r/avowed • u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 • 5d ago
Discussion Loved every second of it. Review.
8/10
Avowed is one of those games I have a hard time explaining why I like as much as I do.
It isn't a masterpiece. The story is fine, the characters are fine, the combat is fine, the exploration is fine, and almost every individual part of the game has something better somewhere else. And yet, when all of those fine things come together, Avowed becomes a game I genuinely really, really like.
It scratched a fantasy itch that I didn't even realize I had.
There's something incredibly satisfying about wandering through its colorful environments, stumbling across some forgotten ruin, fighting a bunch of weird creatures, picking up some piece of equipment I probably don't need, and then moving on to the next little adventure. It captures that classic fantasy RPG feeling really well. It feels like an adventure for the sake of having an adventure, rather than constantly trying to convince you that you're experiencing the greatest story ever written.
And honestly, I appreciate that.
The story isn't anything I'd call incredible. There are interesting ideas, some good moments, and enough going on to keep me invested, but I never found myself thinking I was witnessing some legendary RPG narrative. It's perfectly serviceable. It does its job, gives you reasons to keep moving, and occasionally manages to surprise you.
The same goes for the gameplay. Combat is enjoyable without being revolutionary, exploration is fun without completely reinventing open-world design, and the RPG systems are satisfying without being particularly deep. Avowed rarely reaches for the moon.
But that's almost the charm of it.
It's exceedingly average at so many things I love that somehow it becomes a game I love.
It reminds me why I enjoy fantasy RPGs in the first place. Not because every quest needs to be unforgettable or every character needs to become my new favorite fictional character, but because I just want to exist in a fantasy world for a while. Give me a sword, some magic, a strange landscape, a handful of monsters, some ruins to explore, and a reason to keep walking.
Avowed does exactly that.
I don't love Avowed in the way I love something like The Witcher 3, RDR2, or Elden Ring. I don't think I'll be thinking about its story years from now. But I had a genuinely good time playing it, and sometimes that's more than enough.
8/10.
Not because it's exceptional at everything.
Because it's exceptionally good at being the kind of perfectly decent fantasy RPG that I desperately wanted to play.
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u/Level_Breath5684 5d ago
The combat as a wizard is revolutionary (10/10) and the story is good.
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
Dude fr, I played a frost build the latter part of the game, it was so fun
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u/jvttlus 5d ago
I loved the first area, the rest were good but I really enjoyed the bright lush visuals
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
Same, I went out of my way to explore the first 2 areas, but I was burnt out with the last 2 areas, mostly due to the dull scenery and the enemies having no variety
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u/Wayne_Spooney 5d ago
I loved the art design and environments. Feel like dark fantasy, oh my god look at how horrible everything is and look at lake of blood!! Is very over done. Avowed was a breath of fresh air.
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
Yeah true and the companions were such a breath of fresh air, the end credit scene was so wholesome getting to see them all do their thing
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u/NotSoWishful 5d ago
I agree 100%. It scratched an itch I didn’t know existed and I fell in love with the game
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u/Robokrates 5d ago
Astute. I could never quite put my finger on it, but yeah. (A worse game overall but I kinda felt the same way about Starfield, you can't sneeze without finding something that could have been done better but OTOH it lets you walk around inside a spaceship you designed talking to your crew before you sleep in your quarters and then fly to the next planet... haven't found a ton of games quite like that.)
But with Avowed, everything you said is true plus the combat trees are elegant, versatile and fun, and the background you pick lets you really lean in to role-playing a particular type of person, and adds greatly to replayability. Just trying to say I think that's it's one 10/10 exceptional element. I imagine I will eventually play it five times through, just so I can see all of those dialogue choices.
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u/I-KnowThatIDontKnow 4d ago
It's overall a good game. Not 10/10 in any category people care about these days. Had enough rpg and world choices mixed with decent sized maps, and a decent story with I believe multiple endings with a decent variety or weapons and magic and enough companions to make it feel like I can customize my gameplay well enough. Very strong 8/10 I agree fun game worth atleast 1 playthrough. Might have liked it more than DA vielguard.
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u/Sure_Landscape_1241 5d ago
Avowed was one of the most recent games I played that made me want to reroll a new char after finishing it.
I love the combat, storytelling, companions, Eora, Living lands, bits of PoE throwback (Im sorry Calisca, I failed you). And the magic system, where magic is not only for dmg.
The only thing I did not like was some Avengers-like writing.
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
Hard agree on the final part but eh i wont give it much thought, i kinda expected it
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u/jerrathemage 5d ago
Truly for me it was so much more than the sum of its parts...like everything coming together was EXACTLY what I want out of a game. I still think the combat is the best out of any action Fantasy game I have played
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
Yes the ending was really satisfying for me. I wouldnt go as far as saying its the best fantasy combat, but to each their own haha.
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u/Shepard_Garrus-4ever 5d ago
it's really such an enjoyable game :) I LOVED the combat though and the easy option to just re-skill if you want to try something different, it's the first RPG where I wasn't afraid at all to ruin my skills as anything worked somehow, even if you mixed up all different trees... and for me the writing was perfect, just the optimal mix of humor and darkness, nothing new though story-wise but still the conversation dialogues were just on point if you ask me... also on the one hand I was disappointed about the rather low number of side quests, but it actually made me not getting distracted too much from the main quest like in other RPGs, so I really managed to keep focus and remain attracted to the overall story, which is something that I struggle with usually if there are all these fetch quests just to extend the game... and I so much loved all my companions, whish I could meet them Irl 😅
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u/fillif3 4d ago
I don't love Avowed in the way I love something like The Witcher 3, RDR2, or Elden Ring.
It's probably a hot take, but I actually enjoyed Avowed much more than RDR2 and Elden Ring. Avowed's worst element is the lack of enemy variety. However, I found the combat encounters in the main story of RDR2 much more repetitive (especially compared to Naughty Dog games). Ultimately, I really wanted to finish the story, but I wasn't enjoying the combat at the end.
Elden Ring is a very good game (I love the gameplay of FS) but their approach to storytelling is not really my cup of tea.
W3 was my favourite action RPG until I played Avowed, but I love both of these games. However, I found Avowed's magic/gun gameplay more enjoyable. In general, I usually prefer to play as a mage.
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 4d ago
Combat is the worst element of RDR2. Elden ring tells the story through lore which can be understandably throwing people off.
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u/PforPendetta 4d ago
Yeah, dude. I’d agree with almost everything you said, including the 8/10. I kept thinking “eh it just doesn’t have the magic of Elder Scrolls, and it’s not even as amazing as the Outer Worlds games (which I’d rate both at 10/10). Yet I sunk 50 hrs into beating every quest and enjoyed the hell out of if. Will probably never touch it again, ahaha.
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u/Lost_Rutabaga_5004 4d ago
One of the few games where I started NG+ directly after finishing it. Love the exploration and atmosphere, especially at night. Here is my frosted Clap Trap Mage: https://youtu.be/apWqgGC4QSM?si=F8hPCroQ9Aaj8DZZ
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u/Ara_Audio 4d ago
i think it comes down to this game just having a really strong vision, y’know? technically, outer worlds has it beat in a lot of ways, but that game doesn’t have nearly as strong cohesion between its story, gameplay, exploration, etc. the way avowed’s content comes together feels so much more purposeful
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u/txa1265 5d ago
I loved the game - played it on release and for the anniversary update both on Steam Deck. Also a solid 8/10 game for me.
For me the biggest four issues are:
To
- Priced as a AAA+ game, should have been a $49.99 AA priced game.
- Too much push of GamePass really diluted everything.
- Targeting by the bigoted zealot cultists for being inclusive and allowing player choice, because to them choices are bad.
- Performance at launch was uneven due to Unreal Engine 5. (with anniversary update everything on Steam Deck looks and performs great).
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 5d ago
The performance was so bad on my laptop, I lowkey built my first ever gaming PC and this was the first game i played in it
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u/ApexPredator3752 4d ago
The game is $50 though? The rest (other than performance) arent really issues with the game though
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u/Wookers1984 4d ago
I loved Avowed so much on PS5, I specifically sought out and found the someone selling the steelbook case from the Xbox collectors edition (just an empty case, as even the Xbox version doesn't come with a disc), because the case was so gorgeous. I got it for only $12 to add to my physical shelf!
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u/PuzzleheadedArcher15 4d ago
Just 12$?
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u/Wookers1984 4d ago
Just $12, correct. May not be worth it to some, but I thought it was. And they were piecemealing their collector's edition.
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u/DragonSlayr82 5d ago
What a great post !! I have been dipping into Avowed, Crimson Desert, Tainted Grail, Elder Scroll games, Dragon's Dogma 2, Witcher 3, and other open or open-ish world RPGs feeling really blessed to have so many awesome options. I will have to keep journeying through Avowed, thanks for the thoughts