I’m still a little uncertain about how Avowed’s story is laid out—mostly because I haven’t played Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity games, even though this RPG takes place in that same setting. Still, after about an hour getting hands-on during Gamescom 2024, I walked away with a clearer picture of several key details. That’s been enough to leave me strongly convinced I’ll want to spend far more time in this world once Avowed arrives in February 2025.
In Avowed, the land of Eora is being struck by a magical outbreak, and you take on the role of a major emissary from a neighboring empire, sent to track down where it all began. In the Gamescom demo, you’re able to choose to play as a heavily built Barbarian, a stealth-focused Scout, or a mage who casts spells—each with preset ability setups. I chose the mage, and spent the dungeon segment hunting a missing expedition.
Traveling with you is Kai, a companion character voiced by the familiar Brandon Keener, a name many players will recognize as the memorable sidekick/romantic option Garrus from Mass Effect. Here, Kai essentially functions as your Garrus, sharing a very comparable vibe: a genuinely encouraging ally with a dry sense of humor. Whenever I wasn’t locked in on his striking blue appearance, I could almost picture my preferred turian standing right beside me. But the moment I looked at his face, I was repeatedly thrown off by seeing one of Eora’s Aumaura looking back.
For anyone who enjoys fantasy terminology, Avowed is rich with background information. It seems this world comes with at least a decade of history—possibly even more, and I say that as someone who likes having a deep codex to dig into. Even so, there’s a smart onboarding system for new visitors to Eora, letting you tap a button to get immediate explanations for many of the locations, figures, and historical moments that come up during conversation.
Visually, Avowed looks impressive, though its artistic direction sometimes feels like an odd mix. The dungeon I explored is refreshingly bright and lively for a video game cave, yet—along with everything I’ve seen so far—it leans into a slightly mixed fantasy feel. Think a mashup of Skyrim and Lord of the Rings, but with bolder colors, plus touches that recall James Cameron’s Avatar. It also brings to mind Kingdoms of Amalur, a game built by a top-notch team that, in the end, had trouble settling into a clear, unmistakable identity.
As I pushed deeper into the cave, with Garrus chatting away beside me, Avowed showed a sense of humor I genuinely appreciated. It hints that, beneath the Proper Nouns, there’s real personality here too—potentially as enjoyable as the character-driven tone found in Fallout: New Vegas and The Outer Worlds. After one cheeky comment, we run into Sargamis, a Midas-like figure dressed in gold. His role in events can shift quite a bit depending on the choices you make.
Sargamis appears determined to recover the artifact tied to why your expedition disappeared, so once he asks you to track it down, you head back out with more context than before. I imagine long-time players of Pillars may follow the dungeon’s larger storyline sooner than I did, but I still enjoyed uncovering what was happening here—and, just as importantly, the sequence largely stayed understandable even for a newcomer like me.
Exploration feels fast and smooth, with first-person crouching, climbing, and sliding that fits the genre in a modern way. You can also ambush enemies with a surprise melee strike, using a system that plays like stabbing foes with a Mass Effect omni-blade. As a mage, I kept a spellbook in one hand while carrying either my wand or another melee weapon in the other, and the game’s two loadout options swap easily with a simple button press. By holding down the left trigger and choosing an action button, you can unleash four additional elemental abilities. It also looks like every class can toss fairly forceful ranged explosive items that function as grenades.
By the time everything wrapped up, I felt like I had plenty of ways to handle the quest, and I spent a good chunk of time talking through my options with Sargamis. At one stage, I could even ask Garrus what he thought. While my choice was mostly already set, I ultimately decided to side with him. Did Avowed do enough to grab me and fulfill its promise? I’m definitely more interested now that I have a basic understanding of both its gameplay and its narrative. More time would help, too. Microsoft even appears to recognize this, with its recent note that it wants to move Avowed into 2025 “to provide players’ backlogs some breathing room”—which hints that it may have a harder time standing out during the fiercely competitive Q4, especially against well-established RPG franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Dragon Age. If you’re hoping for a fresh Obsidian experience afterward, Avowed deserves your attention. And, of course, more Garrus.