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My Initial Thoughts on AC: Odyssey

  • December 28, 2018

    Random AC: Odyssey Thoughts

    So I've just gone ahead and bought Odyssey after Christmas (for about $20 because I had old gift cards to use up :P) and have been playing it for...I want to say around two days now. I think I can kind of understand why so many people really enjoy the game, it's not quite God of War levels but it could've easily been a second runner-up (third place) for GoTY. It actually does new things with the Assassins Creed formula which is something I really enjoy about the game, new unique spins on the style of the game without ditching the normal content. Anyway, these are going to be a collection of my thoughts, I've listed anything that I think is super spoilery beyond the opening 10 minutes or so. There will be MINOR SPOILERS CONSTANTLY but a lot of these thoughts are going to be gameplay oriented rather than story oriented.

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    The music on the opening screen gave me serious Witcher 3 flashbacks, wasn't a great start just because it felt too similar. Leonidas feels weird, needs to be voiced by Gerard Butler for things to make sense again.

    Combat is really interesting so far, definitely feels like a better pacing and flow since…well ever in an AC title.

    What I shall dub the Spartan Kick is appreciated (EDIT: Of course, the Sparta Kick not the Spartan Kick...totally different) feels like a subtle little 300 reference which is always appreciated. Combat is definitely really fluid, love the flow of dodging and how easy it is to swap into attacks even after you've jumped away. Just flows incredibly well with the spear right now.

    I really have to say that Leonidas sounds weird, not just because it's not Gerard Butler.

    I love the new Animus, and so far the real world stuff looks like it has a somewhat interesting twist on it. Oh, I love the idea of Exploration mode being a completely unique new way to play the game. Really interesting and nice option to have and I'm fascinated to see how well they handle it. Can't be worse than spoon-fed McGuffin Quest.

    Ugh, Herodotus… he's a bit iffy at times, he's not my favourite historian but good idea to work him into it.

    Oh…I thought Kassandra was the character, okay I kind of like the two different characters rather than shoving you into a single body. Weird logic behind it but I like the choice. Now that I've got into the game for real (like 10 minutes in) I have to say that the sound design is really great so far.

    Fuck…just holy fuck did that duel-wielding feel smoother than anything I've played before.Holy shit that's great, I'm in love with the combat which is excellent because that's always been my problem with AC (one of many).

    Eagle looks kinda lame. Which is a shame because the characters do look amazing so far. The trees look nice too.

    Hmm dialogue is alright but Markos is an annoying dickhead, can't stand him already and the voice actor doesn't help, very annoying so far. Anyway, the side quests feel really good so far, much better than your normal AC side quests. Exploring caves, finding items with actual historical significance and all. Feels nice, logical andtheyre not super quest-y.

    Bounty Hunters are a really nice touch, the first dude is really made out to be someone you shouldn't face straight away for more than just gameplay reasons which is nice. Also appreciate the difference that even a single level seems to make.

    Okay so Exploration Mode sadly isn't quite as nice as I thought it would be, they really just didn't pull it off properly and it feels a bit lame to have it as an option. It's interesting enough compared to the normal game style but still not fully implemented. Speaking of things not being implemented, holy shit is the ‘follow road’ option for Horses terribly implemented in this game.

    It's just, really buggy feeling but hey better than nothing I suppose…kinda.

    Okay so maybe quests aren't too well done, they're nice don't get me wrong and I think they've made a really good attempt to blend them into the world itself rather that making them quests.

    I actually really like Kassandra, she's a great character and honestly is written well enough to make any choice (so far) seem logical for her, and when I'm not making choices she's utterly hilarious. Cyclops Eye in the ass of a goat, utterly hilarious.

    Okay so I kind of enjoy the way they handled bounties, misc quests and conquests in general.I've just finished the whole chain of quests in Megaris and it was just a really nice introduction to what I'll (I assume) be doing throughout the game. They ehandled it all fairly well, though I have to say that quests feel a little more distant now that Kassandra is away from home, very different feeling to interactions with most people.

    SPOILERS: So Nikoloas is interesting, really interesting and I quite enjoy the way they allow you to handle it. Personally I chose not to kill him, it was a fairly difficult decision and they do a good job of not making it feel illogical either way, you can either want vengeance or answers, and both work well enough. Loved one of Barnabas’ jokes about it was hilarious too, but uh anyway it was just handled well.

    I have to say that I think the seafaring content is just as good, if not better than Black Flag’s. I think there's a certain joy in the simplicity of it (and Kassandra’s enjoyment of it all) that just works incredibly well compared to Black Flag. A great example is when I went, oh cool fire arrows rather than worrying about not having 40 cannons.

  • Member
    December 28, 2018

    Dragonborn2021 said:

    Random AC: Odyssey Thoughts

    The music on the opening screen gave me serious Witcher 3 flashbacks, wasn't a great start just because it felt too similar. Leonidas feels weird, needs to be voiced by Gerard Butler for things to make sense again.

    Combat is really interesting so far, definitely feels like a better pacing and flow since…well ever in an AC title.

    What I shall dub the Spartan Kick is appreciated (EDIT: Of course, the Sparta Kick not the Spartan Kick...totally different) feels like a subtle little 300 reference which is always appreciated. Combat is definitely really fluid, love the flow of dodging and how easy it is to swap into attacks even after you've jumped away. Just flows incredibly well with the spear right now.

    I really have to say that Leonidas sounds weird, not just because it's not Gerard Butler.

    I love the new Animus, and so far the real world stuff looks like it has a somewhat interesting twist on it. Oh, I love the idea of Exploration mode being a completely unique new way to play the game. Really interesting and nice option to have and I'm fascinated to see how well they handle it. Can't be worse than spoon-fed McGuffin Quest.

    Ugh, Herodotus… he's a bit iffy at times, he's not my favourite historian but good idea to work him into it.

    Oh…I thought Kassandra was the character, okay I kind of like the two different characters rather than shoving you into a single body. Weird logic behind it but I like the choice. Now that I've got into the game for real (like 10 minutes in) I have to say that the sound design is really great so far.

    Fuck…just holy fuck did that duel-wielding feel smoother than anything I've played before.Holy shit that's great, I'm in love with the combat which is excellent because that's always been my problem with AC (one of many).

    Eagle looks kinda lame. Which is a shame because the characters do look amazing so far. The trees look nice too.

    Hmm dialogue is alright but Markos is an annoying dickhead, can't stand him already and the voice actor doesn't help, very annoying so far. Anyway, the side quests feel really good so far, much better than your normal AC side quests. Exploring caves, finding items with actual historical significance and all. Feels nice, logical andtheyre not super quest-y.

    Bounty Hunters are a really nice touch, the first dude is really made out to be someone you shouldn't face straight away for more than just gameplay reasons which is nice. Also appreciate the difference that even a single level seems to make.

    Okay so Exploration Mode sadly isn't quite as nice as I thought it would be, they really just didn't pull it off properly and it feels a bit lame to have it as an option. It's interesting enough compared to the normal game style but still not fully implemented. Speaking of things not being implemented, holy shit is the ‘follow road’ option for Horses terribly implemented in this game.

    It's just, really buggy feeling but hey better than nothing I suppose…kinda.

    Okay so maybe quests aren't too well done, they're nice don't get me wrong and I think they've made a really good attempt to blend them into the world itself rather that making them quests.

    I actually really like Kassandra, she's a great character and honestly is written well enough to make any choice (so far) seem logical for her, and when I'm not making choices she's utterly hilarious. Cyclops Eye in the ass of a goat, utterly hilarious.

    Okay so I kind of enjoy the way they handled bounties, misc quests and conquests in general.I've just finished the whole chain of quests in Megaris and it was just a really nice introduction to what I'll (I assume) be doing throughout the game. They ehandled it all fairly well, though I have to say that quests feel a little more distant now that Kassandra is away from home, very different feeling to interactions with most people.

    SPOILERS: So Nikoloas is interesting, really interesting and I quite enjoy the way they allow you to handle it. Personally I chose not to kill him, it was a fairly difficult decision and they do a good job of not making it feel illogical either way, you can either want vengeance or answers, and both work well enough. Loved one of Barnabas’ jokes about it was hilarious too, but uh anyway it was just handled well.

    I have to say that I think the seafaring content is just as good, if not better than Black Flag’s. I think there's a certain joy in the simplicity of it (and Kassandra’s enjoyment of it all) that just works incredibly well compared to Black Flag. A great example is when I went, oh cool fire arrows rather than worrying about not having 40 cannons.

    Glad to see you enjoy a good chunk of it. Kassandra is the canon character. And yeah, Herodotus.....