Declared promises will give you many opportunities to interpret and make important decisions, but are they kept?
Edge's hands-on preview found Avowed “a touch disappointing.” However, the portion of the game available was only a small section, made up of a cave system. The demo, which takes place in the world of Eora (the setting for Pillars of Eternity), sees you tracking down a lost expedition. The first member you encounter is injured and you are faced with your first choice: give him a healing potion to live or let him die. Not exactly the biting tension you'd expect from the Fallout: New Vegas developer.
Patel adds that “the options you have and the results in front of you will depend on what you can find.” So in the full game, if the area before the caves has any Difficult first-person combat.You may run out of potions and be unable to help the injured man.
More important decisions will also have to be made in the future. You step into the shoes of an envoy from the Aedyran Empire, in the Living Lands to investigate a spiritual plague. You will have to choose which factions and policies you want to support. “Giving players things to delve into is what makes roleplaying meaningful,” Patel says. “It's about who you want to be in this world and how these situations prepare you to express that.”
While the demo didn't contain much in the way of character progression, Patel promises, “The skills you can attain and the weapon loadouts you can choose from give you a very different experience every time you play.” Combat in Avowed appears to be a mix of magic, swords, and guns, so hopefully all of this will allow you to approach situations in your own way.
Avoced will be released next year, on February 18, 2025. It was originally going to come out in November, but there are many new games in 2024 that was delayed to give him (and you) a break.
In the meantime, why not check out some of the best games on Game Pass What can you play right now?