Reviews are pouring in for publisher Xbox Game Studios and developer Obsidian Entertainment's latest role-playing game, Avowed. Generally speaking, critics are praising the world design and combat systems, though there are some divided opinions on the narrative and freedom that you have in the game.
At the moment I'm writing this, Avowed is sitting at an 80 on Metacritic across 58 reviews. It's worth noting it's also at an 81 on Opencritic from 93 reviews. It's largely scoring 8s and 9s, with a handful of lower outliers bringing the average down. I've quoted and linked a few reviews below:
- VG247 (10/10): "Role-playing games come in all shapes and sizes, but something I really rather appreciate is when a game in the genre doesn’t sweat the gritty stuff. I do respect and enjoy when a game really goes for crafting a world experience, I admit - but sometimes, I just want my RPG fix to come in the form of a truly video gamey video game. Avowed is that - still immersive, but gleefully unashamed of doing whatever it can to shine a light on mechanics first to deliver a fun and memorable world to noodle around in."
- Digital Trends (9/10): "Avowed is the best RPG I’ve played since Baldur’s Gate 3 and could become my favorite Obsidian game in time. If RPGs like Skyrim have tickled your fancy in the past, I highly recommend you check out Avowed as soon as possible. Just make better choices than me if you want Garryck to live, though."
- Inverse (9/10): "It’s clear Obsidian once again prioritized quality over quantity. That’s not to say Avowed is a small game, as I still have plenty of side content to get to after two weeks of playing. But everything it presents feels tailored towards making the experience as fun as possible. Avowed is a concise and tightly designed RPG that never sacrifices the ambition of its grand adventure."
- Pure Xbox (8/10): "Yes, Pillars fans looking for the sort of depth that comes with that series will need to adjust expectations accordingly, as this is a breezy, spunky, fight-fuelled affair that's more about creating cool loadouts and finding treasure than it is falling in love with an NPC or spending ten hours in your inventory at a time. Come for the fast-paced fights, colourful environs and excellent exploration, and you'll have a great time."
- IGN (7/10): "With awesome worldbuilding and stellar character writing, Avowed reminds me why I fell in love with Obsidian’s RPGs in the first place. However, the bigger picture is that it plays it quite safe, with a by-the-numbers fantasy adventure that’s more familiar than evolutionary, and there’s bear-ly any enemy variety to keep its swords-and-sorcery battles interesting for long."
A new fantasy experience in the world of Eora
Obsidian Entertainment first introduced players to the world of Eora with Pillars of Eternity in 2015. Almost a decade later, it's cool that this world is still expanding, even if it's through a more focused experience like Avowed. I've been played it while working on guides, and I've had a blast slinging spells and talking with companions like Kai.
Of course, I'd be remiss not to share our Avowed review, in which writer Zachary Boddy awarded it 4 stars out of 5 while explaining that "Avowed takes us back to the world of Eora from Pillars of Eternity, and The Living Lands is the most eccentric, colorful, and wild adventure yet. Obsidian Entertainment has done a wonderful job capturing the "magic" of RPGs like Skyrim that makes exploring every crevice fun, and immersing yourself in this world is stupendously easy."
Personally, I'm looking forward to rolling credits in this playthrough, and then immediately starting a new journey with a different Envoy of the Aedyran Emperor!
Avowed launches on Feb. 18, 2025 across Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC via Steam, the Xbox App, and Battle.net. As an Xbox first-party game, the standard edition is included day one in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Anyone preordering the Premium Edition of the game can start playing early on February 13. For more details, consult our Avowed preorder guide.
