Why I bounced off Avowed

For whatever reason Avowed didn’t really grip me. I spent 6 hours in the game, and ended up bouncing off.

I like RPGs - Divinity Original Sin II is among my all time favorites, closely followed by Torment: Tides of Numenera. All of which, to a degree, owe their existence to success of the original Pillars of Eternity Kickstarter.

Uh-oh, I think I’ll have to spill my dark secret: I bounced off Pillars of Eternity too. I liked the concept and I sunk good 20-or-so hours into the game, but ended up getting bogged down by what felt like an epic saga worth of world building. I was afraid to talk to NPCs because I worried they’d start spewing lore at me. I stopped right before having to track down some sort of a cult in some sort of a sewer-dungeon - that’s all I remember.

The locations in Avowed have an incredible sense of place - like this abandoned lighthouse. You can climb all the way up, too!

That’s the core of my problem with the Pillars of Eternity. The game is more interested in feeding you the lore before you even start caring about the game world. Throw me in a good game, give me a good story and engaging systems, and make me curious to learn more about this weird and unique world of yours!

And this is Obsidian Entertainment! I loved Tyranny, not even talking about old-time classics like Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights 2, or Fallout: New Vegas.

Yet, Avowed didn’t grip me. The world is vibrant, colorful, and downright gorgeous. I enjoyed combat: every hit felt weighty, and enemies are pretty damn good at closing the distance and avoid being kited (unless you decide to purposely abuse their AI, which isn’t too hard, but sucks all the joy out of the game).

And I loved using the grimoires and mage gameplay! I haven’t had as much fun being a wizard since… uh-oh… Magicka? Or maybe Outward had fun magic too? Anyhow, slinging spells is FUN. You have to choose the right spells for the situation, consider their interaction with environment and the enemies resistances – all of which while frantically avoiding getting hit.

Spellslinging is engaging and impactful. When writing this review I booted Avowed back up and had fun blasting enemies.

The game has great map design, and NPCs give you verbal directions for every location - I played with the quest markers turned off and was able to make my way around reliably without much trouble. I even tried turning off the “loot shimmer” option, but that turned out problematic. Only specific items can be picked up, and it’s not clear without glimmer around the item that this apple here can be picked up, but that one can’t. I might be the one to blame for being annoyed here - I subconsciously expected this game to be like The Elder Scrolls in terms of interactivity of the world. But you can loot a chest in a person’s house right in front of them without any consequences, and you can only pick up pre-approved gamified loot.

The game uses verticality well and through a combination of ledge-pull ups and sliding parkour is surprisingly engaging - not something I’d think I’d say about an RPG. There’s always something to find anywhere that draws your eye - the game truly rewards exploration.

But all of that happens in a static world with characters who are just waiting to ambush you and spit out exposition… Something I was really getting excited about is a more accessible introduction to the world of Eora. Pillars of Eternity universe seems to have such rich lore and history, and if I could only be exposed to those while spellslinging my way through the Living Lands!

This is a harbor town of Paradis. It’s a beautiful location with a strong sense of place, but I can’t shake the feeling that this world doesn’t move when I’m not looking. In fact, it doesn’t feel like this world moves even when I do.

As you can see I was going into Avowed with the hope that I’ll want more by the end, and finally have more drive to learn about a fascinating world Obsidian Entertainment writers built! Maybe I fell a victim to my own expectations, but Avowed failed to grip me.

I didn’t care to learn more about the companions (granted, of whom I met only two at this point), I haven’t found NPCs that I felt compelled to learn more about.

Worse of all, the whole time I couldn’t shake a feeling that the game only moves when I move and the scenes only exist when I’m in them. It all feels just… gamified. Yeah, I know it’s a game, but the visuals are so vibrant, and this world clearly had so much love and care put into it that I expected more from the game’s systems.

When I first stepped a foot onto the Living Lands it felt enamored by its far-away vistas and up-close environments. But this isn’t a living and breathing world, but a static picture waiting for you to come, take it in, and move onto the next vignette.