Combat is ... pretty awful

[SD777]

As a Elder Scrolls fan I was really looking forward to this, a lot of the reviews said it was somewhat close to ES with less of an open world. So far it seems quite linear to me with the illusion of an open world.

But that's not even my biggest gripe, the combat is just awful. Firstly your character just floats on air when jumping, it doesn't feel natural in the least. The worst part is that the jump button is also hard wired to dodge, so half the time when you try to dodge you end up jumping. Makes is really difficult to dodge in tight spaces, especially if you are going forwards and backwards. Now add that mistaken jump with how floaty and slow it is and it's awful for getting out of AOE attacks and such. Dodge really really needs to be a separate button.

Besides that there is no impact to the combat, you really don't feel like you are hitting or getting hit. Mobs are hp sponges, tried playing on hard and it just seems like forever to beat something, especially a boss.

So a big fat meh for me on combat. It's doable, just not particularly fun or intuitive.

EDIT: I should clarify, after reading the comments, I did NOT mean to compare Skyrim's combat to Avowed's combat. That's is entirely MY fault for not being clear and starting out with being an ES fan. I was excited for this game IN GENERAL because of its comparisons with ES in general that I saw on reviews, not because of the combat. You can just delete my entire first paragraph for clarification.

With that said I still stick by my negative review of the combat in Avowed (completely separate and having nothing to do with Skryim). It's very floaty and weightless, has no punch, and as I said my biggest gripe is how dodge and jumped are mapped onto one button. Exploring the world I find myself dodging instead of jumping often, and vice versa, in combat half the time I jump instead of dodge. Add to that the atrocious AI and hp sponge mobs and combat just becomes a slog.

I've put in a few more hours since my review and the game is starting to grow on me, I still dislike the combat but at least I'm getting used to it. But it's far from a master piece in pretty much all aspects and still a decent 5/10.

[SD777]

Just to add the AI is really awful as well. Mobs leash, so you can exploit this and just go beyond their leash distance and they just turn around, haven't seen something like that in a game in a long time. You can also sit behind cover forever and just pick them all off. I have been playing both with bow/ranger and sword/hammer/fighter and both ways are pretty bad. Haven't tried a mage yet though.

[XDeathxReconX]

Originally posted by SD777:

As a Elder Scrolls fan I was really looking forward to this, a lot of the reviews said it was somewhat close to ES with less of an open world. So far it seems quite linear to me with the illusion of an open world.

But that's not even my biggest gripe, the combat is just awful. Firstly your character just floats on air when jumping, it doesn't feel natural in the least. The worst part is that the jump button is also hard wired to dodge, so half the time when you try to dodge you end up jumping. Makes is really difficult to dodge in tight spaces, especially if you are going forwards and backwards. Now add that mistaken jump with how floaty and slow it is and it's awful for getting out of AOE attacks and such. Dodge really really needs to be a separate button.

Besides that there is no impact to the combat, you really don't feel like you are hitting or getting hit. Mobs are hp sponges, tried playing on hard and it just seems like forever to beat something, especially a boss.

So a big fat meh for me on combat. It's doable, just not particularly fun or intuitive.

I'm sorry but what about ES jumping feels realistic? The way you can change directions as you float around? The combat in ES is also weightless and impactless. In fact, this has much more weightiness to it. I don't think you've actually played Elder scrolls. By the way, i've hit a lot less loading screens here than ES, so what's really open world? The game that loads just to walk into most towns?

[Mathmatics]

a few hours in, I like combat. Feels punch and ranged / magic is really nice. Maybe it is not for everyone. I definitely like it more than skyrim. It is similar but, to me it feels more punchy.

[Regnier]

I heard alot that is keeping me away from the game. A lack of being a Chanter was a big one, I'd like to be a heavy support with minions doing chip damage while my allies do the heavy lifting. Enemy diversity is lacking. Combat doesn't seem to have an expansive spectrum. The game certainly isn't a POS. It is just high tier mid, imo.

[LilDipper]

Lol, the combat in Avowed makes the combat in Skyrim look like a toddler having a spasm. Skyrim was/is janky af, take off your nostalgia glasses and realize that the game just isn't good anymore.

[Mel Gibson after 3 beers]

Originally posted by SD777:

Just to add the AI is really awful as well. Mobs leash, so you can exploit this and just go beyond their leash distance and they just turn around, haven't seen something like that in a game in a long time. You can also sit behind cover forever and just pick them all off. I have been playing both with bow/ranger and sword/hammer/fighter and both ways are pretty bad. Haven't tried a mage yet though.

Jesus, I can't believe they kept that in.. just like outer worlds. Absolutely terrible, like a single-player MMO. Otherwise the ice-skating enemies sliding towards you is so, so bad.

[Kozzy]

As someone who has played every single elderscrolls game from Arena and Daggerfall, to Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim, The combat is way better in this game than Elderscrolls combat. Magic is way better and so is melee.

Elderscrolls is much bigger, with bigger maps, but Avowed has way better combat and writing. Played 20 hours so far and am having a blast.

[puppet74]

erm lol? elder scrolls combat , pick any of them, even the mmo, all terrible. Some of the most floaty, weightless combat out there. Avowed may not be skaventide melee combat but its pretty good and a damn sight better than anything ES games can do.

[dustin1280]

xD, the fact that you are saying this has WORSE combat then elder scrolls shows you have no actual idea what you are talking about. As such, just about anything you say should be taken with a grain of salt.

[Cosmia]

Surprise, it's not an elder scrolls game.

[zaratan4o]

Actually the combat is better than I expected(I had very low expectations), despite some issues. Has more impact than I thought it will.

Not like Skyrim, or something, has better combat. Worse if anything.

Enemies can be quite spongey though, true(on hard). And not hard to exploit. But it's pretty pointless. You get next to no exp. from killing things, even things twice your level. Which makes random exploration feel pointless.

Dodge and Jump on space can be annoying at times, but oh well. The jumping is ok. Climbing is not bad, in many games it's inconsistent and glitchy. It's at least smooth and reliable here. (I like to climb everything, bigger issue is invisible walls)

It's not that bad. Better things to complain about.

[LilDipper]

Originally posted by zaratan4o:

Enemies can be quite spongey though, true(on hard). And not hard to exploit. But it's pretty pointless. You get next to no exp. from killing things, even things twice your level. Which makes random exploration feel pointless.

I found all the best stuff by exploring. Maybe you need to learn how to explore better, cuz I found so many yellows, and sooooooooo many upgrade mats, exploring, that it is literally the best part of the game imo, with combat 2nd and story 3rd, which is how the best games should be. If the story is ever the best part of your game, then that is pretty sad, because no one will ever play it, because they won't be able to get past the crappy exploration and/or combat to experience it. I wouldn't have even come close to finishing TLOU if the combat and exploration weren't so good. Sure the story was pretty damn good too, but it was the exploration and combat that got you to see it all.

[rivermoon]

>As an Elder Scrolls fan

It isn't an Elder Scroll game...

[SD777]

Originally posted by XDeathxReconX:

I'm sorry but what about ES jumping feels realistic? The way you can change directions as you float around? The combat in ES is also weightless and impactless. In fact, this has much more weightiness to it. I don't think you've actually played Elder scrolls. By the way, i've hit a lot less loading screens here than ES, so what's really open world? The game that loads just to walk into most towns?

I wasn't comparing ES combat to Avowed, that's completely my fault for how I worded my first paragraph. ES doesn't even have dodge or 3rd person view so it's much different.

[SD777]

Originally posted by LilDipper:

Lol, the combat in Avowed makes the combat in Skyrim look like a toddler having a spasm. Skyrim was/is janky af, take off your nostalgia glasses and realize that the game just isn't good anymore.

I wasn't comparing ES combat to Avowed.