Avowed

Avowed takes players into the world of Eora, the same setting Obsidian Entertainment built in the isometric Pillars of Eternity games, but this time from a first-person perspective with a strong emphasis on direct action. The protagonist is an envoy of the empire who arrives on a sprawling archipelago called the Living Lands to investigate a strange plague that is changing both people and animals. The fact that crystals are growing out of their face and a foreign voice speaks inside their head does nothing to make the situation easier. Combat rests on free combination of both hands — one might hold a sword, the other a pistol or a magic staff — and the game never forces players into a fixed class; the build can be reshaped and experimented with throughout the playthrough.

The world isn't one giant map but several large, hand-built regions, which plays to Obsidian's strengths: instead of empty expanse it offers density — hidden caves, notes, camps and side threads that almost always lead somewhere. Companions have their own opinions on how you deal with local factions and chime in even in the middle of conversations. It's the dialogue, and the option to resolve situations through cunning, persuasion or knowledge of the surroundings, that sets the game apart from purely action-focused RPGs. Visually it leans on a rich, slightly stylized palette with lush vegetation and strange fungal formations that make the Living Lands feel genuinely exotic.

On Xbox Series X|S the game offers a choice between image fidelity and smoothness and technically ranks among the more solid releases Microsoft has put out in recent years. Reviews were positive — praising the writing, the freedom in character building and the inventive world, while criticism focused on a less flexible faction system and the fact that the game doesn't reach the scale of its biggest competitors. As a mid-sized RPG built with honest craft, though, it works excellently. Magic combat comes off especially well: spells can be chained with weapons, the environment reacts to fire and frost, and the strongest hits require careful timing, bringing combat closer to an action game than a mere skill rotation. Anyone who fell in love with Pillars of Eternity will also appreciate the many references to earlier events in Eora.