Avowed review: Wait, are we the baddies?
At its heart, Avowed is a game about colonization. Your protagonist in this action-RPG from the Pillars of Eternity universe is the envoy for the Aedyran Empire, which has for years sent its occupying force to tame and control the wild and unruly islands of the Living Lands. What the Aedyrans try to spin as a civilizing effort in a naturally lawless place, the native residents of the Living Lands, by and large, see as a pillaging army stealing resources at the behest of their far-off masters.
As the Aedyran envoy, you've been sent to investigate and quell the Dreamscourge, a spreading plague that is poisoning the minds of people and beasts throughout the Living Lands. But the citizens you encounter there don't see you as the stock-standard brave hero chosen by providence to save them from an ongoing disaster. Instead, you're viewed first and foremost as a representative of the same occupying force that has had its metaphorical boot on their necks for years.
That fact alone adds a low-level hum of hatred and mistrust to practically every interaction you have in Avowed. Some characters will confront you with that hate right to your face, often with violence. Some will merely mutter it under their breath as they grudgingly tolerate your presence. Some show fear and/or disgust on their face even as they endeavor to play nice or desperately beg for favors.