10 Things You Should Know Before Playing Avowed

GamesRadar

Have you ever wanted to dual wield magic AND a pistol? Obsidian’s latest game, Avowed, has you covered. Join us as we take a look at Avowed and tell you the top 10 things you need to know before picking it up in 2025.

Transcript

00:00Greetings fellow adventurers. There's been plenty of great RPGs to play over

00:05the last couple of years, but we've been keen to play another from Obsidian ever

00:08since they announced Avowed as an Xbox release following being bought by

00:12Microsoft in 2018. Set within Eora, the Pillars of Eternity world, this gives us

00:18a much more immersive first-person look into the colorful universe. As Obsidian

00:23brought us the likes of Fallout New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, among others,

00:27we've been desperate to see more, which means we jumped at the chance to go

00:30hands-on with a brand new slice of the game, picking up from the very beginning.

00:34Here's what you need to know and why we're loving what we've played so far.

00:39Not everyone is always in the mood for stacks of numbers. While Avowed certainly

00:45has those to offer, for the digit delighted stat lovers out there, the

00:49first-person combat is fun to simply get stuck into, allowing you to really

00:53embrace some action-first hacking and slashing if you so desire. Combat has a

00:58lovely weightiness about it, and whether you're pinging a bow, taking a hit with

01:02your shield, or about to fling out elemental spells, it's all intuitive and

01:06easy to understand. Just stick them with the pointy end till they're dead, and

01:10that charge attack is so satisfying to pull off. When you see fantasy swords and

01:16sorcery, it's easy to imagine you'll be trundling around an open world in a

01:21slight jog as you bosh baddies on the noggin. But Avowed's open areas are

01:25detailed spaces to explore, thanks to some parkour-like first-person clambering.

01:29It's not quite Dying Light 2, but you're nevertheless nimbler than you might

01:33expect, and some quiet areas will reward some clever jumping with great prizes.

01:38But even on the standard path, you may come across broken bridges or outcrops

01:42that can get you to your destination. Just look where you're going, lest you

01:46take a fall. No fantasy world is complete without a web of proper nouns

01:52to become properly entangled in. After all, learning the language of a new world

01:56is all part of the immersion, and how fans are made. But if Avowed is your

02:00first foray into the Pillars universe, then worry not, as you always have the

02:04option within dialogue to pull up an explanation of any lore terms you've

02:07encountered. While both Metaphore Fantasio and Final Fantasy 16 have

02:12attempted this in their own way, Avowed takes a simple but powerful approach.

02:16Similar to narrative-heavy visual novels, it opens up a fresh box that has terms

02:20mentioned throughout the entire chat, right there, ready to select and browse,

02:24without breaking the flow of conversation. Avowed's UI is far from

02:29over-designed, though it is still quite pretty. Most importantly, though, it's

02:34clear. I love how it's clear from both your health bar and an enemy's when

02:38they're blocking, as it adds a purple shield overlay, making it obvious when

02:41you're safe and when to go for a guard break. And I love the clear waypointing

02:45that makes it obvious what's optional and what's going to progress your main

02:48path forward. But most importantly, I love how natural it feels on a controller,

02:52making it a crunchy RPG that feels tailor-made for Xbox. From clear d-pad

02:57shortcuts, to using the triggers in combat, to aligning and managing gear in

03:02the inventory, and even how you sprint like in Call of Duty, it all feels

03:06wonderfully natural. While you'll be speccing your envoy hero to favor

03:11certain stats and skills from certain classes, Avowed isn't about locking you

03:15into one style of play. With a touch of a button mid-combat, you can dynamically

03:19switch your loadout, altering both your main hand and offhand in the flow of

03:23combat. Yes, like Bayonetta. This means you go from shield and little stabby knife,

03:28to dual wielding a pistol and a spellbook in an instant, and always have

03:32a load of options in your battle-ready fingertips. Again, Avowed empowers you to

03:38find your own combat flow, and get it the way you want it, meaning you can mix

03:41and match your main hand and offhand dynamic as you see fit. While bows take

03:46up both slots, a mage tome for instance can only be equipped to your offhand,

03:50which does mean you can forgo a shield and instead use a sword and spells for

03:54true sword and sorcery, favoring the very powerful dash button to evade strikes

03:58rather than blocking. Not all ranged weapons are two-handed either, meaning

04:02you can go shield and mace in one slot, and combine a gun and magic for the

04:07other. We won't stop mentioning it, you can literally dual wield guns in magic.

04:11You have a finite pool of magic power for casting spells, which you can top off

04:16with potions and consumables. Yet you can also restore it by absorbing the purple

04:21drops that come from enemies as you slay them. Which is all to say you can find a

04:25rhythm of spell slinging that means you can stay topped off in the midst of

04:28combat without having to micromanage yourself constantly, pushing you to stay

04:32on the offensive with magic, while also supplementing it with other ways to

04:35finish off foes, so they spill that all-important purple juice. Bonus points

04:40if you shatter frozen foes with a bullet. This one goes out to our fellow Elder

04:45Scrolls fans who like to make their ranges viable so they can snipe their

04:49way out of danger. Not only is the range building avowed, at least early on, very

04:53viable, but it's joyous to play. Aiming down sights you can power up shots,

04:58hitting weak spots for big damage, but you can also let go of your bow pull

05:01early as well to go a bit faster. It's very powerful as it allows you to get

05:06damage in at a distance and seemingly shoot past shields. Be warned, however,

05:10there are a lot of ranged enemies as well, so you may end up in a sniper

05:14battle. It all becomes a marvelous fantasy-flavored FPS in its own right.

05:18What's an RPG without a party? And what's a party without a camp within which you

05:23can trade tragic backstories, chatter about recent events, and simply grow

05:28closer? While early on the party hasn't grown to its full potential, we're

05:32already enjoying our camp detours as a great way to get more color on the world

05:36and learn more about our allies. Kai, a merman-like coastal Al Mawa, voiced by

05:41Brandon Keener, aka Garrus from Mass Effect, is our first proper pal, and a

05:46fantastic introduction to the world we find ourselves in as we cut about

05:49Dawnshore. No, you're obsessed. While we can't show you the character creator yet,

05:55we can talk about it, and there's plenty of really interesting elements you can

05:59adjust even in the early build we played. As a god-like, you've been uniquely

06:03touched by divinity even before birth, which means you can give yourself some

06:06funky fungal features. And yes, some people will be very rude about it in

06:10conversation. You look great though, don't listen to them. Even beyond appearances,

06:14in the opening hours there's quite a bit of opportunities to use your stats to

06:18unlock new options in dialogue, making these branches feel quite weavy and

06:21providing ample room to roleplay. And that's our list of 10 things you need to

06:27know about Avowed before it releases February 18, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X

06:32and S. So, will you be playing this one? Is there anything else you'd like to know?

06:36Let us know in the comments, and stick with GamesRadar for the latest previews,

06:39reviews, and more.

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