called it a shining example of the RPG genre, others have labeled it an underwhelming experience that isn’t unique enough to justify its $70 price tag.
A lot of the criticisms surrounding Avowed stem from the game’s old-fashioned approach to game design. Obsidian hasn’t tried to do anything too inventive with its latest RPG, unlike what it did for Fallout: New Vegas back in the day. In a world where several recent role-playing games, such as Baldur’s Gate 3, are pushing the boundaries of the genre, some have found Avowed to come up lacking, as a result. Frankly, Obsidian’s new RPG feels less like a genre-defining masterpiece and more like a throwback to the Xbox 360 era, in ways that are both good and bad.
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Avowed Feels Like a Blast from the Past
Avowed is Shorter and More Condensed Compared to Other Modern RPGs
Many open-world RPGs these days are filled with bloat and an endless number of side activities to complete, which has led some players to grow tired of the genre. Fortunately, Avowed is not like these titles. Obsidian’s RPG isn’t the Skyrim follow-up that some fans were hoping it would be, but it is instead a more concise experience. Like Obsidian’s last big RPG, The Outer Worlds, Avowed is not a fully open-world game. Rather, it is broken up into four hub-based areas: Dawnshore, Emerald Stair, Scatterscarp, and Galawain’s Tusks. Each region in the game may not seem that large at first, but they are chock-full of interesting side content and locations to discover.
Since it’s not a true open-world game, Avowed has a considerably shorter runtime compared to most modern RPGS. According to How Long to Beat, completing the main mission of the game takes a mere 16 1/2 hours, or 30 hours to complete with side content included. This only constitutes a small fraction of the duration of other recent RPGs, such as Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Avowed‘s length and design philosophy may remind some fans of games from the Xbox 360 era, a time when many titles were relatively short and didn’t require players to dedicate their entire lives to them.
The colored button prompts in Avowed look like they were taken directly from an Xbox 360 title.
The World in Avowed Looks Static and Dated in Some Respects
As great as Avowed‘s leaner, condensed approach is, the game itself can sometimes feel as dated as an Xbox 360 game. For some strange reason, the foliage in Avowed‘s environments doesn’t move at all, and the NPCs inhabiting the game’s settlements often just stand in place without doing anything. Even the bodies of enemies, which can be looted in other games, magically disappear once killed. As a whole, the world of Avowed feels a lot more static compared to many recent AAA RPGs. Despite being a visually impressive game, it seems to be a bit behind the times when it comes to realism. Considering the game costs $70, it’s understandable to see why some people would be upset by this.
It’s safe to say that Avowed is not the next Baldur’s Gate 3 or Cyberpunk 2077. Instead, it is a successor to mid-budget Xbox 360-era RPGs, like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, more so than anything else. The game is somewhat rough around the edges, but it still has a charm to it that some other blockbuster titles fail to replicate. Although Avowed‘s old-fashioned approach to the RPG formula may not be to everyone’s tastes, it will likely satisfy people looking for traditional gaming experiences.
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger. Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios