Okay, let's talk Avowed. I loved the world-building, the combat felt crunchy, and exploring the Living Lands? Chef's kiss! 👌 But honestly, some things just made me stop mid-quest, scratch my head, and go 'Wait... what?!' 🤯 For a game with such deep lore, certain moments felt like they flew straight out the window of common sense. Don't get me wrong, I’m all for suspending disbelief in fantasy, but these? These were immersion-breakers. Let me break down the 7 things that made absolutely zero sense to me.
7. Stealing Food During A Famine... With Zero Consequences?!
Picture this: Emerald Stair is literally starving. Famine is everywhere. Villagers look hollow-eyed, farms are failing. It's heartbreaking! 😢 So, what happens when I, the shiny Aedyr Envoy (who everyone already side-eyes 👀), just waltz into a farmhouse or Fior mes Iverno and swipe a loaf of bread right off someone's table? Absolutely. Nothing. Nada. Zip! 🙄
Seriously? People are dying for a scrap, and no one bats an eyelid when the foreign agent steals their last meal? Not even in Galawain's Tusks, which also has shortages? It completely undermines the gravity of the famine they spent so much time establishing. Wouldn't someone, anyone, try to stop me? Or at least yell? It felt bizarrely disconnected from the game's own grim reality.
6. Whipping Out Weapons in City Centers? No Biggie! 🔪⚔️
Okay, the Living Lands are 'lawless,' sure. But even lawless places have some basic rules, right? Like, maybe don't casually draw your giant flaming sword or start channeling deadly magic next to a bunch of unarmed civilians or, you know, the actual city guards? 🛡️ Yet, that's exactly what you can do. Walk into the heart of Thirdborn, pull out your wand, practice some spells... and crickets. 🦗
Sure, I'm the Envoy. I get special privileges. But tensions between Aedyr and the locals are sky-high! Wouldn't brandishing weapons in public be the perfect excuse for guards to hassle me, or for locals to get even more hostile? It just feels like a massive oversight. Where's the basic sense of self-preservation (or civic order, however minimal)?
5. Where Are Yatzli & Giatta's Deep Quests?! 😤
Kai and Marius? Awesome companion quests! They got layers, development, felt real. But then... Giatta and Yatzli? Crickets again! 🦗 Giatta has this incredibly tragic backstory – her parents were murdered! That's prime material for a deep, emotional side quest exploring her grief, her anger, her path. But nope! Her character development gets crammed into the main quest near the end, specifically around Sapadal. Feels rushed! 😩
And Yatzli? So much potential! Her connection to the land, her perspective... completely underutilized. Why did the first two companions get the royal treatment while these two felt like afterthoughts? It left a glaring hole in the party dynamics and made their inclusion feel shallow. Missed opportunity, Obsidian!
4. Banned from Thirdborn? Not Really Though! 🤨
This one had me laughing out loud. At the end of Shatterscarp, you make a huge choice. Go with Ryngrim's 'practical' plan? Congrats, you directly cause the deaths of a huge chunk of the population! 💀 Temerti, Thirdborn's leader, is (rightfully!) furious. She blames you, screams you're responsible, and declares you BANNED from Thirdborn forever. Exile! Done!
...Except, you can literally walk right back in five minutes later. 🚶♀️ The merchants still happily trade with you. The citizens don't mob you. Temerti herself might ignore you. It completely undermines the weight of that choice and Temerti's authority. You just killed half of Shatterscarp! Shouldn't there be some consequence beyond a single angry speech? It made the whole dramatic moment feel utterly pointless.
3. Animancy Magic: Works in Tusks, Fails in Emerald Stair? Why? 🔮
Emerald Stair's famine is partly blamed on their animancy farming techniques failing, likely due to the Dreamscourge. Got it. Makes sense. Then you get to Galawain's Tusks, also suffering under the Dreamscourge, and meet a Warden... successfully using animancy to grow food! 🥦 Based on his notes, it's working!
Hold up. 🤔 Why does animancy work perfectly fine in the Tusks but catastrophically fail in Emerald Stair? Both regions are plagued by the same Dreamscourge! Is the magic somehow region-locked? Did the Tusks Warden find a special trick? The game offers zero explanation for this glaring inconsistency. It just feels like a plot hole created to make Emerald Stair's situation more dire, without considering the logic across the whole world.
2. The Garden's Location: Could It Be More Obvious? 🌈
Okay, searching for the mysterious Garden in Dawnshore, Emerald Stair, Shatterscarp? Fine, makes sense, it's hidden. But then you finally reach the final biome – Galawain's Tusks. And what do you see IMMEDIATELY? A GIANT, UNMISSABLE, MAGICAL AURORA COVERING THE SKY, pinpointing exactly where the Garden is! ✨ It's literally a giant neon sign saying 'GARDEN HERE!'.
So why do my character and companions still act clueless about its location?! 🤦♀️ 'Where could it be?' Guys... look up! 😂 And the Tusks locals mention trading with Aedyran merchants who must have seen it too! Wouldn't they have mentioned the giant sky-sign? It felt like artificial plot extension – if they just acknowledged it, they could have spent that time figuring out how to get in, making the pacing much tighter.
1. Why Am I Deciding the Entire Fate of the Living Lands?! 👑
This is the big one. The core absurdity. I was sent as the Envoy for one job: investigate the Dreamscourge. That's it! I'm basically a fancy troubleshooter for the Aedyran Emperor. Yet, by the end, I'm single-handedly making monumental, continent-altering decisions:
-
Turning the Living Lands into an Aedyran colony? 🏰
-
Making it a vassal state? 🤝
-
Or pushing for full independence? ✊
Let's break this down:
-
Option 1 (Colony): Okay, maybe. I'm the Emperor's agent. But is a lone Envoy really empowered to make that call without consulting the throne?
-
Option 2 (Vassal): Similar issue. Negotiating vassalage is a huge diplomatic undertaking. Me? Just deciding?
-
Option 3 (Independence): 🤯 This is outright treason! I'm an Imperial agent actively working to sever a territory from the Empire! And the game acts like the Emperor will just... shrug? 'Oh well, good job Envoy, thanks for losing me that land!' Real empires send armies to crush rebellions, not lone agents who then get to walk away scot-free. The sheer scale of insubordination here is mind-boggling, and the lack of any realistic consequence from Aedyr completely shatters the political credibility of the world. Wouldn't choosing independence basically guarantee an Aedyran invasion fleet showing up the next week?
So yeah, Avowed. Gorgeous world, fun gameplay, but man, these plot holes were like potholes on an otherwise beautiful road! 🕳️ Did any of these break the immersion for you too? Let me know! 👇