Avowed

It's a lot of fun, much to explore and you get tons of stuff, most of it are things you want/need. The only thing I don't like is that you never know if you're going to miss out on a lot of quests or important ones because the game just doesn't steer you in the right direction.

Avowed is a game for which I'd like a third option instead of "yes" or "no" for the recommendation, I find it to be a somewhat mixed bag. It has some undeniable good and fun elements but at the same time fails in other areas - especially when it comes to some RPG elements. First things first, yes, the game has some "woke" elements like pronoun shenannigans. As someone who really, really dislikes woke elements in games I have to say that it did not feel intrusive to a level that bothered me. So the backlash this has experienced over that is indeed overblown. Let's now talk about the game: The good stuff: - combat is fluid and fun - exploration feels rewarding and you find lots of loot - playstyles with different weapons/magic are fun - I mostly liked the semi-open world areas - especially during the first 1/2-2/3rds of the game these element kept me intrigued - artstyle etc. are nice The bad stuff: - although I like the world and loved POE1/2 the story of Avowed is mediocre at best, there was no point in the game at which the story really made me want to continue. - I disliked the companions. I found their overall writing to be uninteresting. Compare this to BG or original DA: Origins, these games had interesting and sexy companions you wanted to know more about and romance. I did not care for the Avowed companions (who felt a little like they were the DEI squad) - I think they made astonishingly bad choices in regards to item upgrade/progression - Especially towards the end, enemy encounters and variety felt very repetitive became increasingly less fun for me - combat does not really change from start to finish - it doesnt feel like it evolves a lot. This combined with the enemy variety and story led me to rush through the final parts a bit because I somewhat wanted to finish it but not spend too much more time with it. - Another thing that has been critizied a lot but did not bother me so much is that the world is unreactive compared to games like Skyrim: there is no theft, you take whatever you want out each home; you can throw bombs in town or try to hit citizens - the game does not even react to that and you cannot harm them like in Elder Scolls games. If you want a fast paced, action oriented game without too much depth, I think you can go for avowed. If you want a deep RPG with good story, companions and well thought out systems, I suggest you skip this one. It is certainly not a bad game. But it is also most certainly not a really good game. I

This game allows you to respec whenenever you want for a nominal amount of money. So if you find some cool unique weapon and want to make a build around it, you absolutely can! I wish more titles gave you that flexibility.

Very beautiful scenes. Already in love.

d

This is an action RPG. Action first, RPG second. That's important to remember, as Pillars of Eternity was the opposite, so friction with the fanbase was inevitable. With Avowed, Obsidian has created a fantastic world (Ryngrim's Domain—whoa!), it's just a shame it's all so shallow. So what do I mean? First, the game is painfully formulaic. That'll make gamers feel at home, but anyone expecting more than a combat-heavy loot'a'thon will be left disappointed. There's 'stuff' everywhere, like a swarm of drunken, amnesia-stricken pirates swarmed the island at some point. But that's just it, it's 'stuff', mostly crafting materials. Item upgrades are linear, and unique items are not really unique at all, barely offering a smattering of small stat changes or even something as simple as elemental damage. Abilities are similar, not following class or actual build orders, but instead leaving it all wide open. That's fine for freedom and flexibility, but instead of fostering unique and compelling builds, it dumbs everything down so that all playstyles end up being a very simple, samey numbers game. Combat itself is decently done and fun enough, but it's nothing anyone hasn't seen before. The problems arise with everything around it. The AI is dumb as rocks, with enemies spamming the same few attacks and companions acting so slow it's like they're stuck in ice. Waves of enemies magically popping out of the floor is exhausting, and it's frustrating when something that didn't exist a moment ago is sniping for heavy damage all of a sudden. Bosses are boring hit point sponges with nothing unique about them, and there isn't anything interesting to fight—no dragons, giant statues, liches, etc. In fact, the enemy variety across the game is paper-thin; it doesn't matter if it's human, undead, or even xaurip, they all act the same. Now let's talk about what should be the best part: the writing. It's bad. At least 50% of all dialogue is filler nonsense: "Hey, you're guy!" "Yes, I am guy." "Cool, I'll open the gate, but watch out for other guy!" "Hey, you were dreaming. Talking to guy?" "Yes, I talked to guy, but human concepts are complex." "Great! Let's go to the next place so you can talk to guy some more." "I am sad, guy, I question my life decisions." "Don't be sad, other guy, you're great, and we can do this together!" "Thanks, guy!" MMORPGs have better writing... It takes about halfway through the game for the plot to pick up. Before that, it's just a meandering, confusing muddle of vague events and boring kill/fetch quests. The 'good guys' act comically bad, then almost immediately switch to somehow being good again, then everyone starts to act good and bad simultaneously. It's a confusing, ham-fisted approach to storytelling, and it just doesn't work. The main plot point around the Living Lands is OK at best, but it's nowhere near the level of the previous games in Eora. There are a couple of bright spots here and there, and a couple of major decisions to make, but they're once again ham-fisted and don't offer much flexibility for how important they are. Briefly mentioning the companions, there are only four, and they're mind-numbingly boring. With very simple, sob-story backgrounds and no depth to their dialogue, opinions, or any way to meaningfully connect with them, they just go with the flow and blend into whatever you want to do. One more, often overlooked thing I'll mention is that the soundtrack in Avowed is as dull and forgettable as the writing. Both Pillars games have unforgettably unique scores, and here I'm struggling to remember anything at all. All of this smacks of the same problems plaguing Dragon Age and even Starfield, and it's a real shame to see what's happening to our beloved game studios. The world of Eora deserves better, and I just don't think Obsidian is up to the task anymore.

This is fun for what it is. I enjoyed my playthough, but I'm not sure I'd ever replay it. So, given that, I only give this a borderline thumbs up. It's the sort of game you wait for a sale, then take the 25-30 hours to play through the game, and never look back.

I really enjoyed this game, and I believe it really suffered an undeserved backlash. If you enjoy the world of Eora, it is a worthy addition to the Pillars games, but I believe it can be enjoyed without being a hardcore Pillars fan, too.

"Şu oyunu günah keçisi yapıp ağzına sıçtılar! 'Yok Obsidian neden bunu yapıyor?', 'Yok abi Fallout niye yapmıyor?', 'Boş boş oyunlarla uğraşacaklarına Fallout yapsınlar...' Fallout siksin sizi amk, adamların IP'si ya aq! Bu da Pillars of Eternity'nin devamı ya hani... Siz ne derseniz deyin, oyun iyi bir aksiyon-RPG. Mükemmel değil ama iyi bir oyun. Özellikle de evrenine ve temasına bayıldım. RPG kısmının biraz kıt olması haricinde bir sorunu olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Bir de oyunun evrenindeki eski olaylar çok karışık geldi; tanrı olayları falan... O da zaten araştırmadığınız sürece pek sizi ilgilendirmiyor."

Just starting my second playthrough with a different character build. Really solid story and accessible gameplay. Really rewards the 'nosy' RPG player. Really worth a punt.