Avowed review: not quite Skyrim, but much stranger

Obsidian's Unreal Engine powered RPG is a weird fantasy world with no easy choices.

Avowed review; a rock cave made from the skeleton head of a massive horned creature
(Image: © Obsidian Entertainment / Microsoft Game Studios)

For

  • Fascinating and vibrant world
  • Creative weapons and magic
  • Engaging heroes and dilemmas

Against

  • Can feel laborious
  • Combat becomes a slog

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Avowed: details

Avowed review; a skeleton warrior with flora growing from it, holding a sword

(Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment / Microsoft Game Studios)

Publisher Microsoft Game Studios

Developer Obsidian Entertainment

Release date 18 February 2025

Format PC (reviewed), Xbox Series X/S

Platform Unreal Engine 5

It would be easy to assume that Avowed is merely Obsidian Entertainment's take on Skyrim, given that it's also a first-person fantasy role-playing game - and it arguably fills a certain void since there's been a nary a peep on what's happening with The Elder Scrolls 6. That would however be a reductive take, as it's really a spin-off of the studio's acclaimed Pillars of Eternity series, also set in the same fantasy world of Eora, but given the AAA treatment and realised in breathtaking detail with Unreal Engine 5.

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TOPICS
Alan Wen
Video games journalist

Alan Wen is a freelance journalist writing about video games in the form of features, interview, previews, reviews and op-eds. Work has appeared in print including Edge, Official Playstation Magazine, GamesMaster, Games TM, Wireframe, Stuff, and online including Kotaku UK, TechRadar, FANDOM, Rock Paper Shotgun, Digital Spy, The Guardian, and The Telegraph.

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