Have you ever wanted to dual wield magic AND a pistol? Obsidian’s latest game, Avowed, has you covered. Join us as we take a look at Avowed and tell you the top 10 things you need to know before picking it up in 2025.
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00:00Greetings fellow adventurers. There's been plenty of great RPGs to play over
00:05the last couple of years, but we've been keen to play another from Obsidian ever
00:08since they announced Avowed as an Xbox release following being bought by
00:12Microsoft in 2018. Set within Eora, the Pillars of Eternity world, this gives us
00:18a much more immersive first-person look into the colorful universe. As Obsidian
00:23brought us the likes of Fallout New Vegas and The Outer Worlds, among others,
00:27we've been desperate to see more, which means we jumped at the chance to go
00:30hands-on with a brand new slice of the game, picking up from the very beginning.
00:34Here's what you need to know and why we're loving what we've played so far.
00:39Not everyone is always in the mood for stacks of numbers. While Avowed certainly
00:45has those to offer, for the digit delighted stat lovers out there, the
00:49first-person combat is fun to simply get stuck into, allowing you to really
00:53embrace some action-first hacking and slashing if you so desire. Combat has a
00:58lovely weightiness about it, and whether you're pinging a bow, taking a hit with
01:02your shield, or about to fling out elemental spells, it's all intuitive and
01:06easy to understand. Just stick them with the pointy end till they're dead, and
01:10that charge attack is so satisfying to pull off. When you see fantasy swords and
01:16sorcery, it's easy to imagine you'll be trundling around an open world in a
01:21slight jog as you bosh baddies on the noggin. But Avowed's open areas are
01:25detailed spaces to explore, thanks to some parkour-like first-person clambering.
01:29It's not quite Dying Light 2, but you're nevertheless nimbler than you might
01:33expect, and some quiet areas will reward some clever jumping with great prizes.
01:38But even on the standard path, you may come across broken bridges or outcrops
01:42that can get you to your destination. Just look where you're going, lest you
01:46take a fall. No fantasy world is complete without a web of proper nouns
01:52to become properly entangled in. After all, learning the language of a new world
01:56is all part of the immersion, and how fans are made. But if Avowed is your
02:00first foray into the Pillars universe, then worry not, as you always have the
02:04option within dialogue to pull up an explanation of any lore terms you've
02:07encountered. While both Metaphore Fantasio and Final Fantasy 16 have
02:12attempted this in their own way, Avowed takes a simple but powerful approach.
02:16Similar to narrative-heavy visual novels, it opens up a fresh box that has terms
02:20mentioned throughout the entire chat, right there, ready to select and browse,
02:24without breaking the flow of conversation. Avowed's UI is far from
02:29over-designed, though it is still quite pretty. Most importantly, though, it's
02:34clear. I love how it's clear from both your health bar and an enemy's when
02:38they're blocking, as it adds a purple shield overlay, making it obvious when
02:41you're safe and when to go for a guard break. And I love the clear waypointing
02:45that makes it obvious what's optional and what's going to progress your main
02:48path forward. But most importantly, I love how natural it feels on a controller,
02:52making it a crunchy RPG that feels tailor-made for Xbox. From clear d-pad
02:57shortcuts, to using the triggers in combat, to aligning and managing gear in
03:02the inventory, and even how you sprint like in Call of Duty, it all feels
03:06wonderfully natural. While you'll be speccing your envoy hero to favor
03:11certain stats and skills from certain classes, Avowed isn't about locking you
03:15into one style of play. With a touch of a button mid-combat, you can dynamically
03:19switch your loadout, altering both your main hand and offhand in the flow of
03:23combat. Yes, like Bayonetta. This means you go from shield and little stabby knife,
03:28to dual wielding a pistol and a spellbook in an instant, and always have
03:32a load of options in your battle-ready fingertips. Again, Avowed empowers you to
03:38find your own combat flow, and get it the way you want it, meaning you can mix
03:41and match your main hand and offhand dynamic as you see fit. While bows take
03:46up both slots, a mage tome for instance can only be equipped to your offhand,
03:50which does mean you can forgo a shield and instead use a sword and spells for
03:54true sword and sorcery, favoring the very powerful dash button to evade strikes
03:58rather than blocking. Not all ranged weapons are two-handed either, meaning
04:02you can go shield and mace in one slot, and combine a gun and magic for the
04:07other. We won't stop mentioning it, you can literally dual wield guns in magic.
04:11You have a finite pool of magic power for casting spells, which you can top off
04:16with potions and consumables. Yet you can also restore it by absorbing the purple
04:21drops that come from enemies as you slay them. Which is all to say you can find a
04:25rhythm of spell slinging that means you can stay topped off in the midst of
04:28combat without having to micromanage yourself constantly, pushing you to stay
04:32on the offensive with magic, while also supplementing it with other ways to
04:35finish off foes, so they spill that all-important purple juice. Bonus points
04:40if you shatter frozen foes with a bullet. This one goes out to our fellow Elder
04:45Scrolls fans who like to make their ranges viable so they can snipe their
04:49way out of danger. Not only is the range building avowed, at least early on, very
04:53viable, but it's joyous to play. Aiming down sights you can power up shots,
04:58hitting weak spots for big damage, but you can also let go of your bow pull
05:01early as well to go a bit faster. It's very powerful as it allows you to get
05:06damage in at a distance and seemingly shoot past shields. Be warned, however,
05:10there are a lot of ranged enemies as well, so you may end up in a sniper
05:14battle. It all becomes a marvelous fantasy-flavored FPS in its own right.
05:18What's an RPG without a party? And what's a party without a camp within which you
05:23can trade tragic backstories, chatter about recent events, and simply grow
05:28closer? While early on the party hasn't grown to its full potential, we're
05:32already enjoying our camp detours as a great way to get more color on the world
05:36and learn more about our allies. Kai, a merman-like coastal Al Mawa, voiced by
05:41Brandon Keener, aka Garrus from Mass Effect, is our first proper pal, and a
05:46fantastic introduction to the world we find ourselves in as we cut about
05:49Dawnshore. No, you're obsessed. While we can't show you the character creator yet,
05:55we can talk about it, and there's plenty of really interesting elements you can
05:59adjust even in the early build we played. As a god-like, you've been uniquely
06:03touched by divinity even before birth, which means you can give yourself some
06:06funky fungal features. And yes, some people will be very rude about it in
06:10conversation. You look great though, don't listen to them. Even beyond appearances,
06:14in the opening hours there's quite a bit of opportunities to use your stats to
06:18unlock new options in dialogue, making these branches feel quite weavy and
06:21providing ample room to roleplay. And that's our list of 10 things you need to
06:27know about Avowed before it releases February 18, 2025 on PC and Xbox Series X
06:32and S. So, will you be playing this one? Is there anything else you'd like to know?
06:36Let us know in the comments, and stick with GamesRadar for the latest previews,
06:39reviews, and more.