Ashen Maw actually only exists to make the player realize that you cannot do anything to stop the "bad thing" this time. In POE you simply fight an agent of a god in POE 2 you go aginst a god directly. The biggest problem here is not the idea of gods being immortal all powerful beings that look down on everyone. The problem is the muddy writing, the gods simply do not seem so powerful during the talks you have with them. This problem comes from the fact that despite the games verbosity there is no point where your watcher has to admit his defeat. So the player may not realize until the very end that there will be no epic boss battle against a god.
The idea behind the story is pretty unique and interesting but the execution remains lackluster
No the idea behind the story is a failure and story proves it itself - by introducing "stole your soul" crutch. Because if not for that crutch, since we know giant statue can't be defeated, player would not have any reason to go to Eothas since even taking revenge is not possible.
The key problem is that main plot is about chasing a thing you can't stop. But no sane player would chase something he has absolutely no power over, which is why game tries to make you believe like you have something to say or some choice. But you really don't.
Any sane person, when faced by a force of nature he has no power over, would focus on things around that force, and that could have been a reasonable idea for a plot. But game makes it as obvious as possible that you must "confront" Eothas for some reason, and the plot is about exactly that - you can sail to 2 places, buy better sails and anchor and end game. Since that is what you, as a player, do to progress the plot, that is main plot, and that's what game is about. But joke on you - being Watcher all the time meant exactly that; Watchin. Genius.
Before I thought it might be writers inability to handle the scope of things and they simply crumbled under some pressure to write shit about gigantic immortal statue, but no: the pointless chase, the lack of any counter point to main point of the game (gods r dumb - Josh said himself they were turned into retards just to carry the new plot, deal with it), the lack of player agency, it was all
designed on purpose, you see, and works just as planned.