Avowed’s Anniversary Update is a great excuse to return to Eora, but the PS5 version should have been better

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As a big fan, I was excited to finally get my hands on Avowed for PS5, especially with the new Anniversary Update! I’d already played it on Xbox Series X and Steam last year, so I was curious how it felt on PlayStation. I’ve put about ten hours into the PS5 version so far – it comes with the 2.00 update built in – and while it doesn’t completely overhaul the game or fix everything, it definitely improves what I already loved about it. It’s a much smoother experience overall. If you’re curious about the game in general, I’d suggest checking out Bryan’s review from last year – it gives a great overview.

Since its release, Avowed has received several updates, including new weapons, better crafting and cooking systems, custom map markers, more language options, and support for the Steam Deck. However, the biggest improvements have just arrived with the Anniversary Update. This update adds a New Game Plus mode, a photo mode, more character customization options, new playable races, difficulty settings, a brand-new weapon, and the ability to change your character’s appearance at your camp during a playthrough. I’m starting a new game on the PS5 version to experience these changes, try out the new class, and get a feel for how the game plays now, as I couldn’t transfer my old save data.



I started by creating a character with the Orlan race and experimenting with its unique, powerful features before beginning a new game. Once I was playing the PS5 version with the latest Anniversary Update, it felt very similar to my experience with Avowed – and that’s actually a good thing! I really enjoyed Avowed, though I did wish the world felt less static. If you like thoroughly exploring and clearing areas, you might find the world becomes a bit empty. The update aims to address this by having enemies respawn, but it doesn’t completely transform the world into a dynamic, living place. It’s still fundamentally Avowed, just improved with additions that enhance the original gameplay.



I’m glad to see the new photo mode finally added, though it’s not as robust as those in games like Nioh 3 or Cyberpunk 2077. I really appreciate Avowed’s beautiful art style and color palette. The new character classes are a welcome addition, fitting for a game set in the Pillars of Eternity world, and they complete the character creation options nicely. Plus, the new character presets are great for players who want a quick and easy way to create a character that looks good.



I didn’t get back to Avowed until recently, so I hadn’t seen the earlier updates. I either overlooked this change before, or it was added after my initial playthrough, but I’m glad you can now leave the Party Camp at night. The game looks fantastic with nighttime lighting, and I didn’t get to experience much of that last year.

As a big fan of Avowed, I’m really excited about the new difficulty sliders! They let you customize so much – you can adjust everything from how much damage you take and your health, to how quickly you recover outside of fights, and even how much you can carry. You can also tweak things for your companions and enemies, which is awesome. What’s really cool is that if you decide to make the game harder, you actually get rewarded with more XP! The game even shows you exactly how much bonus XP you’re earning right in the difficulty menu. Honestly, some people thought the game was a little too easy before, so this is a fantastic addition.



So, I’ve been playing Avowed on PS5, and the graphics options are pretty much the same as on Xbox Series X. You can choose between a performance mode aiming for 60fps, a quality mode at 30fps, or a balanced mode that tries for 40fps at 120hz if your TV or monitor supports it. You can even unlock the framerate in any of these modes, which is great if you have a VRR display – though I don’t, so I kept it capped. I played the Xbox version last year and preferred the balanced mode because the performance mode looked a little blurry on my 1440p monitor. I did the same on PS5, but I was hoping the balanced visuals would be a little better this time around. It’s not bad, but I noticed some shimmering or noise early on. It’s way less noticeable in the quality mode, but I decided it was worth putting up with it to get that smoother 40fps experience.



The screenshots above demonstrate how the plants and other details look different on the standard PlayStation 5 when using performance, balanced, and quality graphics settings.

I’ve observed some slight stuttering or brief freezes on PS5 across all three game modes, which is similar to what I’ve seen on Xbox Series X. I haven’t had a chance to test the newest Anniversary Update on Xbox or Steam yet; I’m currently playing the 2.00 version on PS5. I appreciate the Activity Card feature on PS5 for tracking progress, but I’m a little let down by the lack of DualSense features. Beyond basic rumble, there’s no haptic feedback or motion control support. I was hoping the PS5 version would encourage the developers to add these features, but they aren’t implemented yet, though the lightbar does work. When playing on PC and Steam Deck, I used Steam Input to manually enable gyro controls.



Regarding the Steam Deck, while Avowed is officially ‘Verified’ by Valve, the game unfortunately doesn’t run well on the handheld. Even with the lowest graphics settings and performance-boosting technology, it frequently dips below a playable 30 frames per second. I’m hoping the upcoming Anniversary Update will fix these issues, but I haven’t been able to test it on PC yet. I’ll share an update if the update improves performance once it’s available.









Let’s talk about the price – Avowed now costs $50 instead of $70. With the lower price and all the improvements, it’s much easier to recommend, especially to new players. If you already bought it but stopped playing, the updates have made it a smoother, more complete experience – features that really should have been included from the start. And if you liked it before but didn’t finish, this Anniversary Update is a perfect reason to revisit Eora. I’m hoping to see even more updates in the future. If Avowed eventually comes to the Switch 2, I’ll definitely play it again, maybe even trying a different character build like I’ve been enjoying on PS5.

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2026-02-17 21:27