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!

00:02There's been plenty of great RPGs to play over the last couple of years,

00:06but we've been keen to play another from Obsidian ever since they announced Avowed

00:10as an Xbox release following being bought by Microsoft in 2018.

00:14Set within Eora, the Pillars of Eternity world, this gives us a much more immersive

00:19first-person look into the colourful universe.

00:22As Obsidian brought us the likes of Fallout New Vegas and The Outer Worlds,

00:26among others, we've been desperate to see more, which means we jumped at the chance to go hands-on

00:31with a brand new slice of the game picking up from the very beginning.

00:35Here's what you need to know, and why we're loving what we've played so far.

00:40Not everyone is always in the mood for stacks of numbers.

00:43While Avowed certainly has those to offer, for the digit delighted stat lovers out there,

00:48the first-person combat is fun to simply get stuck into,

00:52allowing you to really embrace some action-first hacking and slashing if you so desire.

00:57Combat has a lovely weightiness about it, and whether you're pinging a bow,

01:01taking a hit with your shield, or about to fling out elemental spells,

01:05it's all intuitive and easy to understand.

01:08Just stick them with the pointy end till they're dead,

01:10and that charge attack is so satisfying to pull off.

01:14When you see fantasy swords and sorcery, it's easy to imagine you'll be trundling around an open world

01:20in a slight jog as you bosh baddies on the noggin.

01:23But Avowed's open areas are detailed spaces to explore,

01:27thanks to some parkour-like first-person clambering.

01:29It's not quite dying light too, but you're nevertheless nimbler than you might expect,

01:34and 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

01:42outcrops that can get you to your destination.

01:44Just look where you're going, lest you take a fall.

01:47No fantasy world is complete without a web of proper nouns to become properly entangled in.

01:54After all, learning the language of a new world is all part of the immersion,

01:57and how fans are made.

01:58But if Avowed is your first foray into the Pillars universe, then worry not,

02:03as you always have the option within dialogue to pull up an explanation of any lore terms you've encountered.

02:08While both Metaphor Re-Fantasio and Final Fantasy 16 have attempted this in their own way,

02:13Avowed takes a simple but powerful approach.

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

02:21throughout the entire chat, right there ready to select and browse, without breaking the flow of conversation.

02:27Avowed's UI is far from over-designed, though it is still quite pretty.

02:32Most importantly though, it's clear.

02:34I love how it's clear from both your health bar and an enemy's when they're blocking,

02:38as it adds a purple shield overlay, making it obvious when you're safe and when to go for a guard break.

02:43And I love the clear waypointing that makes it obvious what's optional and what's going to

02:47progress your main path forward.

02:49But most importantly, I love how natural it feels on a controller,

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

02:56From clear D-pad shortcuts, to using the triggers in combat,

03:00to aligning and managing gear in the inventory, and even how you sprint like in Call of Duty.

03:05It all feels wonderfully natural.

03:08While you'll be spec-ing your Envoy hero to favour certain stats and skills from certain classes,

03:14Avowed isn't about locking you into one style of play.

03:17With a touch of a button mid-combat, you can dynamically switch your lowdown,

03:20altering both your main hand and off-hand in the flow of combat.

03:24Yes, like Bayonetta.

03:25This means you go from shield and little stabby knife to dual-wielding a pistol and a spellbook in an instant,

03:31and always have a load of options in your battle-ready fingertips.

03:35Again, Avowed empowers you to find your own combat flow and get it the way you want it,

03:41meaning you can mix and match your main hand and off-hand dynamic as you see fit.

03:45While bows take up both slots, a mage tome, for instance, can only be equipped to your off-hand,

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

03:55favouring the very powerful dash button to evade strikes rather than blocking.

03:59Not all ranged weapons are two-handed either, meaning you can go shield and mace in one slot,

04:04and combine a gun and magic for the other.

04:07We won't stop mentioning it.

04:09You can literally dual-wield guns in magic.

04:12You have a finite pool of magic power for casting spells,

04:15which you can top off with potions and consumables,

04:18yet you can also restore it by absorbing the purple drops that come from enemies as you slay them.

04:23Which is all to say, you can find a rhythm of spell-slinging that means you can stay

04:27topped off in the midst of combat without having to micromanage yourself constantly,

04:31pushing you to stay on the offensive with magic,

04:33while also supplementing it with other ways to finish off foes,

04:36so they spill that all-important purple juice.

04:39Bonus points if you shatter frozen foes with a bullet.

04:43This one goes out to our fellow Elder Scrolls fans,

04:46who like to make their rangers viable so they can snipe their way out of danger.

04:50Not only is the range building avowed, at least early on, very viable, but it's joyous to play.

04:55Aiming down sights, you can power up shots, hitting weak spots for big damage,

04:59but you can also let go of your bow pull early as well, to go a bit faster.

05:03It's very powerful, as it allows you to get damage in a distance and seemingly shoot past shields.

05:09Be warned, however, there are a lot of ranged enemies as well,

05:12so you may end up in a sniper battle.

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

05:19What's an RPG without a party?

05:21And what's a party without a camp within which you can trade tragic backstories,

05:25chatter about recent events, and simply grow closer?

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

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

05:36and learn more about our allies.

05:38Kai, a merman-like coastal Al Mauer, voiced by Brandon Keener, aka Garrus from Mass Effect,

05:44is our first proper pal, and a fantastic introduction to the world we find ourselves in,

05:49as we cut about Dawnshore.

05:50No, you're obsessed.

05:52While we can't show you the character creator yet, we can talk about it,

05:56and there's plenty of really interesting elements you can adjust even in the early build we played.

06:01As a godlike, you've been uniquely touched by divinity even before birth,

06:05which means you can give yourself some funky fungal features.

06:08And yes, some people will be very rude about it in conversation.

06:11You look great though, don't listen to them.

06:13Even beyond appearances, in the opening hours there's quite a bit of opportunities

06:16to use your stats to unlock new options in dialogue,

06:19making these branches feel quite weavy and providing ample room to roleplay.

06:25And that's our list of 10 things you need to know about Avowed,

06:28before it releases February 18, 2025, on PC and Xbox Series X and S.

06:33So, will you be playing this one?

06:34Is there anything else you'd like to know?

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

06:43Thanks, for listening for the new talks.

06:45Alright.

06:46My host, is there any other issues?

06:46No, no, no!

06:48We'll be watching TV in the comments, I think.

06:48Are you there any more questions?

06:50Yes, yes, yes, yes, no, no.

06:51Here's your question.

06:51How do you know?

06:52What's your question, do you look up?

06:53Is there any more questions you'd like to know?

06:54How do you know?

06:54I'm sorry, no.

06:55You've got any more questions not yet.

06:56Three, you've got any questions.

06:56I'm sorry.

06:57I'm sorry.

06:58A lot of good questions.

06:59What's your question?

06:59I'm sorry, uh.

07:00You've gone.

07:01I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

07:02I agree with you guys.

07:04I'm sorry, but I'm sorry.

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