Should you try out Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance in 2025?

Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance is one of the weakest adaptations of the beloved cartoon series. While this title covers all three seasons of the original show, Bamtang Games skipped a few important story beats and severely undermined the combat mechanics. They overloaded it with ridiculous environmental puzzles and repetitive side quests that would make any fan of the show question whether it is worth playing in 2025.

The source material has been hailed as one of the greatest television series, especially with how the showrunners handled heavy themes like war. However, Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance is another example of a good IP suffering from generic gameplay, and the player base knew they deserved better than what was given.

If you are a fan of the original show and want to relive the story, go into this game with low expectations.

Disclaimer: Some aspects of this article reflect the writer's subjective views about the game.

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Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance is another poor adaptation

The live-action movie and this game are giving the Avatar brand a bad name (Image via Steam || GameMill Entertainment)

The irony of Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance is that it follows a stage director who intends to retell the adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends and how he saved the world from Fire Lord Ozai by seeking an audience with members of the White Lotus for a first-hand experience.

The iconic Ember Island episode parodied the entire adventure, and this game is a much worse adaptation than the live-action film released in 2010.

When the project was originally announced, the gaming community was equally excited and nervous about how this game would turn out. The original series endured the test of time and is still talked about nowadays; however, the franchise doesn't have a good track record on the gaming side.

Bamtang Games had the opportunity to change the narrative in this regard but gave the fans a fire blast to the face.

Quest for Balance covers all three seasons of the original Avatar The Last Airbender cartoon series and was a major advantage for the developer, given how the show was well received. Unfortunately, the team decided to skip and remove some important bits altogether, which didn't sit well with fans.

The original series was long; however, it never felt like a drag, especially with the exciting world and storyline. Team Avatar all have great personalities and have undergone extensive character development phases throughout the show, but this wasn't reflected in the game.

The title was released in 2023 for the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC, but the visuals and graphics looked underwhelming by today's standards. Most fans are upset about this iconic franchise not getting the respect and treatment it deserves.

Rather than fighting enemy bosses like Hei Bai to save a village from being tormented by the restless spirit, Aang must solve block puzzles with airbending. And if players are not as keen to do environmental puzzle-solving, Quest for Balance has that in spades. It tends to let 2D animatics show the exciting story bits rather than allowing players to experience it for themselves.

There are instances where the game occasionally throws the characters into certain scenarios that don't fit in the original show. While Prince Zuko's regiment raids the Southern Water Tribe village, players are stuck in a minigame where Aang rides a penguin down a slope while collecting coins.

This is seemingly an excuse to force players to do another mini-game inspired by platforming games like Crash Bandicoot.

The overwhelming amount of subpar minigames isn't the worst part of Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance, especially compared to the clunky and janky combat system. The show was renowned for highlighting different fighting styles inspired by other cultures through bending. However, this adaptation feels like a brawler or beat 'em up game by simply button-mashing to victory.

The gaming community will have to keep waiting for the definitive Avatar The Last Airbender gaming experience (Image via Steam || GameMill Entertainment)

Players have often complained about the annoying and inaccurate hitbox feature that would hit members of Team Avatar even from a distance. Other playable characters, such as Sokka, are way too overpowered, especially being a non-bender, while benders like Katara and Aang felt too underpowered. Balancing and scaling are prevailing issues that don't sit right with players.

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Verdict

Avatar The Last Airbender Quest for Balance caused more harm than good (Image via Steam || GameMill Entertainment

Fans of Avatar The Last Airbender will likely not enjoy or appreciate this clunky retelling of a beloved story. The replacement of a few major story beats with animatics, the boatload of minigames/side quests, annoying combat mechanics, and environmental puzzles are a potent mix of a disaster.

If you want to re-experience this iconic story, it is best to stick to the original show or watch the recent Netflix adaptation.

If you are an Avatar fan and are willing to endure what Bamtang Games has in store, you can give this game a shot in 2025, but remember to keep expectations low to avoid disappointment.