Test - avowed: test: extremely tasty RPG stew

Man, what a month. As soon as you fought yourself through a good hundred hours of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, the next RPG chunk is already waiting with Avowed. And it is so different from the medieval role-playing game by Warhorse and rather arouses memories of previous organic and Bethesda titles, especially since many well-tried elements are recycled. Thanks to the game world and story, Avowed is independent enough so as not to disappear as an old-school Skyrim or Was Saucher clone in the sinking.

Avowed sends you back to the game world Eora, which one or the other already knows from Pillars of Eternity. By the way, by the way, if you have already completed Pillars of Eternity, which makes it easier to get started through the basic understanding of the game world and makes the first few hours a little less tough, because avowed needs a little to simmer.

You slip into the role of a so -called god -like, who travels to an area called Land of the Living as the emissary of the aedyrical emperor. This is haunted by an inner rot, the dream horses. This plague affects both flora and fauna and the residents of the region, who are becoming more and more insane and sicker over time. Together with the residents of the region, who, to make matters worse, also carry out their own conflicts and power struggles, it is important to find and eliminate the origin of the dream horses.

This brings some problems with it, because on the one hand, god -like are not welcome everywhere, especially since they can also be seen as such, which makes cooperation difficult. On the other hand, from the moment you enter the land of the living, you can feel an inner voice that tries to manipulate you. Over time, however, you will find allies and can face the dangers of the game world.

As expected, the relatively extensive character creation by editor is at the beginning of the game. Not only physical features play a role, but also optical aspects, especially the strange, plant -like excesses of a god -like. You can also try yourself as a fighter, ranger or magician, whereby the skill trees of the classes can be used across classes. There are also a handful of attributes that you can adjust accordingly.

The story of your god -like needs a little to get going, and the first of the five large, half -open zones runs a little length despite interesting locations. A lot is explained in the first dialogues to get a certain feeling for the game world, and you initially spend a little time exploring, accepting quests and finding it in the game. At the latest from the second area, however, the game picks up speed and the story manages to captivate with many decisions, interesting characters and open questions. In total, you should plan around 40 to 50 hours of playing time if you want to experience everything to some extent.

It is a shame that you cannot catch up on open side tasks after the credits. After all, you will be warned accordingly before entering the last area and can do any remains beforehand. By the way, there are plenty of side tasks, from quests to treasure searches to tracking down totems that bring you additional bonuses for your character.

The five areas are half -open, partly with linear sections with branches, sometimes almost freely accessible for free exploration. Comparable to the design of Dragon Age's game worlds. Visually, the areas make up a lot, especially the third area with its bizarre rocks, the desert and the blood -red rivers is a real eye -catcher.

On your trip you will meet various well -developed characters, four of whom are supported by you as companions. You can take two on your tour, the others are waiting for your interaction in your warehouse. A proposing camp: there your companions park your companions, interacts with them, cooks potions and food, enhance your equipment, change the appearance of the companions and bunker. So almost as well known from Baldur's Gate III.

You can maintain your relationships in detailed dialogues, but there are no real romances. The characters have rudimentary skill trees and special roles, such as the robust Kai as a tanker melee or Giata as a capable healer. So it is not a problem to put together your combat trio according to your own skills.

You can of course also develop your character further. There are three skill trees in the classes that you can use via the skill points and steps. If your magician is too fragile for you, you can simply unlock the improved health from the fighter skill. And then there are the particularly powerful skills of the god -like, which are gradually activated. This happens in the course of the story and by finding certain "memories".

The skill system is actually not too complex and not all perks make sense. But it is enough to make functioning builds, also in connection with the equipment. There are various guns, including firearms such as pistols and arkebuse (greeting greetings), shields, various quasi-grenades, armor, gloves, boots and jewelry.

Unfortunately, Avowed does not focus on a "real" loot system, even if you can collect tons of weapons and equipment. Instead, there is an upgrade system that only applies to weapons and armor. So you can disassemble unusable stuff and collect resources to upgrade your stuff. This reminds a little of the Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Gradually you will find better objects, but the methodology is basically always the same.

Avowed does not (more or less) do without a classic level system and the opponents do not scale. In the long run, however, you cannot avoid the upgrades, because the level of your equipment (from I to V with three expansion stages each) determines which opponents you have grown. With equipment in level II, you get well against opponents in level II, III is feasible with a little exertion, IV then rather without a chance. After all, you can't get any further, it is a clear signal for you to search the game world for resources and numerous, sometimes hidden loot boxes and upgrade your climmer. Very classic, but also very satisfactory, if you return to strong opponents to once again to imponce her.

The combat system offers little freshness. Basically, it is a typical action system in which you can fortunately switch between the ridge and third-person view, .. light and heavy blows, block, switch and pay attention to your endurance. It is basically nothing more. You can throw in potions or fire additional skills via hotkeys. Or you call up your radial menu, with which you pause the game in the fight. This gives you the opportunity to use more skills, but also to command your companions at least rudimentarily. Anyone who played Dragon Age: The Veilguard basically knows exactly how the system works.

However, this does not really become tactical. Ooriginell are the use of firearms such as pistols or arkebuse as well as the more vegetable grenades with the elements poison, flash, fire or ice cream. These are occasionally also used in small puzzles, for example to activate switches, set fire to obstacles or to generate platforms in the water in order to achieve unattainable levels with the course system. Incidentally, climbing and jumping and jumping is pleasantly good and brings some dynamics in exploration and struggle, especially since it is not used as excessively as used in Assassin's Creed, but also does not put too much positions.

It is a shame that the variety of opponents leaves a lot to be desired over time. There are a few thick chunks such as ogre or huge insects and plantings, but after about half of the game you have seen pretty much all common opponent types at least once. The behavior of the opponents is not exactly the most varied, which the genre has to offer. Fights against certain boss opponents or several opponents can be challenging. Thanks to the different levels of difficulty, all player types should get their money's worth.

Apart from the fighting, you are busy with dialogues with the numerous NPCs, although there are always decision -making options and you can also become malignant. The fluffy friendliness of a Veilguard is only an option here, especially since there are also plenty of gray tones and moral aspects. Every now and then your character values ​​for the dialogue options are also used. Too bad: the staging of the dialogue is rather pragmatic, and there is still room for improvement in the character presentation. Better than with Starfield, but not much.

Speaking of representation: Avowed is very worth seeing, whereby the imaginative and sometimes very colorful way is convincing. However, the excellent optimization of the game is even more impressive. We tested avowed on two different computers and had no problems. The frame rates were stable at all times, even with maximum details and without FSR or DLSS (although both are available). We had no crashes at all and the number of bugs was minimal. Serious mistakes did not occur, apart from a lack of NPC marking in a side quest. Chapeau!

Also nice: all characters are set to music and the soundtrack can also be heard. Less beautiful: Avowed only offers English speech. Those who are not powerful to language have to be satisfied with German subtitles. However, these are at least cleanly translated.