Played on PC
Almost five years have passed since Avowed was announced. During its development, it managed to change its concept several times. As a rule, the results of such production overlays are very dubious. But this time, the creators gathered their will into a fist, moderated their initial ambitions and did not lose face. In some aspects, Avowed can definitely be called the best work of Obsidian Entertainment. On the other hand, at times it desperately lacks depth.
See those mountains? You can’t climb them. But everything in front of them is at your disposal.
⇡#Blooming Island
The events unfold in the world of Eora, familiar to players from the Pillars of Eternity duology. If you suddenly missed the series, firstly, I recommend correcting yourself, and secondly, I will briefly outline the universe. At first glance, it is a textbook fantasy in the spirit of D&D, namely, classic Faerun. The set of races is mostly familiar, magic is an integral part of life, and showdowns between the Gods often turn into a catastrophe for ordinary people.
But the unique features of Eora quickly become apparent. For example, technological progress has come quite far: trains may not yet connect the continents, but firearms are already widespread. However, the most significant feature of the universe is the science of souls. Souls here are not an ephemeral concept, but a completely physical phenomenon studied by animancy scientists. Reincarnation is not a matter of faith, but a proven fact.
You don’t need to be familiar with Pillars of Eternity to understand the plot, after all, this is not a threequel. The story begins several decades after the end of the second part. Its events – the procession of the god Eothas through the Deadfire archipelago – are mentioned by the heroes in dialogues every now and then. The gods in the world of Eora are also presented from an interesting angle. They are not divided into “good” and “bad”. Each of them combines two sides: where there is death, there is rebirth. Where there is valor in battle, there is suffering. Where there is justice, there is severe punishment. And in the history of Avowed, they play an important role.
The writers’ sense of humor never fails
Our protagonist is one of the godlike. No, not some Hercules. Godlikes usually have a unique appearance, because of which they are sometimes persecuted or bullied, and can rarely live in peace, because they constantly hear the whispers of their God. They were once found everywhere, but after the finale of Deadfire, they almost stopped being born. Our protagonist is one of the last. Only he does not know which of the Gods touched his soul. And this Chekhov’s gun will definitely go off.
Despite the different backstory options available during character creation, you always end up as an emissary in the service of the Aedyran Empire, the largest kingdom on Eora. You are sent on a special mission to the Living Lands, a remote island that was opened up, again, by the events of the second Pillars of Eternity. The first to rush there were adventurers, refugees and criminals, pirates and opportunists – people of all stripes, united by a thirst for freedom. Of course, over time, the new lands attracted the attention of the powers that be.
But before conquering the frontier, the empire must solve one important problem, the name of which is the Scourge of Dreams. A terrible plague that drives any living creature crazy, turning them into blooming monsters. In the most literal sense: both animals and people are covered in flowers, mushrooms and other greenery until they lose their appearance completely. It is strange that I have not seen a comparison with the film “Annihilation” in any review – for me this was the first analogy, and only then the clickers from The Last of Us. Throughout the game, we will try to uncover the secret of the disaster, while maneuvering between several factions that share power on the island.
Avowed also retains episodes of the “interactive book”
⇡#If a fight is unavoidable, at least fight with style
Avowed meets with a good character editor, where you need to choose the appearance, and the background, and distribute the characteristic points. The role system has retained one of the features of Pillars of Eternity – there are no useless attributes, each will give pleasant bonuses for any class. Strength not only allows you to hit harder with iron, but also increases damage from all sources. Dexterity increases the speed of any action, be it pulling a bowstring or casting a spell. And so with each indicator. But, unlike Pillars of Eternity, now you are not limited to the framework of one class.
We tried to give you freedom in choosing your play style. The hero has three branches of development: melee, ranger-tracker and mage. And you are free to combine all available skills in any combinations. Bet on a powerful two-handed weapon, which can mow down enemies in droves. Or arm yourself with a magic wand and a grimoire to bring down the full power of the elements on monsters. And even better – combine different approaches. After all, it’s so nice to freeze an opponent with an ice arrow, and then ram him with a shield, smashing him into pieces.
Not only can you choose any skills when leveling up, but you can also combine almost any type of weapon in your hands. A sword and shield or a giant two-handed sword are timeless classics. A mace and a magic grimoire will turn you into a real battle priest. Or maybe take a revolver in each hand to dashingly hit people on the head? The only thing cooler is two magic wands!
If you hide in the bushes, you won’t be seen. However, stealth here is rudimentary.
Each combat style feels unique and enjoyable in its own way. When you strike, enemies not only lose health, but also react to each attack. The more powerful the weapon and the higher the strength indicator, the more pronounced the reaction will be. Poking a bear with a dagger will not impress, but a blow from a huge club will be felt even by a three-meter ogre. Firearms have a very juicy bang, and elemental magic is accompanied not only by bright effects, but also imposes negative statuses. If burning is a banal passive damage (but at least the enemy is really covered in flames), then freezing is an effective tactical move that can immobilize some enemies in order to deal with others during this time.
They tried to find a use for magic in exploring the world: some obstacles need to be burned, and the surface of the water can be frozen to jump over ice floes. But unfortunately, this is where the creativity ends, and you won’t find a more interesting interaction of the elements. And you don’t have to be a magician – next to each such puzzle there are pomegranate flowers with the desired effect.
It’s nice to just move around the region. Firstly, the Living Lands are full of beautiful landscapes. The artists went exotic and came up with a bizarre fauna that shimmers with all the colours of the rainbow. Here and there you stop to admire the views and take a screenshot. Secondly, the feeling of the alter ego’s body is conveyed perfectly. All thanks to the fact that you don’t just control a floating camera – the hero model exists in the world. The character pulls himself up onto ledges, and running and jumping have a pleasant sense of inertia. The only thing missing from a fantasy parkour simulator is running on walls. But I categorically do not recommend turning on the third-person view – the experience is much worse with it.
You can only talk to companions in the camp. Over time, they will definitely dump their skeletons on you and ask for a favor
The Living Lands are comparable in area to The Outer Worlds, but seem more spacious due to the emphasis on verticality. New parts of the world open up as you progress through the story, and there is little point in returning to previous territories. Only if you haven’t had time to explore them completely — and there is a lot to explore. From almost any point on the map, you will always see two or three landmarks, be it ruins, a monster lair, or a bandit camp. In an abandoned house, you will definitely find a note telling about the former residents, or the interior itself will tell you a story. Or maybe you will meet someone alive who will need the help of an imperial emissary.
⇡#Little stories of a big canvas
Despite the obvious emphasis on battles, Obsidian tried not to forget what made the public love its previous projects. Avowed hides not only a multitude of battles, but also various quests that reveal the world of the game. Yes, not all of them have depth, but at the same time they do not slide into a banal “bring five flowers”. Any task will tell a little more about Eora itself, or about the life of the Living Lands, the history of its settlement. Often you will have to make a small, but a choice. And you may well face the consequences, meeting characters during your travels, whose fate you influenced earlier.
What’s especially nice is that you can approach the quest from different angles. For example, three parties are interested in one of the treasures. And you can start the task when you encounter any of them, which will determine both the development and the prospects of events. Some quests can even affect the main story. The fate of the entire city depends on how carefully you study the second location. Well, at least partly.
Companions have useful active skills that help in combat.
Of course, the main decisions and their consequences are concentrated in the main plot. In each region, you are inevitably drawn into political squabbles. You can take one side or another, or try to remain neutral, focusing on the fight against the Scourge. It is worth immediately accepting that in terms of role-playing, Avowed is noticeably inferior to Pillars of Eternity. There are basically no social skills here. Dialogues, although they offer different answer options, only allow you to push off from the chosen character, and do not somehow significantly influence further events (even those options that require a certain value of this or that characteristic). But, ultimately, the tangle of your decisions will still determine the fate of the Living Lands and its inhabitants.
It’s just strange that some optional tasks are marked on the map, while others are not. Moreover, the game screams specifically about big quests that will end up in the journal, but small requests from individual characters should be kept in mind. Paradoxically, these modest assignments give even more emotions, because you stumbled upon them by chance, talking to an unremarkable NPC. He shared with you his worries about a loved one, asked you to deliver a letter and described the way. And you look for the addressee, and do not go straight to the marker. For a moment, forgotten feelings that Gothic or Morrowind evoked even arise.
It even becomes sad. What would Avowed be like if the authors went so far in everything? A small but well-thought-out world motivates exploration. It is full of visual markers, which are enough to describe the goal. Give the player the freedom to find the way themselves. Offer different tools for overcoming obstacles and allow them to make an effort to solve the problem. It is good that there are three ways to get into the house: find the key to the door, freeze and break the rusty grate, or crawl through a hole in the roof. But this diversity is leveled by excessive simplification: the key lies around the corner in a basket and glows like an active item, a grenade for freezing grows on a bush nearby, and to climb the slope, no skill is required – neither from the character, nor from the player.
If you zero out an enemy’s stamina, you can perform a spectacular finishing move.
The level designers deserve praise. They hid secrets under every stone and encouraged curiosity. But the rewards quickly become boring. At the end of any path, you will most often find a chest with resources for leveling up or a standard piece of equipment. Dozens and hundreds of identical one-handed swords, bows, axes and the like are scattered around the world. With the same appearance and characteristics. They can only be improved by increasing the quality level, which requires numerous resources. There are unique items for each category, but they differ from the standard ones only in design and an additional bonus to damage – elemental or against a certain type of enemy.
* * *
Avowed is probably Obsidian Entertainment’s best release in technical terms. It’s nice to look at, easy to enjoy the gameplay: exploring the world and fighting various creatures. But if they were going to focus on this, they clearly didn’t push it enough. I’d like more significant rewards, more interesting situations. They didn’t have time to think them through, and the role-playing component was significantly cut.
Advantages:
- A beautiful and visually diverse world, with interesting architecture and many secrets;
- Enjoyable combat system – simple in terms of mechanics, but flexible and exciting;
- The story and side quests skillfully complement and develop the mythology of Eora;
- Although not always, the game shows the consequences of your decisions.
Disadvantages:
- The beginnings of interesting mechanics never gain depth;
- The further you go, the less value you see in the rewards for exploring the world;
- The equipment upgrade system was unsuccessful.
Graphic arts
Avowed boasts gorgeous landscapes and a high level of detail. But the classic Unreal Engine problem with freezes and shader compilation has not gone away.
Sound
The dialogues are voiced in full and skillfully. But the game lacks any memorable musical theme – the ambient organically complements the world, but does not go beyond the background.
Single player game
A pleasant action role-playing game from the gameplay point of view, which wanted to sit on all the chairs. But in the end there were too many “buts”.
Estimated time of completion
Twenty hours for the main story and fifty for a complete cleansing of the Living Lands.
Collective game
Not foreseen.
General impression
Avowed is more of a step back than a step forward for Obsidian. There are a lot of good ideas here, but I’d like to see them developed more thoroughly in the future.
Rating:7.5/10
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