Avowed inevitably begs some comparisons to one of Obsidian’s most well-regarded action RPGs, Fallout: New Vegas. While it’s hard to place one squarely above the other, there is one clear way that Avowed succeeds where New Vegas failed. Namely, Avowed did a much better job getting me to sympathize with my would-be killer than New Vegas ever did. This led to a much more interesting decision when I finally caught up to the character who had attempted to assassinate me.

Warning: The following article includes spoilers for a potential ending of Avowed.

See, funnily enough, both Avowed and New Vegas have the player character get killed early on. In New Vegas, it’s the absolute first thing that happens, while in Avowed it takes place an hour or so into the game. Both games have quests tied to tracking down the person who tried to kill you, and both games present a choice of what to do with them. However, Avowed did a much better job of making the character who tries to kill you sympathetic, something I never thought about New Vegas’ Benny, even if he was voiced by my favorite Friend.

Avowed Does A Good Job Showing Why Someone Would Want You Dead

Aedyr Is Making Life Worse For The Living Lands

When you’re “killed” at the start of New Vegas, it’s a bit of a mystery as to why. You don’t learn until later on why Benny wanted the Platinum Chip from you, and by that time you’ve probably had a while to stew about his attempted murder. In contrast, I never questioned why someone would want to kill the Envoy in Avowed.

While I role-played a virtuous and helpful Envoy, I still didn’t question why the people of Paradis would want me dead. One of the first things you learn about Paradis is that the Aedyrans have marched in and started pushing people out of their own city. Many are forced to live in a ramshackle shanty town outside of the city’s walls while Aedyrans take up residence in some of the nicer areas of the city.

While I may have felt a twinge of injustice for the Envoy being judged so harshly, I also understood where my killer was coming from.

The Envoy is shot and essentially killed the moment they enter Paradis, so the player hasn’t had time to establish that they might be more magnanimous than the empire they represent. While I may have felt a twinge of injustice for the Envoy being judged so harshly, I also understood where my killer was coming from. The Envoy isn’t just any Aedyran, but one sent by the emperor himself to oversee the mission in the Living Lands. It’s understandable that the Envoy would be a major target for anyone interested in keeping Paradis free from Aedyran control.

Avowed's Assassin Has Understandable Motives

Ygwulf Believes The Envoy Will Bring Death And Destruction

Beyond the understandable motives of the Paradisian rebels, Avowed takes things a step further by showing that Ygwulf had a specific reason for wanting the Envoy dead. Reading Ygwulf’s logs will show you that, initially, the rebels planned to simply observe the Envoy to see if they became a problem. However, after learning that the Envoy was Godlike, things changed.

Ygwulf had been given a prophecy that a Godlike would come to the Living Lands, and death would follow in their wake. Ygwulf therefore didn’t see the Envoy as just part of an invading force driving him and his people out of their home, but also an existential threat to the entire island. On top of that, Ygwulf expresses genuine remorse in his log entries about killing the Envoy after they survive and he realizes he may have been wrong about the prophecy.

It would be one thing if Ygwulf only said he regretted his actions when confronted by the Envoy, but because he writes them down in his private log, his remorse feels much more genuine. If you choose to spare Ygwulf and free the Living Lands in the end, you see that Ygwulf and his fellow rebels go on to disband their ranks and re society, helping where they can. This just makes it even more clear that Ygwulf and his fellow rebels were just people who cared deeply about their homelands and wanted them to stay free.

Ygwulf’s understandable motivations and noble intentions make him a sympathetic character, even if he tries to kill you. The same can’t be said for Benny, who doesn’t have as understandable of a position. While Benny has his reasons to do what he did, they aren’t nearly as sympathetic as Ygwulf's prove to be.

Benny Was Never As Sympathetic As Ygwulf

Benny Is Much More Selfish Than Ygwulf & Much Less Repentent

Like Ygwulf, Benny kills the Courier to usurp a leader that he disapproves of, but there are some pretty clear distinctions. First off, the Courier has no special relationship with Mr. House in the way that the Envoy does with the Aedyran emperor, so Benny is essentially killing an innocent delivery person. Additionally, Benny isn’t trying to unseat Mr. House for the sake of New Vegas’ people, but simply out of his own self-interest. Benny wants to be in charge, and he’s not afraid to kill and backstab his way to the top.

Benny’s ruthless nature is confirmed in dialogue where he its to killing the previous leader of The Chairmen in a knife fight to take over. The graphic novel All Roads doubles down on Benny’s habit of killing those who threaten his authority, showing that he poisoned a fellow Chairman for questioning his authority. Even if the Courier decides to let Benny off the hook for trying to kill them, Benny usually sends bodyguards to ambush and kill the Courier. Although New Vegas gives players the option to spare Benny, I’ve never taken it because I don’t see a reason to.

New Vegas does a lot of things well, and it’s very possible that the game wasn’t all that interested in redeeming Benny. No rule says every villain in a game needs to be redeemed, and it’s fun to have some guiltless kills in an action game. Still, the game presents the option to spare Benny, which, to me, makes it seem like there was meant to be some motivation to show mercy. Aside from being a stubborn pacifist — which would make reaching New Vegas' ending essentially impossible — I can’t see a good reason to let Benny live.

Avowed offers a much more nuanced decision when it comes to handling your would-be killer. I can see players killing Ygwulf for what he did or choosing to send him into custody, but I liked that the game gave me a good reason to forgive him and let him go free. Ygwulf's sympathetic nature ultimately adds a little more nuance to the story of Avowed, and I would always have liked to see something similar with Benny in New Vegas.