Final media previews for Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed have arrived, ahead of the game’s launch on 18 February 2025, revealing much more of what players can expect. While we’ve already seen much of the game, these latest previews provided new insights into mechanics like character customisation, as well as player choice.
Here’s everything new we just learned about Avowed.
What’s the story?
As confirmed in recent previews, Avowed will follow a custom character named “The Envoy” as they travel to a region known as The Living Lands”, under the orders of the Elf-Human Aedyr Empire. This Empire has designs on the Living Lands, with a view to colonise its people and establish a new order – but in the course of discovery, players realise the Living Lands have been corrupted by a Dream Scourge which infects the land, and all living things.
Read: Bioluminescence, blocking and walking the walk: A chat with Avowed’s Ryan Warden
Allies infected by the Dream Scourge shoot down the player-character’s ship on the way into the Living Lands, and so you must scramble to survive in a hostile new world, with your safety all but gone.
The Living Lands is an “open zone” setting
While Avowed has been discussed as an open world game by some commentators, recent previews have made clear it’s more about “open zones” – large, explorable areas that are siloed. Speaking to GameSpot, region director Berto Ritger described these areas as “expansive” and with a “lot of breadth to them,” but the team aimed to keep them manageable enough to hand-craft each aspect.
At first, players will be guided through these zones with a strong handhold, and then they will be free to explore at their own pace, discovering new things in every nook and cranny. Per GameSpot, there’s “interesting adventures” to find in each space, with the game’s setting being “dense with stories and thick with secrets to uncover.”
Characters are “godlike” beings
Notably, the previews for Avowed revealed player characters will be known as “godlike” beings in the adventure. This isn’t what it sounds – it means they’ve been “touched by the divine” (per Engadget) and have a unique link to the Dream Scourge fungus that spreads throughout the Living Lands.
This status makes most characters suspicious of the player-character, as it marks them out as different.
Character customisation allows you to pick combat style, good looks
As with most immersive RPGs, Avowed will let you fully customise your player character, down to their backstory and combat style. You’ll pick from an array of backgrounds to begin your creation, with these determining your starting weapons and skills. Players will also be able to build up fighting skills in a range of classes – fighter, ranger, wizard, and so on. There’s also a “godlike” level tree, and a tree for levelling up companions.
For customisation of appearance, players will also have a range of options available – although based on written preview, there’s nothing too different about this character creator, beyond that it lets you determine where your “godlike” face fungus grows.
Combat clearly evokes Skyrim
While the Avowed team has tried to lean away from comparisons to Skyrim, many of the game’s previews relate it directly to this adventure – particularly in its approach to combat.
“Yes, it feels like Elder Scrolls at baseline, but it’s very much better,” Forbes said. “Weapons feel meaty, smashing and bashing through ragdolling enemies in a way that feels more substantive than we usually see in this genre.”
Players are able to take a range of weapons into combat, with swords, shields, bows, maces, and wands freely available. Based on feedback from previews, the wands appear to be the most-loved weapon so far, with these allowing players to unleash rapid-fire mid-range spells that deal high damage to enemies.
Based on shared conclusions, it appears combat is a major strength of the game, and enhances its sense of adventuring.
Choice is key
As with other Obsidian Entertainment RPGs, choice will be key to your adventures. As you take on quests, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of options for completion, with dialogue and exploration mechanics supporting many alternative pathways.
That choice extends to side quests and main quests, with all of your choices feeding into the main narrative. Per Ritger, speaking to GameSpot, “Side quests very much, especially the larger ones, will impact your main story and vice versa. Companions will react to those things in real time. Those choices will also heavily impact individual characters, groups of characters, and entire settlements, factions of people, and the states of the regions that you go through.”
So to sum up: choose carefully.
In the coming months, we’re likely to hear much more about Avowed – so it’s best to stay tuned for more details. Currently, the game is set to launch for Xbox Series X/S and PC on 18 February 2025.
