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EbonJaeger it looks like a theme issue and Plata appears to no longer be maintained.
I've noticed, testing other Budgie implementations (e.g. Ubuntu Budgie) in VM's, that Plata-Noir is no longer offered as an option (e.g. Ubuntu Budgie 20.04 offers the Plata-Noir theme but Ubuntu Budgie 21.10 does not). Available Ubuntu Budgie 21.10 themes (e.g. Pocillo) seem washed out in comparison to Plata-Noir.
I did not realize that Plata-Noir was no longer maintained. The Budgie project will have to do the best it can with available themes, I guess, but it is sad news to be losing Plata-Noir.