Summary
- Avowed is an open-world action-RPG with a vibrant fantasy environment and dual-wield combat, which could give it an edge over its peers.
- Avowed is gradually establishing its own identity while still maintaining connections to the Pillars of Eternity IP.
- Avowed has the potential to surpass Hogwarts Legacy in terms of player choices and narrative consequences, making it a more engaging experience from that standpoint.
Avowed is only sharing details piecemeal at this point, but this slow drip-feed of revealed gameplay has finally depicted what will likely be its defining features: a vibrant fantasy environment and dual-wield combat. As an open-world action-RPG of its ilk that might not seem terribly emergent, but knowing what Obsidian brings to the table could give Avowed the edge it needs to excel beyond its peers this year.
The likely comparison Avowed has already garnered is that of Skyrim due to it being a fantasy game and Obsidian’s relationship with Bethesda, but Avowed is gradually growing into its own while still maintaining natural connections to the overarching Pillars of Eternity IP it belongs to. It’s not yet easy to say what Avowed will do better or worse than its contemporaries, but since its wandplay seems to iterate on what makes Hogwarts Legacy’s combat special, it’s definitely in the running to eclipse the Harry Potter action-RPG as far as choices players may have to make in the narrative are concerned.
Avowed Gameplay Reveals New Zone Shatterscarp and Other Features
Obsidian Entertainment sits down with Xbox to delve deeper into what players can expect from Avowed, the studio's upcoming fantasy RPG.
Avowed’s Player Choice Makes Hogwarts Legacy Seem Narratively Weightless
Hogwarts Legacy Gave Players Few Meaningful Choices in Dialogue
Hogwarts Legacy gave players the freedom to do whatever they liked with the game, from selecting their own Hogwarts house affiliation to choosing whether they wanted to learn Unforgivable Curses, and that was perhaps to its detriment a bit. By giving the player no consequences for their actions, suddenly dialogue choices no longer matter and nothing condemns the player in any way based on any decisions they make.
Initially declining to learn curses from Hogwarts Legacy’s Sebastian isn’t even a permanent choice, for instance, because he will ask players again later on and they can decide to learn them for the sake of having them in gameplay, even if learning them no longer has any narrative significance. Likewise, players do get a choice in the final quest of the game to discern what ending they get, but decisions made prior have no effect on these endings.
This doesn’t necessarily make Hogwarts Legacy’s story worse, but it’s a feature Avalanche toyed around with and for some reason refused to dedicate itself to. If Hogwarts Legacy had a vast amount of choice-based features that could affect the game it’d be interesting to see what the reception to it would be, and Avowed might be the closest example of what that could look like.
Avowed Seems to Rely Wholly on Player Choice and Dialogue
If there’s anything Obsidian is known to be adept at, it’s player choice and interesting branching dialogue paths in its RPGs. Obsidian’s latest, The Outer Worlds, is exemplary of this, with multiple companion characters players balanced who all had intriguing side quests to follow.
Avowed’s recent gameplay showcase at the 2024 Xbox Developer Direct demonstrated how influential dialogue and choice will be, and while that’s nothing new for Obsidian or many fantasy action-RPGs it is still a leg-up it has over Hogwarts Legacy in that regard. If anything, it would be excellent to see Hogwarts Legacy’s inevitable sequel tackle Avowed as an inspiration and allow itself to dive fully into the RPG elements its predecessor already laid foundations for.
It remains to be seen exactly how important choices will be in Avowed, but Obsidian’s track record should be proof that Avowed will make good on what Hogwarts Legacy lacked when it comes to morality and dialogue influencing the narrative.
Avowed
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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?
- Franchise
- Pillars of Eternity
- Platform(s)
- Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
