Avowed is an absorbing trip through a distinctive fantasy setting, with flexible first-person combat and memorable companion conversations. But its appeal is less consistent across a full adventure: reviewers praised the Living Lands and the feel of fighting while criticizing repetitive exploration, uneven character arcs, or an upgrade economy that felt restrictive at launch. The result is a worthwhile role-playing game for players drawn to its world, though not a uniformly compelling one.
What is Avowed?
Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG set in the Living Lands of Eora, the world of the Pillars of Eternity games. You play an envoy from Aedyr investigating a mysterious plague. The journey combines exploration, combat, dialogue, companions, and choices about how to respond to the people and conflicts you encounter. Xbox’s launch overview describes the game’s premise and its place in the setting.
The Living Lands are the clearest reason to spend time in Avowed. The setting’s lore, factions, and visual variety give the adventure a strong sense of place. That richness does not guarantee an equally powerful story from beginning to end, however: reviewers differed on how effectively the characters and larger narrative sustain their promise.
Does Avowed have a good story?
Its story has strengths, especially in its setting and conversations, but critical responses suggest the longer narrative arc can be less satisfying than its world-building. In The Washington Post, Gene Park praised the game’s dialogue and conversations at the party camp, where companions talk with the player and each other. He also wrote that he became less invested in some characters and that many consequential decisions did not feel meaningful to him. In one example from his roughly 30-hour playthrough, a relationship choice remained part of the adventure, though he also noted a continuity problem in a later character reaction. Those are one reviewer’s impressions, not a guarantee of how every player will experience the story. Read Park’s review in The Washington Post.
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#1 Best Overall
- 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.
The Guardian’s Keza MacDonald also valued the dense lore, visually fascinating Living Lands, and companion chatter, but found that the experience became repetitive before the end. Read together, the reviews point to a game whose conversational texture and setting may land more consistently than the force or continuity of its overall story. Read MacDonald’s review in The Guardian.
Obsidian described broad consequences as part of the game’s design intent. In an official Xbox Wire interview, region director Berto Ritger said choices could affect “the future of entire settlements, individual people, groups of people — the whole spectrum basically.” That explains the intended reach of the decisions; it does not establish that every choice feels consequential or satisfying in play. Xbox Wire’s pre-release interview discusses the game’s approach to agency.
How does combat feel?
Avowed’s combat is built around switching among weapons and magic rather than committing to a single traditional RPG role. Xbox’s launch description lists swords, spells, guns, shields, grimoires, and ranged bows, with companions contributing their own abilities. The launch overview outlines these options.
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.
Park praised the impact of combat and the freedom to combine skills associated with warrior, ranger, and magician styles. That mix makes experimentation a central pleasure: a player can use weapons, spells, and ranged attacks in combinations rather than treating one ability set as the only viable identity. MacDonald, by contrast, found encounters repetitive over time. Combat variety is an attraction, then, but it may not be enough to keep every fight fresh through a long playthrough.
Is Avowed a grind for crafting materials and upgrades?
Resource pressure is a grounded criticism of Avowed’s launch-era progression, but it should not be mistaken for a measured verdict on every player or the current version. In a February 2026 report, Windows Central quoted gameplay director Gabe Paramo describing launch feedback that equipment prices felt steep and upgrade requirements too demanding. Paramo said players exploring the open areas could feel that their upgrades were not keeping pace with their curiosity, and that the team had since made progression more gradual. He also said, “We were definitely surprised by how many people consistently bounced off the upgrading experience.” This is qualitative developer-reported feedback, not a published statistic about how many players struggled. Read Windows Central’s February 2026 report.
Loot also affects the rhythm of exploration. MacDonald reported that many containers held low-value materials or currency, making repeated searching less rewarding for her. That helps explain why resource gathering can feel like friction rather than a satisfying complement to discovery, particularly when an upgrade feels just out of reach.
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.
Obsidian’s February 2026 anniversary update introduced New Game Plus, new playable species, and other additions, and the PS5 version launched alongside it. The update page documents those features but does not provide a complete account of every progression adjustment. It is therefore not enough, on its own, to establish exactly how the live build’s resource balance compares with the February 2025 review versions. See Obsidian’s anniversary update details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can you play Avowed?
At launch in 2025, Xbox listed the game for Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, Battle.net, cloud, and Game Pass. Obsidian confirmed that the PS5 version arrived on February 17, 2026, alongside the anniversary update. Availability and subscription terms can change, so check the relevant storefront for current access.
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The US PlayStation Store lists a digital PS5 version and documents support for DualSense vibration and trigger effects. Store prices and promotions are temporary and are not a reliable guide to what the game costs elsewhere or later. Check the US PlayStation Store listing.
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
What comes in the Premium Edition SteelBook?
For collectors, the format distinction matters: the Xbox Premium Edition SteelBook bundle included a physical SteelBook and map, but the game itself was supplied as a digital code, not a disc. Xbox Wire’s November 2024 announcement also described premium skins and a digital artbook and soundtrack. Its early-access terms were specific to that launch-era offer. See the Xbox Wire edition announcement.
Verdict: Is Avowed worth playing?
Avowed is strongest when its ingredients meet: a textured fantasy world, lively companion conversations, and a combat system that lets players mix weapons and magic. Its weaker points are just as relevant to the decision. Critics disagreed on the staying power of combat and exploration, and one review found the narrative’s character development and choices less impactful than their setup suggested. Launch-era upgrade friction also drew direct acknowledgment from the game’s director, although the available update information does not establish the exact balance of every later version.
Choose Avowed for its world, dialogue, and flexible first-person RPG combat, with the expectation that repetition or uneven progression may interrupt the adventure. If a tightly sustained story, consistently rewarding exploration, or effortless upgrades matter most to you, its strengths may not fully offset those rough edges.
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