Best RPGs like Avowed

Looking for the best RPGs like Avowed? If you’re eagerly anticipating Obsidian Entertainment’s next release, you may be on the hunt for an interim game to quench your thirst.

As Avowed's release time encroaches ever-nearer in what is shaping into a fantastic February release schedule, here are a few RPGs to sink your teeth into beforehand. These have been chosen for a variety of factors like setting, combat mechanics, story-driven choices, companions, map size and more. Take a look and delve into your next adventure.

7. The Outer Words

As another Obsidian Entertainment RPG, it may be obvious why The Outer Worlds has made this list. It is essentially the sci-fi counterpart to Avowed. It uses the same color palette, companion mechanics, political factions and map scale (a collection of open-world hubs rather than one entire map to explore).

If you like sci-fi as much as fantasy, The Outer Worlds does a fantastic job of scratching the itch of adventure, whilst introducing a touch of cowboy frontier vibes to space. In the game, you play as ‘The Stranger’ a prospective colonist whose ship faltered and landed at its destination 50 years too late. With a ship full of frozen colonists to thaw out and corporate greed preventing you from doing so easily, the game offers brave and at times, humorous opinions on capitalism.

6. Dragon’s Dogma 2

Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a curious RPG that admittedly took me a fair few hours to warm to at first but soon entered my good graces. It has a traditional fantasy medieval setting but also includes creatures from various mythologies. Dragon’s Dogma 2 doesn't explain its system mechanics, there is no fast travel and enemy encounters in the wild can be grueling. Once you surpass the learning curve, however, you’ll find a rich world with memorable bosses and humorous sidekicks. Unfortunately, the main storyline is somewhat forgettable but that isn't the real point of the game. The most fun I had with the game came from the Pawn system and the sprinkling of party banter as I traveled (which is good because you’ll do a lot of traveling in this game).

Often you’ll recruit wandering Pawns (companions) either generated by the game or by other players. They’ll make observations, fight your enemies and usually get themselves into trouble. You can either re-hire them once their prerequisites are met or let them go back into the wild. I found that Dragon’s Dogma 2 is much more enjoyable once you forge your own stories within the world.

5. Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the epitome of ‘action RPG.’ Like Avowed, the combat is fast-paced and interjected with different weapons, abilities or spells depending on your class. Taking a step away from its earlier party-based tactician modes, you now have a simple wheel to issue commands to companions during combat. As such, it's simplified and, in my opinion, stronger for it.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard prioritizes story over everything else. The consequences of player decisions may seem shallow at first, but they’ll soon explode in your face within a few hours. If the biggest draw to an RPG for you is character development, then the entire Dragon Age franchise is worth your time. Whilst it’s not strictly imperative that you play the previous titles before Veilguard, you’ll certainly get more from the lore and settings if you do. Additionally, if you’re sad at the lack of romance in Avowed, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will have you blushing at your screen. That is, after hours and hours of flirting. Seriously, this game makes you work for it.

4. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I can’t speak about Avowed without drawing the obvious comparisons to Skyrim. Both games allow you to flit between spells and melee and both take place on a contained island, struggling to maintain its independence from the political mechanisms of the greater world.

If, by some miracle, you have reached adulthood without playing Skyrim yet, then let me first congratulate you for bravely living life away from the herd. Now play it anyway. Look, I know it’s cool to avoid something overtly popular (yes, Game of Thrones was overrated by the end), but sometimes things are hyped because they really are that good.

In Skyrim, you’re treated to an epic fantasy adventure where you play as the Dragonborn, a person innately gifted with the language of dragons (which is handy because an ancient dragon is harassing the lands). You will be treated to traditional fantasy tropes, skills, settings and so many side quests that you won’t have a life for the next hundred hours. The faction storylines are engaging and memorable. Even if you try your very best not to be a fan of Skyrim, you will, too, succumb to the fandom that gets us all in the end.

3. Fallout: New Vegas

Although Fallout: New Vegas isn't set within a fantasy backdrop, it is an RPG by Obsidian Entertainment and is in fact, one of the best RPGs of all time. Set in post-nuclear war America, Fallout: New Vegas has one of the coldest openings in gaming history. You are ‘The Courier’, your package has been stolen and you’ve just been shot in the head by a smooth-talking man in a checkered suit.

After surviving, you’re set loose upon the Mojave desert with nothing but your Pip-Boy and the quest for answers. This will lead you through the heart of several warring factions grasping for power. The choice of who will succeed over the others will rest in your hands and there is no clear ‘good’ option. As with other Fallout games, you can be as virtuous or evil as you like, measuring your actions on a Karma system. Although the setting has a grimness expected of a post-apocalypse, everything in Fallout: New Vegas is underlined with a humorous flair that has become synonymous with Obsidian titles.

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher series is a staple within the RPG genre, and for good reason. Whilst all three titles are worth your time, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is arguably the best RPG I’ve ever played. The downside is that you’ll need about two months free to play it from start to finish – and that’s just for the minigame, Gwent.

You play as the White Wolf, Geralt of Rivia, in search of his missing ward Ciri. His search for her will take you all over the continent, and you’ll encounter friends and foes as you pick up contracts along the way. As a Witcher, it is your job to fight monsters and protect the suffering village folk – for a price. Or, like me, you can side with the monsters most of the time.
Like Avowed, in The Witcher 3, you are treated as an outsider for what you are despite almost everyone you encounter needing your help. There is a lot to love about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The depth of its lore and world-building can be intimidating at first, but once you’re hooked, it will have you for life.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

I know we’re all sick of the hype around Baldur’s Gate 3, but it seems we can’t stop talking about the game, no matter how hard we try. Set within the Forgotten Realms universe of Dungeons and Dragons and using many of the same rules, the game starts with you crash-landing on a beach after some wacky experiments involving tadpoles have been conducted on you and your destined travel companions. What follows is hundreds of hours of quests, exploration and loot-grabbing in a world that is rich with lore and flavor. If you love to test the waters of being nefarious in RPGs, you’ll be happy. In Baldur’s Gate 3, you can go as close to world-ending evil as possible or be a paragon of virtue. You can also flirt mercilessly with your companions once they approve highly enough of your actions.

Baldur’s Gate 3 provides the typical high stakes of a modern RPG but also takes care to include some simply ludicrous moments. Unfortunately, its success is also its downfall: Once you play it, BG3 will become the benchmark for which you hold all other RPGs. As such, this is one game that may require your sole focus after you’ve played Avowed.

Now, you should be free to explore some quality RPGs that share certain qualities with Avowed. To make sure you’re all set to play, check out our guide to the Avowed minimum and recommended requirements and how that may impact your ability to secure 60 fps.

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