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Avowed | Review Thread

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
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METACRITIC SCORES​


OpenCritic - 83/100

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MetaCritic - 80/100

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Critic Reviews​

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4News.it - Danilo Di Gennaro - Italian - 8.8 / 10

Avowed represents quintessential game design according to Obsidian Entertainment. While not offering a radically new experience, the return to the world of Eora is an exciting action RPG, graced by the traditional care the development team put into the script. Free to be able to create one's alter ego among a thousand opportunities for customization and to direct it indiscriminately toward the paths of good or evil, Avowed puts players within a setting that is the antithesis of the dispersive risk of an endless open world, with gameplay devoted to action and fun. It may not be a revolution, and technically some hiccups are there, but for all fans of the genre it is a must.
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AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 85 / 100

Rich with a vibrant world, intriguing story, remarkable companions, and engaging combat, Obsidian's first-person fantasy RPG, Avowed, offered so much flavour that I found it hard to stop playing.
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Atarita - Atakan Gümrükçüoğlu - Turkish - 90 / 100

Avowed looks like it's going to make a name for itself for a while. I have no doubt that it will give you a good time with its scenario, missions, characters and lots of content. It has some problems, but they are not insurmountable. Its structure that leaves the player free is its most impressive feature.
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But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford - 9.5 / 10

Avowed marks another triumph for the folks at Obsidian. Through its gorgeous world, memorable characters, frenzied combat, and intuitive yet deep customization system, it highlights player agency. Everywhere in its gameplay and narrative, ensuring that each playthrough offers something new. More importantly, it does so while never compromising the strength of its core story.
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Console-Tribe - Francesco Pellizzari - Italian - 88 / 100

To answer the question posed at the beginning of the article, for us, pronouns have absolutely nothing to do with the success or failure of a title, and Avowed is proof of that: an excellent RPG, with some flaws, but many strengths, including an engaging plot, choices that change the game world, and almost total freedom of action. Do yourself a favor: play Avowed, or you'll regret it.
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Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 4 / 5

It may not be groundbreaking, but Avowed certainly leaves one hell of a mark on the RPG genre. The game's fun, challenging, and extremely enjoyable to play from start to finish, even when you're being hounded by giant mechanical undead creatures.
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Digital Spy - Joe Draper - 4 / 5

Avowed is full of consequential player choices, meaningful side content and rewarding exploration all backed up by slick movement and some of the best combat in a first-person action RPG. It might not reinvent the genre, but Obsidian has achieved everything they set out to by creating a super fun adventure worth your time.
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Echo Boomer - David Fialho - Portuguese - No Recommendation

There's a lot to admire in Avowed—its old-school RPG soul, captivating world, and flexible gameplay—but predictable writing and some questionable design choices make this Obsidian experience less engaging than it could be.
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Enternity.gr - Christos Chatzisavvas - Greek - 9 / 10

The journey into the world of Pillars of Eternity continues through Avowed, the newest RPG from Obsidian. And it's great!
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EvelonGames - Joel Isern Rodríguez - Kaym - Spanish - 7.8 / 10

Avowed is an RPG that reflects both the talent and limitations of Obsidian. It is a solid, enjoyable game with moments of quality, but it falls short of being unforgettable. Its magic system and vertical exploration stand out as strong points, complemented by an artistic design brimming with personality. Additionally, its performance is smooth, delivering a more than satisfactory technical experience.
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Explosion Network - Dylan Blight - 9 / 10

I wasn't ready for the breadth of lore and world-building here that would have me both enamoured by this game, its characters, and its setting.
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GameOnly - Daniel Kucner - Polish - 8 / 10

Video Review - Quote not available
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Gamer Guides - Patrick Dane - 84 / 100

Avowed continues Obsidian’s tradition of creating excellent RPGs that feel heavily linked to well-trodden genres, yet not doing quite enough to carve out a new identity. There’s a lot to be charmed by, be it nuanced characters and choices, a heavy dialogue focus, and a compelling central mystery where what’s ‘good’ isn’t often clear. While it doesn’t push the envelope, it does enough to justify its place, and for just the price of a GamePass subscription, it’s easy to recommend trying.
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Just Play it - Yacine Tebaibia - Arabic - 8 / 10

Avowed offers a fun experience with a branching story, smooth and deep gameplay, and a visually stunning world full of color and detail. Though it has some technical issues, like performance instability and simplistic AI, it’s still worth playing for RPG fans.
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Le Bêta-Testeur - Patrick Tremblay - French - 10 / 10

Avowed kicks off 2025 with a bang with an epic RPG experience. It’s already establishing itself as one of the major titles of the year. After so many hours spent exploring the Living Lands, it’s hard to shake its spellbinding appeal. The world, lore, and characters are among the most carefully crafted I’ve ever encountered, a testament to the attention to detail and love that has gone into this universe.
Obsidian Entertainment has created a masterpiece, and every RPG fan should play it.
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MondoXbox - Giuseppe Genga - Italian - 9.3 / 10

With Avowed, Obsidian confirms itself as one of the best RPG studios around, capable of reworking a now-classic formula by rejuvenating it, lightening it up, and combining it with first-rate storytelling, world building, and gameplay mechanics. We are undoubtedly in front of a true gem of the RPG genre, to be played without hesitation.
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MonsterVine - Luis Joshua Gutierrez - 4.5 / 5

I'm happy to report that Avowed has the sauce, and this is perhaps Obsidian Entertainment at its absolute best. Every time I stepped away from the game to do something else, all I could think about was how much I wanted to step back into this world and find new things. The more I thought about the game, the more I enjoyed it. Avowed is a game that asks a lot of its players but delivers on it, too. It creates a unique sense of exploration while covering intense topics such as imperialism and nature preservation with a fun combat system that encourages you to try new things.
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Nexus Hub - Andrew Logue - 8 / 10

Avowed is easy to recommend to fans of The Outer Worlds or even Skyrim, blending epic, flexible role-playing with Obsidian's signature writing and storytelling - even if it feels more like comfort food at times.
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Pizza Fria - Matheus Feldmann da Rosa - Portuguese - 7.4 / 10

If you’re looking for an accessible RPG with a visually stunning world and rewarding exploration, Avowed could be a worthwhile option. Its focus on straightforward combat and item gathering could appeal to players who don’t care as much about narrative complexity or deep RPG systems.
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PowerUp! - Leo Stevenson - 9 / 10

Avowed is a genuine triumph and one of the first major releases from Xbox game dev buying spree that will pay dividends. It's a deep, complex and though-provoking RPG from masters of the genre. It revels in being played and tugs at the back of your lizard brain beckoning you back when you take a break.
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SIFTER - Gianni Di Giovanni - Worth your time

Strong writing, a world packed with loveable weirdos, and lore for days, Obsidian have managed to transition the world of Eora from the top down to the front on, building a world that'll encourage you to pick at every nook and cranny of the Living Lands.
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Stevivor - Jam Walker - 7.5 / 10

There’s just something about Avowed that makes it feel very much like a product built for a subscription service. Not in a live-service game kind of way, but in a Netflix Original Movie kind of way.
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TechRaptor - Austin Suther - 9 / 10

Obsidian Entertainment continues to live up to players' expectations of delivering a game with quality writing, engaging choices, and compelling gameplay. Avowed is all those things and more: an epic fantasy that'll keep you hooked, which makes it one of the best RPGs this decade.
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The Beta Network - Anthony Culinas - 8 / 10

Avowed delivers satisfying combat, engaging exploration and fun weapon-switching combinations, making it an enjoyable action RPG despite its generic story, weak soundtrack and frustrating technical issues. Whether this is Obsidian’s greatest is debatable, but its strong side content and Game Pass availability make it at least worth a playthrough.
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XGN.nl - Ralph Beentjes - Dutch - 9.2 / 10

Obsidian has proven once again that they are the masters of role-playing games. Avowed has excellent combat, lively characters, a beautiful world and the storytelling is masterful. If they just fix a couple of bugs, they’ve got a masterpiece on their hands.
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XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.8 / 10

Avowed is an excellent game. One major issue keeps it from being an all-timer for me, with the gear progression system being as restrictive as it is at launch. They can patch that, and I hope they do as the rest of the game is excellent. Obsidian’s top-tier writing has finally been matched with gorgeous visuals and satisfying gameplay.
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ZdobywcyGier.eu - Paweł Bortkiewicz - Polish - 8 / 10

Avowed is a pretty good RPG that is limited in places by its technical state. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable adventure from a standpoint of gameplay and storyline alone. Obsidian definitely knows how to make games that players want to play, but they still need to work on the technical elements, because in this case it could have been polished more.
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Video Reviews





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Last edited:
Timberwolf25

Timberwolf25

Member
Very surprised at how well it is reviewing.
It's not for me as I'm not into first person RPGs unless it can be played entirely from a 3rd person perspective.
 
Kacho

Kacho

Gold Member
ShaiKhulud1989 said:
6/10 from GameSpot
www.gamespot.com

Avowed Review - Too Close To The Sun

Avowed's impactful and satisfying combat is undone by a widely unbalanced upgrade system and an uninteresting story that wastes its potential.
www.gamespot.com www.gamespot.com
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It's an experience that routinely swaps between exhilarating moments and frustrating slogs, and often leans towards the latter the closer you get to the game's climax. Avowed might present itself as the new age of the fantasy role-playing games that it borrows so much from, but it's unlikely to have the same lasting impact.
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rodrigolfp

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
"It is a solid, enjoyable game with moments of quality, but it falls short of being unforgettable."

🤔

"There’s just something about Avowed that makes it feel very much like a product built for a subscription service. Not in a live-service game kind of way, but in a Netflix Original Movie kind of way."

Congratulations about not saying anything about the game itself.
 
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Nydius

Nydius

Member
Rocinante618 said:
That Stervivor review is quite premonitory about Xbox games.

Something feels like it’s made for a subscription service.

Damn. Haunting.
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The Gamer Guides review makes a similar statement, despite being more positive in their score:

…and for just the price of a GamePass subscription, it’s easy to recommend trying.
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Reviews are all over the place for this but a whole lot of them talk about how it’s a “turn off your brain” game that is barely a RPG in terms of complexity. I guess that appeals to some but if I want braindead action masquerading as an RPG, I can fire up Diablo 4.

These reviews, even the more positive ones, only reinforce what I expected: This is Game Pass fodder that people will play through once and then forget about. Not something worth a full triple-A price tag, but worth subscribing for a month to try.
 
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Magic Carpet

Magic Carpet

Gold Member
Nice review numbers, now to watch a few reviews and get the 'jist'.
Got it downloaded on PC gamepass, just a few more days till I can poke through the options menu.
 
Mownoc

Mownoc

Member
So a pretty average game, wasn't expecting much more than that after playing outerworlds, which itself was a solid game but nothing special.
 
Angry_Megalodon

Angry_Megalodon

Member
Gonzito said:
Many of the reviews are suspiciously similar to Dragon Age Veilguard, you read the final quote and the reviewer tries to excuse the shortcomings and then gives it a good rating

Something smells fishy papis
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Same vibes quality-wise but not as cringe. A very average game, ideally for Game Pass, as someone claims.

When legacy studios received low 80s is not the same as indies getting the same score.
 
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