re: Avowed is looking like it's going to be another great game from Obsidian

I just did some googling, and I retract any objection re: Dandelion. Still haven’t seen anything I would really call homophobic from the books, but I actually had no idea they added a Radovid romance plot after I had stopped watching. Talk about jumping the fricking shark

The gear progression is probably the worst I have ever seen in a video game.

It is also incredibly jarring playing this game coming off of KCD2.

I'm at a work retreat this week but I like the gameplay videos I've seen so far. Definitely diving in this weekend.

They put out a patch today. The "community-requested fixes" seem to be in response to some of the weapon scaling issues I've seen that were making the game too hard for some people. I guess I'm the only one who never sells anything to vendors.

LINK

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Community-Requested Fixes 

Making Crafting and Upgrade System more Approachable 

Updates to Equipment Tier difference feedback and penalties/bonuses: 

Changed Tier penalty system from a hard tier to tier system and made it dynamic based on players equipment and the tier (and sub-tier) of the enemy. Tier difference rules now only apply when there is a +/- 4 level gap.

Tier II enemies will now play a small reaction animation when struck by lower-tier weapons, instead of not reacting at all. 

Reduced damage reduction when player weapons are closer in tier to an enemy. 

Significantly decreased how often companions comment about player needing better armor and/or weapons. 

Upgrade materials can no longer be sold to merchants to inadvertently make upgrading difficult. We have a longer-term fix involving buying back from merchants in the works. 

Missing NPCs 

In specific situations, some NPCs weren’t where they should be. Saving the game, and re-loading will put them back where they should be. We will have a fix soon that fixes the situation completely and doesn’t require a save and load. 

Quest & Exploration Fixes 

The brambles in the Delemgan Glade will now vanish when the Adragan Heart is acquired, preventing players from getting stuck inside. 

Grysca (the apothecary) now correctly speaks with the player to advance An Untimely End, even if they previously encountered a bug with Thalla the Ogre spawning twice. 

Added a system to respawn key characters when loading a save if they were previously missing and blocking quest progression (including Ambassador Hylgard and The Watcher Runyd). 

Companion & NPC Improvements 

Reviving companions in combat now restores them to 75% of their maximum health instead of 50%. 

Starting health of companions has been increased to help with their viability in combat. 

Merchants & Economy 

Merchants at the Dawnshore docks now offer 'Fine' gear in addition to 'Common' gear. 

Crashes & Major Issues 

Removed chance to crash when casting Corrosive Siphon on destructible objects. 

Optimized resource handling of VFX while the game is paused via radial menus to prevent rare leaks and crashes. 

Quest & Area Design 

Fixed invisible collision blocking the player in Strangleroot. 

Prevented players from charging into unintended areas in Strangleroot, avoiding quest progression issues. 

Enemies now navigate the bridges of the lava tubes more consistently. 

First Contact with the Enemy quest now progresses correctly if all badges are collected before speaking to Nauki. 

Players can now complete Steel Resolve after the main quest in Emerald Stair if they had completed enough objectives beforehand. 

Kowha now responds correctly if the player returns to them after starting One Last Drink. 

Dialog with Giatta upon leaving Naku Tedek now triggers consistently when loading saves before the conversation. 

Updated Mapping the Living Lands quest conditions to allow starting from future regions before talking to the quest giver in Dawnshore. 

Updated A Lady Never Tells quest flow so it correctly completes in the quest log when starting via the courtesan, getting the shipment, then speaking to Giuliana. 

Governor Ignasi’s option to turn in the spy can now only be triggered once instead of being repeatable. 

Conversations with leaders in the final area no longer end prematurely when choosing the Let me reconsider option. 

Made an additional ending option for the leadership conclave available to players who initially backed out but wish to reconsider. 

Adjusted environment art near the Trantons bounty in Emerald Stair to prevent bounty loot from becoming unobtainable. 

Previously missing voice-over lines in ambient content now play correctly. 

Systems & Gameplay Improvements 

Seeds of Vengeance summons now scale correctly with health and damage. 

One-handed weapon Parry enchantments now function as intended. 

Party buffs from the player now correctly target companions only, instead of summoned creatures. 

Kai no longer gets stuck if using Unbending Defense while mid-air with Leap of Daring. 

Improved frame rate when rendering damage numbers on multiple enemies at once. 

Improved item randomization when restocking shops. 

Blast ability for wands now plays the correct visual and sound effects. 

Improved logic for animations on companions at the end of combat. 

Improved transitions on the top of Mt. Forja. 

Fixed interaction inconsistencies with objects and NPCs obscured by other characters. 

Controllers no longer rumble when loading a save before the final boss fight. 

Fixed issues with pond coin interactions. 

Added error codes for save game failures. 

Improved where characters are looking during certain conversations. 

Audio Improvements 

Cutscene in Naku Kebel now properly plays sound effects. 

Eating food from the radial menu now provides audio feedback. 

Increased volume of Woedica’s voiceover audio. 

Player voice now plays more consistently for abilities with vocal components.
Improved transitions between music intensity levels when exploring.
Music during the end slides now plays at the intended volume.
Visual & Art Fixes

Updated Banner Dwarf’s outfit LODs to reduce clipping during animation.
Captain Ngunu’s neck is now properly merged with his head.
Steel Garrote Soldiers have re-grown their missing hands.
Improved shadow quality on Xbox Series X Performance Mode.

User Interface (UI) & Controls

Cloud transfer prompt is now properly centered on ultrawide displays.
Xbox cloud transfer dialog buttons no longer shake rapidly when hovering over the bottom part of the button.
Initial splash screens now properly support Chinese characters.
Interaction prompts pop up more reliably.
Opening a radial menu after leaving and returning to the game no longer triggers the pause menu.
Removed unintended English characters in the One Last Drink quest journal for non-English languages.
Cloud save UI now defaults to selecting the recommended option.

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So you think it's too easy? Most people were complaining it was too difficult, which is why they patched the weapon upgrade system.

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I just think the controls, combat, dialogue, etc is pretty substandard. Seems like a game that would’ve been made a decade before Skyrim not after if that makes sense.

“This is another win for Xbox and day 1 gamepass”

-fatkid

Most on this board claimed not to like Starfield either, so I'm skeptical of reviews from people here, especially when they say the game looks bad. The visuals I've seen online are beautiful.

I think the game looks aesthetically fine. People I know and trust who have played the game and already beaten it, as its only like 30 hours long, also say the combat is a lot of fun. The praise generally ends there though. The general feeling I get from people again that I actually know irl is that the game is extremely shallow as an rpg but has fun combat and can sometimes be choppy in gameplay but artistically pretty good.

The combat looks awesome too. I especially like that they kept the Pllars of Eternity mechanic that allows you to cast spells if you have them in a spellbook without having to spec for them.

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I haven't played the game myself yet, so can't comment on if the story is lackluster as some say. If the combat is fun and the world is as beautiful as it looks in pictures, it definitely won't be the first game with lackluster story that I've ever enjoyed.