Assassin's Creed Origins in 2021: Was It Really THAT Good?

this episode is brought to you by my youtube members hit the join button below this video to learn how you can help support the content on this channel when people praise assassin's creed origins magic is the word they use to describe it the shifting sands of ancient egypt the powerful performances behind bayek and aya whatever it is there's something mystical about origins it's undeniable this game put a spell on me origins reminds me a lot of black flag it was a transitional game for the series ubisoft seized the opportunity to flip the script and refresh this franchise they came up with a formula that for me just didn't work at first why did assassin's creed need leveling experience points and a loot grind why did it strip away what made it unique in the first place why did it follow the path of other successful games instead of charting its own i think these are valid questions even still but let's focus on what happened instead of what could have been origins was jarring for me in 2017 to the point where i put it down and i moved on now in 2021 we have a trilogy of new assassin's creed games three massive open world action rpgs it's kind of staggering when you think about how youb managed to churn these out in the span of just four years if you follow the channel you might have seen my critique on valhalla i was harsh on the game because ultimately it didn't meet my expectations in the review i mentioned that origins is my favorite of the newest games i said it's absolutely brilliant it's my ideal version of this formula what i didn't mention though is that i hadn't actually completed the game by that point before last year i never played origins beyond alexandria which is in the first dozen hours of the game it's ridiculous to think about now but for one reason or another i never got past that point it wasn't for lack of enjoying myself it was a mix of newer games stealing my attention and my own stubbornness my unwillingness to accept change i felt the inevitable friction which comes when you encounter a massive philosophical shift in something that you love before valhalla came out i pushed through that barrier and on the other side i found the magic i fell in love with nearly everything assassin's creed origins does how it fills the voids left by the older games and explores newer ideas but more than anything it presents this new formula in a way that truly resonates with me to the point that i can't help but plant my flag and say yep this is the best of the most recent trilogy you can't make that kind of declaration without turning heads it invites everyone from all corners of a fandom to tell you why you are right or wrong i ran a poll in my channel asking people which new assassin's creed game was their favorite the results are so even that it made me realize this series has changed so much and has been around for so long that it means something different to everyone where you jumped in could easily shape your preferences and your expectations it's why a game like odyssey was a shock to the system for some but a refreshing change of pace for others [Music] so what does assassin's creed origins mean to me as someone who finished odyssey and valhalla before rolling the credits on origins it feels like unearthing a relic like i dusted off the cobwebs and ended up striking gold it's familiar in the context of the trilogy but for me it does enough to distinguish itself and not just because it came first origins is an origin story it takes us way back to tolmaic egypt to before the brotherhood even existed up to this point assassin's creed had only gone forward in time so setting the game in 49 bce felt like another way of signaling this was a clear reboot for the series through the eyes of bayek and aya we see how the hidden ones took form we see how loss sets them on a path of revenge how it gives them purpose and how it ultimately transforms them we see how it creates a rift in their union how it sets aya free to go on our own path to becoming amunette we see how they learn to let go of their past from the ashes they adopt a creed a set of ideals which forms the foundation of the brotherhood i found myself really buying into what origins is selling while it does have some retconning that might frustrate longtime fans it feels like an authentic foundation for the series to me so much of why this works is owed to the writing team and the performances abubakar saleem and alex wilton regan are just my god they're both so powerful and so commanding of every scene they're in i'll never forget bayek screams for shadya the way he turns into a dad every single time a kid is on the screen i'll never forget aya's transformation into amunet the way she channels her grief and how it gives her conviction and purpose the structure of this narrative is very familiar for an assassin's creed game hunt down targets who deserve to die encounter historical figures who help or hinder that progress and then at some point add an all-powerful relic to chase down origins does toe the line in that respect and i think it does it fairly well my one gripe is that i wish ub put more focus on the modern day's relevance in the animus that being said origins does a wonderful job weaving the target hunt into its main narrative this is something that the newer games choose to split into two separate questlines this is kind of cool in theory you'd think each part would have more focus since it's not relying on the other but i ended up caring a lot less about each target because they're not connected to main story beats in origins i know exactly why i'm killing the orders agents they're not just people on a list they're obstacles on bayek's revenge quest it makes the pursuit of these people and all of the supporting story lines in each area much more satisfying to me bayek is a megi in the same way that cassandra is a mistios and abor is a viking he's a fierce protector but he's also got this level of warmth that is so compelling to me he also feels like an assassin in the way the other two just don't he always wears the hood if you want him to in and out of combat he's quick he's agile he's able to sneak effectively thanks to solid stealth systems and he's great at climbing he never gets stuck and he never feels too heavy or slow despite the non-lethal assassinations that you can do in this game i was able to one-shot most enemies when i wanted to all of these factors together made bayek feel like edward to me a character that equally embodies the assassin and the era fantasy from the setting knowing that he was core to the founding of the hidden ones probably helps too of course we need to talk about aya it's clear that she was meant to be the protagonist of this game and while bayek's arc is satisfying ayas feels more relevant to the core ideals of this series she has the larger impact on the brotherhood and she really leads the charge where it feels like bayek follows it's almost like we're witnessing greatness the birth of a legend instead of living it we know why aya was sidelined i can't help but think about what origins would have been had i have been our protagonist in the end i still appreciated how these developers may do with the hand they were dealt because despite the circumstances i did end up connecting with both characters in a way that i won't forget when you look at origins within the context of the recent games it's easy to call it a stepping stone the mechanics might even feel dated if you've played the newest two combat has less options and there are fewer enemy types than you might expect the world is big enough to give that feeling of open world freedom but not so large or so dense that it could last for hundreds of hours looting gear is limited to weapons and there's only one slot dedicated to what you're wearing there are many more examples and to me these are what make all the difference if you take a closer look at each of these on paper you'll notice something in common these mechanics they're simplistic when you know how these ideas evolved origin's take on this stuff feels like baby steps compared to the leaps taken after i choose to look at it in another way these decisions weren't for lack of imagination or fear of change origins is already a huge departure from what the series was before the simplicity is intentional it represents focus and refinement this is a video game with clear ideas vision and identity with some exceptions few things feel frivolous or unnecessary if valhalla is a broad jack of all trades game that offers a lot of things the player can do then origins hones in on a smaller group of ideas and encourages you to fully explore them part of this has to do with the nature of game design ubisoft had to build many systems for origins from scratch it's the first game to use a bird companion for recon the first to use a skill tree the first to do many things we recognize as normal now features exist in origins because they were concepted and created for this video game whipping out a torch and exploring a tomb feels incredible because that functionality exists to support that fantasy i'm not trying to say that sequels can't repurpose or expand on existing ideas that's what a sequel is supposed to do and there are so many examples of games that do it very well but for me i really do feel like origins approaches these ideas the best of all these games and i do feel that part of that is because these mechanics were built specifically for this game they're intentional they draw a clear line from purpose to execution for example why is there a bird in valhalla sure odin has ravens but montreal removed the ability to use the bird for recon at best it's to survey your surroundings and soak in the beautiful environment but the primary function of that mechanic just doesn't exist anymore to me it feels like a weird leftover from the previous games it's part of the identity of the series now sure but it serves less gameplay purpose and that just sucks across the board origins is filled with content that respects my time its systems were designed with clear intention it's not bloated with features that don't have purpose and it doesn't ask me to devote endless hours to see everything i have no problem with a game that keeps going as long as i'm still having fun origins meets that requirement and it's thanks to the overall approach of depth over breadth with the reboot origins replace the counterkill gameplay with a hitbox style system this makes the player consider more than timing you're thinking about spacing movement and prioritizing targets they added a shield for blocking and the ability to parry attacks which basically replaces the counter when i picked up origins again i struggled with two things blocking and parrying i was getting stomped on hard and i didn't understand why turns out the block radius in origins is much smaller than valhalla i didn't understand how to parry because in this game you have to manually hold up your shield to block and then press another button to parry this seems like a minor detail not even worth mentioning but for the combat designers it represents a very specific decision by forcing the player to block in order to parry it makes the parry a more conscious decision it's something you plan for you recognize the opportunity in an attack pattern and take advantage at the right moment in the following games the parry feels different to me it's more aggressive in odyssey because it's a way to attack since there's no shields it's somewhere in the middle in valhalla giving you the option to parry if you want to but not incentivizing it as much speaking of timing the perry window is much tighter in origins to the point where i spent more time studying enemies to see when their strikes land rather than pressing a single button right when their attack animation begins it's in this way that the parry feels less reactionary and more deliberate by shortening the timing it raises the skill curve to the point where it forced me to learn how to use it another key difference i noticed origins has very few if any unblockable and unparriable attacks in the most recent games the player has a single option to deal with these moves get out of the way origins lets you parry these adding a satisfying degree of risk and reward you can try to nail the timing but if you fail you might be dead these design decisions reflect one thing to me intentionality origins combat feels deliberate it has a rhythm that neither game after it captures or surpasses the effect is that every fight had my attention it forced me to think and consider decisions to use different tools and to focus on a set of clearly defined rules because it was more difficult it actually forced me to do more stealth this is very much my preference and there's valid reasons to like a more fast-paced style but this one is for me i was shocked by how functional stealth and detection is in this game maybe that's because i just played valhalla which currently has a broken stealth system in origins enemies don't detect you through objects there are multiple phases of detection which lets me slip away if they didn't see me but making them hunt me down if they did there's predictable ai patterns that don't surprise me and thankfully there are tools like the sleep dart and smoke to support that playstyle i would have liked more stealth items in the toolbar but it's hard to complain when you compare origin stealth to the following two games it just works the hidden blade not being automatically lethal is definitely a downside but again i rarely ran into that problem because i upgraded my blade all things considered i was able to use stealth effectively throughout my playthrough which is not something i can say for the rest of the trilogy origins is a beautiful video game it captures every expectation that i had for egypt but i was more blown away by the cities and the people i've been to every major settlement in the game and not a single one felt copy pasted individual houses are hand placed and they support the number of people walking around outside of cities are fields of irrigation with intricate machines used for agriculture cities have subsections filled with bespoke environmental pieces placed by hand npcs follow day night cycles and travel along routes creating a believable atmosphere that immerses me in this world now i could sit here and probably pick apart origins and find things that are contrived but i'd argue this game absolutely nails it on world design ancient egypt thrived because of the nile river its predictability and fertile soil empowered the egyptians to build an empire on the basis of great agricultural wealth so what does that mean for this video game ubisoft bakes that into the world large areas are dedicated to agriculture many side quests deal with the food supply and how those in control of it take advantage of the people who rely on it this is one example of how world design quest design and narrative design are in perfect concert with one another it creates a level of immersion that sucked me in and just didn't let go this approach to world design does come with costs two of this series most unique and identifiable mechanics suffered for it the first is parkour ancient egypt simply does not have an environment to facilitate parkour yubi gets around this by adding ropes that link structures together placing trees to help us navigate above the ground and crowding houses together to form routes but the reality is there's not as much freedom of movement and although bayek has great animation and moves quickly enough parkour becomes a means to an end environments exist more to support the world rather than to support the gameplay the other mechanic that was scrapped because of the setting and the environment is crowd blending while there are enough people in cities there aren't enough crowds packed together to really support this feature plus everything is just more spaced out the older games used packed cities with tons of buildings as a way to funnel people into larger crowds it made the world feel alive but it also served a clear purpose for gameplay origins can't support that environment so it ditches the idea altogether i hate it because i understand why they did it even if i didn't want them to but i was more than happy to explore this gorgeous world and check out the side content the approach to side quests was inspired of course by the witcher 3. quest designers avoided fetch quests checklists and always made sure the plot went in surprising directions the result is a rich mix of storytelling that often connects back to the main plot or the setting for example when bayek is investigating the lizard in memphis there's a set of side quests which support that investigation they provide a ton of context into what the lizard is doing why they're doing it and how it affects the people these aren't required to enjoy or understand the main story but they certainly fill in gaps in meaningful ways there are so many side activities outside of quests some more interesting than others the highlights for me are tombs stone circles and papyrus riddles these all offer a change of pace and encourage exploration climbing and figuring things out on your own which i'm a big fan of this game does an excellent job of luring me with its world design i couldn't help but visit every single pyramid because i could spot them from miles away and when i got to each of them i was rewarded with a tomb activity it just tapped into my intrinsic motivation with optional content in a way that surprised me a huge criticism for origins is the introduction of forts and bandit camps these are areas with location objectives that ask you to kill certain enemies and loot chests for no other reason than to do them these feel like unnecessary clutter to me but i will say i'm glad i wasn't forced to do them i focused on all of the other side content and only cleared camps if i felt like it which was great for me luckily the stealth and detection systems are so rock solid in this game that i was able to slip in and out of most of these areas without conflict if i wanted to ultimately origins is masterful in its world design pyramids deserts and lush river valleys combine with believable mpc behavior and interesting side content to create an incredible open world in one of the most unique settings in video games with origins ubisoft decided to dive head first into the rpg elements assassin's creed has always had progression systems and for many people this felt like a natural evolution but there are three fundamental ways that this formula just doesn't work for me the first is leveling i get it you get a sparkly animation you hear a sound cue and you spend your skill point we've all done the drill this feels contrived for me but also it's a missed opportunity through the interface when you choose skills and gear it feels like the simulation is paused that makes sense because we're technically layla experiencing bayek's memories but if there was some contextualized meaning behind the animus for leveling up i could have bought that instead it exists to fit the genre and that's a bit disappointing the second rpg sin is looting i like upgrades as much as the next guy but not when it takes me out of the action and disrupts the gameplay loop most of the gear is designed to be a slight upgrade over your last piece which means unless you prefer the weapon type you're using nine times out of ten you're gonna get an upgrade even if it's just a couple more damage per second everyone who plays this game dives into the pause screen to equip the better piece or they head to the blacksmith to upgrade what they like to use i realize this is very subjective but most looter rpgs don't do this well i'd rather collect gear less often in more meaningful ways and only if it fundamentally changes my play style not when it has slight statistical advantages that i can't even feel in gameplay the third rpg sin is level gating this is the most egregious frankly shocking form of level gaining that i could ever remember in a video game to the point that on hard i could not face enemies more than three levels higher than mine i had no problem doing side content because again i think it's genuinely great in origins but that's a decision you should leave to the player if i want to focus on the main story i should be able to do that there's another consequence to level requirements it funnels everyone into a predetermined order of doing side quests but what ends up happening is probably most people are playing the same quests in order to progress and that's just not something you want in an open world game leveling looting and level gating feel like arbitrary gamey elements that were used to fit assassin's creed into the rpg instead of made to fit assassin's creed i play rpgs and i like rpgs that use these ideas but i would have preferred the series stick to its action roots with these however origins does a great job with its skill tree it branches in separate directions forcing you to commit to a certain playstyle by rewarding you with new or enhanced abilities to fit that way of playing for example you won't get smoke screen unless you invest towards the seer side you won't have chain assassinations unless you spend points in the hunter site and unlike valhalla you're not going to unlock every single skill unless you do every single piece of content including the dlcs that means there's true consequence with your skills you have to make interesting decisions with a plus and a minus that have an impact on gameplay another key difference for origins is the lack of dialogue options odyssey introduced this and valhalla carried it forward letting the player guide conversations and occasionally make decisions with consequences origins gives you one script one outcome and to me it's just more effective because of it i don't feel enough agency with cassandra or avor to warrant choosing what they say bayek feels like a more realized more cohesive character by contrast cut scenes feel long and drawn out when you have to pause to select options which more often than not just don't make a difference and with less faces to animate for the team side characters benefit from animations and scenes that feel authentic instead of procedurally generated basically i just don't see dialogue options as a worthy trade-off unless i'm truly able to shape my protagonist in ways that are tangible that matter origins captures almost exactly what i want out of the action rpg version of assassin's creed it's so effective in all phases a powerful narrative clean and refined gameplay and excellent world building i can't help but praise it as much as possible except for one thing microtransactions this is where that live service paid content and single player game model took a firm hold and didn't let go it's less aggressive here but its success led to the later games growing larger and selling more content it's a black mark on an otherwise spotless video game for me you can look at origins and depending on how you feel say this was the beginning of what you really didn't want from the series and i get that i think that's a completely fair perspective considering how odyssey really does deviate from the formula and valhalla is for me this wishy-washy blend of the two i choose to look at what origins does on its own and for better or worse i'm really happy yubi made this game it presents a new version of assassin's creed that works to the point that it's more than a worthy entry it's now one of my favorites in the franchise and i can't end the video without mentioning dlc the hidden ones is absolutely fantastic it delves deep into the philosophy of the brotherhood that the main game never touches offering up one of the most impactful side quests i've played in a very long time it gave me chills the curse of the pharaohs takes a completely different approach but thebes is another wonderful environment i was more than happy to get lost in i know there was a lot of hype for this video so i want to thank you guys so much for being patient and for watching if you enjoyed this please let me know by hitting that like button and subscribing to the channel you can hit the bell too so you don't miss my next video and don't worry we'll be talking more about assassin's creed you can also follow me on twitter i'm at jv on yt and instagram i'm jv.yt for updates on all of my content if you want to chat more about assassin's creed and other games join our community discord server over at discord.gg jv on yt links for everything are in the description below big thanks to my youtube members ultra fans dave grass cullen bill and cam superfans kamal tipsy sergey tarl k ryan rabby and william fans john matthew spyro jvo level 42 joe and bloodsky and supporters nos sung adam mr hollow quickness ferkin john jay sam and abashek for supporting the channel if you want to fund the content that you see on this channel click the join button below this video in exchange for your support you'll unlock custom badges emotes and monthly play sessions with the community check the link in the description for more information thank you guys so much for watching and i'll talk to you next time you

Channel: jayvee

Views: 666,619

Keywords: JV2017, JV2017gameplay, jayvee, assassins creed, assassins creed origins, ac origins, ac origins review, ac origins review 2021, assassins creed origins review 2021, ac origins 2021, ac origins review in 2021, ac valhalla, ac origins vs valhalla, origins review, jayvee assassins creed, origins review in 2021, assassins creed review, open world games, ac origins bayek, ac origins aya, ac origins in 2021, best assassins creed, best ac games, ac games ranked

Id: tH6rjkl9pHI

Length: 28min 32sec (1712 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 30 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/compulsive_looter]

Excellent! My new favourite Origins review - thanks for bringing it to our attention!