Hands On With Avowed, Xbox’s Skyrim-Inspired RPG

Avowed was originally pitched as Obsidian’s take on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and it certainly shows. The magical fantasy vibes are reminiscent of Bethesda’s popular role-playing game, but the real-time combat, humor, and rich game world give it a unique flavor. Avowed is set for PC and Xbox Series X/S release on Feb. 18, 2025, but you can read my early thoughts on the upcoming RPG right now.

Hard-Hitting Combat, Vibrant Environments

Avowed is set in the Living Lands, a part of the world of Eora. It’s a spin-off of Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity series, and it primarily uses a first-person perspective (more on that later) instead of the original games’ top-down view. In Avowed, you play as an envoy of the Aedyr Empire, and you’re tasked with investigating a mysterious plague called the Dreamscourge. 

The one-hour Avowed demo kicked things off by asking me to choose a character from three available archetypes: barbarian, mage, and ranger. The barbarian specializes in close combat, while the mage and ranger fight from a distance.

I chose the barbarian, who carried hammer and sword weapons. The melee fighting was surprisingly fluid, and bashing the reptilian enemies with the hammer reminded me of downing enemies with Halo‘s Gravity Hammer. The weighty weapon also possessed freezing properties that gave it extra utility. After several hits, enemies were immobilized and encrusted with ice, allowing me to score extra blows.

(Credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

I entered an unfamiliar cave with Kai, a blue-skinned humanoid companion who fulfilled the tank role. As a result, it took many enemy hits to drop Kai. He’s one of four companions who can join your quest (though you can only bring two with you into battle at a time). Avowed Production Director Ryan Warden said Obsidian balances each companion so they pull their own weight in battle.

“We’ve actually got a combat encounter strike team that’s going through the entire game right now, region by region, and taking a look at every single encounter to make sure that it’s fun, diverse, and readable, and that includes with our various companions,” he explained.

Besides the combat, I was impressed by Avowed’s graphics and color variety. Video game caves are often depicted as dark and gloomy, but Avowed’s caves are well-lit, and the worn-down bookshelves littering the area indicate that it was lived in for some time. Colors are vibrant, and crystals scattered throughout the cave give the location a mystical feel.

(Credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

Funny Encounters and Perspective Options

I encountered an injured NPC named Caedan deeper in the cave, and the conversation spotlighted Avowed’s dialogue trees. Caedan badly needed a potion, but the situation proved humorous due to his offhand comment about how he didn’t want to die because he hadn’t touched a woman. Will that impact the story? That’s unknown.

As I headed farther into the cave, I triggered a trap that revealed roughly a dozen skeletons that prevented me from leaving. I couldn’t aimlessly swing my weapon; I had to manage a stamina meter. If I ran out of juice, I couldn’t attack. Plus, whiffing an attack left the barbarian open for a counterattack.

Unfortunately, Avowed’s first-person perspective made it difficult to tell when off-screen enemies were about to hit you. Kai offered audio cues, such as yelling, “To your right!” However, they came way too late for me to react to the attack. I longed for God of War-like visual signals.

Art Director Matt Hansen says the game’s user interface is still in development and that combat will incorporate visual cues similar to those in God of War. An optional third-person camera view will also be included as an accessibility feature, he adds.

“A lot of people struggle with motion sickness and can’t play games in first-person, so we want to make sure that they still have the opportunity to play the game and enjoy it,” Hansen says.

Testing the Mage and Ranger

After finishing the demo with the barbarian, I replayed it two more times to get a feel for the mage and ranger. The mage was the most consistent damage dealer, being able to continuously fire off magic bullets that tracked enemies. However, when attacked, the mage suffered big damage, so I engaged enemies from a safe distance. 

The ranger, though, needed manual aim for its shots. Its two pistols were deadly, able to OHKO many smaller enemies, but they needed to be reloaded after every shot. So if you missed, you’d pay the price of being vulnerable to attacks.

It was fun to experiment with the different builds, and I saw the pros and cons of each. Ryan Warden mentioned that Avowed was built to be a “classless” game, meaning that eventually, players will be able to mix and match different skills and weapons. Want to have a sword in one hand and a grimoire book in the other? A spell blade built like that is certainly possible.

Get Ready for RPG Action Early Next Year

Matt Hansen emphasized that newcomers won’t feel left out of Avowed if they didn’t play the Pillars of Eternity series. However, there are fun Easter eggs to spot throughout the adventure for people familiar with the game series. Avowed launches on Feb. 18 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.

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