Overall, the early gameplay just doesn't match up with Haven being immensely powerful and the player character being Royal, a physical representation of the nation's might and figurehead of an effort to reclaim what was lost. It feels off that it's strategically optimal to get rid of your Havenite troops ASAP to replace them with local talent. This is weird, because Haven is the regional super power. They have no advantages over any of them, and unlike vassal soldiers lack any cultural skill options. Then, Havenite soldiers end up being strictly inferior to those of any of the vassal states. Why not reflect these enchantments in magical/physical armor, evasion, or resistances, ideally with text in the character screen explaining that these are the royal personal protection enchantments? Awesome! Then this turns out to be 8 HP? Huh? That's pretty underwhelming, and to a degree undermines the description of Haven as the most magically advanced nation in the area if that's' the best they can achieve. Second, the player is told that they are equipped for this mission partially because they've had layers of enchantments applied to their body to make them harder to kill from birth. To me, this seems like it would damage the perceived prestige of the nation and impair the effort to get the vassal states back in line. No enchanted trinkets, no augmented gear. They are royalty, but have a sword of the lowest quality, no armor, and little money. The first is the unequipped state the MC is in when they are sent through the portal. Most of these are points where the game play feels, to me, dissonant with the narrative. But in a few small ways, I've had trouble getting into the story of this one that I did not have in the Avadon or Geneforge series. Geneforge 5 is in a multi-way tie for my favorite game ever, and I would consider Jeff Vogel a game design genius and happily buy anything he makes on that alone.
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