I'm very much enjoying Avowed, certain caveats are worth mentioning though.

This is not a new Elder Scrolls game. This game doesn't have the same interactivity and simulation as something like Skyrim. The world here is static, NPCs don't have a day/night cycle, and they stay in the same places. A lot of characters in cities are there only as decoration, you cannot get into any interaction with them. This is also not a new Pillars of Eternity game. RPG and dialog systems don't have the same intricacy as in Pillars games. I think though that those are not necessarily some big flaws. Avowed is simply its own thing. Just don't expect another Skyrim or PoE.

Combat is a lot of fun here. It's fast-paced and movement feels very snappy. It's also very flexible with how you want to play. There are 3 archetypes: warrior, ranger, and mage and you can also combine those styles in certain ways. There's dodging that is super useful, you can unlock parrying which helps stun enemies, two-handed weapons, dual-wielding, throwable grenades, guns. You can use a grimoire to throw spells or do that without a grimoire with any other weapon combination, though spells are weaker then.

Exploration is also fun here. The game is not fully open world, there are smaller (though still relatively large) areas with plenty of side content. There's a lot of looting in this game, you will be constantly collecting materials to upgrade weapons. You often come across some notes that give some information about the world, lore, characters, etc.

How strong enemies are compared to your character depends mostly on which upgrade tier is your equipment. I also don't think this game has level scaling for the enemies, which for me is a big plus.

I find the story engaging, maybe not as much as in PoE, but still good. The dialog is mostly OK, I guess sometimes it feels a bit off or anti-climatic, but for the most part, it's fine.

It's also nice to meet Garrus again. ;)

The graphics and overall art design look very nice. But because this is UE5 there is a chance you will encounter some stuttering especially if playing with unlocked framerate.

PS It's crazy that it's been 10 years since the first Pillars of Eternity game came out.

I'm very much enjoying Avowed, certain caveats are worth mentioning though. This is not a new Elder Scrolls game. This game doesn't have the same interactivity and simulation as something like Skyrim. The world here is static, NPCs don't have a day/night cycle, and they stay in the same places. A lot of characters in cities are there only as decoration, you cannot get into any interaction with them. This is also not a new Pillars of Eternity game. RPG and dialog systems don't have the same intricacy as in Pillars games. I think though that those are not necessarily some big flaws. Avowed is simply its own thing. Just don't expect another Skyrim or PoE. Combat is a lot of fun here. It's fast-paced and movement feels very snappy. It's also very flexible with how you want to play. There are 3 archetypes: warrior, ranger, and mage and you can also combine those styles in certain ways. There's dodging that is super useful, you can unlock parrying which helps stun enemies, two-handed weapons, dual-wielding, throwable grenades, guns. You can use a grimoire to throw spells or do that without a grimoire with any other weapon combination, though spells are weaker then. Exploration is also fun here. The game is not fully open world, there are smaller (though still relatively large) areas with plenty of side content. There's a lot of looting in this game, you will be constantly collecting materials to upgrade weapons. You often come across some notes that give some information about the world, lore, characters, etc. How strong enemies are compared to your character depends mostly on which upgrade tier is your equipment. I also don't think this game has level scaling for the enemies, which for me is a big plus. I find the story engaging, maybe not as much as in PoE, but still good. The dialog is mostly OK, I guess sometimes it feels a bit off or anti-climatic, but for the most part, it's fine. It's also nice to meet Garrus again. ;) The graphics and overall art design look very nice. But because this is UE5 there is a chance you will encounter some stuttering especially if playing with unlocked framerate. PS It's crazy that it's been 10 years since the first Pillars of Eternity game came out.