Avowed’s Death Twist Doesn’t Go Anywhere

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Initially, I held great expectations for Avowed, and these were mirrored during my initial playthrough. The character creation process, though not the most comprehensive, offered a rich experience with its incorporation of divine elements, allowing for the crafting of visually appealing characters that fit seamlessly into the game’s world. The opening shipwreck served as an effective tutorial, offering an interactive learning experience rather than a passive one, and even included a choice that influenced an early mission. Upon completion, Kai left a lasting first impression.

Subsequently, it followed routine actions while I took my initial steps into the world, discovering fast travel locations. Fighting wasn’t entertaining at this stage as I lacked the necessary tools, but I certainly felt like a novice character in an RPG. Upon reaching the first major city, things began to feel more engaging. Sadly, that’s where my progress halted.

Spoilers ahead for the opening hours of Avowed.

Avowed Actually Kills The Envoy

Upon entering Paradis, the primary city in the game following an introductory coastal sequence, you meet your demise. Instantly, a cutscene unfolds and you are fatally wounded with arrows from the city’s central tower, striking your chest and stomach. However, death is not the end for you. You subsequently regain consciousness. The game makes it clear that this was not a close call or a divine intervention to heal your injuries; you truly died. Your lilies were being collected for your burial. And then, you awoke.

In a unique bond, games and death share an intriguing dynamic. In the game Avowed, I met my digital end countless times, a direct result of its focus on combat, where engaging in conflict forms the core gameplay experience. I perished due to late healing, premature quest completion, or simply poor performance, but these deaths were insignificant from a narrative standpoint. Previously, I’ve discussed how video games often find it challenging to imbue death with significance when it is associated with failure, but Avowed appears to have cracked the code. This story-based mortality also serves as an advantage: upon defeat in battle, you can return with half your health intact to continue the fight.

In essence, Avowed doesn’t delve deeply into this situation. Investigating your own murder leads to enlisting Marius, a tracker for your second party member. With him by your side, you discover that this storyline is quite typical, targeting the government you serve. You are the Emperor’s Envoy, and though people dislike the Emperor, they took your life. No grudges held. You locate them and eliminate them (leaving no chance for recovery). However, some lingering resentment does arise. The resurrection and entire death narrative are put on hold; there are no other significant deaths portrayed in the game, and the player-triggered deaths merely result in respawning.

Avowed Uses Too Many Tropes For Its Story To Matter

One essential aspect of this game involves uncovering your deity-like counterpart – distinctive facial traits suggest a connection to your divine entity, and it’s peculiar that you don’t recognize yours yet. This element seems to delve deeper into fantasy archetypes as one enigma piles upon another. You are already set apart as a Godlike, and you stand out even more within this group due to your unique circumstance of not knowing who your god is, and your high rank at the Emperor’s side. Simultaneously, the subplot of a plague ravaging the land doesn’t offer anything particularly extraordinary either.

In a standard fantasy storyline, where you’re three steps away from being the ‘chosen one’, the plot also incorporates a theme of resurrection, which ultimately feels insignificant. However, treating death with respect is unusual in this context, but it happens early on, leaving you questioning why you were resurrected instead of just being gravely injured and healed as in subsequent deaths. This would have made your protective instincts towards Paradis more relatable and grounded, rather than making you feel like a unique entity separate from the common folk’s problems.

Many aspects of Avowed seem underutilized, either by reaching for expansive storylines, following Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s approach of shielding players from distress, or simply featuring disorganized and overused quests that fail to evoke any significant feelings. Your seemingly fatal event that isn’t really a death is part of this pattern, transitioning from what I anticipated could be one of the most daring twists in gaming this year into an unmemorable scene. In essence, it suits Avowed perfectly.

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2025-02-14 20:34