(IGN) Avowed: We Finally Played Obsidian’s Latest RPG and It’s Fantastic

By Destin.

Nothing of value to see or hear, move along.
This.

People waiting to play on Game Pass is pretty much secure. But those who want to pre-order the game, wait. The game may indeed be fantastic (and that's great!), but Destin is not the person to believe.

The guy wouldn't hit quality even if it hits him in the face. And his pure fanboy biasedness doesn't inspire confidence in his reviews.

For reference, this is what happens when fanboys and/or idiots review games:

https://www.godisageek.com/2023/03/redfall-is-a-serious-game-of-the-year-contender-hands-on-preview/

 
If I close my eyes and listen to what some shill tells me instead of forming my own opinions on the same gameplay footage, I strangely find myself so hyped for this game now!
 
I think this is another case of Microsoft shovelling money at IGN to get favourable reporting for their game again

It genuinely looks like a VR game from 5 years ago

The combat just looks straight awful
 
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This is the point in the video where he says it "looks great"

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I don't quite get the criticism about the visuals. I think it looks good. It looks like a Pillars of Eternity game. Which is good.

I do share the sentiment about the subpar combat, though. Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is one of my favorite games of all time. And it still has the best first-person melee combat and it seems that no one on the Avowed team has even heard of that game.
 
IGN is so afraid to critize anyone, they take the path of least resisrence. I do not trust their reviews, I'll wait for more and check it out myself.
Just part of the machine now.
 
I don't quite get the criticism about the visuals. I think it looks good. It looks like a Pillars of Eternity game. Which is good.

I do share the sentiment about the subpar combat, though. Dark Messiah of Might & Magic is one of my favorite games of all time. And it still has the best first-person melee combat and it seems that no one on the Avowed team has even heard of that game.
Apart from the lightning, which looks fantastic at times, the overall visuals look very early Gen 8.

The texture quality, facial animations, character models, gameplay animations, floaty combat, overcrowded HUD and UI. The game, overall, looks at least 6-7 years old.
 
It still doesn't look great to be honest, but I will play it for sure. First person AAA RPGs are still quite rare (and my favourite).
I hope story and quests will be interesting and world fun to explore, that's mostly what I need.
 
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I didn't have much interest in this, but I must admit that looking at the IGN video has won me over. Im still trying to keep my expectations low and there's no point in getting too excited until the reviews hit, but the combat does look pretty good from what I'm seeing. If it scores a 70-80%+ I'll definitely check it out on GP
 
Really? It reminds me of how much better Dark Messiah's combat looks in comparison to this.
Yes, just with more RPG mechanics and less environmental usage. I didn't say it was better or as good, just that it was one of the first things I thought of.
 
Sure. But why is that a problem? I mean God of War 2018 is 6 years old and looks good (only real thing it has going for it, unfortunately).
Because God of War is a 6-7 years old game. In 2018, it looked like a 2018 game. Avowed is releasing on current-gen consoles only in 2025 and looks like a 2014-2015 game.

I can see why people are criticizing its visuals. Because that's valid criticism.

Now, it can overcome that issue with the sheer brilliance of gameplay. The combat they have shown so far, however, doesn't inspire much confidence.
 
I was pretty damn rough on Avowed for it's first showings but this is the best yet making me change my mind. Combat looks surprisingly good with hits feeling far more impactful along with the sounds being just right. I think the story is going to fall squarely into mid category, but that's fine. Combat was my biggest concern. My biggest complaints are that the colors are still too garish and the things you fight stand around too much although that last part is probably just typical of early enemies.

Genuinely looks like a fun 7-8/10 game so far.
 
This game is supposedly targeting 30fps for console as of now.

Really don't see what warrants that here. Even Starfield managed to get a 60 fps mode going on both S and X and it's clearly much bigger and more demanding than this game.
 


More gameplay.

I know its PR fluff again but i actually like the sound of this a fair bit more. It still looks like shit in places i think its the colour palette and lack of shadow in parts but theres 6-8 months to go so you never know.

Can't say i can't wait for it but ill certainly give it a fair crack come release.
 
Because God of War is a 6-7 years old game. In 2018, it looked like a 2018 game. Avowed is releasing on current-gen consoles only in 2025 and looks like a 2014-2015 game.

I can see why people are criticizing its visuals. Because that's valid criticism.

Now, it can overcome that issue with the sheer brilliance of gameplay. The combat they have shown so far, however, doesn't inspire much confidence.
I think it looks fine. But fuck me, I guess.

But in terms of gameplay, I agree. I doubt it will come even close to Dark Messiah.
 
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I can't get past 30fps. Very annoyed. I bought a Series X because it was supposed to be the powerful machine. Instead we get 4k/slideshow.... Give me 1440p/60 any day of the week on a large format Oled. Becoming a joke really.
 

Previews from other sources were also posted on the last page. Disregarding Destin, other previews were also positive.


So far, Avowed feels like a perfectly competent adventure that could prove to be comparable with the best of the Elder Scrolls franchise. More importantly, it could fit in alongside some of Obsidian's best work like the aforementioned Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. Obsidian appears to be confident enough in its work that it's taking a few additional months to give it some extra polish. Look for Avowed to come to PC and Xbox Series X|S on February 18.



It's difficult to tell from this small slice of the game how Avowed will shape up overall, but as an RPG fan, I'm already intrigued by its fantasy world. And with plenty of freedom when it comes to what approach I want to take in and out of combat, I'm looking forward to finding the right build for me so I can face up more skeletons with ease.
 
Previews from other sources were also posted on the last page. Disregarding Destin, other previews were also positive.






Positive previews are not atypical. That's because the developer only lets those doing the preview play a carefully selected slice of the game. Not uncommon for games with glowing previews to have less than glowing reviews. Hopefully this is not one of those cases.
 
Positive previews are not atypical. That's because the developer only lets those doing the preview play a carefully selected slice of the game. Not uncommon for games with glowing previews to have less than glowing reviews. Hopefully this is not one of those cases.
The demo they played had character classes like specific archetype builds that won't be in the final game. So they definitely curated the demo in a certain way and that is going to be reflected in the previews for sure.
 
The demo they played had character classes like specific archetype builds that won't be in the final game. So they definitely curated the demo in a certain way and that is going to be reflected in the previews for sure.
Are you saying you cannot make a build in the game like they did in the demo?
 
Are you saying you cannot make a build in the game like they did in the demo?
I don't know what they played, but one interviewer who played the demo didn't even know that the game doesn't have strict classes. It uses a skill tree system to spec your character and build.
 
Are you saying you cannot make a build in the game like they did in the demo?

I think it just means the character was spec-ed up the way the developers intend it. In the final game, you can, of-course, spec the character any way you like, so your builds will not match what the players were playing for the preview.

Positive previews are not atypical. That's because the developer only lets those doing the preview play a carefully selected slice of the game. Not uncommon for games with glowing previews to have less than glowing reviews. Hopefully this is not one of those cases.


Sure, I'm just removing the Destin element from the equation.
 
Previews from other sources were also posted on the last page. Disregarding Destin, other previews were also positive.





Yes, but as Topher Topher said, previews are not usually to be believed because of their curated nature. Even Redfall had positive first impressions:

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IGN:

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Arstechnica:

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PCGames:

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I don't know what they played, but one interviewer who played the demo didn't even know that the game doesn't have strict classes. It uses a skill tree system to spec your character and build.
Yeah, it has 3 skill trees, fighter, mage and archer.

You can mix and match and make whatever you want. A la Skyrim.
 
Yes, but as Topher Topher said, previews are not usually to be believed because of their curated nature. Even Redfall had positive first impressions:

ok .. but ..

The game may indeed be fantastic (and that's great!), but Destin is not the person to believe.

The guy wouldn't hit quality even if it hits him in the face. And his pure fanboy biasedness doesn't inspire confidence in his reviews.


I'm just showing you some positive previews from people not Destin since that seemed to have been the primary point of contention.
 
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I can't get past 30fps. Very annoyed. I bought a Series X because it was supposed to be the powerful machine. Instead we get 4k/slideshow.... Give me 1440p/60 any day of the week on a large format Oled. Becoming a joke really.
Is it confirmed to be 30 FPS?

I heard about it but there was only source, and that looked suspicious.

I don't think the game will be 30 FPS. All the trailers they have shown is in 60 FPS. And the game looks outdated, too, so Series X and S both should be able to do 60 FPS easily.

If it is indeed 30, then Xbox has done the same thing they promised they'd never do: mislead people with trailers and not being clear enough if the footage is from PC or Series X.
 
Honestly, sometimes I cannot understand publishers. They told Obsidian to make a Skyrim game when they literally have purchased the Skyrim makers. They could have Obsidian make PoE3 and MS basically have their very own 'Baldur's Gate' IP in their library and now they have them making Skyrim-esque games - which will be basically competing for attention with another game of their own. Not that I expect this game to be on the same scale with ES5, but still, you *could* have had PoE3, which would be a LOT different than a Skyrim clone, while you HAVE Skyrim already.

Whatever.
None of this is true. I believe they pitched Avowed to MS as part of the reason for the buyout.

I'll have to see if I can dig out the quote if you want receipts.
 
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Is it confirmed to be 30 FPS?

I heard about it but there was only source, and that looked suspicious.

I don't think the game will be 30 FPS. All the trailers they have shown is in 60 FPS. And the game looks outdated, too, so Series X and S both should be able to do 60 FPS easily.

If it is indeed 30, then Xbox has done the same thing they promised they'd never do: mislead people with trailers and not being clear enough if the footage is from PC or Series X.
Not confirmed officially but it sure looks that way

 
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Honestly, sometimes I cannot understand publishers. They told Obsidian to make a Skyrim game when they literally have purchased the Skyrim makers. They could have Obsidian make PoE3 and MS basically have their very own 'Baldur's Gate' IP in their library and now they have them making Skyrim-esque games - which will be basically competing for attention with another game of their own. Not that I expect this game to be on the same scale with ES5, but still, you *could* have had PoE3, which would be a LOT different than a Skyrim clone, while you HAVE Skyrim already.

Whatever.

You cannot understand things you made up?

Weird. Because nobody told Obsidian to make a Skyrim game. And you must be the last person on GAF to know that this game is more akin to Outer Worlds in scope than Skyrim.
 
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