Summary
- Avowed should improve its melee combat to match its ranged combat.
- Avowed should provide players with plenty of unique melee weapons and abilities to make the playstyle more attractive.
- Avowed could make enemies more aggressive to justify the use of melee weapons in combat.
Despite Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed allowing players to approach combat in a variety of ways, early previews of the game have noted a lackluster experience with its melee combat. Even those who have yet to playtest Avowed might notice a slight preference given to its ranged combat, as it tends to put on an explosive show of lights, colors, and action. With Avowed's delay now putting its release in February 2025, and if it turns out that its melee combat is truly lacking, it still has some time left to improve its melee combat and put it on par with its ranged combat.
There are likely plenty of ways Avowed could go about improving the melee portion of its combat. However, two of them involve the game providing players with plenty of unique melee weapons and abilities and making enemies aggressive enough to merit a melee playstyle.
Avowed Hands-On Preview: A Feast for Lore Fans
The Best War Games plays an hour of Obsidian's Avowed and comes away excited by everything it does with established Pillars of Eternity lore.
Avowed Needs to Make Sure Its Melee Combat Is on Par With Its Ranged Combat
Avowed Needs Plenty of Unique Melee Weapons and Abilities to Increase the Playstyle's Appeal
If Avowed wants to ensure a decent portion of its players utilize its melee combat options, it can start by including plenty of unique melee weapons and abilities that might make the playstyle more appealing. At the moment, Avowed's combat looks much more flashy when enjoyed from range, with wands that can fling magic at foes and grimoires that allow players to conjure spells from their bare hands. Avowed's melee, on the other hand, appears to be very basic, despite the somewhat satisfying feedback that comes from landing a blow.
Avowed does provide players with the option of enchanting their non-unique melee weapons to enhance their abilities, like granting a two-handed sword the ability to inflict fire damage. However, that might be enough to justify players using a sword over a pistol or a spell. Instead, Avowed's melee combat needs to feature a variety of melee weapons with unique passive traits, as well as a diverse array of abilities that might even allow melee weapons to transcend close-quarters combat. For example, perhaps players might be given the option to throw a one-handed axe in Avowed and retrieve it from enemies. Unique abilities like this might help players feel they have more versatility when showing a preference for melee combat.
Avowed's Bosses Need to Be Aggressive Enough to Merit the Use of Melee Weapons
Another way Avowed could encourage players to take advantage of its melee combat options is to make enemies and bosses aggressive enough to merit the use of melee weapons. If enemies aren't very aggressive and therefore don't come into close quarters with players very often, they might be better off dealt with from a distance using a wand or a bow. Unfortunately, this could make things far too easy for players and devalue the rewards they earn from defeating Avowed's most challenging enemies.
Early gameplay footage has shown some of Avowed's bosses being fairly aggressive, but that doesn't necessarily speak for the overall gameplay experience. Furthermore, not every enemy in Avowed necessarily needs to function this way, but it should still be frequent enough that melee weapons are worth equipping.
Even then, however, there might need to be plenty of melee weapon types and abilities to make the playstyle attractive enough to players.
So far, Avowed's melee combat looks engaging, but maybe only for a short while. As is the case with Skyrim's melee combat, it looks like it might be headed in the direction of being far too repetitive to maintain players' interest for a long period of time. Fortunately, Avowed's skill trees make it so that players can mix and match different playstyles to ensure they rarely get stuck in a rut. Nevertheless, those who prefer melee combat over ranged may need some changes to take place in Avowed before they draw their swords.
Avowed
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 82%
- Released
- February 18, 2025
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Obsidian Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Xbox Game Studios
WHERE TO PLAY
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?
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Pillars of Eternity
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
