The way Avowed’s third person camera option was presented in previews and in the new Obsidian RPG’s first time launch options had us all thinking it was a semi-permanent choice, one you’d have to go digging around in a settings menu to adjust. I’m happy to say that’s just not the case though: Avowed lets you quickly toggle your camera like most other first person RPGs.
In a preview build played by PCG senior editors Wes Fenlon and Robin Valentine, the camera toggle was exclusively accessible via menu, requiring you to pause the game, go to accessibility settings, and hit the toggle any time you wanted to switch. It seemed intended as a measure for players who suffer from motion sickness in first person games, a last resort for enjoying Avowed at all, rather than the casual quick switch we’re used to from Bethesda joints or, indeed, prior Obsidian games like Fallout: New Vegas or The Outer Worlds.
The option’s presence in an accessibility settings menu when you first launch the game makes it appear that this is the case in the final release as well. Indeed, Robin didn’t realize that there was a hotkey to toggle your camera view until I told him after dozens of hours in the game. By default, this is assigned to the “U” key, but I like having it as a thumb button on my mouse for even easier access.
Just like in Fallout or The Elder Scrolls, though, this is definitely an inferior way to play the game. Even after decades of animation improvements, it’s still got that kind of floaty, disconnected feeling I’ve associated with the third person camera options for this subgenre of RPGs. From Morrowind to Skyrim, Fallout 3 to, er, Fallout 4, it’s slippery moonwalking and gently levitating jumps all the way down. Avowed is a much more immersive, tactile experience in first person.
But I still like having the option, and I sorely missed it in Cyberpunk 2077, which keeps you perma-locked to a first person perspective. I enjoy idly flipping to the third person view while hiking around the overworld, taking in the character I spent so much time tweaking, as well as the cool armor upgrades I’ve found throughout the game. Even if that third person view isn’t ideal, it’s still better than not having it at all.