When it comes to Avowed, I wanted to believe—I really did—that Xbox would finally deliver a game worthy of its grand ambitions.
Instead, I got to play a game so aggressively average that even the time I spent downloading it felt like a personal betrayal. Obsidian Entertainment, the studio behind classics like Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, used to be synonymous with deep, reactive storytelling.
But Avowed isn’t that Obsidian. This is the “Sure, I Guess That’ll Do” Obsidian. What should have been a thrilling adventure is a shallow, forgettable RPG that never entirely justifies its existence.
The Illusion of Choice (and Fun)
Avowed dangles the promise of player agency and meaningful choices from the outset. But in reality, every decision boils down to fight or don’t fight, and no matter what path you take, the world responds with all the enthusiasm of an NPC stuck in a T-pose.
As the Royal Envoy (aka Chosen One #567), you’re tasked with delivering a Very Important Message to an Ambassador on behalf of an Emperor you barely know.
Along the way, you’ll be haunted by a mysterious voice, plagued by a generic fantasy illness, and accompanied by four companions who, despite their best efforts, are about as memorable as Skyrim’s guards.
A World That Feels Like a Movie Set After Everyone Went Home
The Living Lands, a supposedly vibrant and diverse world, is split into four distinct biomes, each teeming with lush vegetation and… the exact same enemies.
Spiders, lizards, and generic soldiers populate every zone like they’ve got a timeshare agreement with the local wildlife.
There are no distinct regional creatures, surprises, or sense of discovery. Every battle feels like a copy-paste job from the last one, just with a slightly different colour palette.
The NPCs? Static. The towns? Barely alive. Want to wait for nightfall? Too bad. Feel like breaking into a house? Go ahead; no one will care.
You can rob someone blind in broad daylight, and the villagers will shrug and carry on with their non-existent routines.
Compared to the bustling, reactive worlds of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 or The Witcher 3 (which is nearly a decade old at this point), Avowed feels like a relic, and not in a cool, nostalgic way.
Combat: It’s There. That’s About It.
Let’s talk about combat, which Avowed bills as one of its defining features. The game lets you mix and match melee, magic, and ranged abilities, which sounds cool in theory. But in practice, it’s about as engaging as trying to swat a fly with a pool noodle.
Enemies cycle through the same attacks with robotic precision. Melee combat feels weightless, magic is functional but uninspired, and ranged combat exists, I guess.
Weapons aren’t found through exploration or questing but are instead upgraded through a tedious crafting system that prioritizes numbers over excitement.
The Ugly Truth
Visually, Avowed is… well, let’s say it won’t be winning any beauty contests. Built on Unreal Engine 5, it somehow looks worse than Oblivion – a game that came out nearly twenty years ago.
Towns are lifeless, textures are muddy, and certain environments are so “eh” that I genuinely questioned whether my screen resolution had reverted to 720p out of sheer protest.
Even when the game stumbles into a visually appealing moment, it’s fleeting.
Lighting effects can be striking, and the occasional vista might trick you into thinking there’s beauty here. But as soon as you look closer, the cracks start to show – just like my faith in Xbox exclusives.
Avowed and Forgotten
Avowed is a painfully average RPG that fails to live up to its potential. With lifeless world-building, uninspired combat, and choices that barely matter, it feels more like a concept demo than a game from a once-legendary studio.
One day, Xbox will deliver an RPG that truly competes with the greats. But today is not that day. And Avowed is not that game.
