Avowed Review

A bloated story in an otherwise stunning, streamlined open world that has somehow mastered the dated Elder Scrolls combat

Avowed is a conundrum unto itself. On one hand it’s a great RPG with condensed open “areas” all completely different to the last, heavy decisions that completely alter the world and a wonderfully varied take on the Elder Scrolls 1st person combat system. Great on paper, but it’s not without its issues. No romance options with such a varied cast of companions, a tedious upgrade system that makes weapons all but useless if your not looting at every possible opportunity and a story that while good at first, does not merit the time it takes to reach its conclusion.

The natural place to start is the real highlight of the title: its combat. The game basically allows you to weld any combination of weapons you like with 2 handed weapons like greatswords, bows and old school muskets if your feeling unadventurous. The fun really starts when you duel wield. You want to have a wand in one hand and a pistol in the other, you can do that. Want to have the same pistol on one hand and use a flaming sword in the other so you can get close and personal when the need arises. I mean you can even go full Harry Potter and have a grimoire full of spells to go with your thinderchucking wand. Mix the variety in weapons with spells you learn permanently as well as your godlike abilities and you have a combat system that truly never runs out of options.

The story that your slicing your way through also gets off to a hot start, your an emissasy from Aederyn sent to investigate a plague that is gripping the living lands that is basically turning normal people into a the rainbow edition of the The Last of Us spores infection. This affliction is known as the dreamscourge and you don’t even reach the island before your feeling its effects, as an infected outpost blows your ship out of the water before you even make land. This is the start of a weaved web that takes you through the politics of each region of the living lands as you try to decide between stopping the dream scourge or protecting the people of the living lands. While the stakes always feel relatively high and your decisions effect the face of the living lands along with the people in it. After around 20 hours, you find yourself wondering when you will reach the conclusion of a story you can already sort of predict the end to by the halfway point.

The voice acting is stellar with Kai being voiced by the same legend (Brandon Keener) who voiced Garrus in the Mass Effect series. Each companion has a totally different personality and perspective on the decisions you make which makes every call you make throughout the story have that extra bit of weight as you consider whether or not you want to upset you favourite party members. Each companion is also from each region in the game which gives them all expertise and insight on each area and their history before you make decisions. The lack of options for a romance does seem like a missed opportunity, bur perhaps that’s just an RPG trope I have grown used to rather than an absolutely necessary inclusion.

The world the story takes place in is stunning. Thoroughly streamlined regions make it free from unnecessary bloat, with each landscape and explosion of color and personality in its own unique way. The first area: Dawnshore, is a pirate movie-esque port region with bustling trade and a green countryside. Emerald Stair is a creepy haunted land filled with specters and foggy forests. Shatterscarp is an unforgiving dessert home with lush lagoons hidden in every corner, and home of the amphibious species that Kai, your first companion, calls his people. The final region is Gallawains Tusks that looks like Avowed’s love letter to helms deep, a volcanic waste land where hardly any life thrives outside of its huge fortress city. The enemy variety could be a little better as Xaudrips and people infected with dream scourge do get boring after a while but each area does have 1 or 2 enemies exclusive to its region, which is an nice touch.

As much as every area is nice and contained, they do all have their own unique dungeons, fortresses, basement, spiders lairs, you name it to explore as you scour for loot to upgrade your loadout. Which handling brings me to another frustration I had with the title.

The levelling system for weapons is brutal. Now I finished this game with every side, main and treasure mission completed and I STILL didn’t have enough crafting ingredients to fully upgrade my entire loadout. While this doesn’t sound annoying, just LOOT HARDER BRO, if you move to a new area without upgrading to the new tier your weapons turn into props, barely tickling the bad guys (despite all my weapons being legendary). Not only that, you no longer find the ingredients you need to upgrade your weapon in said new area unless you break down better resources, which you KNOW you will need to upgrade to the next tier before moving to another area. It’s a vicious cycle that never feels anything other than annoying, especially if you get attached to a weapon early, which of course I did with my super cool flaming sword. Sure you find better tier equipment in the later areas but it’s very much a donkey and carrot system that you just never seem to get out in front of.

All in all, there is a great time to be had in the living lands. Combat has endless combinations of spells, swords and guns to carve your way through every region. Companions are flushed out enough that you grow to care for each region your trying to save and the world itself is genuinely a joy to behold. A couple of clunky levelling mechanics and a story that is perhaps 3 hours to long aside, Avowed is truly an Elder Scrolls-esque RPG with its combat potential fully realized albeit with a slightly shorter leash to fully interact with the world at your own leisure.

RM RECOMMENDS on game pass

+Gorgeous, contained new world

+Fun and Versatile Combat System

+Well acted and varied cast of companions

+Decisions alter the game world

-Brutal weapon leveling system

-Story begins to drag out in the final act

PSA: I have no pictures of the game as I have accidentally over-written every screengrab I have taken in the past 3 months by being screenshot heavy on AC: Shadows (I regret nothing).