Assassin's Creed Odyssey [PC, PS4, XBone] - October 5th

[DjchunKfunK]

I know someone playing who is at level 20 and not mentioned any grind. Guess I'll see when I get there.

[Achtung Englander]

oh..ok

[DjchunKfunK]

I wonder if some of it is perception. There has been a lot of talk about the XP boosts you can buy and how much quicker you level when using them. This could be effecting how people feel about the levelling in the game.

[Jez]

I am more or less enjoying my time with this. There's just something niggling away that always seems to crop up playing these games. I don't know if the gameplay will sustain a 50+ hours that I'd imagine it will take to finish. Can't ever put my finger on what the niggle is but it's there.

[Jez]

On the grind thing I can't say I noticed this either. I'm level 13 about to ding 14. At the end of the day each area has a guide level clearly indicated in the map. I think Mack probably tried to beast out the story and at about level 16 the next bit of the story took him somewhere which was a few levels over. Just means you take your ship somewhere else for a bit and play out some of the side quests on other appropriate islands. I can see what he means potentially for sure so I don't think he's "wrong" to point it out if side quest "filler" isn't really your thing and you want to play out the main.

[Snowy]

As I expected, I am not noticing any grind. I am level 17 now and dinged 17 sailing round to the 'inside' of the map without even realising it was coming.

I have discovered the Cult of Cronos now, which is basically a screen full of bads to hunt down for reasons or their epic lewt. If you needed a spur to send you off the story path, there it is and there are bloody loads of them.

I haven't needed that spur though, I am happy doing side missions, for the most part they are a lot of fun. Couple that with killing the people putting bounties on me, usually part of a fort takedown which is also a load of fun (I love to ghost them), fighting mercenaries, taking part in conquest battles plus fighting on the high seas, clambering mountains etc for the vistas, and there is loads here to keep me occupied. 20+ hours in so far and 22% complete, and loving it.

[DjchunKfunK]

Level 16 here and still no grind for me. Right now it feels like an artificial debate that has been created in order to criticise the microtransactions.

[Snowy]

I kind of understand it but it needs to be viewed through the right lens to make sense. Game reviewers, bloggers etc are virtually obligated to rush their experience in order to replay their findings. This could well cause a skewed view of the game, especially when you know that throwing (a lot of) money to the publisher can remove the blockages to faster progression.

If you had a standard RPG though, which did not have side-stories you could lose yourself in, can you imagine how it would be pilloried? Imagine a Witcher 3 or Divinity Original Sin where there was just the main story path.

Ubi have rightly been criticised in the past for a lack of depth to some of their titles, so in this one they have give the player loads to do. The main story arc as it was in TW3 is just one aim, there are many others.

I reckon you have hit the nail square on the head DJ. I think everyone hates the practice of monetising so much in games, it is insidious and contemptible, but the companies exist to make money, often ultimately to shareholders, so the only way to stop this is for everyone to stop paying for the extra shit.

[Wrathbone]

Ubi have rightly been criticised in the past for a lack of depth to some of their titles, so in this one they have give the player loads to do. The main story arc as it was in TW3 is just one aim, there are many others.

I've never played more than a few hours of an AC game because for some reason they annoy the hell out of me, but the impression I get is that they attempt to compensate for a lack of depth by adding a fucktonne of breadth in the form of busywork icons on the map. Does Odyssey improve upon that? Do side quests and the like have any purpose or story or meaning to them? You mention TW3, in which almost everything outside of the main questline had substance. I'm not expecting Odyssey to be on that level of depth, but if it's more than just "go to this icon, do a thing, XP", I could be persuaded to give it a go.

[Snowy]

OK so at heart it is an AC game. If you don't get on with them, wait for the sales. I would say though that the last two titles have moved away from the AC of old. From loads of trash icons everywhere, you have moved to quest markers (once you have identified your quest - the latest will give you clues where it is and then leave you to find them) and question marks. These are just things of interest - bandit encampments, hidden treasures etc. In Odyssey (can't recall if it is the same in Origins) you can turn these off, so all you have is a compass at the top of the screen. Also there is no minimap, the HUD is really minimal now.

There is a TW3 vibe to the experience, but is it at the same level as TW3? No. But TW3 sets the bar seriously fucking high. The side missions vary, and tend to be much less involved than in TW3 where you could stumble across whole mini-arcs. They tend to be find the thing or kill the person, but sometimes they will have little investigation zones where you have to piece together the clues to continue (less involved than it might sound) and some characters do have arcs. Also for the first time in an AC game there are dialogue options, and choices which have an impact.

Example (extremely minor spoiler, barely registers on the spoilerometer):

Spoiler

On the first island, you come across a functionary and group of soldiers in the middle of a ruined village, about to put a family to the sword. It transpires that there is a plague in the village, and the soldiers are there to kill everyone and burn it down to prevent the spread. My heroic urges kicked in, and though I had the option to let the slaughter go ahead for the greater good, I stepped in and ended up having to kill the soldiers and functionary both. Job done, I helped the family on their way.

Later, having left the island, I hear that a devastating plague has hit. I liked one of the characters you are introduced to early, a little girl named Phoebe, so decided on my travels to go back to the starting island. The port, previously full of life, is now deserted with rubbish and smoke drifting through the streets and corpses everywhere. I did this...

Honestly, if you don't like the AC games at a fundamental level, this is unlikely to change your mind, as the core is still an AC game. They have definitely tried to expand the experience though, initially with Origins (which I loved because I am hugely interested in ancient Egypt - I just wish it had been set a little earlier in the timeline rather than close to the end of the era) and now much more so with Odyssey.

I hope that helps!

[Wrathbone]

Cheers! I may give it a go at some point. I think the thing that mostly annoyed me about previous games was the incessant tutorials forcing me to practice using a very specific skill that I’d never use again, followed by endless cutscenes.

[Snowy]

There's a fair few cutscenes still, but well acted and not too intrusive (to me). Virtually no tutorials though.

[Jez]

So I've given up on this. It's antiseptic and devoid of "life" they can put a million people in this series and it can still feel samey and sterile. There are so many pointless activities that annoy me. The conquest battles, the mission boards full of generic missions that can be very poorly presented and implemented. But I suppose to top it off for me ... I never get a feeling of "power" in it. When I level up the whole world does so also. Using bows in particular it's dismaying to see that a headshot on a same level grunt target fully charged will maybe take a smidge over half health. That's using same level gear also of epic variety.

I'm at level 14 and the quest seems to have ground to a halt in Phokis.

Can't.
Be.
Assed.

This is the very last one of These that I ever buy. Wish I'd listened to my inner doubt but got tipped over because well fuck all else releasing.

Very disappointed now after it started well.

[Snowy]

Agree with you on the bows mate, but you have stopped just before it opens up. The Phokis quest is a bit borked, in that you need to visit the oracle in Delphi before the assassination becomes viable.

That leads to a series of sections that open the game and add quite a bit of content and focus, as well as unfolding a fair bit of story progression.

[Jez]

Sadly for good or ill it's uninstalled. Soulless shite with all the charm of a wet Monday morning in rush hour.