Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Review

Ubisoft has spent years perfecting the formula for their Assassin’s Creed series, with Odyssey being the eleventh major installment in the franchise. Released in 2018, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has quickly become the most striking of the whole of the series. This sandbox RPG leans far more heavily into the role-playing elements, changing up the gameplay enough to be the most acclaimed of the series so far.

In Odyssey, the game resurrects the plot device of the Animus, creating two simultaneous timelines. The past timeline centers around either Alexios or Kassandra, depending on your preference,  a mercenary, and descendant of famed king Leonidus I. In the midst of the Peloponnesian War, the player can choose to play on different sides of the conflict — for either Sparta or Athens.

But the war isn’t the main focal point of their story. It’s the familial conflict between the two siblings and their father, who threw them off a mountain and left them for dead. These two dramatic elements are interwoven with the timeline outside the Animus. Here, Layla Hassan makes a reappearance and using the Animus, and the Assassins tries to locate the Staff of Hermes.

The combat system is far more free-flowing than earlier games in the series, building off of its predecessor. Players have access to a variety of weapons, ranging from swords, daggers, axes, maces, and staves, allowing for more comfortable gameplay. There are more than enough combat to satiate the battle hound in you. Ubisoft focuses on a notoriety system as well, creating trouble for you if you tend to be cheap or slash your sword at any impending problem. Mercenaries from the regions will respond to you based on your notoriety and attack. There’s even a chance of drawing in legendary heroes with your notoriety.

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In each region, players have the option to pick either of the rivaling factions. From here you can trigger a conquest battle. These conquest battles tend to lean toward higher density areas that offer decent loot drops. In Odyssey, player’s can have these conquest battles on the Aegean Sea. These conquest naval battles were by far my favorite parts, especially since the mechanics have been far more polished than in Black Flag.

The game progression focuses on the implementation of skill trees. These allow the player to customize their experience based on their style of gameplay. The three main focuses are archery, combat, and stealth, named “Hunter,” “Warrior,” and “Assassin” respectively. These trees are pretty straight forward, granting abilities like the powerful Spartan kick and a more reliable stealth kill. I tend to lean hard into stealth, crouching and climbing my way through and around combat, before dumping everything else into archery.

Odyssey has a surprising amount of variation in interactions with NPCs, even having multiple endings. With branching skill trees and numerous weapons, you can take a few passes of the game and get a variety of experiences. If you enjoy combat in your games, you’ll definitely get more than one playthrough. The repetitive nature of slicing through seemingly interchangeable factions and armies can seem a little grindy, but if that’s your thing, you’ll be getting plenty of playtimes. If not, you’ll still find yourself drawn into the nearly endless list of available quests that seem like no matter how long you’ve been chipping away at it, won’t diminish.

This game is beautiful, by far, and the gameplay is captivating and exciting. I can’t help but love the setting, the historical influences, and the overall fluid combat. While the glitches are frustrating, they’re far overshadowed by the fantastic elements and the storytelling. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey builds on its predecessors to create an engaging game. It’s well worth checking out if even just for one agonizingly long and in-depth playthrough.