This article is about Avowed, surely

I don’t know. What do I have to write about? Do I have an interesting opinion about anything? Would my anxiety even permit me to post an interesting opinion online if I did?

This website is my mid-life crisis. I’ve spent nearly my whole existence being passionate – pretty much strictly about games. It just seems like I should probably do something besides only playing them. Plus that whole human desire to leave something behind after I go – thing, and I’m not buying my name on an Ohio State University building at this rate.

Avowed was very OK. OK? Listen. I’m not one of the great minds of our time. When I finish a book I don’t find that all the knowledge and morals have slipped to the tip of my tongue. I enjoyed the book or I didn’t. I may or may not be able to conjure two other works to call it a ‘cross between.’

I have thoughts, but I’ll not be organizing them into a viral youtube video essay any time soon. They’re just in there doing their thing. Wispy spirits gliding around my subconscious; Convincing me to stop and pet the dog; Guiding my hand to help a stranger in need; Whispering that the murderous fire paladin lady must die.

That one was a game reference in case you didn’t play it. Anyway, I think the most telling data from my time with Avowed goes as such:

Basically the more I played the more I just wanted to get it over with. Now I’m not immediately suggesting that this is a fault of the game itself. There are a few factors at play here.

I am, at the time of this writing, 39 years old, and I generally don’t have the same patience for a game as I did as a child. Japanese RPGs are pretty much off the table at this point, though I did manage to complete Persona 3 a couple years ago, a feat which to me is doubly impressive considering my usual sensitivities towards aging graphics. To be fair though – I can still farm and gather with the best of them if I’m gripped by a particularly satisfying MMO, especially if PVP is involved. I’d like to expand upon my ridiculous requirements to being interested in a game eventually.

Shifting this more towards the positive, I quite liked the story, and my desire to reach the finale definitely influenced my behavior. It turns out that ignoring side-quests is safer and easier than skipping pages in a book.

I will refrain from discussing much of the game systems considering my blatant disregard of them. I liked the style of combat at first, remarking it as Skyrim the Arcade Game, but eventually grew tired of it, noting how unnatural the enemy melee attacks felt, zipping them long distances around the battlefield with each swing.

In the end, I have no regrets playing the game nor with utilizing it’s difficulty slider. Especially considering it only set me back 12 dollars for a month of PC Game Pass. In fact despite the matte review, I would play through it again, for example, to refresh my knowledge of the series for a new installment. The various crucial story decisions the game affords makes for a more personal experience than watching a collection of cutscenes like I might be tempted to do with a more linear game. I really might play it again on the highest difficulty just for that dumb achievement. It's not a bad game! I just didn’t end up with a lot of great things to say about it, and maybe that’s a me problem.

Yeah, that’s it. Thanks for your time.