Avowed end game: Can you keep playing side quests after beating it?
Does Avowed let you finish your remaining side quests after you complete the main quest?
Can you keep completing the remaining side quests after you complete Avowed’s main story?
It’s a question many players will have as they start to get into the game.
After all, as engaging as Avowed‘s main story is, most of the side quests are where some of the more entertaining (and, to be honest, the silliest) storylines can be found.
Since you stumble on these side quests along the way, and since a number of them are lengthy enough to take you away from your main mission for quite a while, you might be wondering if you can put them to the side and tackle them once you’ve got the main storyline beaten.
Having already beaten the game, I can give you a definitive answer on this, and give advice on what you should do to prepare for it.
Avowed: The point of no return
As in numerous other RPGs, there comes a point in Avowed (often described as the ‘point of no return’) where you’re given a warning message telling you that there’s no going back once you enter a certain area.
In fact, there are actually two main points of no return in Avowed, and the first one isn’t explained to you.
When you reach Emerald Stair and you take on the main quest Ancient Soil, there’s a point where you have to explore a Godless Ruin underground in Naku Tedek.
Depending on certain decisions you’ve made, when you exit the ruin some of the existing side quests may be locked off, because of the direction the story takes.
When you get to the Ancient Soil quest, then, we’d recommend doing all the side missions you have in Dawnshore and Emerald Stair before you enter the underground Godless Ruin, just in case you lose access to them.
The real point of no return in Avowed, however, is near the end of the game when you enter the Garden. As you’re about to do this, a message will pop up reading: “You will not be able to return once you enter the Garden. Do you wish to proceed?”
In some RPGs, a point of no return is a temporary thing, and basically means that once you enter a section you can’t go anywhere else until you leave that section. Often, a point of no return is only temporary and once you beat the main storyline you’ll then have free access to explore the game world and finish off any of the side quests you missed.
However, in Avowed, the point of no return is permanent. As soon as you enter the Garden, you can no longer complete any of the side quests you have left, even after the credits roll.
Without spoiling anything, this is because as soon as you leave the Garden you enter the last part of the game, which affects the state of the Living Lands.
When you beat the game and see the credits, you don’t get the option to keep exploring and finish off your side quests. Choosing Continue on the main menu just takes you back to the last section again.
Our advice, then, is the following:
- When you reach the Ancient Soil quest in Emerald Stair, finish off any outstanding side quests before you enter the underground Godless Ruin.
- Once you reach the Garden near the end of the game, either finish off any outstanding side quests before you enter, or – if you want to see how the story ends first – create a save before you enter, then load that save after the credits roll. This will put you back at the entrance to the Garden, allowing you to access the side quests.
The game will also auto-save smaller ‘points of no return’, but you should still manually save at the Garden’s entrance, just in case.
