Obsidian Entertainment’s long-awaited Avowed is finally launching next year, and recently I got to check out the fantasy role-playing game’s (RPG) opening hours via a digital preview event. I went in quite wary, having not been blown away by what we’ve seen of the game in various showcases so far; it appeared to be somewhat lacking the magic that makes Obsidian such a highly regarded developer.
Having now played a couple of hours of Avowed, I’m pleased to say that it exceeded my expectations, even in such an early build. While it did bear the usual performance hiccups and odd visual glitches that you’d expect this early on, Avowed is absolutely shining where it counts: in its excellent combat and sharp-witted dialogue.
I came away from my preview far more excited for the final product than I was before. And with what appears to be a world filled with opportunities for exploration and a manageable amount of genuinely fun sidequests, it’s on track to potentially being one of 2025’s best Xbox Series X games.
Living off the lands
My Avowed preview began at what is presumably the very start of the game, a point that included character creation. The process is pretty robust here, with a menagerie of presets and facial sliders for sculpting a fantasy character all your own. Given you’ll be able to play Avowed in third-person too and admire your creation throughout, the extensive character creation process here is a great thing.
I especially loved the ‘Godlike’ features you can apply to your character, which leaves plant-like growths on them like coral, branches, or fungi. Non-player characters (NPCs) will also comment on these in-game, even if you choose to hide them during gameplay.
Our player character is an Imperial Envoy, sent to an island frontier known as the Living Lands in order to investigate a plague that threatens the entire world if left unchecked. Things don’t get off to a smooth start, as we’re caught up in a shipwreck with only a couple of survivors. This segment acts as a pretty entertaining tutorial, which introduces you to combat and its various weapon types, as well as some mild exploration and dialogue choices.
What surprised me most about combat in Avowed is the high level of challenge and depth it presents even in these first hours. Your character can’t take too much punishment and enemy mobs act intelligently to keep you on your toes. You simply can’t just plant yourself in place and swing a sword until your enemies stop moving, a la The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.
You have to be constantly moving, blocking, dodging, and finding the most advantageous times to strike back. A bit like the best fighting games, there are clearly defined moments where it’s your turn to attack or take a more defensive approach.
When I chatted to Avowed developers Carrie Patel and Gabriel Paramo a few months back, they were open about wanting to improve the game’s combat in response to feedback. Where once combat looked listless, it now feels chunky and satisfying – particularly with melee weapons.
Enemies react realistically to your swings here, flinching and flailing briefly after being clobbered. And when you land a killing blow, they fly through the air before hitting the ground with a thud. Okay, perhaps that bit’s not entirely realistic, but it sure is monumentally satisfying.
With that in mind, you might think that Avowed’s melee is the only avenue of combat with sauce. Thankfully that’s not the case. Magic spells are cleverly implemented here; instead of equipping spells directly to your hands, you instead hold a grimoire that lets you cast a handful, bound to your controls for easy access.
Spells aren’t always dramatically powerful in terms of raw damage, but they reliably inflict status effects. Ice spells can freeze enemies in place, while fire spells can apply burning damage over time. They’re a fantastic complement to melee weapons, as their debilitating nature can help you deal more damage over the course of an encounter, as well as offer an effective method of crowd control.
Spells cost magic, but are also on a cooldown after use, meaning you can’t just spam them from a distance for an easy win. They can also be used on the environment, such as burning away thick vines or blasting apart brittle walls, opening up avenues of exploration.
Enemy behavior is also a strong point in Avowed. Baddies with shields like to get right up in your grille, and you’ll need to unbalance them by whacking them with a strong attack. Meanwhile, sneaky ranged attackers will fight from a distance, making it very difficult to focus solely on just one target. Shields also have directional properties, meaning they won’t protect an enemy’s backside if, say, your companion has their attention.
New frontiers
While my Avowed preview was only a couple of hours long, I still engaged in a bit of exploration once I’d been let loose in the Living Lands proper. That included a couple of sidequests and heading off the beaten path in search of treasure. The overall world design feels like a big step up from Obsidian’s previous effort, The Outer Worlds. There, large swathes of land could feel desolate as you wandered from quest to quest.
In Avowed, however, it genuinely feels like there’s something waiting for you around every corner. An isolated house on a clifftop, ancient ruins amidst jungle foliage, and no shortage of dank caves to peer your adventurous head into. There’s impressive variety even in the first major biome, and even though the world map isn’t awash with icons and points of interest, uncovering secrets felt natural, rewarding, and in line with your character’s task of exploration.
Avowed launches on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC via Steam, Battle.net, and the Microsoft Store on February 18, 2025. There’s still some time for Obsidian to iron out issues such as rocky performance and the odd visual glitch I encountered during my preview, but as it stands, Avowed is shaping up to be another feather in the renowned developer’s cap – and possibly the fantasy RPG many have been waiting for.