An 85-hour review of Assassin's Creed Odyssey

I've been a fan of the AC series since it began in 2008. When they were released, I snapped up and completed the first three games and spent considerable time playing Black Flag, but I couldn't get into the rest. Personal and professional life circumstances meant I had no spare time to dedicate to the games. I've bought all the games and dabbled in each over time, but I've only put in a few hours at most.

So, I was surprised to find that Odyssey hooked me so deeply.

The game is set in ancient Greece, during the Peloponnesian War and long before the existence of the Assassins or Templars. You take on the role of a mercenary descendant of Leonidas, the legendary Spartan warrior who led the 300 Spartans against the Persians at the Hot Gates. You start small as a mercenary on a remote island, taking on jobs and tasks to help local villagers. Eventually, you end up fighting land and sea battles alongside historical generals and debating politics and philosophy in the ancient agoras of Athens.

This game is a work of passion. The gamified version of Greece provides an enormous playground for you to explore, hunt, and discover its secrets. It's a beautiful landscape, from the grain fields of Arkadia to the volcanic islands in the Aegean Sea, to the temples of Korinthia and the sandy beaches of the pirate islands. The world is lit beautifully, from the golden dawns to the washed-out fog at night that can hinder your navigation. This game was made to be indulged and enjoyed. This odyssey is not for you if you want to rush the story or max your stats quickly.

The gameplay mixes open-world RPG mechanics, stealth and action combat. The prologue starts you in the sandals of a mighty warrior and teaches combat mechanics. I struggled to grasp the controls early on. But as the game continued, I became more familiar with and built my character to suit my play style. You will find that you are very vulnerable as a low-level player. Taking on an enemy encampment or battling multiple pirate ships will soon see you reloading from your last save. But as the game progresses and you increase your strength, armour, and weapons, you'll find that even the bounty hunters aren't too much of a bother. One tip I want to share is to take on some of the bounty side quests posted around the towns and from the people you encounter in your travels. Early on, these side quests help boost your XP and stave off the threat of being rapidly overwhelmed by your enemies. Ultimately, you will become a virtual demi-god, and NPCs in the game refer to you as such. You can engage characters through dialogue choices, which sometimes have far-reaching consequences.

You can outfit your character in the armour of weapons you choose. ACO also allows you to select the look of your outfit. So you don't have to spend the whole game looking at an immense helmet on your head if you prefer it represented as a tiny eye patch. Odyssey does the complete power fantasy rather well if you give it time.

I enjoyed the narrative that accompanied my playthrough. I chose to play Alexios, the male character. However, after finishing the game, I learned that Kassandra is the canon character for this tale. The main story is divided into three quests (or Odysseys). You will search for your family, recover artefacts of the Isu and hunt down members of the Cult of Kosmos. There are many, many, MANY other stories and quests to discover and play through, but these three form the main storyline of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

I enjoyed the game so much that I jumped in and out of the main story as it suited me. The family quest is central to the game's narrative. It answers questions about the events of the prologue and how you find yourself on a remote island at the start of the game. The artefacts' story ties into the lore of Assassin's Creed, Isu, and pieces of Eden. This story is essential to the game, as without it... well, this wouldn't be much of an Assassin's Creed game. There is no mention of assassins, Desmond, or much else that would otherwise tie this game to the larger AC storyline.

The Cult story, though, is where the real fun lies. Once uncovered, you are encouraged to hunt and kill the various members of a cult. Quests and locations will reveal clues to Cult members and their whereabouts. You can choose how to eliminate members as you explore and discover them. Stalking and taking out their bodyguards will make life easier. But sometimes, you may find them in a perfect position for a well-aimed Spartan kick off a high cliff or fortress wall, and you just have to take it.

When you uncover the Odyssey quests, you can complete them in whichever order you choose. I didn't see any prompts or guidance on what order to finish them. And that was a disappointment - upon completion, I felt the ending was a bit disjointed; had I known, I would have completed the quests in the order of Cult, Family, and Artefacts. Even so, it didn't ruin my 80 hours of enjoyment. But I would have preferred seeing off these characters in that order.

I still have a few significant quests to complete. But I have enjoyed what the game had to offer. There are plenty of memorable moments from my playthrough: brutal conquest battles that were stolen at the moment of victory, executing well-planned assassinations and slipping away undetected, and standing on the Acropolis looking at the same temples I'd recently visited in person. Odyssey had it all, and I'm thankful I found the time to enjoy it.

Finally, I have to share only one honest criticism of the game, which is not even Ubisoft's fault. The bounty hunter design could have used a Nemesis system like the Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor/Shadow of War games. I know, I know, WB Games have patented Nemesis. But the system would have added so much depth to the bounty hunters. In Odyssey, there is a ranking for bounty hunters. You start at the bottom, and as you hunt, kill or slay the bounty hunters hounding you, you increase in rank and renown. The bounty hunters are a mix of unique characters with special abilities and weapons. But once defeated, they're quickly forgotten. With the Nemesis system, bounty hunters could stalk and track you anytime in the game. If you engage them and have to retreat, they'd increase with renown and taunt you the next time you meet (or you may hear taunts from other bounty hunters who learned of your cowardice). At the same time, if you defeat a bounty hunter, others will learn to fear you and flee. Or they may be encouraged to take you on and increase their reputation. You could occasionally encounter a previously defeated warrior returning for a second chance at glory. That's just my two cents for an improvement to the game. Still, when you're fighting a conquest battle, and a bounty hunter shows up to collect their reward on the battleground, you know the Nemesis system would have turned this game to eleven!

So those are my thoughts on Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I love it. I loved the time I spent with it. I recommend it to all. But I doubt I can afford to spend another 80 hours with it when there's so much "Malaka" left untouched in my Steam library.