All the way to the credits, I enjoyed the ride. There’s just so much here that simply works that it’s extremely easy to dismiss some polish pieces. May be some spoilers in here, will try to avoid.

I played a Wizard build. I tried a more stealth-based role but the combat mechanics don’t really support it. Caster, Bow or Tank are the only real options. Works for me! The character progression options as a wizard are limited for a decent while, as it has a rather unique requirement of using grimoires for spells. Grimoires are spellbooks with pre-assigned skills, so you’re generally looking for a specific type.

The challenge with a wizard, and the game in general, is that 90% of combat is against 6 or more enemies, including ranged attackers & healers. As a caster, you need to use AE attacks which have some rather weird dynamics. Fireball is super useful at the start, if only in pure damage, but the range is small and recast time long. By about level 10 you get accustomed to status effects (fire DoT, thunder stun, ice freeze) and quickly realize there’s only one true path – ice. You can clear entire camps in 2 spells if you specialize in ice attacks (skills + armor), which can feel trivial at levels 20+. I truly don’t mind feeling like a god by that point, cause it sure as heck was rough roads to get there.

Story-wise, the game moves from luscious lands to barren volcanos, with similarly ever depressing quests along the path. The pace and structure are really good though, as nearly every quest has some sort of long-term consequence, either in NPCs moving towns, or help later on. An interesting one in the 3rd zone has you visit a tower with a good 50 traps along the path, to meet 2 NPCs who are doing everything in their power to protect their land from invading forces (which you represent). It’s an interesting bit to talk them down.

Which gets me to the truly fascinating bit here, in that a large chunk of the backstory is defined by your interactions. At key points, you interact with ancient lore and select the behaviour of earlier NPCs. These choices impact the larger story, all the way until the final credits. It feels like choose-your-own-adventure here, and it works really well!

The penultimate choice is the more difficult of them all, and depending on choices / discoveries you made along the way, is either very obvious or very hard to make. I had done everything by that point, discovered a ton of lore, all sidequests, been generally ‘good’ with a couple exceptions and had a really tough time squaring the choice in front of me. It felt like a large gamble. The final choice is super obvious, you either side with a genocidal undead lich, or not. (You should try actually siding with them, I think you’d be surprised how it turns out – or not.)

Having completed the story, I am absolutely impressed with what was presented. While it does have a couple rough spots, the high points shine and make you quickly forget. All the NPCs are well constructed, with interesting and non-obvious drivers. Many of them have hubris, or are outright liars, where you need to discover more contextual clues to navigate. The companions are interesting, with varied backstories and quests. Progress is mostly self-driven through exploration, with only a dozen main quests. The choices you make are generally consequential, and it’s cool to see them come together in the final act.

Avowed does so much right, and with clear and consistent direction from Obsidian, that is honestly puts other modern RPGs with quadruple the budgets to shame. The Pillars of Eternity storyline continues, and I am looking forward to the next chapter!