Avowed
Well, I think I've seen enough. Good first impression that doesn't really go anywhere. The writing is okay, but gets tiresome after a while, because it's so bland and you never really expect anything to jump out at you after a while. Serviceable, but nothing more.
The combat is pretty fun, but again, gets hampered by sameness and a sense that it will never feel better than it is. I don't know why sneaking and shooting arrows in Skyrim is more addictive than what's offered here, but it just is.
Visually, the world is pretty cool. You really get a nice sense of scale when you're looking out over a cliff, and it's all very nice to look at...from a distance. The more you play, the more it all blends together. The art style might be the culprit here. It's all very cartoon-y, and washed out up close.
The characters were fine, but again, just fine. Ultimately though, I think it's bare bones loot system kills it. I want to get excited when opening a chest. There are literally hundreds of chests around every corner in this game and 99% of them contain nothing but some coins and upgrade materials. They basically turn into cupboards you would open in similar games. There isn't much reward for progressing in this game. It's all very rigid and bland and it just gets tiresome after a while, to the point where you're 20 hours in, knowing that you've still got 40 or so hours to go, and it starts to feel like a chore after a while.
You could definitely do worse, but as is, this is a painfully average western RPG, that's missing a lot of what makes them great. Although, I have a feeling that it might become a cult hit in the future. It just screams "It's actually great, because it's average and not many people gave it a chance at release."
6/10