It is time to be honest with ourselves, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is one of the best open world games of this generation

[Deleted member 8593]

For a while now I've been extremely impressed by the fidelity of Ubisoft's worlds and how they manage to release so many in quick succession. At the same time, the way they are set up, they simply do not work for me. It always feels like I am running from one place to another just to check another item from a massive list of items. This sense that you're "always achieving something" evokes the exact opposite feeling in me - that I am just treading water in a bottomless well.

 

[Deleted member 18400]

Yeah, nah. I think fucking not.

Many of the things you mention as positives are negatives to me.

"So many different gameplay styles" translates to "Many poor and shallow gameplay styles instead of one or two rich and deep ones."

"It's absolutely massive" translates to "it's fucking bloated as hell and smothers it's good bits under a heaving mountain of extraneous fat".

"So much additional content" translates to "Dear God, more bloat, and now it's probably overpriced too."

"It's never prohibitively deep, to the point that you need to pay attention to it" translates to "So simple I can almost play it with with my eyes closed".

Oh yeah, and let us not forget the microtransaction being added to a full price, single player game. "Hey, here's an XP booster so you can get skip our extremely fun and engaging "content", because that isn't a fucking alarm bell or anything."

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Wow this post is way off base man.

None of the gameplay systems in this game could be described as poor. They do all of it very well, including not forcing you to do all of the systems beyond a few times if you don't want to.

As far as bloat, this is one of the most detailed and amazing worlds I have ever seen created. Like every city you come across looks amazing, the wilderness is full of stuff to do, you are never more than a minute horse ride at most from a point of interest in this game And those points of interest vary a good deal, from small camps, to giant forts, to crypts you have to traverse to underwater shipwrecks to markets full of treasure chests....

Additional content in this game is free beyond the DLC. The Tales of Greece quest line that they have been adding free of charge since release is huge and would take your hours and hours to complete from the start. This isn't even mentioning the epic mercs, ships and quests they add every week with rewards. The DLC is reasonably priced considering it adds 20-30 hours of content to the game currently, and included the remaster of AC3.

And to you're last point, if you think you can beat this game on hard or nightmare with your eyes closed I would love to see you try.


You are free to not enjoy the game, but everything you just assumed about it in your post is factually wrong.

 

[Ishmae1]

Can you explain what you mean by streamlined? That's interesting since almost every time I hear someone talk about Odyssey, they talk about how "bloated" it is (with content) lol. Obviously they're not referring to the same thing there.

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When I say that, I mean that controls and combat are where I see a lot of streamlining. How you use combat powers and how they're grouped make it much easier to "play" than how it was done in Origins. Equipment management also got a pass and it's better as a result, IMO.

 

[Ringten]

Disagree.

There seems to be a thread about this game every other week lol! Partially why I got sold on the game.

-Its way too big for it's own good, and setting wise not that interesting compared to lets say Origins. (My opinion)

- Like Zhukov said, the game is simple.
Quite literally some of the blandest combat. Fill adrenaline bar with that one move + unleash. Rinse n repeat.

I miss the AC of the past. The combat was miles better than what we have now. I dont see people complain abour batman ?

 

[-Tetsuo-]

It does? It ran really nicely for me, but then my system probably brute forced it a bit (2700x / 2080).

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I have a [email protected] and a 1080ti and it averages probably around 25fps for me.

 

[ckareset]

Not really. The game is really pretty and really big.

That's it though.

 

[astro]

I have a [email protected] and a 1080ti and it averages probably around 25fps for me.

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That sounds super rough. I'm playing a 1080 too, so that probably helps a lot...

 

[Canucked]

Also, Kassandra is sublime, but don't let anyone shame out out of picking Alexios.

He is dreamy.

 

[Nephilim]

AC Origins has the best open world out there. People saying Odyssey is superior to Origins are wrong. Besides the great loot/reward system, which is undoubtly better in Odyssey, Origins is far superior, even combat is better in Origins.

 

[Starlatine]

I'll just add that i was playing Odyssey then decided to drop back in Shadow of the Tomb Raider to finish some stuff and god i miss kassandra
both personality wise and gameplay wise she makes lara seems like an elderly lady

Also, Kassandra is sublime, but don't let anyone shame out out of picking Alexios.

He is dreamy.

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i played a bit with alexios before going back to a kassandra save, i think he's goofier

Spoiler

which makes him as the big bad deimos even funnier. i will replay the game later to see how a bad kassandra is done though

 

[R dott B]

Agreed.

 

[Lemon Crest]

Crit assassinate into Lvl3 hero strike is so good.

 

[Butterworth]

Best open world games of the gen, with the most boring and monotonous open world design possible. Origins trumps it.

The gameplay was solid, but locations poor. Combat was too easy, made harder on higher difficulties by tripling enemy health.

Open world bloat 101

 

[____]

Haven't played an AC since the first one. Not my kind of game anymore, but this is unsurprising as Ubi has been killing it this gen.

 

[Deleted member 49438]

It was a good but not great game. I don't recall any particular standout side quests, or areas that felt particularly unique. The only thjing that really kept me playing was defeating the other mercenaries in the game & making Kassandra the ultimate mercenary. I was done with the naval battles aside from story related ones after like my 2nd time voyaging because it became more annoying than engaging pretty quickly. The mainland battles didn't seem to really effect anything, so I just ignored them completely aside from what was necessary to get a cult member or two.

I find it a stretch to say it's one of the best, but I can see why people enjoyed it. There's a lot of content if that's all you're looking for. Not sure how much of it is high-quality though.

 

[Deleted member 21339]

These games just overwhelm me. Too much shit to do

 

[LQX]

It is. I was not even hot on AC and had no plans to pick this one up but tried it during the Google Beta and was hooked. I have put in over 100 plus hours and plan to go back for the DLC someday.

 

[Bit_Reactor]

It's time for us to be honest; if this game hadn't been an Assassin's Creed title, or by Ubisoft, it would have gotten far more notable recognition or praise than it now does.

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Kinda disappointed to see this take coming from someone who often defends BOTW against the "Belda" arguments.

On topic though I don't see a reason to play a less interesting version of Witcher 3 when I have Witcher 3 on PC. Ubisoft doesn't make bad games imo though. They make good games. There's just nothing about them (lately) that stands out. The towns are copy pasted the humans look almost uncanny valley but not at the same time, and the voice acting is not offensive but not great either.

While I'm down for more games experimenting with RPG mechanics in new ways, like romances coming back into gaming since everyone seemed to forget about those nowadays, and with Bioware being MIA lately, I don't see Ubisoft taking that crown until they learn where to cut back.

 

[Tregard]

The Quest Builder looks really cool, I must say.

 

[Master Chuuster]

Well said. It's a shame it isn't widely considered among the best open world games of this generation, because that's exactly what it is.

Also I really don't get the complaints about the bloat. There's a lot of shit in here, yeah, but it's all designed in such a way that you don't have to interact with any one pillar of the game to progress with the other. It's all completely independent, each of them is very well done, and you can basically engage with each however much you want to.

I do understand that that's not true for side quests. Side quests are essentially as crucial as main quests for progression, especially in the late game, because the game's level curve is broken. But that never bothered me personally, because the side quests are awesome. Sure, a broken level system coupled with its XP boosters is a bit on the slimy side, no denying that. But at least if you don't want to pay up for the boosters and actually want to play to progress, you don't have to sit through shitty quests.

 

[-Tetsuo-]

That sounds super rough. I'm playing a 1080 too, so that probably helps a lot...

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My resolution is 3440x1440 i forgot to say. My cpu usage is constantly at 100% when the game is running.

 

[skeptem]

It really is a great game. I just wish it didnt run like shit on PC :(

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Yeah. I was surprised after I had no issues with Origins.

 

[King_Moc]

Yep, amazing what a turnaround this series has had for me. I hated it pre Origins.

 

[NeverWas]

I miss the AC of the past. The combat was miles better than what we have now.

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Yeah, hitting that "I win" counter button over and over again was better than having any variety to the combat.

 

[Issen]

All of its gameplay systems (but especially the combat) are janky and half baked. I can't imagine considering it any higher than just a "good" game.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

I'm normally not bothered by too much of a good thing is bad, but odyssey did it for me.

There was TOO much loot when every time I defeat an enemy or complete a mission/bounty I need to go to the menu and decide my load out. Too many missions in a big ass map. It's a solid game if you have the time to invest in it, but as someone with limited gaming time and energy when on a project, there are other open world games whose design isnt quite as time consuming and micro management-y as this one. So kudos to Ubi for getting a solid formula, I just hope they refine it a bit more for the next title.

 

[astro]

All of its gameplay systems (but especially the combat) are janky and half baked. I can't imagine considering it any higher than just a "good" game.

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Really? It felt super slick to me.

My resolution is 3440x1440 i forgot to say. My cpu usage is constantly at 100% when the game is running.

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Ugh, PC gaming fun.

 

[Richter1887]

Best open worlds for me this gen:

-Every single Yakuza game released this gen.
-Days Gone
-Far Cry 5/New Dawn
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Origins
-Witcher 3 (aside from the gameplay)

 

[nelsonroyale]

I think it has many impressive ingredients - good traversal mechanics, a massive interconnected world well realised at the macro level, some good characterisatin. However, it is just too bloated for me. The side activities are not that different from the main story activities, and they generally involve a lot of travelling. They also don't deliver much XP, you have to grind quite a lot to advance the story and I haven't been having much fun with it. The way this game gates the story through levels is frustrating, and having completed Origins I am pretty burned out on this game. I think it does improve on many elements on the previous game, but the dispensation of XP is too scanty, and them pay gating XP boosters is just cynical. Basically I would appreciate the game more if it was more generous with XP.

 

[Moff]

it's not even the this generations best Assassins Creed game.
17 hours in and I doubt I'll finish it.

I'll just copy&paste myself from another thread to give so more explanations why

I liked Origin a lot more.
-more interesting setting, egypt is absolutely gorgeous and it already has tons of greek cities in it that make Odyssey feel like an addon.
no please, egypt is so much more beautiful than the stony grass in greece, and if you actually like that, origins has that too for variety.

-I like the story and protagonists a lot more in origin. Kassandra is fun, cool and sexy, but Bayek is a much better character.

-origins has shields, which I love in combat, huge missed opportunity for odyssey because of the iconic greek shields

-the bounty hunter mechanic was better in origins, they felt like fun minibosses with powerful rewards, in odyssey they are just annoying pricks that stab you in the back while questing and give almost never interesting rewards because they are random, unlike the ones in origins.

- unique weapons were a lot better and much more fun in origins, I don't care about them at all in odyssey

-the new features in odyssey, the faction battles and cultist hunts just don't feel like they lived up to their potential.
no seriously, the faction battles done right could have been amazing and motivated for dozens of hours, if you could conquer lands for yourself. but you just have to choose for one of two factions and it doesn't matter at all who you support. super poor design.

- quest design is mediocre in both. ubi formula

- odyssey has many cool skills to unlock for combat, but I still enjoyed the combat more in origins, probably because of the cool unique weapons

- I guess naval combat is better in odyssey, but I do not care about that at all

 

[astro]

Best open worlds for me this gen:

-Every single Yakuza game released this gen.
-Days Gone
-Far Cry 5/New Dawn
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey/Origins
-Witcher 3 (aside from the gameplay)

Click to shrink...

Been curious about the new FC games.

What makes you personally think these games have great open worlds?

 

[Enduin]

I liked the game a lot and have put in a lot of time with it, but I think it's an extremely flawed game that didn't really surpass Origins for me as a whole, despite the many many individual improvements it made over it. Really it didn't improve upon Origin where it was really needed and if anything doubled down and exacerbated the problems that game had with rote gameplay and design.

Felt like the game was too big for its own good. Too many systems with not enough depth, too many objectives and quests with no real weight. Yet at the same time the world itself wasn't big enough in some ways. Sailing feels very underwhelming and too game-y with how completely smushed every location and island is with the rest of the world. The sense of scale is completely warped and undermined as a result.

I also very much don't believe it feels like you're achieving anything because there's far too many quests of zero consequence or interest and the larger world activities are so copy and paste that you basically become numb to it. Exploring the world feels very hollow as its the same experience literally 100+ times over. Bandit camps, military camps, forts, animal dens etc over and over and over again.

The first couple dozen hours is fairly great, the story and progression are fairly strong and well focused, but once you gain more freedom and get access to really explore the entire world things just kind of fall apart into the hamster wheel of gameplay. I have all the DLC to play still and I'm just kind of tired of the game. Combat feels like nothing now as I'm so OP and the story and "RPG" elements feel so meaningless I'm just not that compelled to see what's in store for me.

Origins is by no means perfect, but I felt a much greater sense of wonder exploring that setting and while it was filled with most of the same kind of copy paste objectives it didn't feel nearly as bloated and overwhelming as Odyssey. Plot wise it was much stronger throughout start to finish, even if not that great, the whole family drama of Odyssey really wasn't good and the political drama was incredibly dull given the setting and scenario. Origins ended before it really wore out its welcome and became a chore. Odyssey though became a chore way too fast. Origins didn't hit the highs Odyssey did, but it did maintain a higher lever of engagement throughout. Odyssey started out with a bang and was really incredible for a while, but it petered out and never really recovered for me.

 

[DevilMayGuy]

Yes, it fucking rules

 

[exodus]

I really enjoyed my time with Origins and have yet to play Odyssey. I'm playing through Spider Man right now...Odyssey's going to have a tough timing topping it. I could see it, though.

 

[Huey]

Yeah, nah. I think fucking not.

Many of the things you mention as positives are negatives to me.

"So many different gameplay styles" translates to "Many poor and shallow gameplay styles instead of one or two rich and deep ones."

"It's absolutely massive" translates to "it's fucking bloated as hell and smothers it's good bits under a heaving mountain of extraneous fat".

"So much additional content" translates to "Dear God, more bloat, and now it's probably overpriced too."

"It's never prohibitively deep, to the point that you need to pay attention to it" translates to "So simple I can almost play it with with my eyes closed".

Oh yeah, and let us not forget the microtransaction being added to a full price, single player game. "Hey, here's an XP booster so you can get skip our extremely fun and engaging "content", because that isn't a fucking alarm bell or anything."

Click to shrink...

Yeah I'd have to agree - it's a bloated, mediocre game through and through and for the life of me I cant understand Era's enthusiasm for it. I was so excited for the setting too, but I probably should have learned my lesson with origins, as I had much the same opinion there.

 

[Issen]

Really? It felt super slick to me.

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Honest. Comparing it to some really good feeling games like MGSV or Spiderman, almost every single core gameplay element of AC Odyssey (and Origins) feels like shit, like it's coming apart at the seams. This is not a new problem for assassin's creed. It's been getting worse in this department with almost every single game, and even though Origins and Odyssey are slight improvements it still doesn't even feel as tight as the first game in the franchise, which itself wasn't so good in mechanical polish.

 

[Memento]

I find it pretty incredible how Ubisoft manages to make an open world as big and detailed as Odissey way faster than Rockstar.

It is not like Rockstar is this AA studio. They have thousands of devs too.

 

[Lukar]

The world is impressive for sure, but the series lost something in its shift from open world action-adventure to open world action-RPG. The game feels needlessly drawn out because of all the side quests you have to do in order to progress through the main story at points (due to being underleveled), and navigating the world feels like a bit of a chore just because of how vast it is. It's relaxing to explore, but somewhat aggravating to actually play in. I've played 33 hours of the game according to the Ubisoft Club app, and I'm nowhere near done with the main story, but I have little desire to play any more of it.

I think Origins is better than Odyssey, but really, Unity remains this gen's best AC game.

 

[chirt]

It's very charming, and having finished Origins I obviously enjoy the game play loop.
Sometimes the frame rate on PS4 Pro leaves a lot to be desired, though.

 

[Clefargle]

It's amazing, I love the couple of things they learned from BOTW

 

[ShiningBash]

This game has me walking around greeting ppl by saying chaire and muttering maláka when I stub my toe. I cannot wait for the next entry.

 

[Morrigan]

I loved it but I won't deny that it's bloated as all hell, even more so than Origins. I did all of the non-procedural side-quests (golden ! marks) and while some were fun, I can scarcely remember any of them.

I'd like a similar open-world design but with a focus on quality instead of quantity. But that probably won't happen, it seems they iterate on just making things bigger, bigger, bigger always.

even combat is better in Origins.

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Oof no. Strongly disagree here. I went back to Origins after I got the DLC on sale and it's way rougher than I remembered it. Kassandra felt less sluggish to control IIRC, and the addition of active skills in Odyssey mixes things up a bit instead of just spamming adrenaline crits.

Yep, amazing what a turnaround this series has had for me. I hated it pre Origins.

Click to shrink...

Same.

 

[Linus815]

It's a great game but it's definitely not an "improvement in every way" compared to Origins. Origins may have a smaller world, less systemic elements, but what's actually there is generally better designed and paced than Odyssey.

 

[Dyle]

It's great but to me it's a jack of all trades, master of none situation. Everything is good as part of the whole package but nothing is spectacular in its own right. Riding horses and climbing shit is great... but only because it's kind of fundamentally janky and superhero like in a way that ultimately makes it feel hollow and unsatisfying. Combat is great, except it becomes totally mindless and eventually gets really tiresome. The world is so big and obviously procedurally generated that it never feels like you're making real progress, just checking off boxes until you've had your fill.

I wouldn't say it isn't part of that list, but it being there kind of says a lot about what open world games are

 

[Bradbury]

I´ve played for around 30h had TONS of fun then open my map saw I explored around 1/8 of the game and said fuck this shit and never went back

 

[DarthWalden]

I didn't play odyssey because it sounded too much like origins.

Origins IMO wasn't great, underneath the incredibly shiny veneer was just another life less open world ubisoft game.

Red Dead 2 and BOTW are so much better.

 

[Fuhgeddit]

I want to play it but I fear it's too long for me. Also, how is the combat? is it improved a bit on Origins? I want to play it because of Greece though.

 

[Falchion]

I've really enjoyed it but I haven't taken a super deep dive yet.

 

[Phellps]

I wholeheartedly agree. My GOTY for 2018. It has its flaws, but it gets so many things right. Spent well over 100 hours with it and there is still more to come, as I have only played the first episode of The Fate of Atlantis.

 

[Tierdal Xy'Thil]

Witcher 3 would probably disagree