Avowed is a triumph if roleplaying freedom means experimenting with combat builds, shaping conversations and quests, and building relationships with companions. It is less convincing if freedom means being able to act on the world in any way and watch it respond. That distinction explains why reviewers praised its writing and action while questioning the depth of its RPG systems.
What kind of freedom does Avowed offer?
Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, set in the Living Lands of Eora, the world of the Pillars of Eternity games. You play an envoy of Aedyr sent to investigate the Dreamscourge, a spreading plague, and become personally involved in the region’s fate. (Obsidian’s game page; official game site)
Obsidian framed the game as “Inspired by the freedom of tabletop RPGs, the game puts the power in your hands.” That is a useful ambition, but the word freedom covers distinct experiences here: how you fight, what you say and decide, and how much the world changes in response. The first two are more evident than the third.
Freedom to experiment in combat
Obsidian describes four skill trees—Fighter, Ranger, Wizard, and Godlike—and a system that lets players mix abilities and weapons. In practice, the appeal is trying different combinations of melee weapons, guns, bows, shields, grimoires, and spells rather than being locked into one narrow combat identity. PC Gamer specifically praised the ability to blend skill trees and combine weapons. (Obsidian’s launch announcement; PC Gamer’s review)
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- Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
This is freedom as expressive play: choosing how to handle a fight and adjusting your character around that preference. It does not, by itself, mean the game offers the breadth of systemic possibilities found in every RPG that players might compare it with.
Freedom to shape conversations and quests
Dialogue and quest decisions give roleplaying a narrative dimension. GamesRadar+ praised the writing, character interactions, companions, and consequential choices. These moments can make the envoy’s outlook and relationships feel like part of the adventure, rather than merely a combat build layered over a fixed protagonist. (GamesRadar+’s review)
Choices matter most in the conversations and staged narrative decisions the game presents. That is different from being able to take any action in the environment and trigger an equally elaborate response.
Rank #2
- Requires base game, Game Pass Ultimate, or PC Game Pass Membership (Sold Separately)
- Premium Upgrade includes: Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
Freedom to act on the world
This is where the case for Avowed as an unqualified RPG triumph weakens. PC Gamer described a relatively static world, with the strongest agency concentrated in dialogue trees and set-piece decisions. The game can offer meaningful choices without simulating a world that reacts broadly to every approach. (PC Gamer’s review)
So the useful question is not simply whether Avowed has freedom, but which kind: build and combat freedom, narrative freedom, or open-ended world agency. It is strongest in the first two and more limited in the third.
Why reviewers disagree about its roleplaying success
PC Gamer rated Avowed 82/100 in 2025, praising its beautiful setting and engaging action while arguing that it lacks the complex systems of some genre contemporaries. Shaun Prescott’s verdict was that it succeeds as an action game and excels as a choice-based narrative game, but does not feel like a standout RPG by the genre’s shifted standards. GamesRadar+ put greater emphasis on the quality of its writing, companions, and choices, while also noting shortcomings in companion combat and presentation. (PC Gamer; GamesRadar+)
Rank #3
- Premium Edition includes: Avowed base game, Premium Skin Packs: 2 sets of bonus skins for each of your companions, and access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
- Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
- Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
- Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way.
- Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities.
Those views are not necessarily contradictory. One reviewer can value the choices and character writing, while another can find the world systems too restrained to meet a higher bar for RPG reactivity. A review score records one publication’s judgment; it does not measure every player’s experience.
PC Gamer reported an 80/100 Metacritic score in a February 2026 retrospective. That is a dated snapshot reported by PC Gamer, not a permanent or guaranteed current aggregate score. (PC Gamer’s 2026 retrospective)
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What changed after launch
Avowed first released on February 18, 2025, for Windows, Steam, Xbox, and Battle.net. Obsidian announced its PlayStation 5 release for February 17, 2026. (Obsidian’s game page; PlayStation 5 announcement)
Rank #4
- L'édition Premium SteelBook comprend: le jeu de base Avowed, jusqu'à 5 jours d'accès anticipé, le SteelBook Avowed, la carte des Terres Vivantes, deux packs de skins Premium et l'accès à l'Artbook numérique Avowed et à la bande-son originale
- Vous êtes l'envoyé d'Aedyr, une terre lointaine, missionné pour enquêter sur les rumeurs selon lesquelles une épidémie se propagerait dans les Terres Vivantes, une île pleine de mystères et de secrets, de dangers et d'aventures, de choix et de conséconsés. quences, et d'une nature sauvage
- Explorez une île qui abrite de nombreux environnements et paysages différents, chacun avec son propre écosystème unique
- Mélangez et associez des épées, des sorts, des armes et des boucliers pour vous frayer un chemin
- The compagnons d'un large éventail d'espèces se battront à vos côtés, avec leurs propres capacités uniques
The anniversary update added New Game Plus, custom difficulty modifiers, the quarterstaff weapon type, and other features. New Game Plus unlocks after completing the main story. If you had already finished the game before the update, Obsidian says to load a point-of-no-return save or later and complete the game to create a qualifying save. The custom modifiers let players tune several settings affecting the player, enemies, companions, and economy. (Obsidian’s anniversary update announcement)
Is Avowed a triumph of roleplaying games?
That depends on what the claim asks of an RPG. If roleplaying means making a character your own through combat choices, decisions, and relationships, Avowed makes a strong case. If it means an expansive simulation in which the world responds flexibly to a wide range of player actions, the available reviews describe a more limited experience.
The most accurate verdict is that Avowed is a compelling action RPG with notable choice-driven storytelling, not a universal benchmark for roleplaying freedom. Its choices are meaningful within the kinds of freedom it emphasizes; they do not make its world endlessly reactive.
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