$49.99Avowed Magic, Muskets and Hard Choices
A first-person fantasy RPG in the Living Lands, an island humming with old magic and sick with a plague that defies reason. You arrive as an envoy to investigate, and stay to decide who deserves your loyalty. Mix swords, spells, guns and shields in fast, punchy combat, travel with companions who have their own minds, and make choices the story remembers.
Is Avowed worth it?
Avowed is worth it if…
- you want a story-driven RPG where your choices carry real weight
- you like mixing melee weapons, spells and guns into your own combat style
- you care more about a vivid, strange world than an endless sandbox
- you would rather play the game than manage inventory weight and item durability
- you enjoy companions with their own quests and opinions, even when they argue back
Screenshots
Fight with a sword in one hand and a spell in the other
Combat is built around mixing whatever suits the moment. Carry a sword and shield and bash your way in, dig into your grimoire to freeze, trap or burn enemies, or hang back with a bow and pick them off at range. Guns work too, and a later update added two-handed staves for full-time mages. Nothing stops you from combining all of it: a shield bash to stagger, a fire spell to finish. If a build stops being fun, you can respec your entire character from the main menu and try another. Ammo for bows and guns never runs out, so the only limit is which weapon you feel like drawing.
A mystery that starts with a plague and ends with you
You play an envoy of Aedyr, sent to the Living Lands to investigate a plague that spreads through the island against all nature and reason. The assignment is duty; the pull is personal. The land seems to recognize you, drawing you toward something larger than your mission. The story leans on choices with real weight: forge alliances or rivalries, side with different factions, and watch your decisions shape the fates of the island's people and your own. Dialogue gives you plenty of ways to answer, including options tied to your character's past, and the world pushes back no matter which path you take. The answers live in grey areas rather than clean good and evil, and the mystery of what the island wants from you carries you to the end.
An island worth looking at, with companions worth listening to
The Living Lands is a strange, colorful place: air that hums with magic, flora that seems to move with a mind of its own, and regions with their own ecosystems, from towering mountains to grass-filled fields and ancient ruins. Ray tracing lights it well, from sunlight through tree canopies to torches flickering in old caverns. Companions travel with you, from a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, each with their own abilities in a fight and their own quests, opinions and flaws. Your choices shape them as you help them, and they will not always agree with you. When you need a break, there is a Photo Mode for the views, and camp is where you change your appearance, or even your race, whenever you like.
Questions before you set out?
Do you need to know Pillars of Eternity first?
No. Avowed is set in the same world of Eora, so fans will spot familiar lore, but the story stands on its own. The Living Lands, the plague and your role as envoy are all introduced from scratch, and an in-game dialogue log explains unfamiliar terms and lore words as you meet them. New players have finished it and followed the plot fine.
Is it an open world like Skyrim?
Not quite. The Living Lands is split into large zones rather than one seamless continent, and you cannot steal from every shop or attack every villager. What you get instead is a world built for exploration and story: dense areas with their own ecosystems, plenty to find off the main path, and choices that shape how events unfold. If you want total sandbox freedom, this is a different kind of RPG.
Can you change your character after starting?
Yes, more than in most RPGs. You can respec your entire build from the main menus, change your appearance at camp whenever you like, and later updates even added the option to change your race, plus new character creation presets. If your sword-and-shield envoy is boring you, rebuild them as a staff-wielding mage without starting over.
Is there anything to do after finishing the story?
Yes. New Game Plus lets you carry your character into a fresh run, which matters because the branching choices and different builds give replays a different shape. Trying a second playthrough as a ranged spellcaster after a melee-heavy first run, or siding with different factions, changes enough to make it worthwhile. There is also a Photo Mode for capturing the island along the way.
