Coming off the formula-altering but pleasantly surprising Assassin’s Creed Origins, I expected Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to similarly wow me when I first played it in 2018. That year I was put off by its length, and gave it another try in 2020, finally finishing it but again falling short of completing the DLC. Now I’ve played it once more in 2023, and completed the entire story but lost motivation to 100% it. These failed attempts to experience everything the game has to offer gave me one of my most pertinent takeaways—more content doesn’t mean more fun. Odyssey is not a terrible game, but thinking about playing it gives me a headache, and that really says a lot.
Pros:
- The story isn’t god-tier level, but it's still a pretty solid tale of Kassandra (the female protagonist, who is canon in lore) trying to reunite her family, scattered across the Greek world. Her odyssey takes her through many scenic and interesting locations, and puts her on both sides of the somewhat fictionalized Peloponnesian War. It was always just short of being emotionally compelling, but is still interesting enough to enjoy, at least a little bit.
- The inclusion of choice-driven storytelling was a bit out of place in the Assassin’s Creed series, but looking at Odyssey in a vacuum, it's not all that bad. Without getting too specific, there are nine endings that differ in who’s at Kassandra’s side when her odyssey comes to a close. Most of the decisions that influence this ending are pretty noticeable when they come up, so you won’t be too blindsided once you’ve seen their effects. There are also a bunch of smaller decisions that can be made through the game that can make your life easier (or harder) in the moment that let you play Kassandra how you want…provided you’re okay with “helpful and rational” and “arrogant and boastful” being the main two shades of her personality.
- I personally don’t like many of the side quests, but I won’t lie that they are generally pretty distinct from each other, which is one major advantage this game has against its predecessor. If you pace yourself with them, they’re fairly enjoyable. One Really, Really Bad Day in Lokris was by far my favorite.
- Kassandra’s journey eventually pits her against the Cult of Kosmos; I won’t get into their relevance in the plot, but rather the system players use to hunt them down. Killing one cultist reveals clues towards the whereabouts of the others, which in turn encourages exploration and investigation at your own leisure. This game is at its best when the player isn’t constrained by specific objectives, so “hunt every cultist however you want” was very enjoyable.
- Gameplay wise, Odyssey differs from even its RPG predecessor Origins by including abilities that utilize one of three damage types: Assassin (stealth-based damage), Warrior (combat damage), and Hunter (ranged damage). Using these abilities to their fullest is imperative to having fun in this game, and with legendary gear that gives benefits to particular abilities, damage types, and playstyles, it is very easy to get insanely broken. And it is AWESOME. You can get basically every ability to one or two-shot enemies and turn Kassandra into a god. Super enjoyable experience.
- Two other game mechanics I had a lot of fun with were region allegiances and naval battles. Each region belongs to either the Delian (Athens) or Peloponnesian (Sparta) League, and by destroying supplies, killing soldiers, and assassinating leaders, you can flip allegiances at will (save for Athens and Sparta themselves, sadly). These flips are dictated by who wins a ground or naval assault, which are both a great time to fight in. Naval combat was my personal favorite, because ships are dope, and the Adrestia (Kassandra’s ship) can be upgraded to be the classical Greek equivalent of an aircraft carrier.
- One thing in Odyssey I will not tolerate criticism of is the design and attention to detail of Greece. Assassin’s Creed’s developers have always read their history, and while some things are changed for gameplay purposes, their environments are insanely good at approximating what life in the past would have been like. Strolling through Athens slowly, just taking in the atmosphere, climbing its landmarks…just amazing. The beaches on Aegean islands are honestly beautiful, and the ancient Minoan temples in Argolis and Thera have such good vibes. Though, I am a history major, so maybe I’m biased. Bonus points for including a Discovery Tour mode that feeds you actual information about classical Greek society and history.
- Of the two DLCs, The Fate of Atlantis is indisputably the better one, with three mythical locations to explore, a vastly more interesting story, sick new abilities, and a dump truck of Assassin’s Creed lore if that’s why you’re playing. The realms (Elysium, the underworld, and Atlantis) are amazingly designed and unlike many locations in the main game, have much more parkour-ability reminiscent of older titles. Unlike Legacy of the First Blade, I actually enjoyed playing through this one.
Cons:
- The dialogue and delivery for major characters is nothing to write home about, save for Kassandra’s voice actress herself who is pretty good—though I don’t think Alexios (the male protagonist) matches up. He sounds a little goofy. The dialogue writing and delivery for other NPCs is not terribly good. It’s serviceable at best and bland at worst. If you’re going for the 100% you’re going to hear the same voices (and sometimes the same models) over and over again.
- Facial expressions and animations are a little stiff and definitely repetitive, which isn’t helped by the fact that this game has a single-digit number of real cutscenes. By “real cutscenes”, I mean cutscenes that don’t just consist of two characters standing and speaking face-to-face in real time. I will concede that these types of cutscenes are more economical for such a massive game, but nevertheless they are pretty visually uninteresting.
- It's no question that the RPG-styled Assassin’s Creed games deviate from the traditional experience, with an open-world, abilities, simplified control scheme, and quest system. If you don’t think these mechanics belong in an Assassin's Creed game, then Odyssey probably isn’t for you. On this playthrough, I tried to embrace the “Greece RPG” side of this game more, but still found mechanics I didn’t think belonged. Hunter damage should not be split from stealth damage, since it makes bows hit with the force of a wet napkin if you don’t build for it. Some abilities also cheapen the stealth experience, including Death Veil (which straight up deletes corpses), Critical Assassinate (you have to HOLD a button to one-shot assassinate some enemies), and Leap of Faith (you don’t take any fall damage??? what’s the risk in jumping off buildings?). These three abilities were fun from a RPG standpoint, but not an Assassin’s Creed standpoint.
- The parkour animations in the RPG Assassin’s Creed games is not as artsy and satisfying as it has been in previous games since it's now tied to only one button instead of several, and almost all surfaces can be climbed regardless if they look like they’re missing holds. The simplification has phased out many cool moves like side jumps and back ejects, and while it’s easier to pull off, the parkour is occasionally unresponsive. Trying to freerun forward instead of up or down is virtually impossible. Jumping on beams and vertical poles was especially finicky in my experience.
- While I did praise how unique some of the side quests are, many of those (along with some parts of the main quest) essentially amount to “go here and do thing.” This is a mission structure I wouldn’t dislike so much if the map for this game wasn’t so big, with some many locations that play the exact same as every other one. This game is probably one of the most checklist-y Ubisoft games out there, with virtually every location having x amount of chests, war supplies, and captains to plunder, destroy, or maim. Combined with the main quest, the 100% for this game is at least 120 hours or more. Hard pass, though I got close.
- There are a bunch of tiny things that aren’t that bad on their own, but kept wearing down on me since I played this game for so long. You can’t ping Daughter of Artemis (a faction) after completing their questline, dead mercenaries still trick the unread indicator above their tab in the menu, some bushes have gaps that break stealth, enemies sometimes climb up ladders at wonky times (which can lead to the spotting you), the Adrestia takes WAY too long to upgrade fully (don’t do it. please), wild animals just attack you whenever you want and grab the attention of enemies, and oil vases randomly break when you ever so slightly bump into them. Those were the main things I noticed.
- To my utter despair, the Legacy of the First Blade DLC, despite showcasing one of the most significant characters in the Assassin’s Creed lore (at least in-universe), was super boring. The DLC runs on for way too long, doesn’t have very many compelling characters, and forces the protagonist into a straight romance with the blandest man/woman on the planet. Don’t buy it.
Objective rating: 3.5 stars
Subjective rating: 3 stars
Pros:
- The story isn’t god-tier level, but it's still a pretty solid tale of Kassandra (the female protagonist, who is canon in lore) trying to reunite her family, scattered across the Greek world. Her odyssey takes her through many scenic and interesting locations, and puts her on both sides of the somewhat fictionalized Peloponnesian War. It was always just short of being emotionally compelling, but is still interesting enough to enjoy, at least a little bit.
- The inclusion of choice-driven storytelling was a bit out of place in the Assassin’s Creed series, but looking at Odyssey in a vacuum, it's not all that bad. Without getting too specific, there are nine endings that differ in who’s at Kassandra’s side when her odyssey comes to a close. Most of the decisions that influence this ending are pretty noticeable when they come up, so you won’t be too blindsided once you’ve seen their effects. There are also a bunch of smaller decisions that can be made through the game that can make your life easier (or harder) in the moment that let you play Kassandra how you want…provided you’re okay with “helpful and rational” and “arrogant and boastful” being the main two shades of her personality.
- I personally don’t like many of the side quests, but I won’t lie that they are generally pretty distinct from each other, which is one major advantage this game has against its predecessor. If you pace yourself with them, they’re fairly enjoyable. One Really, Really Bad Day in Lokris was by far my favorite.
- Kassandra’s journey eventually pits her against the Cult of Kosmos; I won’t get into their relevance in the plot, but rather the system players use to hunt them down. Killing one cultist reveals clues towards the whereabouts of the others, which in turn encourages exploration and investigation at your own leisure. This game is at its best when the player isn’t constrained by specific objectives, so “hunt every cultist however you want” was very enjoyable.
- Gameplay wise, Odyssey differs from even its RPG predecessor Origins by including abilities that utilize one of three damage types: Assassin (stealth-based damage), Warrior (combat damage), and Hunter (ranged damage). Using these abilities to their fullest is imperative to having fun in this game, and with legendary gear that gives benefits to particular abilities, damage types, and playstyles, it is very easy to get insanely broken. And it is AWESOME. You can get basically every ability to one or two-shot enemies and turn Kassandra into a god. Super enjoyable experience.
- Two other game mechanics I had a lot of fun with were region allegiances and naval battles. Each region belongs to either the Delian (Athens) or Peloponnesian (Sparta) League, and by destroying supplies, killing soldiers, and assassinating leaders, you can flip allegiances at will (save for Athens and Sparta themselves, sadly). These flips are dictated by who wins a ground or naval assault, which are both a great time to fight in. Naval combat was my personal favorite, because ships are dope, and the Adrestia (Kassandra’s ship) can be upgraded to be the classical Greek equivalent of an aircraft carrier.
- One thing in Odyssey I will not tolerate criticism of is the design and attention to detail of Greece. Assassin’s Creed’s developers have always read their history, and while some things are changed for gameplay purposes, their environments are insanely good at approximating what life in the past would have been like. Strolling through Athens slowly, just taking in the atmosphere, climbing its landmarks…just amazing. The beaches on Aegean islands are honestly beautiful, and the ancient Minoan temples in Argolis and Thera have such good vibes. Though, I am a history major, so maybe I’m biased. Bonus points for including a Discovery Tour mode that feeds you actual information about classical Greek society and history.
- Of the two DLCs, The Fate of Atlantis is indisputably the better one, with three mythical locations to explore, a vastly more interesting story, sick new abilities, and a dump truck of Assassin’s Creed lore if that’s why you’re playing. The realms (Elysium, the underworld, and Atlantis) are amazingly designed and unlike many locations in the main game, have much more parkour-ability reminiscent of older titles. Unlike Legacy of the First Blade, I actually enjoyed playing through this one.
Cons:
- The dialogue and delivery for major characters is nothing to write home about, save for Kassandra’s voice actress herself who is pretty good—though I don’t think Alexios (the male protagonist) matches up. He sounds a little goofy. The dialogue writing and delivery for other NPCs is not terribly good. It’s serviceable at best and bland at worst. If you’re going for the 100% you’re going to hear the same voices (and sometimes the same models) over and over again.
- Facial expressions and animations are a little stiff and definitely repetitive, which isn’t helped by the fact that this game has a single-digit number of real cutscenes. By “real cutscenes”, I mean cutscenes that don’t just consist of two characters standing and speaking face-to-face in real time. I will concede that these types of cutscenes are more economical for such a massive game, but nevertheless they are pretty visually uninteresting.
- It's no question that the RPG-styled Assassin’s Creed games deviate from the traditional experience, with an open-world, abilities, simplified control scheme, and quest system. If you don’t think these mechanics belong in an Assassin's Creed game, then Odyssey probably isn’t for you. On this playthrough, I tried to embrace the “Greece RPG” side of this game more, but still found mechanics I didn’t think belonged. Hunter damage should not be split from stealth damage, since it makes bows hit with the force of a wet napkin if you don’t build for it. Some abilities also cheapen the stealth experience, including Death Veil (which straight up deletes corpses), Critical Assassinate (you have to HOLD a button to one-shot assassinate some enemies), and Leap of Faith (you don’t take any fall damage??? what’s the risk in jumping off buildings?). These three abilities were fun from a RPG standpoint, but not an Assassin’s Creed standpoint.
- The parkour animations in the RPG Assassin’s Creed games is not as artsy and satisfying as it has been in previous games since it's now tied to only one button instead of several, and almost all surfaces can be climbed regardless if they look like they’re missing holds. The simplification has phased out many cool moves like side jumps and back ejects, and while it’s easier to pull off, the parkour is occasionally unresponsive. Trying to freerun forward instead of up or down is virtually impossible. Jumping on beams and vertical poles was especially finicky in my experience.
- While I did praise how unique some of the side quests are, many of those (along with some parts of the main quest) essentially amount to “go here and do thing.” This is a mission structure I wouldn’t dislike so much if the map for this game wasn’t so big, with some many locations that play the exact same as every other one. This game is probably one of the most checklist-y Ubisoft games out there, with virtually every location having x amount of chests, war supplies, and captains to plunder, destroy, or maim. Combined with the main quest, the 100% for this game is at least 120 hours or more. Hard pass, though I got close.
- There are a bunch of tiny things that aren’t that bad on their own, but kept wearing down on me since I played this game for so long. You can’t ping Daughter of Artemis (a faction) after completing their questline, dead mercenaries still trick the unread indicator above their tab in the menu, some bushes have gaps that break stealth, enemies sometimes climb up ladders at wonky times (which can lead to the spotting you), the Adrestia takes WAY too long to upgrade fully (don’t do it. please), wild animals just attack you whenever you want and grab the attention of enemies, and oil vases randomly break when you ever so slightly bump into them. Those were the main things I noticed.
- To my utter despair, the Legacy of the First Blade DLC, despite showcasing one of the most significant characters in the Assassin’s Creed lore (at least in-universe), was super boring. The DLC runs on for way too long, doesn’t have very many compelling characters, and forces the protagonist into a straight romance with the blandest man/woman on the planet. Don’t buy it.
Objective rating: 3.5 stars
Subjective rating: 3 stars