DS_Joost
Member
So I have owned and Assassin's Creed Odyssey since it came out last October, but I have just recently really gotten into it. I am now 35 hours in and my god is this game much better than several people's reaction would've let me to believe it is. Most of the discussions surrounding the game revolved around the microtransactions and the fact that people think the game is artificially grindy. I for one, can understand such concerns, however I do believe that has been removed with the last update containing level-scaling options. Now, onto why I think it's one of the best games of this generation:
What is so special about this game, for me, is that it feels like something more than just the sum of it's parts. It's not the different gameplay elements, or the different stories, or the world, or all that. For me, it's the combination of all these things that make it so fantastic. I will try to put into words because I find it very difficult, but once the game clicked, it clicked really hard and I am enjoying every second of it. What is important to know is that the title of the game is Odyssey, and it is at it's absolute best when it embraces that concept. It feels like an Odyssey through the sheer variety of quests, but also the vastness of the world that is realized wonderfully. For me, the world feels alive and rife with stories to uncover, from the three main questlines to the smaller ones sometimes contained to one island. I am now at the rebellion quest on Mykonos and having Barnabas read the quest description proved to me that there was something more to this game than meets the eye. The genuine feel of that conversation got to me, where I realized how many great stories had already crossed my path and that there will be many more to come. I was just about to embark on a new one. What I mean is that it feels not just like a main story with some small quests, but like you are building the legend of (in my case) Kassandra, having a whole mythology build around you with every step that you take. It honestly gave me a-thousand-and-one-nights vibe. Realizing there and then that this story began on Kephallonia and then having it go all the way through here (having been to Athens, Korinth, Megaris and all that having left that behind) I am beginning to see the scope of this thing. It is for me the first Assassin's Creed game I have ever truly enjoyed, but perhaps that is because it is an Assassin's Creed game in name only. Every other part of this feels like it was build in a vacuum (it wasn't I know), to be this singular game, not as part of a series.
It is in fact when it betrays it's part of a series heritage that the game falls down. The modern day sequences aren't just forced in, they feel like they jank me right out of the experiences. That and a couple of other minor niggles are the only things I have against it. The combat system is superb, the movement (god the responsiveness of the movement... take note devs!), the mythological creatures, finding a certain lost city, the stories of all the different people, sometimes the completely unforeseen consequences of your actions. The beautiful locations to explore, those breath-taking moments standing on a beach watching the sun goes down. I can't stop playing it. There is wonderful moment after wonderful moment. Atmosphere is one of the most important aspects of a game for me, in order to hook me. What is atmosphere? The stories, the buildings, the vastness of the plains, the sun rising and setting, the way the light of torches bounces off walls, the music, the implication of everything that you do... it is almost unexplainable. I just know Odyssey has it in spades, just like Skyrim, or Mass Effect for example.
I am sorry I am vague here. But there is this feeling while playing this game that I haven't had for a long time. A truly special feeling I don't get often. Last time I had this, it was with the old Mass Effect Trilogy.
If you haven't tried it already, do it. And ignore those who say it is level-gated or whatever. Unless you want blast through the main storyline (which god honest, who would WANT this in a game as beautifully crafted as this, with so much attention to detail almost everywhere) there is absolutely no problem.
And no, I am not a Ubisoft employee. Not even a Ubisoft fan. I am just honest enough to acknowledge something special when I have it in my hands. And right now, I do. Game is the most underrated game of last year, in my opinion. In fact, like the title says, it is one of my favourite games this whole generation.
Edit: I wanted to add though that I've recently had a discussion about this with a friend of mine and we both believe that the reason this game works so well is because Greece itself is just such a wonderful location where all this different elements combine together so greatly. It really ties it up. I could not think of a better location for this, because Greece is both beautiful, mysterious, mythological, vast and well known, and we both seriously doubt all this would work in a different location. I myself would not want to be the game director on the next installment, so to speak.
What is so special about this game, for me, is that it feels like something more than just the sum of it's parts. It's not the different gameplay elements, or the different stories, or the world, or all that. For me, it's the combination of all these things that make it so fantastic. I will try to put into words because I find it very difficult, but once the game clicked, it clicked really hard and I am enjoying every second of it. What is important to know is that the title of the game is Odyssey, and it is at it's absolute best when it embraces that concept. It feels like an Odyssey through the sheer variety of quests, but also the vastness of the world that is realized wonderfully. For me, the world feels alive and rife with stories to uncover, from the three main questlines to the smaller ones sometimes contained to one island. I am now at the rebellion quest on Mykonos and having Barnabas read the quest description proved to me that there was something more to this game than meets the eye. The genuine feel of that conversation got to me, where I realized how many great stories had already crossed my path and that there will be many more to come. I was just about to embark on a new one. What I mean is that it feels not just like a main story with some small quests, but like you are building the legend of (in my case) Kassandra, having a whole mythology build around you with every step that you take. It honestly gave me a-thousand-and-one-nights vibe. Realizing there and then that this story began on Kephallonia and then having it go all the way through here (having been to Athens, Korinth, Megaris and all that having left that behind) I am beginning to see the scope of this thing. It is for me the first Assassin's Creed game I have ever truly enjoyed, but perhaps that is because it is an Assassin's Creed game in name only. Every other part of this feels like it was build in a vacuum (it wasn't I know), to be this singular game, not as part of a series.
It is in fact when it betrays it's part of a series heritage that the game falls down. The modern day sequences aren't just forced in, they feel like they jank me right out of the experiences. That and a couple of other minor niggles are the only things I have against it. The combat system is superb, the movement (god the responsiveness of the movement... take note devs!), the mythological creatures, finding a certain lost city, the stories of all the different people, sometimes the completely unforeseen consequences of your actions. The beautiful locations to explore, those breath-taking moments standing on a beach watching the sun goes down. I can't stop playing it. There is wonderful moment after wonderful moment. Atmosphere is one of the most important aspects of a game for me, in order to hook me. What is atmosphere? The stories, the buildings, the vastness of the plains, the sun rising and setting, the way the light of torches bounces off walls, the music, the implication of everything that you do... it is almost unexplainable. I just know Odyssey has it in spades, just like Skyrim, or Mass Effect for example.
I am sorry I am vague here. But there is this feeling while playing this game that I haven't had for a long time. A truly special feeling I don't get often. Last time I had this, it was with the old Mass Effect Trilogy.
If you haven't tried it already, do it. And ignore those who say it is level-gated or whatever. Unless you want blast through the main storyline (which god honest, who would WANT this in a game as beautifully crafted as this, with so much attention to detail almost everywhere) there is absolutely no problem.
And no, I am not a Ubisoft employee. Not even a Ubisoft fan. I am just honest enough to acknowledge something special when I have it in my hands. And right now, I do. Game is the most underrated game of last year, in my opinion. In fact, like the title says, it is one of my favourite games this whole generation.
Edit: I wanted to add though that I've recently had a discussion about this with a friend of mine and we both believe that the reason this game works so well is because Greece itself is just such a wonderful location where all this different elements combine together so greatly. It really ties it up. I could not think of a better location for this, because Greece is both beautiful, mysterious, mythological, vast and well known, and we both seriously doubt all this would work in a different location. I myself would not want to be the game director on the next installment, so to speak.
Last edited:
