Avowed was surprisingly fun to play for the first time. After many questions about the change in artistic direction from the trailer, questions about the length, and a combat demo on the Xbox stage that had many wondering if the game was earlier in development than expected, I’m content to report that Avowed feels great, looks great, and offers an engaging story based on the early footage I played at the event.
My journey began right after the opening main mission in Avowed, and we were sent on a mission to find an Aedyran expedition team. As it turns out, as is often the case in RPGs, fate had other plans for them. Kai, our green-skinned companion, voiced by Brandon Keener, the voice actor for Mass Effect’s Garrus Vakarian, keeps the mood lithe with jokes and observations about the up-to-date area we’re exploring. The banter is welcome and thin, only occasionally chiming in to crack a quip, like when I stopped to admire the view.
And the view is very pretty. Avowed did a great job of building on the art style that the larger Pillars of Eternity series is known for, and made me stop to admire the waterfalls in the distance and the moss-covered structures that set the aesthetic tone for this mysterious cave that we delve deeper and deeper into. The design of the world of Avowed also takes shape nicely, and the deeper I dived, I discovered walls that could be blown open to take a up-to-date path, or puzzles that opened up a secret up-to-date area with a huge chest if I threw explosives at a few hidden circuits I found while exploring off the beaten path, only to find a hole in the wall. These puzzles have the added bonus of revealing desirable loot, such as a powerful ring that would offer some select stat bonuses for my character.
When I wasn’t exploring the depths of an ocean cave, I had to swim through it, only to find myself facing Xaurip. They are lizard-like creatures equipped with standard human weapons like swords, shields, and bows, and they make good food as you learn your initial attacks. The combat in Avowed is much better than I expected. You quickly get used to using flasks to regenerate not only your health, but more importantly, your essence, which allows you to unleash your most powerful attacks. As a barbarian, I found myself tracking spiders through caves and planning my attack. To start, I exploit Kai’s ability, Fire and Ice, via the radial wheel, which you access by holding down the left bumper (if you’re playing on a gamepad, of course). Fire and Ice causes Kai to teleport to a target, then fires a powerful projectile at the spider’s Chelicerae, or face. I then command him to exploit an area attack, Leap of Courage, which makes him slam into the ground and briefly stun everyone around him. While I was closing the distance and dual wielding, I first charged up my right handed axe, which offers a powerful attack, dealing frost damage to nearby enemies. After pressing the right trigger to power up this attack, I manage to freeze enemies for a moment. Then I unleash my more powerful essence abilities. First I shout to push away the smaller spiders that also surround me, and while stunned, I charge and slam my body into the largest guy in the room with force. Then I unleash a series of blows with the left trigger, which holds my agile sword for a low series of blows, ending with the elimination of the last spider standing in the room.
I later returned as a mage, which was described as the most complex of the three classes available. The character’s abilities included an ethereal staff that could be materialized using essence, bullet projectiles that tracked the target, and standard attacks that required you to wave your wand back and forth while smaller spells dealt damage to your target. The Essence’s additional abilities included a spear that was slightly faster than the staff (as you might expect), and a few different protective or buff spells to make your blows land with a bit more force. My personal favorite, however, was the ability that required you to close a book of magic to send a wave of damaging aura to everything around you. It was just frigid to see the book destroy everything in the immediate vicinity.
Make no mistake, though, the combat was also a challenge. I drank potions recklessly, knowing it was just a demo, but it was clear that you had to master the balance between spellcasting, defense, and loadout options to get the most out of it. Delving into the menus, I discovered that you could define your character with a second weapon set, accessed by pressing the Y button on your controller. The potential for something so basic excited me, as you could access a significantly different playstyle with just one press. The combat was pristine, intuitive, and had a depth to it that I didn’t expect. I can’t wait to dive deeper into it. And thankfully, the power of attack animations, which many felt was missing from the Xbox Scene demo from earlier this year, has seemingly been implemented; enemies react just as you would expect them to when you slash them with your sword or attack with a spell.
Eventually, during our journey, Kai and I ran into Caedmon, a youthful explorer who had managed to survive a Xauri attack. His friends on the expedition team, however, were not so lucky. After complaining that he had “never touched a girl” and that his impending fate was unfair, we were given a few conversation options:
- “Kai, we can’t let this kid die a virgin. Can you help him?”
- “Give Caedmon the option to heal. Let’s get you back on your feet!”
- “Toughen up, kid. I won’t waste my supplies on you.”
Of course, I chose the best one.
Kai replied, “Not with that… OH you mean with healing him.” He then told me to offer my elixir instead. Caedmon got back on his feet and gave us some advice to aid us continue our journey.
But since I also wanted to try fighting as a Mage, I could see what happens if you always choose the lower option. “Toughen up, kid!” my character shouted. Caedmon said something Kai called nonsense and begged me to aid him. However, I refused to give him a life-saving elixir, which led to his immediate death. Did I loot his corpse? You’re right that I did.
It’s situations like this that will really make Avowed stand out, if there are enough of them. Can you really be that bad? Apparently you can, and I’m looking forward to a game with reason, where I don’t murder anyone if I can avoid it, and a game where I’m the biggest asshole imaginable, because… well, that’s the fun of it, right?
The demo ended with us meeting Sargamis. Sargamis is a golden-skinned, deity-like being who sent us to find an item and return it. But like our explorer friends earlier in the demo, we had other plans, and it wasn’t long before we were faced with a Skeleton boss and an annoying Skeleton priest who was supposed to heal the huge group of enemies we were facing. All of this was triggered immediately upon reaching the item Sargamis had sent us to retrieve, to which Kai quipped, “It can’t be that easy… right?” No, Kai, it clearly can’t be.
Once I was in the battle and realized I was outnumbered, I ran out of the room to survey the battlefield. After taking down a few lower-level skeletons just outside the priest’s healing aura, I identified the one who was thwarting my murder plans (can you kill a skeleton?) and turned its bones to ice and dust. Just as I cleared the ranks, I was finally ready to take on the Skeleton boss with Kai, but as soon as I had him on the ropes… the power in the building went out for everyone playing the demo.
But that’s OK, because Avowed impressed. My doubts about it have been dispelled, and I’m excited for its release in February. The little bit Obsidian gave us to play was a treat, and even though it was just a quick peek, our 50-minute demo session flew by in the blink of an eye. Which is always a good sign.
