Published: June 22, 2020 Author: JasonDarkX2 Category: Gaming,Reviews
Last Updated: October 7, 2020
Big Oof, so Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is coming, but is Odyssey still worth playing? what better time to answer this spectacular question. Having just recently gotten around to finishing up that Odyssey play through which I had laying around way back in Holiday 2018. Where I played up to the point where I was met with a massive grind wall in order to progress further story which was a major turn off at the time. I’m glad was able to give a shot again in 2020. Progression and in game economy certainly feel a lot better now after the patches in 2019. But the grind still exists when you need to take a few hours to level up 5 to 10 levels in order to fight a boss.
After the 50ish hour campaign, you’re pretty much left with a massive open world with plenty to do. Since it’s a Ubisoft game you can be certain that a large chunk of grind content are essentially side activities. Thankfully, most of the side quests provide a bit of story in the universe, so they aren’t entirely tedious fetching quests.
Story wise, Odyssey’s story feels satisfying. Since it's the first game to take Assassins Creed into RPG style gameplay. Where your dialogue choices and actions you take will affect the outcome of certain storylines. Mostly the outcome of the main story. Whereas Odyssey's romancing portion got the short end of the stick.
Leaving you feeling like “That’s it? what?” o.O after all you did for them. Thankfully, your best buddy Alcibiades got your back in the Love department for Alexios and Kassandra. Hands down as one of the most memorable supporting character in Odyssey due to his charisma and sense of humor that helps lighten the tone of the game at the right moments.
The happiest Family reunion is the best ending for Odyssey hands down. But if you prefer to go all dark side seeking vengeance, there are endings for that playstyle too, just be prepared to live with the consequences. Thankfully, there’s a New Game Plus mode after completing the game the first time. If you missed the opportunity to achieve the perfect endgame, or you just really like Odyssey.
As for the other major storyline arcs. One has you traveling the around the Greek world, taking down Greek mythic beasts in the search for artifacts. The other storyline has you hunting down members of a secret cultist organization.
In which both story arcs helps tie in with how our main protagonist is relevant to the Modern-day Assassins. Which is still a disappointment since the modern-day assassin story relevance has pretty fallen off since the end of Assassin’s Creed III Desmond Miles story arc. The modern-day assassins at this point is just there playing a role in the background instead of the forefront of the games. Even our main protagonists in Odyssey aren’t even Assassins.
Speaking of which. Who’s worth playing with Alexios or Kassandra eh? Well, I should mention since picking a gender has no effect on the overall story other than the sibling you don’t pick to play as becomes your arch-nemesis throughout the main story.
Performance wise, I much preferred Alexios macho cheesy humor that lightens the tone of the game. Whereas Kassandra as Deimos (the antagonist) just feels perfect, since Alexios performance as Deimos felt very weak in my opinion. I kinda wish they stay with the concept of only one main protagonist or have the Assassin’s Creed Syndicate sibling chemistry of the Frye twins.
As for gameplay, since Assassin’s Creed Odyssey went into a full fledge RPG. Which means a plethora of player customization options to optimize the experience you want to play. You got skill trees to help define your playstyle, armor/weapon perks, and a transmog system for everything in your arsenal so you never have to part ways with your best looking gear. The gameplay mechanics itself in general feel a bit clunky due to the heavy reliance on the abilities you select and the gear you have equipped. So until you find that sweet spot, you’re pretty much flopping around until around level 25 when you have a decent amount of skill points to mess around with different builds.
If had to summarize Odyssey gameplay in a nutshell. Hunter abilities are only good for stealthing or boss fights that requires them. Warrior abilities are largely useless except for health recovery and shield break. Spec into warrior weapon efficiency. Then maximize assassins damage to abuse level 3 critical assassination and Hero strike abilities to allow one to take down enemies that are 5 to 8 levels above their level. But due to the leveling system, unless your target is alone or in an open environment which you run away to replenish adrenaline. You’re going to have to do the mundane level grinding before you can defeat some major boss fights.
Ah well, more story is good content in my opinions. Anything is better than doing more Naval stuff in Odyssey. Since the naval in Odyssey feels stripped down and/or very stale in comparison to the naval content found in Assassin’s Creed 4: Black flag. It was best to avoid doing more that the bare minimum of naval content. Since the most vibrant environment of ancient and activities are found on land than the ocean where you’ll be spending most of your traveling between regions.
Which brings us to the conclusion is Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey still worth getting and playing through? The answer in my opinions is simply yeah. With a plethora activities and RPG focused gameplay, you could very well could just play Odyssey for a long time till an Assassin’s Creed game brings something more interesting or an era that captivates you.
Since there’s no longer a story base reason that would have you purchasing every Assassin’s Creed game in order to get the full story. Therefore, the era and gameplay is what you should look for in Assassin's Creed games nowadays. So if exploring a perfect depiction of the ancient Greek era in an RPG focused Assassin’s Creed game interests you I’d say go for it. Though considering how lengthy the base game is,I think for me one perfect play through of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey main quests is enough for my lifetime.
The Good:
- Enjoyable main story and likable characters.
- Excellent portrayal of Ancient Greece.
- New RPG elements, adds a plethora of choice to AC games.
- Plenty of replayable content.
The Bad:
- Lack of an interesting modern day story.
- Required boring/tedious level grinding still exists.
- Naval Content is pretty stale.
- Romancing in Odyssey got the short end of the stick.
Is it still worth it?: Yes
Tags:
Assassin Creed,
Game Review,
Ubisoft,
Xbox