Avowed Hands On: Playing One Quest in Two Very Different Ways
Avowed, as with all Obsidian Entertainment games, has been designed with player choice at the forefront – your gear, your playstyle, your dialogue, your approaches to quests are all up to you. Xbox Wire had the chance to experience this for ourselves with the first playable preview with the game, which sent us on a journey to retrieve a lost relic.
To get a sense of the freedom that Avowed presents, Wire editors Danielle and Mike both played, and took two very different approaches to the demo. Here’s what we found.
Character Background
Danielle: True to RPG form, Avowed offers up myriad ways to approach the job at hand – even with your very first choices. Avowed offers five different background choices that will primarily affect your dialogue choices in-game, but all equipment and abilities are available to you regardless of the background you choose. Forever a fan of clean, stealthy operations that make me feel cool, I opted for a ranger build with a Vanguard Scout background – more at ease with the wilderness than around noble folk, but a skilled and observant hunter.
Mike: I, however, picked the Barbarian — Danielle took my preferred ranger class before I could blink — but I enjoyed not having to concern myself with stealth, and instead leaned in heavily on the power of my melee weapons, where running headlong into enemies was a bit more of my character’s forte during this demo. My character traits were not strong enough to do any Intellect or Perception checks in interactions with any characters I encountered, but I was able to successfully lie (more on that in a bit).
The World
Danielle: After picking our characters, we headed into the game itself. Avowed is an action RPG set in the land of Eora, which Pillars of Eternity fans will be familiar with. The section we played takes place inside a lush dungeon, paring down the scope of the full game for the sake of a demo but, as we quickly found out, by no means restrictive. In this quest, we’re tasked with locating an expedition group that has gone missing in search of a holy relic. We are however, in true Obsidian fashion, immediately sidetracked by another quest, which involves fetching that relic for another character we meet on the way, which we’ll get into shortly.
As I’m making my way through this cave system towards the first objective, it’s impossible not to notice how gorgeous these surroundings are – vibrant wildlife coats the walls and ceilings, a sparkling waterfall cascades in the distance. I’m transported instantly into the world of Avowed and the adventures it has to offer.
Mike: I too was immediately struck by the bright and colourful design of the cave system. This is no dark, grim fantasy adventure (as the developers have previously mentioned). It’s rich and full of greenery and grand views. I particularly liked how the giant tree roots almost looked like massive arms holding everything up and in place. We know Avowed will have a variety of biomes for us to adventure through, but this was a great introduction to seeing what one of these dungeons looked like – and this is just a side quest! This bodes well for what the main adventure will have in store for us.
Weapons and Magic
Danielle: This is where the fun truly begins. As a ranger, I am of course equipped with a trusty and extremely potent bow called “The Long Touch” which offers some serious bonus perks to sharpshooters. I’m also given the option to upgrade the bow using materials gathered from the wilderness, which is a nice touch for when you don’t want to give up that special weapon after levelling up a few times. Using the bow alongside the Shadowing Beyond skill – which made me invisible for a time – allowed me to deftly chew through smaller enemies with ease.
In a later boss fight, I quickly realized stealth wasn’t going to cut it, and I was able to completely flip the switch into a “shocking” secondary loadout. This included a unique pistol that dealt shock damage. It’s a slower, louder option that sacrificed dexterity for pure pain, which came in handy for battering down the dungeon’s boss. I didn’t just have different weapons either – Tanglefoot, a magic ability that sprouted spiky roots out of the ground to hold enemies in place, came in super handy for dealing with pests. I also had a throwable Electric Lily Seed, which dished out additional shock damage to everyone in this relatively small room.
Even with a loadout I hadn’t fully chosen myself, it felt like I had a ton of options for how to approach each situation, but the tools I had still felt augmented to the style and background of my character.
Mike: Mine was a more… direct approach than Danielle’s. I was able to hot-swap between two weapon loadouts: a dual wield option that paired a common sword with a one-handed axe called “Drawn in Winter” – it deals frost damage, if the name wasn’t a giveaway. I could also quickly swap to the two-handed “Seven Strings” club which dealt massive damage. I elected for the club for most of my playthrough, mainly because I liked the ability to block enemy attacks from the lizard-like Xaurip and giant spiders we encountered. I also had two abilities: Charge, which was a powerful dash-like attack, and Barbaric Shout, which interrupted enemy attacks.
I also liked how my companion Kai, a blue-skinned Aumaua voiced by Brandon Keener (Garrus from Mass Effect), would call out locations of enemies to ensure I don’t get flanked. While the demo only offered us a small glimpse, it’s clear the companion system will be a major component of Avowed and I’m excited to see how this works in the longer-term adventure. Obsidian has shared there will be four recruitable companions that can aid you on your journey – and I’m excited to see how they all play into the story.
Play Your Way
Danielle: The preview presented several opportunities for dialogue, which gave a sense of how conversations will shape your adventure just as much as combat. The Vanguard Scout-specific choices were snappy and to the point, as a background of roaming amongst the trees rather than mingling with royalty would imply. I was given the choice to be polite and honest to Caedmon, a young chap that needed aid, or snarky and unhelpful, but figured that kindness might afford more opportunities down the road if he remembers that I saved his life in a dark cave. Avowed features attribute points that will unlock different dialogue choices, as well as buffs to your combat skills. As a ranger, I was particularly buffed out in the Dexterity and Perception departments, which delivered both extra critical hit chances and more observant options while I talked with other characters.
Mike: It wasn’t long until I was saying to myself that this felt very Obsidian-like – the myriad of dialog choices and interactions afforded to my character will be immediately familiar to players of the studio’s other games. While Danielle took a noble, helpful approach, I took the opportunity to see how the world and characters would respond to a brash warrior who lies through their teeth. There seems to be a wide variety of choice, and more humor than I was expecting (this was a good thing), that make this feel like an Obsidian RPG in the vein of Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. Being able to either help Caedmon by healing his wounds or straight-up lying to him and pretending you’re a ghost is peak form for this studio – and I hope to see high level of player choice throughout Avowed.
I was also curious to see how far I could “push” the dialog with Sargamis, the gold-bodied Oracle who tasked us with retrieving the dagger so he could imbue a soul into a giant, lifeless stone giant – who may just have had something to do with the missing expedition. I’m not going to spoil exactly what happened here – it’s way too much fun not to let you discover it for yourself – but the fact that Avowed let me go so far with Sargamis’ conversation branches, has left me really excited for just how many dialog paths there will be in the mainline adventure.
It’s clear to see that Avowed is shaping up to be an extremely impressive adventure – there’s rich lore to be found in every corner and minimal rigidity to the builds, so you can play however you’d like. Even in this purposely select area, the bones of Obsidian’s RPG mastery are truly at work here, and we can’t wait to see how the choices play out in the full game. This will have to sate you for now but keep an eye out for more updates on Avowed, heading to Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Game Pass on February 18, 2025.
Avowed
Xbox Game Studios
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?
The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.
Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
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