TLDR: if you want all of that, play KCD2 insteadA Few Warnings About ‘Avowed’ Before Its Imminent Release Date
Despite arriving in early access last week, Avowed is now going to be officially out tomorrow, Tuesday, February 18, for everyone else, including Xbox Game Pass subscribers who won’t have to shell out separately to grab it, as is Microsoft’s eternal strategy.
As someone who has already put in 60 hours into Avowed, even before early access, I have a few warnings in regard to expectation setting, as since release, I have seen a lot of criticism about it doesn’t have enough “Elder Scrolls-like” features in various ways. I don’t think that negates the quality of the game, but here’s what to expect before you get in there.
No Stealing Mechanics – There is no portion of the game dedicated to thievery, if that’s your thing. You simply go into anywhere, take anything, even in from of NPCs, and it’s yours.
No Lockpicking System – This may be a positive for people who hate those minigames, but either you find a key or you simply hold down a button to use lockpicks in your inventory to open a door (buy lockpicks at vendors whenever you can or else you’ll run out).
No Attacking Normal NPCs – You can’t just go be a mass murderer in this game, and there’s no “guards will attack you, you get a bounty system” here. There are of course decisions to execute or let some NPCs go during quests.
No Cutting-Edge NPCs – This is a smaller budget game, so no, you are not going to have the latest in mo-cap NPC tech during conversations, nor is it even as good as recent Starfield convos, even when that’s a Bethesda weakpoint. This should be understandable.
No Upgrades Through Skill Use – This uses a much more traditional point-based upgrade system and you will not move up skill trees through frequent use of a skill like in Skyrim.
No Guilds Or Factions – There are no official “join up” mechanics with specific guilds or factions to give you bonuses like cool gear or unique questlines. You can choose “sides” through decisions, especially later in the game, but it’s not the same thing.
No Full Open World – There is not some giant, singular open world here, as it is divided into biome zones that you fast travel between. Each of those is very explorable, however.
A Few Warnings About ‘Avowed’ Before Its Imminent Release Date
As someone who has already put in 60 hours into Avowed, even before early access, I have a few warnings in regard to expectation settingwww.forbes.com
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I collect VHS tapes
Member
How in the fuck? I thought this game was totally panned when it came out. I feel like I have false memories or something.The Outer Worlds Reviews
The Outer Worlds is a new single-player first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Private Division. Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to...www.metacritic.com
Sentenza
Member
It wasn't. People went out of their way to make excuses for its "Obsidian charm" and similar bullshit at first.
It was only after the honeymoon period ended that more and more started to voice their disappointment.
The same thing that will happen with this one, I'd bet.
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I collect VHS tapes
Member
doubt that. one of my biggest complaint with Outer Worlds was that the world was so damn ugly. I've seen enough of this world to realize that its the exact opposite
the reviews are all over the place for Avowed, but one thing that seems to have remained a constant is how gorgeous the environments are
my other big complaint was the combat, and combat is another thing that seems to be praised across the board here unlike Outer Worlds
have you played Outer Worlds? the world was dark, drab and just ugly. looks the exact opposite of Avowed
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Sentenza
Member
Avowed is one of the most aesthetically off-putting games I've seen since... Well, since Veilguard few months ago, incidentally.
Which is what makes your rebuttal almost COMEDIC to me.
I hate pretty much everything about how this game looks. The garish colours and character models, the obnoxious and overly-invasive UI appearing everywhere on screen, the excessive visual noise of its spell effects, the way the itemization is done AND presented.
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DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
Yeah I don’t know WTF happened. I think it was pretty reviewer friendly, and the kitschy retro-futuristic “Fallout meets Idiocracy” humor and “capitalism is evil” messaging played well to the cliquish Obsidian/Bethesda audience.
Then after the honeymoon wore off people started to realize it just wasn’t that good.
I collect VHS tapes
Member
people have different tastes dude. the majority of reviews and people who played it in this thread seems to enjoy it a lot visually.
Skill Up, the most critical review I've seen, praised the visuals as well. he said the world design is "intricate, beautiful, and encourages you to explore it"
for you to find this comedic shows how out of touch you are from most people playing this
he also said the combat is amazing, and that Obsidian "crushed the combat"
so yeah, nothing like Outer Worlds
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Kacho
Gold Member
My opinion on Outer Worlds changed at about the 10 hour mark. I remember it vividly.
I collect VHS tapes
Member
I can hardly remember the game
you start in a town with a tin packing facility for fish
then I vaguely remember some giant alien planet map with aliens everywhere and lots of nature. that was probably the low point for me
then I was in some fancy city and I remember just rushing as quickly as I could to wrap up the story
I'm actually shocked I finished it. the game was very easy, which probably helped when it came to rushing the ending
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Kacho
Gold Member
Too easy, shallow character building, boring loot, cringe characters. That's what I remember from the game.
Sentenza
Member
It's almost as if you were, in fact, missing completely the point.
Which is not that Avowed seems mediocre because of what score is getting from the media, but on the contrary because every part of it seems to be subpar and if anything the media are coddling it beyond its actual merits, because Obsidian over the years gained this reputation (not always deserved) of being a critical darling.
Incidentally, the EXACT opposite of what happened with Prey, an exceptionally well-crafted game (if with some glaring flaw as a poor variety of enemies) that every single moron in the gaming press at the time was quick to dismiss as a "bland generic shooter".
Sentenza
Member
Incredibly shallow and superficial "social commentary" that seemed to be borrowed directly from "opinion leaders on twitter" didn't help too much, either.
"Hey guys, do you know that capitalism IS BAD? Look how dumb and bad it is".
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Kacho
Gold Member
The first major choice was siding with the evil, mustache twirling business man or the hippie grandma. Absolute cinema.
TheloniusFabdul
Member
It's the more subtle things that bother me the most.
Things like adding all gender bathrooms to the Dead Space remake, or how they censored the dialogue in Paper Mario ttyd; It's all so insidious.
I actually prefer when it's over the top like with Veilguard.
At least then it's so blatant that even normies call it out.
Buggy Loop
Member
Except the combat, fluidity, map design, exploration... Coddling it beyond its merits.. I know you're hating on this game since the dawn of its existence, its like... your opinion dude (without having played it).
DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
It’s like if you let Reddit write a game. Especially the whole “help the asexual lesbian embrace her true wonderful self” companion quest which, aside from being cringe as hell, also felt so out of place in that game. Everything else was so unbearably cynical except for Parvati, the only decent and sympathetic human in the entire galaxy.
Kacho
Gold Member
nikolino840
Member
Choice...is up to you
Kacho
Gold Member
Not an interesting choice is the point
nikolino840
Member
Is the "megaton" choice in fallout 3...
Sentenza
Member
"Hey, player, do you want to make the obvious right choice or would you prefer to be A COMPLETE PIECE OF SHIT?".
Peak moral dilemma in modern gaming with aspirations of social commentary.
For the record I remember that even BG3 during the Early Access took a lot of criticism on the official forum.
A lot of people pointed out that a well-written and convincing "evil choice" should be pragmatic and utilitarian (i.e. Regill in Wrath of the Righteous would be a good example of evil character who makes compelling arguments for his worldview), while the game made a lot of these choices genuine mustache-twirling acts of self-harm (as often the outcome was unfavorable to the player to begin with).
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Kacho
Gold Member
Not an Obsidian game, but having the option to wipe out a town permanently by detonating a nuke is interesting the first time. The black and white choice is less interesting in subsequent playthroughs. Bethesda RPGs aren't really praised for their writing and choices though, it's more about the immersive world and journey.
Kacho
Gold Member
It’s insulting as a player. I rolled my eyes hard at it and that was way before the anti-woke pushback.
I wonder how they will improve on that with Outer Worlds 2. The whole point of the game is on the nose anti-capitalism. How do you make that interesting?
I collect VHS tapes
Member
high on life did it decent but even that got old quick
vaibhavpisal
Member
Have you played Baldurs Gate 3. Full of horrible choices. Except one.
semiconscious
Member
c'mon, now - tell me you made this up...
drganon
Member
A Few Warnings About ‘Avowed’ Before Its Imminent Release Date
Despite arriving in early access last week, Avowed is now going to be officially out tomorrow, Tuesday, February 18, for everyone else, including Xbox Game Pass subscribers who won’t have to shell out separately to grab it, as is Microsoft’s eternal strategy.
As someone who has already put in 60 hours into Avowed, even before early access, I have a few warnings in regard to expectation setting, as since release, I have seen a lot of criticism about it doesn’t have enough “Elder Scrolls-like” features in various ways. I don’t think that negates the quality of the game, but here’s what to expect before you get in there.
No Stealing Mechanics – There is no portion of the game dedicated to thievery, if that’s your thing. You simply go into anywhere, take anything, even in from of NPCs, and it’s yours.
No Lockpicking System – This may be a positive for people who hate those minigames, but either you find a key or you simply hold down a button to use lockpicks in your inventory to open a door (buy lockpicks at vendors whenever you can or else you’ll run out).
No Attacking Normal NPCs – You can’t just go be a mass murderer in this game, and there’s no “guards will attack you, you get a bounty system” here. There are of course decisions to execute or let some NPCs go during quests.
No Cutting-Edge NPCs – This is a smaller budget game, so no, you are not going to have the latest in mo-cap NPC tech during conversations, nor is it even as good as recent Starfield convos, even when that’s a Bethesda weakpoint. This should be understandable.
No Upgrades Through Skill Use – This uses a much more traditional point-based upgrade system and you will not move up skill trees through frequent use of a skill like in Skyrim.
No Guilds Or Factions – There are no official “join up” mechanics with specific guilds or factions to give you bonuses like cool gear or unique questlines. You can choose “sides” through decisions, especially later in the game, but it’s not the same thing.
No Full Open World – There is not some giant, singular open world here, as it is divided into biome zones that you fast travel between. Each of those is very explorable, however.
A Few Warnings About ‘Avowed’ Before Its Imminent Release Date
As someone who has already put in 60 hours into Avowed, even before early access, I have a few warnings in regard to expectation setting
ChorizoPicozo
Member
internet army!! Awoked is on the menu, do your thing
gtabro
Member
A discussion from some of the reviewers. tl;dr is game's mid, good combat, some cool vistas, dull characters, duller choices and rpg mechanics and a meh story.
And I swear all the discussions about the game sneak in KCD 2 at some point and how in some/all regard(s) it's better. Like god damn, Avowed should have released a month earlier to avoid being run over by the Czech behemoth of a game
And I swear all the discussions about the game sneak in KCD 2 at some point and how in some/all regard(s) it's better. Like god damn, Avowed should have released a month earlier to avoid being run over by the Czech behemoth of a game
GHG
Member
What's with you constantly attempting to disparage genuinely great games in an attempt to prop up blatantly soulless, hollow and derivative crap?
In BG3 your choices genuinely matter and have an impact on the flow of the game along with its game world. Neither of which are present in Avowed.
vaibhavpisal
Member
GymWolf
Member
Her voice is somehow more grating than her look.
GHG
Member
Go ahead then, provide some tangible examples.
Prey is an immersive sim, not even remotely in the same category as these games.
vaibhavpisal
Member
GHG
Member
It you didn't think it was revelant here then you wouldn't bring it up at all.
So now that you have, please elaborate.
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vaibhavpisal
Member
GHG
Member
Please, go ahead.
Apart from the fact that they aren't. There are a ton of things that have meaningful consequences, both in the immediacy of the decision and for how it will affect your playthrough in the later acts.
?
There are multiple ways to ensure Shadowheart stays with you, same goes for Karlach.
pudel
Member
Pls do that thread...because BG3 had every two meters decisions which arent even announced. Do this and you have outcome/situation A at a later point, do that and you have a different outcome/Situation B later on.
And its imho completely fine when an RPG warns you before loosing yr companions. You could also decide to not announce it....but you would know that only a very few people would appreciate it and everybody else would cry out loud.
Hudo
Gold Member
Prey 2017 is my second-favorite game by Arkane! (my favorite is still Dark Messiah). And to me, it really feels like it's a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 (well... without Shodan).
Thebonehead
Gold Member
I massacred everyone I came across after about 6 hours in.
Much more satisfying
Doom RPG
vaibhavpisal
Member
I think RPGs should separate companions from main story. Else it becomes a powder keg. Pretty much dictates how am gonna play the game.
I don’t see this as a hardcore game design, a lot of people think that way …..
More like retarded design that forces me to replay the game to see everything.
Hardcore choice and consequences, I think that was done by Witcher 2. Quests and location changes based on choice I made. Its not an artificial way to make me replay the game.
Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
internet army!! Awoked is on the menu, do your thing
Yummy.
Gonzito
Gold Member
Kvally
Member
internet army!! Awoked is on the menu, do your thing
Damn they are all out on severe punishment and death.
pudel
Member
In Witcher2 the game offered you basically only two paths/stories which you had to choose one of it (and ofc you have replay both paths if you wanna see everything). Its a cool design, but I think its the easier way to make an RPG (and I wouldnt call it "hardcore") as when you go for constant changing of one story and the outcomes of events in it based on yr previous decisions.
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