Avowed is turning the corner on 2024’s slew of lacklustre Western RPGs

OBSIDIAN is a game developer known for bringing games back from the brink, and has such a wide library it’s hard to pin down.

South Park: Stick of Truth turned the corner on the series’ game adaptations, that is until THQ Nordic’s disastrous South Park: Snow Day.

Obsidian

We enjoyed the quality of the character writing[/caption]

Obsidian

And the variation in the landscapes[/caption]

Obsidian

As well as how you can mix magic and melee in battle[/caption]

Fallout: New Vegas was seen as a return to form after Bethesda’s misguided Fallout 3.

Pentiment was something completely new in a murder mystery based on typography, but not all Obsidian games have been hits.

Obsidian’s next offering is Avowed, a fantasy action RPG that, from the trailer, looked like it was trying to reinvent another Bethesda series, The Elder Scrolls.

Like Fallout before it, from a first look it seems that the team might pull off the Bethesda comeback once again.

You start like most Western RPGs with a character creator though options are quite limited at this point.

We assume this is because we are still a way off its February 18, 2025, release date, and hope it’s more fleshed out in the future.

One thing won’t change, despite being the hero of the story, you cannot escape that people judge you by your hideous mushroom like deformities.

In our preview we saw very little of the story, but we enjoyed the characters and thought that the writing was strong.

Within the first hour, we already encountered some interesting characters and varied locations and were immediately drawn in to see more.

Interaction is carried out with plenty of dialogue options to help you craft your character to your liking.

Some of the dialogue options are locked behind your stats, and this is an interesting addition to further strengthen the individuality of your character.

The combat is Avowed’s greatest strength with your standard heavy and light attacks for different situations.

Sword swings feel weighty, whereas your bow will feel sharp and quick.

There is also a magic system that can be accessed two ways, either via magic tomes, or by speccing into magic during your level up.

It gives you more options for how to build your character, mixing between melee and magic.

You can even create two separate loadouts and switch between them with the tap of a button.

The world design is almost as appealing as the level design, which feels unique despite how many similar games have come before it.

There’s still a long way to go until Avowed’s release, but we’re hoping it lives up to these high early expectations.

If you want to read more gaming critique, check out our Stalker 2 review.