You can use the controller to completely avoid the menu and switch to a third-person perspective at any time. To do this, simply hold down the right stick button. Make sure to give it a second, as it doesn't happen automatically. On PC, you will want to hold the U key to switch to a Third-Person POV.

Well, if you're like me, you might have used the main menu to switch back and forth for a while before you ever realized there were dedicated buttons for it. Playing on PC, I hit almost every F key, thinking that would do the trick,

To play Avowed in third-person, follow these steps: Tick the ticky box on the “third-person view” setting.