If you want better frame rate stability
Choose Ghost of Yōtei. It scores 5.0 vs 3.3 for frame rate stability, with a 4.4 overall score.
Avowed Review
Bottom Line
Choose Avowed for vivid Eora worldbuilding, flexible combat, and dense exploration. Skip it if you need deep simulation, broad enemy variety, or a smoother gear-progression loop.
Best for
Best for players who want a focused first-person fantasy RPG with colorful world-building, flexible combat builds, and dense exploration. It especially suits fans who value lore, secrets, and choice-driven quest outcomes over sandbox simulation.
Not for
Not for players expecting a huge reactive sandbox, complex systemic role-play, deep stealth, broad enemy variety, or frictionless gear progression. Reviewers repeatedly warn that the world can feel static and upgrade systems can dominate the loop.
Verdict
Avowed’s review consensus is that Obsidian built a memorable, colorful Eora adventure whose best moments come from exploration, magic-forward combat, lore, and morally weighted choices. Reviewers repeatedly enjoyed the dense open zones, flexible builds, and strong world-building, especially when the game rewards curiosity with secrets or consequences. The tradeoff is that its systems are thinner than many RPG fans may expect: gear tiers, scarce upgrade materials, repeated enemy types, and limited world reactivity frustrated multiple reviewers. It lands as a confident, often fun action RPG with excellent atmosphere, but not a genre-redefining sandbox.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
81 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.011 (14%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.441 (51%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.421 (26%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.47 (9%)
-
Very negative below 1.51 (1%)
Pros
-
Exploration was one of the strongest consensus positives, with dense maps, secrets, vertical paths, and constant rewards keeping reviewers engaged.
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World-building was one of Avowed’s clearest strengths, especially its politics, cultures, history, and Eora continuity.
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Most reviewers praised the bold, colorful, alien fantasy art direction, though a few disliked the cartoony look or felt presentation was uneven.
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Combat was one of the most consistently praised elements, especially magic, responsiveness, and build variety, despite repetition and gear-gating complaints.
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Lore depth was consistently praised, especially the in-game books, history, politics, and reference systems that made Eora feel rich.
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Controls and combat feel were commonly praised for responsiveness, impact, and keybind flexibility, with a few targeting frustrations.
Cons
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World interactivity was one of the most common criticisms, with many reviewers finding NPCs, theft, objects, and systems too static.
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Stealth was criticized as underdeveloped or nearly useless, with little support for stealth-focused play.
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Enemy variety was a recurring concern; many reviewers felt the same bears, spiders, skeletons, and humanoids appeared too often.
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Sandbox freedom was limited compared with full open-world RPGs, though some reviewers still appreciated freedom in story choices or builds.
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Grind level was a common complaint tied to gear upgrades, resource hunting, and spongy combat loops.
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Mission design drew criticism when quests felt repetitive, fetchy, or like back-and-forth errands, though some standout missions remained.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Video Games, this product is above average in tutorial quality, camera behavior, platforming precision, near average in side character depth, open-world design, below average in world interactivity, sandbox freedom, endgame content.
Comparison summary
81 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher21 (26%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts29 (36%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower31 (38%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| world interactivity | 1.9 | 4.0 | -2.1 |
| sandbox freedom | 2.3 | 4.2 | -1.9 |
| endgame content | 1.5 | 3.5 | -2.0 |
| core gameplay loop | 2.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| boss design | 1.8 | 3.8 | -2.0 |
| stealth mechanics | 1.4 | 3.4 | -2.0 |
| tutorial quality | 4.9 | 3.4 | +1.5 |
| character development | 2.7 | 3.9 | -1.2 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better world interactivity
Choose Crimson Desert. It scores 4.8 vs 1.9 for world interactivity, with a 3.5 overall score.
If you want better sandbox freedom
Choose Atomfall. It scores 4.5 vs 2.3 for sandbox freedom, with a 3.6 overall score.
If you want better upgrade system
Choose Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. It scores 4.6 vs 2.9 for upgrade system, with a 4.3 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
- Similar: party structure The review compares Avowed's two-companion structure to The Outer Worlds.
- Worse: overall design The reviewer says Avowed improves on The Outer Worlds but remains disappointing in its own way.
Baldur's Gate 3
- Better: world reactivity The reviewer says Baldur's Gate 3 feels more alive than Avowed's setting.
- Compared: romance and companion systems The reviewer expected to miss Baldur's Gate 3-style romance but felt Avowed's relationships still worked.
Skyrim
- Compared: first-person RPG style The reviewer frames Avowed as a favorable riff on Skyrim in Eora.
- Compared: open-world expectations The reviewer stresses that Avowed is not Skyrim, while criticizing how it avoids that model.
FAQ
Is Avowed more about combat or story?
Reviews describe both as important, but combat and exploration are the most consistent sources of fun. Story and writing are often praised, though some reviewers found the main plot predictable or uneven.
Does Avowed feel like a full open-world RPG?
No. Reviewers describe it as open-zone or semi-open, with dense handcrafted areas rather than one seamless sandbox. Some liked the focus; others wanted more freedom and world reactivity.
How good is the combat?
Combat is one of Avowed’s strongest reviewed areas, especially magic, flexible loadouts, and responsive feel. The main caveats are repeated enemy types, gear-tier friction, and occasional sponginess.
Are the companions memorable?
Opinions are mixed. Several reviewers loved the companion writing, banter, and emotional moments, while others found the cast shallow, underused in combat, or hard to connect with.
Is exploration rewarding?
Yes, this is one of the strongest points across reviews. Dense maps, vertical routes, secrets, treasure, caves, and environmental puzzles were repeatedly praised.
What are the biggest complaints?
The most repeated concerns are thin world interactivity, limited enemy variety, uneven gear progression, resource grind, and RPG systems that feel simpler than some players expected.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
Article Reviews
pcgamesn.com
- Review score
- 3.0
techradar.com
- Review score
- 4.0
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