A New Odyssey for Assassins Creed

Assassins Creed Odyssey breathes new life into the franchise

Anyone who has played Assassins Creed knows that there is a certain way to play them, as most of them play the same. Most people enjoyed the second game, and the two after, that followed Ezio through different years of his life as an assassin. People thought 3 was boring and was too much on the sidelines of the revolutionary war. 4 or Black Flag, was fun, and well received, because who doesn’t like pirates? The ones after blurred together, with the same gameplay, and similar stories. Syndicate was different because you played as two characters, and for the first time as a woman, but most of the game was played as the male twin. Origins was refreshing, as it took place in Ancient Egypt, but still played the same as previous games. When Assassins Creed Odyssey was announced at E3, many people rolled their eyes and ignored it. It was another game in an already exhausted series, and that’s coming from me, who is a die-hard fan of the franchise. Fans went into the Ubisoft E3 conference, not expecting anything new from the franchise. However, after their conference was over, and the trailer and descriptions of Odyssey were revealed, fans were excited. It was an actual new game in an old franchise. Is there still hope for this franchise to be renewed with Assassins Creed Odyssey?

Assassins Creed Odyssey is the newest game within the Assassins Creed franchise. It was released October 5th, 2018 by Ubisoft Quebec. The game tells the story of the character you choose-Alexios or Kassandra-a first in AC history. As the character of your choosing, you are a Spartan, trying to stop a cult, and reunite their family, while playing for both sides in Ancient Greece. The game, like previous AC games, lets you run around and do side quests of your choosing to help level up, and get better abilities and armor. This game also takes place before Origins, within the timeline of games. This is the first game within the AC franchise, to let you choose a character, and also choose your own dialogue options. These are not new, or revolutionary topics for other games, but unheard of in past AC games, and while you can’t create your character, it is refreshing to have the choice to play as a woman (being a woman and all) in a previously male-dominated franchise.  Within this game, you can also romance someone of your choosing, which is also new within this series.

I haven’t played much of the game yet, due to it being the last few weeks of school, and because I just got the game Thanksgiving night (yes, I am one of those people who shop on Thanksgiving. I work retail, so I know the struggle). From what I have played though, the game is the fresh start the franchise needed. I am a die-hard Assassins Creed fan. I have played every game in the series, with AC 2 and Black Flag being my faves, and some I haven’t finished. The games were always fun but could drag on, as most of them have you do the same stuff all the time. Leveling up in the game gave you some perks, but not many. The locations were always cool, but even those got boring after a while. Origins was nice because you could run around Ancient Egypt and climb pyramids and Sphinxes. (I also was obsessed with Ancient Egypt as a kid though, so maybe that’s why I like Origins so much…). For each new game in the franchise, the bigger the map is, and the world you can explore. The map/world in Odyssey is huge, and I can’t wait to explore all of it. I play as Kassandra, who takes no crap from people, but is also nice when she wants to be. I just reached level five, and have some pretty basic armor, but the gameplay is smooth, and the scenes are beautiful. The story so far seems pretty interesting and fun, and running around the small island of Kephallonia is fun too. Learning about different, not known Greek heroes is also super interesting! (They even have a quest that I just started relating to Odysseus!) I can’t wait to get further into the game, to see what else I can explore and come across!

Everything about this game seems great and fresh, but I have heard the ending leaves much to be desired. I’m not sure why, but I hope it’s not as bad as people say it is (kind of like the end of Mass Effect 3, everyone said it was a bad ending, but I think it suited the game perfectly??). Either way, that’s a long way to go, even if you just play the main storyline (which I don’t suggest doing as it’s harder to level up that way, and you get to explore a lot less!). I haven’t checked the list of achievements yet, but I imagine they’ll be similar to previous games.

After this semester is over, I can’t wait to have time to dive more into this beautiful game. If you are hesitant about another Assassins Creed game, I highly suggest picking this game up. It’s fun, refreshing, and hopefully a new start in a tired franchise! (I will always buy AC games, and play them all the same). Playing as a character of your choosing, choosing the dialogue, and having the option to romance within the game, is a great add-on to this franchise, that many players, old and new, will enjoy! To answer the question posed in the first paragraph, yes. I feel like with these changes, even small ones gives this franchise exactly what it needed to be relevant in today’s gaming scene. Like I’ve said a billion times throughout this post, this game breathes new life into this franchise, and hopefully shows what futures game in the franchise can do.

Go pick this game up!!!

Rating: 8/10 I’m not that far into it yet, so I’m not going to give it a 9 just yet, as I am still very on in the game.

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