Assassins Creed Odyssey REVIEW - Exchanging Identity For Innovation

salutations everybody it is Maddie here and welcome to my review for Assassin's Creed Odyssey when I first laid my hands on AC Odyssey back in June during e3 it instantly skyrocketed on my list of highly anticipated titles for the fall this was due to expectations of legitimate change coming to the franchise and giving it a sense of being reinvigorated let's take a leap of faith into the story and find out if this game is worth your attention in such a busy fall period as far as I'm concerned it has been ages since Assassin's Creed has brought a story to the table that I actually gave a damn about it all begins with being able to select your protagonist at the beginning between either Cassandra or Alexios since I tested Alexios at e3 I went with Cassandra and was fascinated by my interest in her past not only as she relinquished from the storytelling shackles of Ezio copycats but what is put on the table as dope she has a messy past that spreads throughout her entire family as more bits were unveiled I found myself further entranced while familial focused storytelling has been done a million times before the way this narrative manages to connect to the cult of Cosmos which served as a standout ominous group that infiltrates every part of the ancient Greek world corrupting all touches kept my investment however at times it led to a sense of predictability because it felt like any somewhat major character that would randomly pop into the story had a strong chance of being tied to set group the cult of Cosmos not only manages to flesh out the main character in a strong manner but also gives the story depth as you gather clues on these side characters that end up being more important than originally expected as you hunt them down and assassinate them now the story isn't just about Cassandra's upbringing there are more mythical supernatural methods to the storytelling that our odd not bad but they're definitely different from anything in assassin's creed that we've seen before I personally appreciated this change but I know some are going to experience moments like speaking to a sphinx and be like there is also a focus on the brewing war between the Spartans and Athenians which is where the game suffers most from what has plagued the series for a while the ever revolving door of characters coming in and out of the story Assassin's Creed has always spent its time trying to shoehorn every single significant historical figure from that era into the story which is like the double edged sword that hurts and elevates this at the same time it's dope seeing people like Socrates or making acquaintances without Kabir DS for the first time ever but as usual the constant historical introductions lose their luster and you just want someone to stay in the story long enough to get to know them now fortunately as my hours went on I got deeper into the game it does eventually weed out enough characters and focuses on a solid core that allows for some alright character development while what's there is entertaining and cassandra is interesting the biggest change here is the addition of dialogue with choice and consequence being a highlight for Ubisoft as a lifelong RPG fan and it being my favorite genre and all of games it's safe to assume that this is what I was most curious about how many conversation options would there be would it simply be good versus evil and more than anything it would lean on the power of good writing which hasn't really been Ubisoft greatest strength now the main story had one noteworthy major instance of pure choice and consequence peppered with other minor choices that major choice you make early on in the game manages the continuously ripple throughout this story as characters react in different ways to it whereas the minor ones are normally in the moment reactions that give the game a sense of being organic in these characters molding to the things that you do and delivering a sense of power to the player there is also some sidequest storylines and regions that managed to have self-contained instances of choice and consequence that did make for some of my favorite for Ray's and this entire franchise it also hit me that wow all this is for Cassandra and there is an entire half of the game with unique dialogue at times and interactions for Alexios a character I had not played now it's not gonna be drastically different don't go in expecting that but still I think is noteworthy to mention that that's a lot of dialogue another point I noted in this new conversation system is that it's often a decision of being mean nice or at times flirting and then when it came time to do quests there was a host of three questions you can ask to give yourself more context to the quest the romance honestly was not good all right it was just tossed in there it seemed kind of thoughtless and as I pieced together this conversation system spending more and more time with it I realized that in these quests where you're asking questions it took that necessary information that normally you would receive regardless in previous Assassin's Creed games and instead filter them into the conversation system ask questions or you could carry on your merry way and just start the quest right away so for me it felt like a fake amount of depth in the conversation system where I would have rather asked kind of off-the-wall questions asking questions gathering more information it's not like something in vampyre where it unlocks more conversation options for you and gets you digging deeper into the character it's very much just baseline information that you really don't need is this the biggest deal in the world no but this game didn't manage to hide its illusion of choice well like even some of the greatest RPGs do therefore I did struggle to suspend my disbelief at times the game often felt like Ubisoft and I were trading the steering wheel for an instance I'll have some conversation options to sift through then Cassandra will talk on her own for a few minutes until Ubisoft hands to control back for me to do something in another small period of time there were also moments I'd make a choice - maybe engage in combat or at times very rarely they'll allow you to avoid it but the game would ignore my choice and force you down a path which can be especially frustrating don't present the choice there if it's not going to matter now in exchange for all this dialogue interaction players are going to see a very notable downgrade on the animations in the game I didn't experience Mass Effect Andromeda levels of bad but there were some moments clearly bogged down by the game's lack of ability to show some expression and this is also probably a good idea to mention that I wasn't one of the people who lost their mind over subpar animation work however the largest issue with the storytelling isn't the story at all in fact that's probably one of the brightest spots it's actually something tucked within the gameplay allow me to introduce to you level gating since leveling up takes ages and sometimes main story missions will require you to level up five times four times three times before continuing on you can spend a lot of your time out doing something you would rather do another time well I like the side content that was there I can't think of a time I was like damn I'm not enjoying this there were times this story really gained steam and then stopped right in its tracks because I had to beat a certain level to continue on or I'd die in one hit it messed with the pacing it became very frustrating and so the workaround that I used was lowering my difficulty when I wanted to say screw it and continue on with the story anyway it's frustrating because what's there is actually strong but the game itself will cut you off and it becomes all the more fishy when you go into the in-game store and find time savers that allow for a 50% XP boost but it cost you real money so I found that a little odd so yeah take that as you will whether or not that's intentional but lastly let's cover the modern-day storytelling in my 50 hours with the game I only exited the animus twice yep two times once at the 12 hour mark and once at the 28 hour mark it was so infrequent I had direct timestamps marked for it now interestingly enough the modern aspect actually managed to propel certain parts of Cassandra's story so this has to be marked as the biggest improvement for probably longtime fans as Ubisoft has notoriously struggled with this part of the game which is making sense of how you're accessing this world not being invasive but also trying to make it somewhat interesting turns out this is how less is better at time game devs remember that now that you have a good feel for the main story let's stealthily crawl in a bush towards the gameplay storytelling sees a big overhaul in this year's Assassin's Creed game but have the gameplay systems evolved when I played AC origins I really enjoyed my initial playtime until the middle point of the game where I felt a sense of repetitiveness in Odyssey I never quite experienced that feeling and I have to ask myself the major question why is that the primary reasoning is that because there are so many systems and things to do that it's hard to get bored of one thing unless the entire system in general is unappealing to you as a gamer now let's start off with what's new there is that koltes menu I alert to earlier when it came to the storytelling but it's also fundamental to the gameplay as you complete areas and take out targets of importance you will gather Clues on other members of the cult once you have enough clues you can trace down these cultists and take them out this alongside the mercenary system were clearly inspired by the middle-earth series in both aesthetics and additional gameplay importance to characters across the map now the mercenary system serves as kind of the cops in any open-world game as you get caught committing murder or thievery the game will send these mercenaries to hunt you down this is one of the gameplay systems I really do have an issue with and allow me to paint a picture of how 70% of the scenarios went down for me I'd stell through an area eventually get caught and then I'd engage in combat these mercenaries would begin flooding in non-stop it would stretch out encounters that were normally two minutes tops into 15 minutes and while that may not sound like a big deal when it happens a lot throughout the game it gets frustrating this happens pretty much at any base now the game seems self-aware enough to provide a semi-functioning workaround where you could open the map pay a fee and the mercenaries will stop tracking you now what sucks is that it doesn't really matter at times because these mercenaries are almost always floating around you I'm talking like if you have one bar of the mercenary filled he's somehow always gonna end up drifting towards your area instead of dynamically exploring the world it's like they always know where you're at so if you remotely set off any notoriety these people are gonna be on you like flies on [ __ ] now you may be wondering why you can't fully stealth an area and you have to recall the level gating issue I am mentioned even when primarily kidding my character out to focus on assassination and hunter damage there were many enemy types that have a ton of health so your assassinations won't take them out thus forcing you into combat now there are skills like critical assassination which upon spending a bar of adrenaline allow you to do 300% bonus damage for an assassination but with that bar spending and enemy health combinations the game is clearly pushing you towards the more action focused combat now even when my critical assassinations were fully upgraded and my spear was of a high level taking out certain enemies like an assassin just wasn't optimal at times but you had to at least try or else the mercenary train starts up and you're stuck in an area much longer than you would have rather be now the good news here is that the combat is solid you have light and heavy attacks parrying dodges that when timed perfectly in the window will slow down time as you hit enemies you build up adrenaline I was talking about earlier where you can spend it on an assortment of abilities throughout the hunter warrior and assassin skill trees yes go figure another game with three skill trees this isn't on Ubisoft but I'd love for someone to spice up the formula you earn a skill point every time you level up or for completing the tombs available for exploration in game you can do things like land and overpower combo and use the most epic Spartan kick in videogame history Hestia the best farting kick in the [ __ ] world now while the combat is solid it's fun the rinse and repeat sets in there a little bit towards the latter part of the title because like I said these mercenaries men they just drag out combat experiences when we have a great system in place it's not by any means a turn-off but it's just irritating it's something I noticed and fighting is only a piece of the AC pie exploration is the biggest draw for me in this series getting lost in a large world and a unique time period can be purely intoxicated the architecture and sculpture scattered throughout the game are all inspiring really managing to bring the era to life in a captivating fashion the standout difference between origins versus Odyssey is the areas at the end of origins had a different color palette feel civilization and architecture ironically origins felt more like an odyssey environmentally than assassin's creed Odyssey did now I think the Odyssey aspect in this game sets in via content anyway there were only two instances of a color palette shifting alongside the environment that I experienced during my 50 plus hours with the title to symbolise a change in what was happening with the world everything managed to feel a little samey across the board but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing the differences usually come in the massive structures laid about iconic locations in the game which allows Odyssey to have its own sense of environmental identity that I enjoyed the game heavily leans on its green orange yellow and purple in the wildlife alongside God race to really make the visuals pop I know people are tired of photo mode all over the place after spider-man but I don't think it's gonna slow down with a worthy follow-up like AC Odyssey this game is beautiful and the world itself is loaded with verticality allowing for hills deep valleys and a map that often makes you feel like a pebble thanks to its gargantuan nature the game also eventually removes fall damage entirely so I was Swan diving off cliffs like it was my job while it made zero sense why I didn't get hurt I didn't care what I appreciate it as much is that area weren't necessarily a flash in the pan so to say since the game levels you up I was able to go back to locations from the very beginning of the game wrap up some quests I had originally skipped and that's a change for margins I really appreciated since all the rewards are based on loot and made it doubly as enticing I found builds all the more important in AC Odyssey since he can't net every single skill and fully level it up in the game and then the buffs on both weapons and armor tailored towards specific play styles this made the blacksmith all the more valuable to the player because there were certain equipment setups I wanted to stick with and with the structure of the gameplay it makes for a very convincing case now the balance of land and sea activities also kept AC Odyssey fresh if I wasn't climbing a synchronization point clearing a base or a camp out and doing collectibles I was on the sea engaging in naval combat and flown on your ship can also be upgraded using materials that you collect throughout the world or by disassembling old equipment of yours you can upgrade the amount of Aero slash javelins fired special attacks like flaming arrows the amount of damage your RAM does or how much damage you can even take you can also assign lieutenants to your ship which are people from quests that you recruit and give you a little buffs such as additional ship armor or Aero damage and since the story rarely uses the ship outside of traversal and a few missions it often brought me back to Assassin's Creed 3 where the naval activities were there as a refreshing for array for me on the side since it wasn't such a focus despite being a prominent feature that's all I've really got for you guys on the gameplay last but not least let's cover the sound now Assassin's Creed has been consistently one of those sneaky good soundtracks I swear any time I use it in videos people are like what's this track from Odyssey is no different with some real standouts like a family theme Alcubierre song and also some exploration tracks that roll as you stroll about the world voice work is scattered mostly due to accents which aren't bad but felt inconsistent some voice actors couldn't perform with the accent as well as others and when you have one good example and one bad example in the same scene it kind of amplifies both ends there are sounds like birds chirping and scraping along the brush over head crushing stomps of a horse gallop that aren't overbearing the pound of a spartan kick almost in a cartoon fashion banter between NPCs and so on add to the world and make it feel more alive with a astute attention to detail finally let's wrap this all up with my verdict over all Assassin's Creed Odyssey manages to change up the formula more than any previous entry I appreciate the focus on choice and consequence dialog player interaction and storytelling the combat system is enjoyable even though the mercenary system manages to bog it down at times the koltes menu is easily my favorite addition for the gameplay as it helps build the world and create a unique billing group that feels palpable even after wrapping up the 50 our main story I had loads of the map left to explore like any other Assassin's Creed game heaps of quests and like I said that's after 50 hours this is an easy 80 to 90 hour game without accounting for hopping in with another protagonist trying out some different choices seeing how the world reacts to you where content wise you're certainly getting your money's worth and while quality is subjective I enjoyed most of what was there I'll be it encountering some frustrating moments my major complaints really came in with level gating plain bad romance and the annoying mercenaries but on the other side I adored the strides made to make this game feel different even if it leads to a bit of the series losing some sense of identity and what it grew up s overall I'd say keep this on your radar AC fans you should absolutely buy this open-world RPG Finn's you need to consider at least renting or picking this up on a sale now the reason I don't suggest skeptics go in on full price is because the choices and dialogue need work there's some systems in place that still need tweaking I'm sure the game can use some patching but this is still a good game that just may change your tune on Assassin's Creed in general and give you hope for the future and may make you a little sad that next year there isn't an assassin's Creed game here's that a series continuously improving I really enjoyed this foray and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments down below if you have any questions be sure to fire away and I'll catch you guys next time do consider supporting the patreon as it fuels all the content we create here stay sexy stay active I love you all peace

Channel: MrMattyPlays

Views: 53,592

Keywords: ac odyssey, ac odyssey review, assassins creed odyssey review, assassins creed mrmattyplays, assassins creed odyssey mrmattyplays, ac odyssey gameplay, ac odyssey discussion, assassins creed odyssey gameplay

Id: 7GYTYLm9cBM

Length: 17min 35sec (1055 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 01 2018