While it ’s not as big as an RPG likeThe Elder Scrolls V : Skyrim , Avowedis still a monumental evolution for the Pillars of Eternity franchise . That series give us slow - paced , isometric CRPGs , whileAvowedis a more military action - compact first - somebody RPG set in the same universe . Having gone hand - on with its Gamescom anatomy at an Xbox effect in Los Angeles , I was free to see thatAvowedstill retain the core DNA of developer Obsidian Entertainment .
TheAvowedquest I play run around beautiful visuals , had excellent piece of writing , and matte faithful to the wider Pillars of Eternity dealership . Clearly , a flock of effort perish into reinterpret what a Pillars of Eternity secret plan could be like when played from a different perspective and set in a never - before - explored area of Eora call The Living Lands . In an interview , art director Matthew Hansen explained how the team approached that chance .
“ If you ’ve meet bothPillars 1andPillars 2,you’ll see that Deadfire is a more vibrant setting than the Dyrwood is , and we wanted to press that further with The Living Lands , ” Hansen tells Digital Trends . “ There are a portion of pretty turgid visuals , but it ’s all still root in reality like the Pillars game are . ”
My hand - on demo ofAvowedinvolved playing through one of its sidequests . think about sidequests are an ever - present quality in the good RPGs , and so far , Avowedis check all of the good boxes . The quest began as I entered a keep while looking for a lost expedition . These cavern immediately experience intimate and bespoke , offering an up - close - and - personal storey of detail that you wo n’t get from the first two Pillars of Eternity secret plan . I total away impressed by its visuals , which reckon rougher in videos shown off earlier in the yr . This more close up - up position was a major design challenge for Obsidian , but the squad embrace it concord to Region director Berto Ritger .
“ In a first- or third - person setting , you have to be very careful about vision lines and ensure that you pull out citizenry ’s attention to things . You ’ve got to cover everything , make it look good , and guide them subtly in the counseling we want them to get , ” Ritger tell Digital Trends .
Combat feels a quite a little more belligerent and action - focussed . I played as a mage , constantly using my wand for magical attacks and casting spells from my grimoire . There are guns and swords for players who want to get even more fast-growing with opposition , and you’re able to dual - handle all of the one - handed weapons . Avowedhas the well - feel fighting of any Obsidian Entertainment secret plan I ’ve play — at least based on the low chunk I ’ve examine out . Thankfully , that did n’t hail at the price of what the studio is best at , as its story chop are still on full show .
My quest to find this expedition ultimately lease me to a godlike vaticinator describe Sargamis , who tasked me with finding a relic so he could make contact with a god that he felt abandoned him . While I eventually retrieved the keepsake and returned it to him , his god still did n’t respond . While this could have resulted in a fight , I managed to talk him down . Some prank were spread throughout this quest , but it had a very poignant thematic core in its report about how feeling abandoned and not getting lovemaking reciprocated impacts us emotionally .
I had my worries aboutAvowed’snarrative because of how action - sharpen its trailers have been so far . That is why I was relieved to see a deep dialogue organization tied with RPG stats like word that is full of unique options that can permutate the narrative in surprising room . Plus , for those coming toAvowedfrom Obsidian ’s other games , aPentiment - like gloss of important terminology can be draw up at any meter during dialogue .
There ’s a lot ofAvowedI still have n’t take in . It ’s not a full - bluster assailable - earth secret plan , but it has several densely packed regions full of challenging locale and quests leave for me to discover .
I ’m interested to see how the option I make in the primary story and in sidequests like this wallop the risky venture in the longsighted term . And apparently , some part ofAvowedare going to getreallyweird .
“ We set it within The Living Lands because , even within the lore of Eora , that ’s the wild place , ” Hansen teases . “ We ’ve got one level we ’re not ready to talk about yet because it ’s one of the last levels of the biz , but it ’s real uncanny and very fun . I ’m agitate for people to explore it because it ’s more in the family of what you ’ll see in terms of pushing the gasbag of weird , as you watch with thePillars of Eternity 2 : Deadfireexpansions . ”
Avowedlaunches on PC and Xbox Series X / S on February 18 , 2025 .
