Avowed - The Good & The Problems

[Dys the Fox]

Potential Spoilers
My wife and I both decided to do a playthrough since we have GamePass on Avowed.

Have to say, I'm very thankful I was able to beat the game on GamePass, as to make a long story short; it's not worth $70. Avowed is a $40 game, tops.

I know comparisons have been done, so I won't do any.
I don't believe the game is "DEI", it's fine. It just has more modern depictions of characters.

What I loved;
I think the game actually had pretty great and rewarding exploration and combat. It wasn't super deep combat, but it felt rewarding beating some large-scale fights (I was playing on Path of the Damned), and felt rewarding beating particularly difficult bosses.
Narrative was actually pretty good, as a whole - though a lot of the character narratives and stories were really underwhelming (except Kai's.)

What I hated;
Well... a lot. It's been said enough, but it rings true - the game is as deep as a puddle when it comes to true RPG depth and it feels like Obsidian took ten steps backwards. Outer Worlds had so many of the features that Avowed is just missing, despite Avowed having a significantly larger budget.
No NG+ - this is felt so badly, so very very badly in The Garden. There are 13 Unique items here. I'm not really sure why. A bunch of them are even build-defining uniques, but you can't use them. You can't afford to upgrade them, and you have only a couple more fights left to even make use of them. This feels like such a bad design decision. If Obsidian is reading, and you aren't considering NG+, please remove the Uniques from The Garden and scatter them across the game world.
Melee needs help - it's such a boring and one-dimensional playstyle that gets old to play through the entire game. Fortunately I started using an Arquebus halfway through and was having fun blasting.

[King of Evil]

I think melee is actually pretty fun to play. The problem is that basic stuff like Parry & Shield Bash are locked behind an ability point. They should just be available by default & points should just make them better. Half of the things you can do in melee are just stuck behind points & in the end it makes them a waste of a point to put into.

So, the best way to play as a Melee is just a berserk style. Go high crit & use the Shout & Flurry after each other & repeat, while using Charge & the AoE when you need to. Those are the only useful abilities in the melee trees. Maybe get the slide upgrade for funzies.

[Greed]

Originally posted by Dys the Fox:

Potential Spoilers
My wife and I both decided to do a playthrough since we have GamePass on Avowed.

Have to say, I'm very thankful I was able to beat the game on GamePass, as to make a long story short; it's not worth $70. Avowed is a $40 game, tops.

I know comparisons have been done, so I won't do any.
I don't believe the game is "DEI", it's fine. It just has more modern depictions of characters.

What I loved;
I think the game actually had pretty great and rewarding exploration and combat. It wasn't super deep combat, but it felt rewarding beating some large-scale fights (I was playing on Path of the Damned), and felt rewarding beating particularly difficult bosses.
Narrative was actually pretty good, as a whole - though a lot of the character narratives and stories were really underwhelming (except Kai's.)

What I hated;
Well... a lot. It's been said enough, but it rings true - the game is as deep as a puddle when it comes to true RPG depth and it feels like Obsidian took ten steps backwards. Outer Worlds had so many of the features that Avowed is just missing, despite Avowed having a significantly larger budget.
No NG+ - this is felt so badly, so very very badly in The Garden. There are 13 Unique items here. I'm not really sure why. A bunch of them are even build-defining uniques, but you can't use them. You can't afford to upgrade them, and you have only a couple more fights left to even make use of them. This feels like such a bad design decision. If Obsidian is reading, and you aren't considering NG+, please remove the Uniques from The Garden and scatter them across the game world.
Melee needs help - it's such a boring and one-dimensional playstyle that gets old to play through the entire game. Fortunately I started using an Arquebus halfway through and was having fun blasting.

"if you hate the game you're a grifter chud.. ."
Let me be honest with you not interested in a game with an inbuilt agenda.
That said as a game it has nothing going for it.
You might not agree with my viewpoint. But just tell me how do you not expect a living world in an RPG you're meant to role play how do you not expect NPC to move about and do their daily life, How do you not expect a good or even a decent game for 70 bucks and you're celebrating the fact that the developers said they spewed out multiple games consecutively within the past four or five years with lack of quality and you're OK with that I don't know what to tell you people... The things you've listed that you don't like are considered basic rpg mechanics today in 2025 it might have been a great thing back when oblivion was released but now it's a basic requirement and this game clearly fails to reach that, I don't know hopefully magically the game Devss stopped working on their next game and fix this one before they move on at lest for you people who enjoy the game~

[Dys the Fox]

Originally posted by King of Evil:

I think melee is actually pretty fun to play. The problem is that basic stuff like Parry & Shield Bash are locked behind an ability point. They should just be available by default & points should just make them better. Half of the things you can do in melee are just stuck behind points & in the end it makes them a waste of a point to put into.

So, the best way to play as a Melee is just a berserk style. Go high crit & use the Shout & Flurry after each other & repeat, while using Charge & the AoE when you need to. Those are the only useful abilities in the melee trees. Maybe get the slide upgrade for funzies.

Yeah, I ended just basically being a berserker build in the end with barbaric shout and giant slayer.

[Dys the Fox]

Originally posted by Greed:

Originally posted by Dys the Fox:

Potential Spoilers
My wife and I both decided to do a playthrough since we have GamePass on Avowed.

Have to say, I'm very thankful I was able to beat the game on GamePass, as to make a long story short; it's not worth $70. Avowed is a $40 game, tops.

I know comparisons have been done, so I won't do any.
I don't believe the game is "DEI", it's fine. It just has more modern depictions of characters.

What I loved;
I think the game actually had pretty great and rewarding exploration and combat. It wasn't super deep combat, but it felt rewarding beating some large-scale fights (I was playing on Path of the Damned), and felt rewarding beating particularly difficult bosses.
Narrative was actually pretty good, as a whole - though a lot of the character narratives and stories were really underwhelming (except Kai's.)

What I hated;
Well... a lot. It's been said enough, but it rings true - the game is as deep as a puddle when it comes to true RPG depth and it feels like Obsidian took ten steps backwards. Outer Worlds had so many of the features that Avowed is just missing, despite Avowed having a significantly larger budget.
No NG+ - this is felt so badly, so very very badly in The Garden. There are 13 Unique items here. I'm not really sure why. A bunch of them are even build-defining uniques, but you can't use them. You can't afford to upgrade them, and you have only a couple more fights left to even make use of them. This feels like such a bad design decision. If Obsidian is reading, and you aren't considering NG+, please remove the Uniques from The Garden and scatter them across the game world.
Melee needs help - it's such a boring and one-dimensional playstyle that gets old to play through the entire game. Fortunately I started using an Arquebus halfway through and was having fun blasting.

"if you hate the game you're a grifter chud.. ."
Let me be honest with you not interested in a game with an inbuilt agenda.
That said as a game it has nothing going for it.
You might not agree with my viewpoint. But just tell me how do you not expect a living world in an RPG you're meant to role play how do you not expect NPC to move about and do their daily life, How do you not expect a good or even a decent game for 70 bucks and you're celebrating the fact that the developers said they spewed out multiple games consecutively within the past four or five years with lack of quality and you're OK with that I don't know what to tell you people... The things you've listed that they don't like are considered basic rpg mechanics today in 2025 it might have been a great thing back when oblivion was released but now it's a basic requirement and this game clearly fails to reach that, I don't know hopefully magically the game Devss stopped working on their next game and fix this one before they move on at lest for you people who enjoy the game~

I think you might've responded to the wrong post. I didn't call anyone a grifter. Only thing I said is I don't think the game classifies as DEI, especially not when compared to games like Concord or Veilguard.

[Plagen]

Originally posted by Dys the Fox:

I think you might've responded to the wrong post. I didn't call anyone a grifter. Only thing I said is I don't think the game classifies as DEI, especially not when compared to games like Concord or Veilguard.

You can just ignore that dude. He's one of those insecure crazies who posts about wokeness all over even when no one brings it up.

[Greed]

Originally posted by Dys the Fox:

Originally posted by Greed:

"if you hate the game you're a grifter chud.. ."
Let me be honest with you not interested in a game with an inbuilt agenda.
That said as a game it has nothing going for it.
You might not agree with my viewpoint. But just tell me how do you not expect a living world in an RPG you're meant to role play how do you not expect NPC to move about and do their daily life, How do you not expect a good or even a decent game for 70 bucks and you're celebrating the fact that the developers said they spewed out multiple games consecutively within the past four or five years with lack of quality and you're OK with that I don't know what to tell you people... The things you've listed that they don't like are considered basic rpg mechanics today in 2025 it might have been a great thing back when oblivion was released but now it's a basic requirement and this game clearly fails to reach that, I don't know hopefully magically the game Devss stopped working on their next game and fix this one before they move on at lest for you people who enjoy the game~

I think you might've responded to the wrong post. I didn't call anyone a grifter. Only thing I said is I don't think the game classifies as DEI, especially not when compared to games like Concord or Veilguard.

I wasn't saying that you were saying those things I was speaking in a general sense that's how the criticisms for this games have been handled so far, Well it's not DEI But it is a fact that most of the Good NPC's are women and most of the male characters are useless characters But then again that's not a big deal I don't mind that.

[King of Evil]

Originally posted by Greed:

Originally posted by Dys the Fox:

I think you might've responded to the wrong post. I didn't call anyone a grifter. Only thing I said is I don't think the game classifies as DEI, especially not when compared to games like Concord or Veilguard.

I wasn't saying that you were saying those things I was speaking in a general sense that's how the criticisms for this games have been handled so far, Well it's not DEI But it is a fact that most of the Good NPC's are women and most of the male characters are useless characters But then again that's not a big deal I don't mind that.

Yea, I enjoy the game but even I can see that much. There's a video on youtube called "Avowed hates men" & I can't really say it's wrong. Everything the video states is pretty much true.

[Plagen]

Originally posted by King of Evil:

Originally posted by Greed:

I wasn't saying that you were saying those things I was speaking in a general sense that's how the criticisms for this games have been handled so far, Well it's not DEI But it is a fact that most of the Good NPC's are women and most of the male characters are useless characters But then again that's not a big deal I don't mind that.

Yea, I enjoy the game but even I can see that much. There's a video on youtube called "Avowed hates men" & I can't really say it's wrong. Everything the video states is pretty much true.

I thought Marius was okay. Kai was kind of annoying, because he judged me a lot. There were a number of men in Fior that were cool, like some of the Rangers. Like the one who helps you interrogate the Steel w/e guy. Some animancers were chill dudes too.

Like, is the whole "hates men" thing just because the town leaders are pushovers and a strong woman puts them in their place? Is that it?

[King of Evil]

Originally posted by Plagen:

Originally posted by King of Evil:

Yea, I enjoy the game but even I can see that much. There's a video on youtube called "Avowed hates men" & I can't really say it's wrong. Everything the video states is pretty much true.

I thought Marius was okay. Kai was kind of annoying, because he judged me a lot. There were a number of men in Fior that were cool, like some of the Rangers. Like the one who helps you interrogate the Steel w/e guy. Some animancers were chill dudes too.

Like, is the whole "hates men" thing just because the town leaders are pushovers and a strong woman puts them in their place? Is that it?

I think it has to do with how the game represents men vs how it represents women. Most of the women are represented as successful, strong & smart while most of the men are seen as incompetent, weak & docile & how supporting a lot of the men in the game over the women is seen as 'the bad' choice. Then it's shows how Kai's & Marius' side quests are both about them being weak & vulnerable, while Giana's & Yahtzli's are about them being independent & strong.

[Plagen]

Originally posted by King of Evil:

Originally posted by Plagen:

I thought Marius was okay. Kai was kind of annoying, because he judged me a lot. There were a number of men in Fior that were cool, like some of the Rangers. Like the one who helps you interrogate the Steel w/e guy. Some animancers were chill dudes too.

Like, is the whole "hates men" thing just because the town leaders are pushovers and a strong woman puts them in their place? Is that it?

I think it has to do with how the game represents men vs how it represents women. Most of the women are represented as strong & smart while most of the men are seen as weak & docile & how supporting a lot of the men in the game over the women is seen as 'the bad' choice.

I haven't noticed any of that. But, then again, I don't really focus on men vs women stuff or really pay attention to if a man isn't manly or if a woman is manly. If a person is ♥♥♥♥♥♥, they're ♥♥♥♥♥♥. I don't care about their gender. I just look at people as individuals, not members of their sex.

Like, I decided at the start I was going to be as Anti-Empire as possible. So, I've killed a few arrogant characters already. Sucked up to the Inquisitor and threw the Ambassador under the bus. Spared the rebels and gained a spy. Then turned on the Inquisitor and slaughtered the Steel Garrote. Killed that one captain of the Steel Garrote on my way to Thirdborn.

[King of Evil]

Originally posted by Plagen:

Originally posted by King of Evil:

I think it has to do with how the game represents men vs how it represents women. Most of the women are represented as strong & smart while most of the men are seen as weak & docile & how supporting a lot of the men in the game over the women is seen as 'the bad' choice.

I haven't noticed any of that. But, then again, I don't really focus on men vs women stuff or really pay attention to if a man isn't manly or if a woman is manly. If a person is ♥♥♥♥♥♥, they're ♥♥♥♥♥♥. I don't care about their gender. I just look at people as individuals, not members of their sex.

Like, I decided at the start I was going to be as Anti-Empire as possible. So, I've killed a few arrogant characters already. Sucked up to the Inquisitor and threw the Ambassador under the bus. Spared the rebels and gained a spy. Then turned on the Inquisitor and slaughtered the Steel Garrote. Killed that one captain of the Steel Garrote on my way to Thirdborn.

Yea, I'm all for treating everyone as individuals but in a game or story setting it's not really like that. It's more of a pattern in the story telling that keeps happening. Once it's nothing, twice it's a coincidence, but three times or more then it's a pattern.

[Plagen]

Originally posted by King of Evil:

Originally posted by Plagen:

I haven't noticed any of that. But, then again, I don't really focus on men vs women stuff or really pay attention to if a man isn't manly or if a woman is manly. If a person is ♥♥♥♥♥♥, they're ♥♥♥♥♥♥. I don't care about their gender. I just look at people as individuals, not members of their sex.

Like, I decided at the start I was going to be as Anti-Empire as possible. So, I've killed a few arrogant characters already. Sucked up to the Inquisitor and threw the Ambassador under the bus. Spared the rebels and gained a spy. Then turned on the Inquisitor and slaughtered the Steel Garrote. Killed that one captain of the Steel Garrote on my way to Thirdborn.

Yea, I'm all for treating everyone as individuals but in a game or story setting it's not really like that. It's more of a pattern in the story telling that keeps happening. Once it's nothing, twice it's a coincidence, but three times or more then it's a pattern.

Yeah, but like, someone has to be that character. Should they just make all those characters women instead of men? Should they just remove weak/docile characters completely from the game and only have strong, confident characters?

Like, the setting is people in a wild land that is trying to kill them, and things are constantly going wrong, there is a plague, bandits, monsters, etc. I can't blame some of them for being overwhelmed. Like the leader of Fior, who took over for his dad, who was much better than him and who is trying to do the best he can while he is in denial that the Dreamscourge is a real thing that is infecting his mother, his only family that is left. It makes sense that he's kinda weak & docile, since he is young, just took over his position, things are going wrong, and the last of his family is basically a corpse already.