Avowed release date, story, gameplay, and more
Avowed: release date, story, gameplay, and more
Want to know more about Avowed, the upcoming action RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity world? Avowed is Obsidian Entertainment's newest project and serves as a spinoff game in the realm of Eora, the expansive fantasy world first detailed in Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Instead of a topdown CRPG experience with tabletop-inspired mechanics and real-time-with-pause tactical combat, Avowed puts the player up close and personal via a first person view with fast-paced gameplay more reminiscent of Obsidian's 2019 effort, The Outer Worlds.
If you're intrigued by this chance to experience Eora from a fresh new perspective, you're in the right place. Let's dive into everything we know so far about Avowed, from the expected release date to story details to a look at all the gameplay features revealed thus far.
In this guide:
- Avowed expected release date
- Avowed platforms
- Avowed trailers
- Avowed setting and story details
- Avowed gameplay
Avowed expected release date
Avowed will release in the third or fourth quarter of 2024. An exact month has not yet been specified, but the game is expected to come out in autumn - which would mark roughly four years since Avowed was first revealed on July 24, 2020.
Avowed platforms
Avowed will be available on Steam, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Series X/S.
Avowed trailers
Avowed's reveal trailer debuted in 2020 and showed off a fiery arrow descending through the sky into the darkness. The cinematic showed off the game's first person view and had a dark veneer that somewhat faded in later trailers.
Gameplay footage of Avowed was revealed in 2023. Sporting an artstyle considerably brighter than the initial reveal, this trailer showed off the game's world, gave more hints of the plot, and served up a healthy dollop of spell-infused combat.
The latest video of Avowed was unveiled during the Xbox Developer Direct of 2024, giving viewers an even deeper look at the game's sword and wand combat along with interactions with NPCs.
Avowed setting and story details
Unlike Pillars of Eternity and Deadfire, which respectively took place around the center of Eora - more specifically, on the east end of Eora's Eastern Reach and the Deadfire Archipelago - Avowed's setting is the northern continent known as the Living Lands.
Described in the Pillars games as an untamed island with deadly wildlife and inhospitable locals, the Living Lands appears to be the perfect unpredictable setting for an action RPG. This change is obvious in the game's visuals - whereas the first Pillars of Eternity featured relatively traditional fantasy stylings and Deadfire leaned into a pirate-inspired sailing setting, Avowed is full of a wildly diverse selection of colourful biomes, some reminiscent of the rugged frontier. One of these, identified in the Xbox Developer Direct footage, is Shatterskarp, a wasteland dotted with vibrant oases and plenty of xaurip lizardfolk to fight.
Avowed sees the player taking on the role of an envoy from the Aedyr Empire, the influential colonial power ruling over much of Eora. The Living Lands is technically under the Empire's control, but locals presumably have mixed opinions regarding the player's presence on their soil, as evidenced by Avowed's gameplay trailer which shows the protagonist greeted by swords after stepping on a pier. The trailer, narrated by a coastal aumaua named Kai, hints further at this: "People don't like you very much, do they? Sent here, to the Living Lands, by an emperor who couldn't bother to come himself."
Despite this harsh reception, it appears that the player's presence in the Living Lands is warranted. A plague is spreading throughout the continent, infecting everything in its path, and Avowed's trailers notably show bears and corpses with fungi-like boils reminiscent of The Last Of Us' Cordyceps erupting from their skin - all likely victims of this disease.
Little else is known of Avowed's plot at this time, other than the fact that the player will discover a personal connection to the Living Lands as they explore it - perhaps hinting at great powers that will develop over the course of the adventure, or maybe a secret origin tying the protagonist to the plague infecting Avowed's frontier sandbox.
Avowed gameplay
Avowed features first-person RPG gameplay, with plenty of interactions with NPCs meshed with dynamic combat. Battles see the protagonist using both melee and ranged weapons along with a wide selection of magic. The following elements can be spotted in the footage released thus far, or have been revealed by Obsidian in interviews:
Ability trees: Unlike the Pillars of Eternity games, Avowed doesn't feature classes or customisable player races. You'll have to play as the envoy of Aedyr no matter what, and seeing as how the Aedyr Empire is dominated by humans and elves, you're also limited to those races. Nevertheless, Avowed offers up choice in the form of ability trees that will unlock as you progress through the game, presenting enough varying playstyles to keep things from feeling too confined.
Customisable weapon loadouts: Avowed lets the player quickly swap loadouts on the fly, from a standard sword and shield combo to an axe to a bow and arrow to a flintlock pistol. Swapping weapons is speedy and necessary for coping with different enemy patterns, which leads us to our next point...
Dual wielding: Yes, you'll be able to equip two pistols - or even better, two wands, to "feel like a gunslinging mage," as the Xbox Developer Direct trailer puts it. Dual wielding appears to be encouraged in Avowed's gameplay, so it's probably safe to say that you won't see the same tabletop RPG-style damage penalties that you might encounter when eqipping two weapons in the Pillars games.
Spellcasting: Magic is a major part of Avowed's combat, and the trailers show all sorts of nifty spell effects. These range from the main character casting a tanglefoot spell to keep foes in place, to using a wand in one hand to freeze an enemy while a sword in the other slashes its frozen form to bits.
Companions: Avowed's CRPG DNA will shine in companions that follow the main character on their quest. While only two companions can accompany you at a time, they'll fight alongside you in combat and have dynamic personalities that will change over time. Considering the memorable companions in the Pillars games, it's likely that Avowed will follow through with well-written comrades.
That's all we known about Avowed for the moment. If you'd like to brush up on the other games set in Eora, check out our thoughts on Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. Pillars II also made the RPS readership's list of the 25 best RPGs of all time, so take a look there if you'd like to experience other classics of the CRPG genre before moving onto Avowed's action-packed gameplay.