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Avowed shares Skyrim’s first-person fantasy appeal, but it is not a seamless, open-world sandbox. It takes place across substantial, crafted areas, where running, jumping and vaulting help make exploration part of the fun. In Jacob Siegal’s February 13, 2025 BGR review, that combination of exploration, flexible combat and a richly developed setting made the game compelling—though the presentation of conversations was a significant frustration for him.
Is Avowed like Skyrim?
The comparison works as shorthand for a first-person fantasy RPG built around exploration, equipment, combat and consequential choices. It becomes misleading if it suggests the same kind of unrestricted, seamless world. Siegal describes Avowed as a collection of substantial explorable regions, each with quests, towns, dungeons, resources, gear and secrets, rather than one continuous open world. His review praises how much there is to find in those areas while making clear that their structure is more directed than a Skyrim-style sandbox.
Does Avowed actually have parkour?
“Parkour” is a vivid description of the game’s traversal, not a promise of a dedicated movement-simulation system. The BGR review describes running, jumping and vaulting through the environments, and Siegal found that moving through the crafted spaces added to the pleasure of exploring them. The appeal is practical: getting around is part of how you discover the world, rather than merely the stretch between combat encounters.
What are the story and setting?
Avowed is set in Eora’s Living Lands. You play an envoy of Aedyr investigating the Dreamscourge, a spreading plague; the official premise also points to a personal connection and an ancient threat. That setup gives the regional exploration political and personal stakes, rather than making the journey only a sequence of unrelated places to clear.
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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.
Companions travel with you, fight alongside you, contribute to quests and bring additional character reactions to the adventure. Siegal praised the story, world-building and voice performances, and noted the appeal of replaying to encounter different choices. His review also identifies a clear narrative drawback: the way conversations are presented became frustrating for him. That caveat sits alongside his praise; it does not erase it.
How does combat work?
Avowed supports flexible first-person loadouts that mix melee, ranged attacks and magic. The official site highlights combinations of swords, spells, guns and shields; Siegal’s review likewise emphasizes that weapon choices make combat feel varied. That flexibility is a useful point of comparison with other first-person fantasy RPGs, but it does not make the games identical: Avowed’s combat unfolds within its area-based structure.
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.
What did the BGR review think?
Siegal’s February 13, 2025 review makes a case for Avowed as an RPG for players who enjoy discovering secrets and moving through carefully built environments. He praises the exploration, the distinct feel of different weapon choices, the political intrigue and world-building, and the possibility of revisiting the story to see different choices. The main criticism in that assessment is conversation presentation, which he found exasperating.
BGR disclosed that Xbox provided the review code. These are Siegal’s impressions from that review period, not a separate playthrough or performance test.
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.
What is available now?
The official Avowed site now lists a PlayStation 5 release and features added in an anniversary update, including New Game Plus and Photo Mode. Those are later developments than the February 2025 BGR review, so they should not be read as part of Siegal’s launch-period assessment. Check the official site for current platform, edition and feature information.
Quick Recap
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
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