It’s not the easiest task, quantifiably speaking, to gauge exactly how successful a game has been when it’s released from day one on Xbox Game Pass in addition to a regular release but all signs point towards a “so far, very good” reception for Avowed, the highly-anticipated fantasy RPG from Obsidian Entertainment and Microsoft Studios. […]
I’ve been enjoying the game and seem to be close to the end. I actually like that it is not overly complicated. Makes it easier to pick up for an hour or two and just play.
My problem is the inconsistencies. At times it acts like it wants to be a deeper game and at times it is just mindless action. Feels like they cut a lot of planned content and just smoothed it over. For example, both unique weapons and armor can be upgraded with materials you find and purchase, but only weapons allow upgrading the unique stat itself, and its only a single choice between two options. It seems almost pointless. They should have just dropped that system entirely or expanded it to be more meaningful.
Late in the game are two choices that feel meaningful and appear to influence the map and story. Great, except, where was this for the entire first half of the game? So many choices just seem to be for flavor that when one actually has consequences it is jarring.
Then there is stealth. The game has a stealth mechanic and skills to buff stealth attacks. However, the moment you attack from stealth, every enemy in range is aggro’d to your location and stealth is no longer possible. Stealth is effectively just a first hit damage bonus. Again, it seems like they planned to make stealth a thing, then either cut it or could not make it work, but left parts of it in the game.
Illusions… The game has several, fairly trivial elemental obstacles. Most can be dealt with in several ways. Tangled vines can be burned with fire skills, certain throwables, or a companion ability. Same for electric switches, freezable bars (to shatter them), etc. All except illusions. Those can only be cleared by a specific companion ability, which means late in the game you are either forced to use that companion or give up on anything behind illusions. There is even a spot in the throwables UI that looks like it could be for an extra item type, but I’ve yet to find something to fill it. Maybe in the last area…
Overall I do like the game, but no way is it worth $70.