Assassin's Creed Odyssey - PlayStation 4 Standard Edition

Love at first sight. As soon as I saw this game on a Twitch stream, I knew it would one day be mine. First, a little backstory on my history with the Assassin’s Creed franchise. The only other AC game I played was AC Brotherhood back in 2011 and I --- did NOT like it! Looking back, it wasn’t a terrible game at all; it’s just that I wasn’t quite ready for that type of game. Fast forward to present day, and I quickly realized that AC underwent a MASSIVE facelift (long overdue, in my opinion), and that added to the intrigue. I already had a rather crowded gaming schedule, so I didn’t get around to playing this until early March. Please believe me when I tell you it was worth the wait. Here are 8 things that I think you need to know about ,before making your decision.[1] I named my review Kassassin’s Creed Odyssey for a reason. Regardless if you call her Kassandra, Kass, or Kassie; she’s one of the best characters I had a chance to play as. Before I got the chance to get to know the character, I assumed she was going to be very serious, if not a bit boring. That could not be further from the truth because I enjoyed every second of her, and I actually cared about the storylines (a rarity for me). Ubisoft did a great job in providing us with different storylines that showcased different aspects of her personality. For the guys who hate women -- Not to worry, because Ubisoft has you covered. You can play as a Male character named Alexios. From what I can tell, he’s so biig and strooong; just the way you boys like it ;)[2] This is by far the largest map I’ve ever seen. However, is that a good thing? The short answer is no. In my opinion, Horizon Zero Dawn hit the sweet spot with the map size. It was large enough for me to not get bored with seeing the same places, but not so large that I felt overwhelmed. I wanted to “uncover” every question mark on the map, but I honestly ran out of gas towards the end of my playthrough. After a while, a lot of the regions started to look alike. I can’t confirm this, but I think the DLC added yet ANOTHER region! Good Lord…[3] If this isn’t the most enjoyable combat I’ve experienced, it’s right up there! Thank God someone was brave enough to go away from the Batman style of combat because that system is stale, and way past its prime. If you’ve played a From Software game (the Souls games), then the combat will look familiar. R1 for light attack, and R2 for heavy attack (remappable, by the way). I like this system because everything is straightforward and easy to remember. I despise games that force you to remember a ton of button presses just to “enjoy” the combat. Please don’t get the wrong idea and think AC Odyssey’s combat is remedial or boring, because that isn’t the case! You’ll unlock several skills that can be mapped to different buttons, and each skill will have a cooldown so you can’t abuse it. There are several different weapon types to fit a multitude of playstyles. If you have an aggressive combat style, the daggers and the sword will be a good fit. More of a patient fighter that prefers to wait for an opening before delivering a mighty blow? The heavy blunt or the heavy blade are just for you! Or, maybe you want an all-around weapon type that can do a bit of everything? I suggest the spear (my favorite) or the staff. I have not forgotten about you guys and gals that prefer to hang back and attack from a distance. I rarely used my bow, but it’ll become available early in the game and has a ton of unlockable skills. Maybe you want to return to the good ole’ days and just assassinate everyone? Well, you can still do that. My point is the choice is yours, no matter your playstyle (a lot of other games continue to force you into a box).[4] I’m happy to announce that I’ve earned my 3rd platinum trophy! Out of the 3, this one took me the longest to earn (200 hours of gameplay). For you platinum trophy hunters out there, if you don’t love the game, then this will not be a trophy that you should pursue. I decided early on that I was going to “go for it”, so I was getting the platinum one way or another. I appreciate the fact that none of the trophies were tied to those God awful timed events. For example; complete objective X before time expires. Believe it or not, my other 2 platinums (Shadow of Mordor and Horizon Zero Dawn) both had at least one trophy tied to something like this. Odyssey’s trophies were largely tied to the storyline, with a handful of them being tied to exploring and uncovering things (a lot of exploration).[5] I like how gear/armor was handled in this game. There are soooo many pieces to choose from, and if you play the game the way it’s meant to be played, you’ll find/loot good pieces instead of having to buy them. We’ve all played games where some of the ugliest gear had the best stats (Witcher 3, for example), which meant we would pass it up for better looking gear with inferior stats. Ubisoft alleviated that problem with a post-launch patch that allows us to change the look of our gear, with a caveat. You cannot select a “skin” that doesn’t exist within your inventory. In other words, once you’ve owned it, you’ll be able to use the look, even if you’ve since sold it. Here’s why I like this system (works for weapons as well, by the way). I bought a legendary armor set from the Helix store because I liked the look (I engaged in a microtransaction, so sue me). Gear comes in basic, rare, epic, and legendary qualities with that latter costing an arm and a leg to upgrade. I decided to stick with the much cheaper rare gear throughout the entire game, but changed its appearance to the legendary skin. See there, best of both worlds :)[6] For weeks upon weeks, I listened to people whine about how long it took them to level up. Some even suggested Ubisoft’s master plan was for people to feel “forced” to buy a XP booster from the Helix store. Heck, if you’re a streamer who feels the need to blow through the game in a couple of weeks, then I guess the XP booster rote is for you. For gamers like me who don’t mind taking our times? There will be no need to rely on a XP booster as long as you play the game the way it was meant to be played. If you’re doing side content in between the main missions (the way you’re supposed to play), then level gating will be a non-issue, and that’s my word. Not once did I get locked out of a mission because my level was too low, and I actually turned on the level scaling so that every enemy would always be at least at my level. If you’re in a rush, then I suggest playing something like Fortnite…[7] I juuust mentioned side content, so I’ll use this paragraph to touch on it a bit. As a whole, the side missions don’t compare to what you’ll find in the Witcher 3. If we’re being honest with ourselves, what game has sidemissons that DO compare to Witcher 3’s? It’s not an indictment on AC Odyssey to say the side content isn’t as good as Witcher 3’s. Some of the content was very interesting, while some of it was not. The map is littered with “question marks”, which represent something for you to do. It could be a Fortress that you need to take down, or maybe it’s an animal den with an alpha Lion or Bear? (one of my favorite things to do). You won’t have to uncover every question mark to enjoy the game (I sure didn’t), but I think it’s a fun distraction from the main storyline and some of the other story-based sidemissions.[8] Just because it’s a 5 star game doesn’t mean it’s without flaws. The only flawless game that I’ve ever played is Horizon Zero Dawn (check out my review) and that’s why it’ll always reign supreme!! Let me get this out of the way -- Overall, I thought the enemies were superb! I normally don’t praise games that use human enemies because I find that to be sort of boring. The human enemies were quite varied, and they always kept things interesting (I’m looking at you, Mercenaries). With that being said, the boss battles need some work, Ubisoft. Ok, how can I say this without spoiling anything. There are some non-human boss battles that were extremely underwhelming and just plain old boring. Know what, this needs to be said, as I’m not one to tiptoe around the truth. ***SPOILER ALERT*** That Medusa boss battle was absolute trash. Ubisoft tried so hard to be Fromsoftware, and fell flat on their face. Kass does not have the necessary move-set that’s required to adequately deal with a speedy boss like Medusa. Annnd, the weapons don’t do nearly enough damage to have us fight a boss with a health bar that spreads across the entire damn screen! Ubisoft, leave the long healthbars to Fronsoftware!!!!*** SPOILERS OVER*** On the flipside of this, there’s a sidequest where you’ll be able to hunt a few “Legendaries”, and those were done extremely well! Although they had longer health bars too, Kass’ fighting style is better suited to deal with them.I feel very comfortable recommending Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to anyone who’s a fan of open world games. Even if you’ve never tried an open world game, I think this would be a good place to start because it won’t overwhelm you with crafting and other meticulous things. My only concern is for the fans of the traditional AC games because this for sure deviates away from that formula. I’m thrilled with my experience, and this is the best game I’ve played since Horizon Zero Dawn. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night; you’re up next!!!

[Reviewed on a PS4 Pro]Back when Shadows of Mordor was release, it contained elements that were definite throwbacks from the parkour type of gameplay exhibited in Assassin's Creed (AC).When AC Origins was release, Ubisoft basically nodded back at Shadows of Mordor and incorporated similar types of RPG elements from weapons, armor, and equipment as well as 3 main skill trees to customize your character as you journeyed through ancient Egypt.In Odyssey, not much has changed to this formula, but what HAS changed has beeen IMPROVED in every aspect. Combat feels more responsive than ever as well as traversing the environment (it felt occasionally sluggish in Origins). Added to this journey are dialog choices in conversations which actually impact decisions, events, and consequences later in the game which is something that AC hasn't tried before. This is especially welcome as you no longer feel completely riding a wave on pre-destined choices and responses that you may not 100% agree with at times. Should you berate your caretaker who took you in when you lost your parents or decide to empathize with him? Should you harrass someone for "owing money" for your caretaker or exhibit some mercy? Some of these choices may not pay off immediately and sometimes they might. Not knowing is half of the additional fun that Odyssey throws at you.Environmentally, Odyssey is by far the prettiest the game series has ever seen and that's saying something considering how high the bar seemed when Origins was released. I showed my wife a snapshot from in-game engine footage and told her "I took this picture" and she had scoffed, "You did not"...thinking she was looking at a REAL aerial shot of a forrested area. It's that convincing (while in motion - the appearance that you're playing a game is there, but the still shots are breathtaking and it's fun to explore Photo Mode to take some rather unique perspectives to share on Facebook).The story feels more engaging as well. I have chosen the female lead (yep, you choose from 2 characters at the beginning, another first for the main series) and I find her situation of having a somewhat independent lifestyle under her caretaker's watch (who - let's face it - needs more "care" than you do!) to be a fresh take while you're trying to find a way to weasel him out of his latest mess of crossing a really, really bad local thug and owing him money. You're befriended by a local youth who is amazed by your pet eagle...conversations feel far more natural and the setting feels better than Origins which was set up as a straight-up vengeance plot with story elements that served only as a means to an end and not the actual story itself. Odyssey feels far more natural in this case, but I won't spoil what happens later. Let's just say you're in for a treat if what I've seen so far is anything to go by.Combat, once again, follows 3 major skill trees which allows you to either focus on ranged/stealth approaches versus the in-your-face-brawler style of engagement (or a mix of the 2).What's even more exiciting is the upcoming (PAID) DLC will feature exploration in the lost mythical city of Atlantis which, alone, looks exciting enough...but it will also include Assassin's Creed III remastered for the PS4.The game size is MASSIVE...it even gives me more pause then Origins did in "what next." There are plenty of optional distractions throughout and some of them are better thought out than Origins was, but they're generally the same caliber of side quests overall...you'll want to do them to get buffed up for more difficult encounters to come, but you won't be forced to do them all if you choose not to.For the elephant in the room...yes, there are microtransactions, which is often the "dirty word" these days. But the game is fully playable and winnable without them. Patience and thoughtful gameplay will definitely save your pocketbook unless you're really in a rush to finish the game sooner...but then you're not really enjoying it if you're trying to "get it over with already", then, so I scratch my head over someone's necessity to have these accelerants. So far, I don't have any complaints...it takes longer, but so what? Enjoy the view and the ride...it's beautiful and its denizens are worth interacting with. Don't let that take you out of the moment.Overall, I like this new approach that AC has taken and I hope they explore other areas...I'd love to see ancient Japan in there, as I know that this has been a fan favorite request for some time. Let's hope we're headed there. Until then, ancient Greece awaits.