Avowed Preview: An In-Depth Look at What Awaits in the Living Lands

Avowed is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game takes players to the world of Eora, the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity series. The Iron Lords got a chance to sit down and play an extensive preview of the game on PC. Check out our in-depth preview of Avowed. 

The Character Creator is Impressive

In Avowed, players assume the role of a god-like envoy from the Aedyr Empire. The envoy is sent on a quest to investigate a mysterious plague known as the Dream Scourge in the Living Lands. As the name implies, god-likes have a direct connection to Eora’s gods and they have these distinctive features on their faces. These features have a distinctive floral look to them, while other options include these facial growths as well. Players can choose their god-like styles according to their preferences. 

Also, Avowed does a phenomenal job in hair graphics and physics. While it might not be on the same level as Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it looks quite impressive. Especially for black characters as well, as our very own Lord Cognito gave his stamp of approval. From hair texture and designs- yes, there are more options than the Killmonger hairstyle thankfully- both are seemingly on point. 

Backgrounds

In the Character Creation menu, players can choose their backgrounds. Backgrounds determine your starting weapon, unique dialogue opportunities, and skill point distributions. Some of the backgrounds include: 

• Arcane Scholar – starting weapon is a wand and is knowledgeable in history and the occult.
• Court Augur – a shadowy mystic and deceptive-based background and is reminiscent of a fortune-teller. 
• Noble Scion – wealthy, influential, and has shiesty morals.
• Vanguard Scout – instinctive and knowledgeable in survival and the wilderness and is akin to the hunter/rogue archetypes.
• War Hero – traditional fighter, top martial progress, and proficient in grit.

Each background has its stat distribution for attributes. However, don’t worry you’re not locked in so you can easily respec your skill points and develop proficiency in other weapons, equipment, and abilities. There’s a ton of player freedom and versatility, which is always welcome. 

There are also multiple voices that players can select for different genders and pronouns. However, in the game, you will always be referred to as the Envoy.  

Graphics

Avowed was built with Unreal Engine 5 and overall it looks great. During the parallel Gamescom 2024 Los Angeles event, we also got to preview the game. That demo was set further into the game, whereas this latest preview was set directly at the beginning of Avowed. In a nutshell, the game’s graphics look quite polished. Draw distances were impressive, and the Living Lands and character models were well-detailed. However, we did notice some pop-in here and there, but it wasn’t too bad. 

Running on PC, you get all the bells and whistles. Ray tracing is available and shadow details are quite impressive. Although the game ran above +60 FPS on PC during the preview period, the only remaining technical question is how will the game run on Xbox consoles. Despite these lingering questions, Avowed’s environments are vibrant and colorful with a lot of expressiveness found throughout the Living Lands. 

In terms of facial animations, they were quite expressive. Facial animations are almost on the level of games such as Baldur’s Gate 3, which is an impressive feat. During dialogue sequences, the camera is up close to the characters’ faces and it beautifully highlights Avowed’s impressive facial animation work. 

Movement animations were also well executed. Mantling ledges were smooth and dodging during combat felt nimble. Moreover, sliding also felt amazing and similar to games such as Call of Duty.

Dialog Choices That Matter

No doubt, Obsidian are still the masters when it comes to creative writing and dialog options with meaningful impact. That tradition still shines in Avowed. The amount of dialog variety is amazing and there are meaningful skill checks in dialog options as well. Similar to Baldur’s Gate 3, you need certain levels to successfully pass certain dialogue options that are based on your background and stats. 

For example, early on in the game, your personal squire Garrik and you end up in a fort. It’s here you encounter a prisoner and there are some options laid out in front of you. Garrick warns you to not let her out of her cell because she looks quite dodgy and sheisty. However, the prisoner tries to convince you to let her out and she will help you get a boat and escape the fort. 

Despite this situation arising very early on in the game, the number of dialogue choices and clear impact was immense. This highlights how Obsidian remain masters in their craft of world-building and RPG mechanics. Luckily, the studio also managed to streamline keeping things in check when it comes to its deep lore.

Obsidian added to their pedigree with a lore glossary that can be easily accessed at any time. The glossary helps keep players on top of the game’s world and vast lore in a more streamed-line fashion.

Variety is the Spice of Combat in Avowed

Avowed is chock-full of variety when it comes to dealing with a combat situation. You can creep up on enemies and pull off satisfying stealth kills if they are the same level as or below. Otherwise, a stealth hit will deal a decent amount of damage. 

Bows and ranged weapons are also quite enjoyable to use. There are critical strike markers on enemies that deal additional damage if you successfully target them. Whereas, melee attacks are punchy and sound amazing. Especially when you land a heavy strike on an enemy and you see them go flying. 

Similar to Sekiro, there are stun meters above enemy heads in Avowed. If you fill them up, they will get staggered and present an opportunity to unleash a finisher-type move that deals immense damage. The finisher move conjures up a sword that looks similar to the Halo energy sword and the animation of the finisher is so satisfying to pull off. The sword appears to be an attribute to the god-like powers of the Envoy and it was well realized.   

If you want to slow things down during combat that option is also available in Avowed. You can prompt in a radial wheel where you can select different abilities and actions to execute. Players can also map different actions to the D-pad and the RB button. 

Hub World Game Design More Depth than Breadth

Avowed takes a lot of notes from the Outerworld when it comes to game design. Instead of a massive open world, the game utilizes the tried-and-true hub world design. Here, the focus is more on depth rather than breadth. In other words, each hub area is decently sized, not sprawling, but has a ton of depth in terms of activities and exploration. There are so many different secrets to uncover and different paths to take. It’s easy to scale different buildings and Avowed rewards you all the time for traveling off the beaten path. For example, early on in the preview, we scaled a lighthouse jumped off of it, and dove underwater. It was here that we found all types of treasure and exotic loot waiting for us at the bottom. Fortunately, Avowed has forgiving fall damage so you can take more elevated risks without dying. 

When it comes to loot, it’s color-coded for rarity levels and is self-explanatory. There’s lock picking available as well that will open certain areas if your skill level is high enough. And yes there is transmog available for your gear. So, it’s easy to update your threads to something more of your style, which is always appreciated.

Third-Person Perspective Debut in Avowed

During the Avowed preview, we were pleasantly surprised that 3rd person perspective option was available. It was great to use it when venturing out into the Living Lands to soak in the majestic vistas. But when it comes to practicality, first-person perspective was still optimal, especially for interacting with the world and combat. However, the third-person view is a nice addition that will help change things up.  

Robust Accessibility Options

Avowed has robust accessibility options. There are many UI text resizing options and gameplay-centric accessibility features as well. This includes visual cues like character silhouettes, point-of-interest visual and audio indications, auto-spriting, and much more. In particular, the audio cues were extremely helpful and apparent when you’re near a treasure chest.

When it comes to in-game tutorials, Avowed has one of the best implementations. You’ll naturally come across different tutorials during gameplay, in addition, pressing select will bring up an extensive tutorial menu. In the menu, you’ll see video explanations for every in-game mechanic and feature. It’s not that far off from Call of Duty Black Ops 6.  

Final Thoughts on the Avowed Preview

No doubt Avowed is shaping up to be an impressive experience. Obsidian is elevating its craft and it resonates in almost every aspect of the game during the preview. Make no mistake, Avowed is going to be Obsidian’s most ambitious title yet. Mark your calendars for February 18, 2025, as we can’t wait to take the full dive into the Living Lands.