Assassin's Creed Odyssey (PS4)

When Assassin's Creed Odyssey was first announced and I got a first look on the trailer for the game I have to admit I was a bit skeptical. Not that it looked bad or that I wasn’t eager to jump in and play a new Assassin's Creed game. The issue was that it just looked too familiar to its predecessor, Origins. It just felt too soon for another great Assassin’s Creed game. It simply felt too good to be true.

When more information about the game was released my skepticism slowly faded and it seemed like this is going to be another great game. What got me excited was the ability to choose to play as a male or female character, dialog options and how your choices have consequences for the story and the world. The setting of Ancient Greece and the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta was right up my alley, although a bit similar to the previous game.

The things that still had me worried was that in the game you don’t actually play as an assassin (say what?) but as a “Misthios” a mercenary. You don’t have a hidden blade (you have to be joking) and the game is set before Origins (which was the original origin story of the assassin brotherhood). So what is going on here? Is this really an Assassin’s Creed game? Well yes and no. Fans of the series will recognize the lore and the modern day story of previous entries in the series. Although this is only a small part of the game. Even if I am a hardcore fan of the old games it's refreshing that they tried something new with Odyssey as with Origins. It's not like I'm going to miss the annoying tailing (failing) and eavesdropping missions. The focus with this game is giving the player the freedom to making his own story, or odyssey if you will, the freedom to do what you want in the way you want. And isn't that what Assassin's Creed is all about. freedom. 

The dialog options with choices and consequence have undeniably added a new and welcomed depth to the series. It really feels like your choices matter and it isn't that obvious what choice is the right one, it's all up to you to choose what kind of person you want to be. The game is evidently inspired by the success of The Witcher 3 and some of the game mechanics, world and even the music reminds me of my time roaming around in Skellige. In terms of the main story AC Odyssey falls a bit short at the end although I would argue in this case that the journey is more important than the destination. 

For my character I chose to play as Kassandra and I think I made the right choice. She is a really relatable and lovely character. She can be tough and ferocious and won’t walk away from a fight but she's still not too serious to have a little fun. In my opinion there has not been a more likable character in the series since Ezio. The supporting characters in Odyssey including the historian Herodotos, your faithful captain Barnabas and the promiscuous Alkibiades provide some memorable encounters. The discussions you have with the philosopher Sokrates are maybe the best pieces of dialog in the whole game and provides you with really interesting moral dilemmas that have you questioning your own actions in the game.

There is naval gameplay in the game but not as much as e.g. Black Flag and a lot of it is optional. I’m not a huge fan of it but in the right dose it offers a much needed variety to the gameplay. On land you can grind your way through the endless question marks, forts and bandit camps. Most of these places are optional but in the beginning it can be good to clear some of these to level up. First I tried doing almost everything but I quickly learned that this is simply too overwhelming. So I stuck to completing all main and hand crafted side quests and skipped all random quests that pop up. It can be a good idea to visit notice boards and accept quests there as you will complete a lot of these quests automatically by simply doing other quests. These include completing forts, taking out bandits and mercenaries and so on.

It seems that every new game I play the visuals are just getting better. I have played my fair share of beautiful looking games like Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4. Still AC Odyssey manages to impress me with great looking characters and world that looks spectacular. I'm especially impressed with facial animations, Kassandra's eyes and face looks so lifelike. Her skin is also nicely done with the veins showing through her skin. 

In the world there are other mercenaries just like you who will hunt you down if you commit crimes. These are powerful enemies that provide quite the challenge especially if you go up against several of them at the same time. Best thing to do is get a sneak strike on them before you start the fight.
The real enemy however is the Cult of Cosmos who has infiltrated every part of the society both on the side of Athens and Sparta. Hunting them down is one of the player’s main priorities. To avoid spoilers I won't go further into that.

During the game you will be given quests by people in the world and you can complete them in the order you choose but if enemies or areas are above your level it’s better to wait until you level up before you do them. I would also not recommend rushing through the game but instead doing side missions, at least the ones marked with yellow exclamation marks as these are handcrafted and not automatically generated. The game is long if you want to explore and visit places but still worth it. It took me 108 hours to finish the main story and most of the sidequests.

For completing missions you get xp, drachmae (money) and loot (armor, weapons). When leveling up you can choose to invest your skill points in different skills. The skill tree has three different trees, Hunter, Warrior and Assassin. If you want to play more stealthy like me it's recommended to upgrade your Hunter and Assassin abilities but once you level up there are some essential Warrior skills you should get, Second Wind, Spartan Kick and Ring of Chaos. If you choose poorly, don't worry, for a small sum of drachmae you can rearrange your skill points at any time. You also have your own pet eagle, Ikaros, who can help you scout out areas, find chests and mark enemies. When you synchronize viewpoints Ikaros will level up and it's easier to find items with his help.

Armor and weapons are divided into common, rare, epic and legendary. You can also engrave these to get additional perks. Even if you can buy weapons and armor from blacksmiths I would not bother doing that, you get pretty sweet gear from completing mission, killing mercenaries or legendary beasts and creatures. 

Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a game worthy of an AAA title in terms of visuals, gameplay and story. It might not have the same kind of soul that The Witcher 3 has, but it's damn fun to play and you can really immerse yourself in it's well crafted world. For a game of this size there is undoubtedly some repetitiveness to the gameplay that starts to show half way in. Despite that you just want to keep playing because the world and its characters feels so real. 

I purchased the game day one for 59 euros and I feel like I've got my money's worth and a lot more.