Avowed is the new Obsidian RPG and I need to be honest here. I’m a huge fan of Obsidian and always have been. But believe me when I say that this game feels like a step in the right direction.

Does it do anything crazy in terms of skill progression or story or even the open world? No and I appreciate that it doesn’t try. This game feels like a lesson in the idea that less is more.

The world feels huge, but you probably won’t get lost in it, the skill progression helps you feel like you’re making solid choices, but you’re not going to be overwhelmed by options. I know everyone is going to compare this game to Baldur’s Gate 3 and I totally understand why. But both games are trying to do something different. Baldur’s Gate 3 wants to be a DnD simulator and that means it has to try and account for every little thing a player can think of. Avowed is more interested in being a Fantasy theme park, rather than a sandbox. I mean that in that in the nicest way possible.

I actually like that there aren’t a ton of companions and you can’t romance them. I feel like romance in games is more just say the thing your potential romance likes, maybe spam some gifts and boom, they’re in love with you. I’ve played some games where the dialogue once a character hits that love threshold can be a little cringy, because I didn’t really do anything, I sort of just manipulated this character and now I have their undying love. So, it feels refreshing, in a weird way that romance is just off the table. I can become friends with these companions, but they aren’t my soulmate.

Also, I feel like because this game is set on a smaller scale, the world feels like it has some intentionality to it and that it is curated. I’ve played some games where the worlds are huge but feel empty. Vast empty plains and that is supposed to make me feel like I have a ton to explore. But if it feels empty, how does that feed that need for exploration? Outer Worlds, another Obsidian game, kind of felt like they were going for the same thing, they didn’t want to make a 100+ hour game, they wanted to shoot for maybe 40+ and make those 40 hours feel great. I mentioned that Final Fantasy should try to do smaller stories, I think this is what that looks like. Yeah, sure there are gods and the stakes feel big, but really, it all takes place on one island. All of humanity isn’t at stake (at least not yet, I’m still early on in the story) and I can connect with the story a lot easier.

I think this is a good game to pivot to when I have a bad run or get overwhelmed with Dragon’s Dogma 2. They are both Fantasy with a capital F games, but different sides of the same coin. Dragon’s Dogma feels deep, like it wasn’t to mold you into what you need to be to play through the game. Avowed feels like it just wants me to have fun, get in and get out. The fact that it is a Game Pass game is crazy, but it kind of fits, doesn’t it? It’s a smaller game that doesn’t want you to feel overwhelmed, so maybe you play it this month, complete it and you’re done.

I almost wish that there was some easy way to play on a handheld, because it feels perfect for that. It also feels like a good game if you want to show someone why you like RPGs or even just video games in general. It’s easy to get sucked in and the game has a feature where you can look up terms or names while in a conversation to help keep you engaged in the story.

I feel like there’s been an ongoing trend of big games coming out that demand your attention and demand that it be the one game you play. Some games like Fortnite or Overwatch are built to keep you engaged. There’s a season pass, a timed event, or constant patches that switch up the game. But single-player games fall into this as well. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is a huge game, crammed with so many things to do that it demands your full attention to fully appreciate. I genuinely feel Avowed was built to be a game that isn’t going to be your main game,  and it isn’t going to demand hundreds of hours. It knows what it what it wants to do it’s going to do it, and then we’ll all move on happily.

Obsidian has laid the groundwork of how they want to operate. They want to do smaller games that don’t have to be the #1 selling game to be successful. They’re fine with smaller games that they can make quickly, with a manageable scope. I think more developers need to look to this and follow suit. Indie devs have been making small, focused games for a while now, I feel. Larger studios need to reasses their scope on projects. Too many games fail because they take years to develop, and the core idea that excited the developers might not be the current trend anymore. Scale back games, make them faster and cheaper, and you can focus on polish, story, or be in a safe spot to take risks. Like I said, I’m a huge fan of Obsidian, I’ve followed them for a long time, and I hope this game is a massive success for them. But I’m also happy to know that it appears they’ve set themselves up to be safe if it just does okay. Avowed may not be a game that gets talked about for years, but it’s sticking with me for multiple reasons.