Assassins Creed Odyssey Review - Size Matters (Topic)

You can recognize the onset of the autumn season by three signs: you can hear the rustle of withered foliage under your feet, you can recognize the heating by the joyful cries of neighbors, and gaming sites are full of news about the release of the next part of Assassins Creed. Whether you like it or not, Ubisoft's immortal pipeline is running smoothly, once again storming the sales charts. And in today's review of Assassins Creed Odyssey, we will tell you how close to the truth were the words of the developers, who promised that "Odyssey will become a real RPG game with the largest world in the history of the series."

Spartan Passion

Despite the mention of the Assassins in the title, the game almost completely ignores the plot legacy of the series and the writings of the scriptwriters who, with the persistence and skill of Daria Dontsova, built the story of the clash between the Order of Assassins and the Templars. The plot of Assassins Creed Odyssey has in common with the popular series except for the mention of the race of precursors, artifacts of "Eden" and cultists, which eventually form the Order of the Templars. Otherwise, "Odyssey" is the first "Assassin" without assassins, which is even better, since the course of the plot has shifted to a personal story with the search for a family.

The main character, of whom there are now two to choose from - Kassandra and Alexios - bears his lineage from the Spartan king Leonidas, by the time of the game turned into only a handful of ashes, and as a legacy he left the tip of a spear to the descendants. Our task is to arm yourself with a spear and go on an epic and long (about 50 hours for only one plot) Odyssey in search of the Spartan's family. But instead of the usual plot mechanics of the series with the elimination of targets, the Odyssey is more like a detective story, where we bit by bit go out on the trail of a relative.

Oddly enough, but during the passage of Assassins Creed Odyssey, you involuntarily recall "The Witcher 3", in Ubisoft's creation there is a similar structure with a family search, just replace Ciri with the Spartan's relatives, and the Wild Hunt, which puts sticks in the wheels, with cultists. In general, even with this approach, the plot of the game, and especially in the context of the series, does not feel secondary and is always ready to please with an unexpected "piano in the bushes", epic battles, emotional family scenes and meetings with cult characters of Ancient Greece.

Execution cannot be pardoned

As we mentioned in the article "Assassin is dead, long live the assassin", Assassins Creed Odyssey feels quite confident in the vastness of role-playing games and offers the player a number of attributes familiar to the genre:

• Leveling up
• Dialogue system
• Multiple endings
• Non-linear quests where bloodless play is often encouraged
• Visible consequences of decisions made

Oddly enough, although the plot basis of the new creation of Ubisoft is far from other releases in the series, the Odyssey motto is more than ever close to the famous assassin's credo: "Nothing is true, everything is permitted." For the first time, albeit with a primitive plot justification, the player is offered real freedom of choice, and it depends only on our actions what kind of person the protagonist will eventually become, which characters to execute, and which ones to pardon, and in which direction the resistance of the Athenians and Spartans will turn.

Non-linearity, for the most part, is optional and usually affects whether the quest character survives or dies. Trying to be a pacifist and trying to save as many story characters as possible in Assassins Creed Odyssey will be rewarded with a pack of additional missions. It is also not recommended to skip them, since in addition to the usual cleaning of enemy outposts, there are both tragic stories and humorous sketches with variable dialogues and cutscenes - all according to the precepts of the CD Project.

Unfortunately, the impression of the plot is spoiled by deliberate stretching of the company. And it's not just that in order to complete assignments, the main requirement in Assassins Creed Odyssey is the need to spend time doing secondary activities in the open world in order to raise the level for the desired grade and deal with quest enemies. Another thing is that many plot characters see Leonid's descendant as an errand boy, who is equally good at dealing with mythical creatures and is ready to perform several primitive tasks in the style of "come on, my friend, first for a hammer, and then we'll talk."

Big Odyssey

Another important innovation that should be mentioned in the Assassins Creed Odyssey review is Exploration Mode. It sounds great on paper and offers an in-depth exploration of the world in an attempt to locate the required location on the assignment. Most of all, this approach resembles Morrowind, but with a big difference: important quest markers flicker in front of the screen anyway, and at some point the game will require the use of Icarus the eagle to pinpoint the character's location. Apparently, Ubisoft was still afraid of the anger of modern gamers, who are accustomed to being guided carefully by the handle through the plot.

The combat system as a whole is built on the foundations of last year's Origins, skillfully copying the combat The Witcher 3. Only in the game Assassins Creed Odyssey the combat system got its own face and offers room for tactical maneuvers using special skills. I would especially like to note the Spartan kick with a foot, explosive and fiery arrows, a circular blow on the area and the ability to take away the enemy's shield. Since the number of active skill slots is limited, the game encourages experimentation and allows you to adapt the character to different fighting styles.

Stealth mechanics in "Odyssey" represents all the same hide and seek in the grass and the hunt for stupid dummies. In general, without innovation, but I am glad that now the enemies have forgotten how to telepathically communicate with each other. The player is pursued only by those Greeks who personally noticed him. The only upsetting thing is the game conventions and the impossibility of secretly killing a high-level enemy, even with pumped up "stealth" skills.

Another innovation and also the main stealer of your free time is the clash of the Athenians and Spartans. The entire Greek archipelago is conditionally divided into regions that can be controlled by one side or the other. We choose which people to join, commit sabotage on the territory of the opponents and in the final we participate in large-scale clashes wall to wall. It is important to note that the clash of Athens and Spartans is an optional feature that is almost completely ignored in the story company. So, if you wish, you can easily skip the gameplay routine associated with the ancient Greek analogue of gang war.

Verdict

With all the innovations Assassins Creed Odyssey, at first glance, may seem like a modified version of Origins, and is that enough to call the game a sequel? Quite, because the developers not only improved and expanded in depth the game mechanics, but also filled the largest game in the series with content with such persistence that the complete passage of the Odyssey will take at least 100 hours. Another thing is that quality is more important than quantity, and not all additional quests and islands on the map can please with the same high level of elaboration.

It's very easy to get overwhelmed with content and stop being amazed at the beauty of the Greek archipelago if you methodically clear all the question marks on the map. Our advice is to focus only on the epic and non-linear storyline campaign, only occasionally being distracted by the yellow side quests and Assassins Creed Odyssey will definitely become one of the most memorable adventures this year.

We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the history of the series and the best Assassins Creed Osyssey Easter eggs

The Topic of Article: Assassins Creed Odyssey Review - Size Matters.
Author: Jake Pinkman