What Avowed does better than other games
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Date: 2025-05-10
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Comments and reviews: 20
cactrot83
You apologized for the phrase self sucking, but the actual word crime here is repeatedly saying convo-lore like it's some new word that needs to happen. It really doesn't. It sounds dumb and we can use perfectly good words like conversation, dialogue, and lore when discussing exposition just like people do when analyzing any other medium. Seriously, convo-lore sounds like something a child would say. Sorry.
Otherwise this is a great video! Avowed is fantastic and does a great job of conveying its lore (which I also didn't know anything about going in and have found intriguing. You're doing a service by highlighting the clever writing and structure. I think a lot of people slept on Avowed who would really enjoy it.
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You apologized for the phrase self sucking, but the actual word crime here is repeatedly saying convo-lore like it's some new word that needs to happen. It really doesn't. It sounds dumb and we can use perfectly good words like conversation, dialogue, and lore when discussing exposition just like people do when analyzing any other medium. Seriously, convo-lore sounds like something a child would say. Sorry.
Otherwise this is a great video! Avowed is fantastic and does a great job of conveying its lore (which I also didn't know anything about going in and have found intriguing. You're doing a service by highlighting the clever writing and structure. I think a lot of people slept on Avowed who would really enjoy it.
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theninjaguy2
See, I didn't like this quest, since it felt like the game blatantly telling me to close Avowed and play Pillars 2 instead. Most of the Lore in Avowed is just overt references to the events of the Pillars games rather than actually sharing the lore of the setting. Avowed references Pillars of Eternity more often than Pillars 2 (a direct sequel to pillars 1) does, and that's a problem to me. There's very little presented lore that actually relates to the events of the game.
One side quest in Pillars 2 presents more lore about Aedyr than the entirety of Avowed does, meanwhile Avowed can't shut up about the games it would rather you be playing instead.
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See, I didn't like this quest, since it felt like the game blatantly telling me to close Avowed and play Pillars 2 instead. Most of the Lore in Avowed is just overt references to the events of the Pillars games rather than actually sharing the lore of the setting. Avowed references Pillars of Eternity more often than Pillars 2 (a direct sequel to pillars 1) does, and that's a problem to me. There's very little presented lore that actually relates to the events of the game.
One side quest in Pillars 2 presents more lore about Aedyr than the entirety of Avowed does, meanwhile Avowed can't shut up about the games it would rather you be playing instead.
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ACuriousTanuki
Full agreement from me. I really enjoyed how Avowed handled worldbuilding and lore. It name-drops a bunch early, but does a great job of breadcrumbing context and expanding your understanding as you go. This quest is on the heavier end for non-essential lore, but Sargamis' performance and writing does a great job in keeping it engaging and it ultimately gives meaningful reference for your interactions with others later.
Avowed was my first exposure to the Pillars universe, and it was character stories like this that got me most invested and gave a great appreciation for its unique flavor.
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Full agreement from me. I really enjoyed how Avowed handled worldbuilding and lore. It name-drops a bunch early, but does a great job of breadcrumbing context and expanding your understanding as you go. This quest is on the heavier end for non-essential lore, but Sargamis' performance and writing does a great job in keeping it engaging and it ultimately gives meaningful reference for your interactions with others later.
Avowed was my first exposure to the Pillars universe, and it was character stories like this that got me most invested and gave a great appreciation for its unique flavor.
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happybacon1452
Just because the game has lore does not mean it’s good. The lore is just badly put into the game in the form of books (Wikipedia articles.
This side quest is my favorite one but all it does is give you a couple drawings at the end of the game. My main issue with this game is how unrewarding it is, almost none of the choices affect the actual gameplay. But that’s mainly because the game just doesn’t have enough gameplay depth for it to affect. Also the ability to skip certain parts of a quest has been around for so long, it’s a thing I appreciate but it hardly deserves praise.
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Just because the game has lore does not mean it’s good. The lore is just badly put into the game in the form of books (Wikipedia articles.
This side quest is my favorite one but all it does is give you a couple drawings at the end of the game. My main issue with this game is how unrewarding it is, almost none of the choices affect the actual gameplay. But that’s mainly because the game just doesn’t have enough gameplay depth for it to affect. Also the ability to skip certain parts of a quest has been around for so long, it’s a thing I appreciate but it hardly deserves praise.
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KingOfMadCows
The Pillars games probably have the best encyclopedia of any RPG. Since the first Pillars game, they had a very easily accessible encyclopedia where lore and game mechanic words in all texts and conversations are highlighted. You can hover over them to get a short explanation or click on them to open their encyclopedia page to get a more detailed explanation. Keywords in encyclopedia entries are also highlighted and you can click on them to open their entries. Other RPG's have now adopted this system but Pillars 1 was the first game to do it so well and with so much detail.
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The Pillars games probably have the best encyclopedia of any RPG. Since the first Pillars game, they had a very easily accessible encyclopedia where lore and game mechanic words in all texts and conversations are highlighted. You can hover over them to get a short explanation or click on them to open their encyclopedia page to get a more detailed explanation. Keywords in encyclopedia entries are also highlighted and you can click on them to open their entries. Other RPG's have now adopted this system but Pillars 1 was the first game to do it so well and with so much detail.
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virginialeigh4623
this 'dialogue explainers' thing was implemented in poe2, and im glad they brought it back for avowed, cause it had been a minute since i played deadfire, so having the on screen reminders was nice.
but im also sad that avowed is the first dive for a lot of people into pillars cause the first two games are so much better. not to mention all the (literally) world changing things that happen during avowed's story, that someone who has never played the series before will have no context for, making those reveals kinda underwhelming and spoiling a lot of what happened
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this 'dialogue explainers' thing was implemented in poe2, and im glad they brought it back for avowed, cause it had been a minute since i played deadfire, so having the on screen reminders was nice.
but im also sad that avowed is the first dive for a lot of people into pillars cause the first two games are so much better. not to mention all the (literally) world changing things that happen during avowed's story, that someone who has never played the series before will have no context for, making those reveals kinda underwhelming and spoiling a lot of what happened
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jlittlejohn97
Doing this quest with high INT is also very cool. I think you also need a high enough perception skill.
Basically, if you have high INT you KNOW that the machine is not going to work. You can try to tell him, but he won't listen. So then you can turn it on to show him it doesn't work. From there with high enough stats you can convince him that his animancy is outdated, and send him off to atone by helping people. He gives you his cool sword if you talk to him again before running off.
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Doing this quest with high INT is also very cool. I think you also need a high enough perception skill.
Basically, if you have high INT you KNOW that the machine is not going to work. You can try to tell him, but he won't listen. So then you can turn it on to show him it doesn't work. From there with high enough stats you can convince him that his animancy is outdated, and send him off to atone by helping people. He gives you his cool sword if you talk to him again before running off.
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Sauvva_
what i came up with to avoid npcs explaining things that any person living in that world should understand was having an enciclopedia and letting the player just read what the character is suposed to already know, of course i never got to the part of actually implementing the thing and making it easy to find the subject, but i guess making it like morrowing where you can click the word but instead of asking the npc it would just open the encyclopedia on the relevant page
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what i came up with to avoid npcs explaining things that any person living in that world should understand was having an enciclopedia and letting the player just read what the character is suposed to already know, of course i never got to the part of actually implementing the thing and making it easy to find the subject, but i guess making it like morrowing where you can click the word but instead of asking the npc it would just open the encyclopedia on the relevant page
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isaiahjolin7178
Hello Polygon my name is Isaiah and I have something important to say to you. God loves you and like any father he wants to help you and keep you safe especially from the devil. But I am not just speaking to you about this I am also talking to your fans about this. God loves us all and he wants us all to be saved not just from ourselves but from the devils clutches. Do not be afraid to come to the Lord for his love is for evreyone Shalom Shalom.
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Hello Polygon my name is Isaiah and I have something important to say to you. God loves you and like any father he wants to help you and keep you safe especially from the devil. But I am not just speaking to you about this I am also talking to your fans about this. God loves us all and he wants us all to be saved not just from ourselves but from the devils clutches. Do not be afraid to come to the Lord for his love is for evreyone Shalom Shalom.
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Mordalon
Talking about in-dialogue lore that doesn't interrupt the game and no mention of Pyre I'm not saying Avowed ripped it off, but this is so much like Pyre it's hard to imagine it not being an influence.
Also, you don't need VaatiVidya style after the fact videos to understand Souls lore. I'd argue it's just as good about naturally bringing this stuff up, you just need to bother to read the items you pick up and pay attention to your surroundings.
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Talking about in-dialogue lore that doesn't interrupt the game and no mention of Pyre I'm not saying Avowed ripped it off, but this is so much like Pyre it's hard to imagine it not being an influence.
Also, you don't need VaatiVidya style after the fact videos to understand Souls lore. I'd argue it's just as good about naturally bringing this stuff up, you just need to bother to read the items you pick up and pay attention to your surroundings.
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AndyD773
Thank you for highlighting this - I just finished Avowed and adored it, as I did the Pillars of Eternity games, for this reason among many others. And as some other commenters have pointed out, what’s discussed here is just the tip of the iceberg.
(Side note, I initially wanted to be on Team Sargamis because my character in the PoE games was a cleric of Eothas, which led to some complicated feelings about all the everything in those games )
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Thank you for highlighting this - I just finished Avowed and adored it, as I did the Pillars of Eternity games, for this reason among many others. And as some other commenters have pointed out, what’s discussed here is just the tip of the iceberg.
(Side note, I initially wanted to be on Team Sargamis because my character in the PoE games was a cleric of Eothas, which led to some complicated feelings about all the everything in those games )
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mrsmi1ey
My favorite part of Avowed is the way that you can make major decisions with dialogue or actions without realizing it. There's no Bob doesn't like that. or Bob will remember that. on the screen when you do something impactful. There's no morality meter in your character sheet. You just do what you do and say what you say and. stuff happens as a result. It's such a cool feeling and makes the world and story telling feel so much more alive.
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My favorite part of Avowed is the way that you can make major decisions with dialogue or actions without realizing it. There's no Bob doesn't like that. or Bob will remember that. on the screen when you do something impactful. There's no morality meter in your character sheet. You just do what you do and say what you say and. stuff happens as a result. It's such a cool feeling and makes the world and story telling feel so much more alive.
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sirbarky
Playing through Avowed now and I am baffled at the discourse. The main complain about the game seemed to be the writing, but the writing is the best thing about this game. The combat is also fun and dynamic, feels good to play, but the writing and characters are just a head above everything else out in this space. Also, the entire wrld feels so carefully authored and alive because of it, everything placed with care and with purpose.
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Playing through Avowed now and I am baffled at the discourse. The main complain about the game seemed to be the writing, but the writing is the best thing about this game. The combat is also fun and dynamic, feels good to play, but the writing and characters are just a head above everything else out in this space. Also, the entire wrld feels so carefully authored and alive because of it, everything placed with care and with purpose.
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BucklingSwashes
I have to disagree with one of your earliest callouts here: Avowed has TONS of info dump dialogue regarding lore, with companions as well as some NPC's often having minutes worth of dialogue to recount some historical event or the backstory behind a certain group. I found myself skipping through some conversations early on with an NPC in the first city as well as with Kai at the campsite because of this.
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I have to disagree with one of your earliest callouts here: Avowed has TONS of info dump dialogue regarding lore, with companions as well as some NPC's often having minutes worth of dialogue to recount some historical event or the backstory behind a certain group. I found myself skipping through some conversations early on with an NPC in the first city as well as with Kai at the campsite because of this.
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Dctr-mg8km
I hope none of you guys pay attention to a single one of these jackasses showing up today. I love watching the people here and the videos you all made and it’s a tragedy what corporate has done to you. I’m sure you’ll all find somewhere better with your talent and magnetic screen presence. Good luck to you all, RIP Polygon.
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I hope none of you guys pay attention to a single one of these jackasses showing up today. I love watching the people here and the videos you all made and it’s a tragedy what corporate has done to you. I’m sure you’ll all find somewhere better with your talent and magnetic screen presence. Good luck to you all, RIP Polygon.
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orijimi
I really want to be clear in saying this: I think these videos are great.
But, in terms of what I instinctually expect from this sort of video, they are overly short and don't seem to arrive at all that elaborate of a thesis. Basically, every time these videos end I never see it coming. That seems less-than-ideal.
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I really want to be clear in saying this: I think these videos are great.
But, in terms of what I instinctually expect from this sort of video, they are overly short and don't seem to arrive at all that elaborate of a thesis. Basically, every time these videos end I never see it coming. That seems less-than-ideal.
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JamesSmith-cv9di
There’s something poetic about y’all’s last video being one that glazes Avowed, a trash game. Good riddance and I honestly hope none of you find work anywhere near a keyboard for the rest of your lives. Barista jobs and trash recycling are where you people belong.
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There’s something poetic about y’all’s last video being one that glazes Avowed, a trash game. Good riddance and I honestly hope none of you find work anywhere near a keyboard for the rest of your lives. Barista jobs and trash recycling are where you people belong.
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moss5386g2x
Doubt any of you will see this but I've been watching you guys for a decade so thanks for everything you've done. There are a LOT of Polygon videos I still put on when I need something chill to watch. I hate to see it end like this and hope you guys find some stability.
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Doubt any of you will see this but I've been watching you guys for a decade so thanks for everything you've done. There are a LOT of Polygon videos I still put on when I need something chill to watch. I hate to see it end like this and hope you guys find some stability.
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modelmajorpita
In addition to the one book opening up more dialogue options, if you get your soul examined you can discover that you lack the chime normal godlike have, which makes it clear you cannot sacrifice yourself to help the machine and unlocks a dialogue option about it.
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In addition to the one book opening up more dialogue options, if you get your soul examined you can discover that you lack the chime normal godlike have, which makes it clear you cannot sacrifice yourself to help the machine and unlocks a dialogue option about it.
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Skavem
The thing that you carry around in your soul learns through your actions, in the end, these choices will come to haunt you. For me, it was like a step-up in the New Vegas vibe it gave me. Please play Pillar of Eternity, it will make your journey through Avowed more deep.
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The thing that you carry around in your soul learns through your actions, in the end, these choices will come to haunt you. For me, it was like a step-up in the New Vegas vibe it gave me. Please play Pillar of Eternity, it will make your journey through Avowed more deep.
reply
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