I still remember the excitement when I sat down at Gamescom to play Obsidian Entertainment's Avowed. As a huge fan of the Pillars of Eternity series, I was curious how this isometric franchise would translate into a full-blown first-person action RPG. Now that the game has been out for a while (it's 2026, after all), I wanted to revisit my notes from that demo and share why Avowed remains such a treat for both longtime fans and newcomers.
The Demo: A Cave, a Virgin, and a Golden Godlike
My demo session lasted about 30-40 minutes, and I played through it twice with different builds. The setup: I was an envoy from the Aedyr Empire, exploring the Living Lands to investigate the Dream Scourge. The demo dropped me into a cave system to search for missing explorers. Almost immediately, I encountered fantastical creatures and got my first taste of combat.
One thing that struck me right away was the first-person perspective. It felt a bit "floaty" – more like Dying Light than the grounded feel of Skyrim. This gives you more freedom of movement but also creates a loose, odd sensation. If that bothers you, there's a third-person mode, which is nice.
As I fought my way through (with my companion Kai by my side), I found a dying explorer. In classic Obsidian humor, his biggest regret was dying a virgin. I could save him with a potion or let him die. I tried both; nothing major changed, but the power of life and death over that poor guy made me laugh every time.
Later, I met an "Oracle" named Sargamis. He's Godlike, completely gold, and incredibly old. Exhausting his dialogue options was a real treat. He talked about his god, my Godlike status, and how most Godlike have died. He even referenced the events of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, which firmly grounded the game in Eora despite the genre shift. He tasked me with retrieving something deeper in the cave, claiming he had no idea what happened to the explorers. I doubted him, but moved on. Completing his task led to a horde of enemies and a mini-boss. The quest to find the explorers was optional, and on my second run I intended to skip it, but time ran out. Still, returning to Sargamis and confronting him led to a boss battle that ended the demo.
Combat: Barbarian, Mage, and Everything In Between
Avowed has a classless leveling system, so you can mix and match melee, magic, and ranged weapons. The demo offered three archetypes: Barbarian, Mage, and Ranger. I started with Barbarian, which felt like the simplest entry point. I dual-wielded two one-handed weapons and could swap to a heavy two-handed weapon. While dual-wielding, I couldn't block because the same button controlled the secondary weapon. I could only block with the two-handed weapon. I could charge both light and heavy attacks, and had two abilities: a crowd-pushing yell and a forward slam. I also had throwables for ranged engagement. It was simple to pick up but engaging – a physically dominating force smashing through the cave. Mechanically, stylistically, and immersively, it fulfilled the Barbarian fantasy.
Then I tried the Mage. I had two loadouts, each with a wand and a grimoire. One grimoire summoned weapons for magical melee combat, while the other had a wider selection of ranged spells. My wands dished out ranged magic damage, and my abilities relied on magic too. A limited magic resource fueled spells, but the demo provided plenty of potions. This combat was much more complex than the Barbarian. I was still learning the controls and spells, which was both exciting and a bit overwhelming. The learning curve for magic is definitely higher. But the good news is that in the full game you can mix and match. An enemy dropped a pistol, and I swapped one of my wands for it. A pistol and a grimoire simplified combat while staying satisfying.
Here's a quick comparison:
| Archetype | Weapons | Abilities | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbarian | Dual-wield one-handed, swap to two-handed | Crowd-push yell, forward slam | Low |
| Mage | Wand + grimoire (summon or ranged spells) | Magic-based abilities | High |
| Ranger | Guns and ranged weapons | Not fully explored | Medium |
I didn't get to try Ranger much, but the guns were enticing. Maybe next time.
Companions and Puzzles
Kai, a coastal aumaua, joined me. He prefers skill and speed over bulky defenses, but he still hits hard. I could open a radial menu to issue him direct commands. Sometimes I'd use an ability to solve puzzles, other times to hit enemies with an elemental attack. My favorite was an ability where he jumps and slams down in a small AOE – great for breaking up hordes and visually enjoyable. He also made for a good distraction. However, there were times when Kai just stood around. That's a common bug in companion-based games, and hopefully it was sorted out by the February release date.
The puzzles in the demo involved mechanical devices on walls. When 2-3 were lit up, they opened doors to secret paths or treasure. I solved them by finding all the devices and throwing an electric fruit at them. Sometimes it was straightforward, other times I had to do one device before finding another. It was a nice change of pace.
Lore Done Right
The true highlight of the demo was how it handled lore. Pillars of Eternity and Eora have so much depth, and shifting to an action RPG in the previously unexplored Living Lands could have disconnected the game from its roots. But it didn't. Sargamis gave a great look into Avowed's lore and how things changed since Deadfire.
Even better, Avowed is entirely playable without deep Pillars of Eternity knowledge. For those who want lore, there's a fantastic tooltip feature – similar to Final Fantasy 16's Active Lore System. It highlights keywords and lets you learn more. I found myself reading through them just for pleasure. It's basically an in-game wiki. It can be a bit bloaty to access and read because there's so much, but it scratched the same itch as diving through wikis. It's a wonderful tool.
Final Thoughts
Avowed is an Obsidian RPG through and through. It carries that internal DNA that makes Obsidian games special. The quest was engaging, the humor was solid, the puzzles were straightforward, and the combat fulfilled fantasy archetypes. The lore treatment was the real kicker. If you're a fan of Pillars of Eternity or just love a good action RPG, Avowed is worth your time. I'm ready for the full meal – and now that it's 2026, I've already enjoyed it. But those demo memories? They still hold up.