I like the whole system really. I was always intrigued by the way 13th Age handled magical items (though I've yet to get to play with that system), and this seems quite similar. Not only is it a departure from the "magic mail-order catalog" of recent editions, but beyond making merely making magical items less common, it actually makes them interesting.
Personally, I would work it so that casting identify could tell you the mundane drawbacks, like making the user smell irresistible to owlbears (as food or as a mate, a consensus has yet to be reached), but I'd prefer that items' embedded story hooks and plot twists remain obscured until the appropriate moment.