Avowed Won't Have An Approval Mechanic For Companions, Seemingly No Romances

27.01.2024 - 19:51 / thegamer.com / Carrie Patel

Obsidian has confirmed that Avowed won't feature a traditional approval mechanic for its companions, meaning they won't abandon you if make the wrong decision. Sadly, it also seems to suggest that romances won't be a thing, either.

Although Avowed was revealed nearly four years ago at the 2020 Xbox Games Showcase, Obsidian has been keeping its cards close to its chest when it comes to how the game actually plays and what it's all about. We've known for some time that it's a first-person RPG set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity, but more specific details have only just started being shared in recent months as the game draws closer to release.

One big question that Obsidian fans have had about Avowed is how it'll handle companions, something that was confirmed to be in the game during the 2023 gameplay trailer. We saw a brief glimpse of them in action during the Developer Direct deep dive on Avowed, but we've finally got some more details on the mechanic thanks to an interview between PC Gamer, game director Carrie Patel, and gameplay director Gabe Paramo.

During the interview, it was confirmed that Avowed will let you have two companions alongside you at a time, while anyone not in the party will be hanging out at a "party camp". We only know two of the companions in the game so far and Obsidian hasn't confirmed the final count, but the inclusion of an area for them to gather implies that there will at least that be a few more.

One of the more interesting things revealed by Patel and Paramo is that Avowed won't feature a typical "approval system" mechanic for companions, which means that you're not going to be trying to get them to like you by making specific decisions. Instead, Patel says that it's all about "getting to know them", even if you're making all the worst possible choices.

"We didn't go with a strict approval system. We didn't want players feeling like they had to choose the 'right' options in order to maintain their companions. So it's not about maintaining their approval, it's about getting to know them".

Although this companion mechanic sounds like it'll be a breath of fresh air for anyone who has spent time trying their hardest to make Astarion like them in Baldur's Gate 3, there is a bit of bad news for anyone hoping for a romance mechanic in Avowed. PC Gamer noted that romances "didn't come up in our interview" and said not to expect it, since Obsidian rarely includes it in its games. That's not a strict no, but it sounds pretty close.