About 50 hours intoAvowed, I had to put down my controller and step away after becoming emotionally overwhelmed.
Now she was dead in a ditch, all alone.
Avowedis a game filled with moments like this.
‘Avowed,’ from Obsidian EntertainmentXbox Game Studios
Its a tightly focused game where every element, from the exploration to combat, works marvelously in concert.
As a lifelong servant, is duty more important than doing whats right?
When faced with tyranny and the subjugation of an entire people, can you just look away?
While I could turn the brothel in, I could also choose to cover up their smuggling.
One particularly great pairing is that of the lizard-like Kai and his dwarven friend Marius.
Yet beyond their own micro dynamic, each has a place in the larger world too.
Fitting the Pieces Together
The best way to describe the core design ofAvowedis intentionality.
Every aspect of the game is crafted to feed into its main narrative and lofty ideas.
Nothing inAvowedfeels like a waste of time or worthless.
The movement inAvowedfeels immediately responsive and satisfying, like a hodge-podge betweenSkyrimandDying Light(2015).
Its yet another area that has surprising amounts of depth to uncover.
Whats brilliant aboutAvowedis how snappy everything feels, and how it cuts the wheat from the chaff.
Things can also get frustratingly chaotic in battle when too many enemies and allies are crammed into tight quarters.
The game also has a somewhat bizarre way of stopping progress with increasingly difficult opponents.
Instead of enemies scaling or leveling up alongside the protagonist, each one has an equipment score.
If the players equipment score matches the enemys, damage stays normal.
If the equipment score is higher, damage caused or absorbed go up.
But again, just a bit of exploration will yield more than enough materials.
Whats most remarkable aboutAvowedis how I cant think of a single instance of regretting an action.
No side quest chosen or gnarled path followed ever resulted in wasted time.
Avowedlaunches onXboxSeries X|S and Windows PC on Feb. 18, and is available day one through Xbox Game Pass.
Pre-ordering the Premium Edition grants early access beginning on Feb. 13.
