Assassin's Creed Odyssey is the last chapter of the saga which, as we know, will be paused and will not have an annual frequency anyway. Do not worry, there is really a lot to say about this title, so much so that the writer will have to implement a work of synthesis not just to enclose all the information and the facets of this game which, although it is a single player adventure, it will be perfectly capable of keeping you glued to the screen for tens, perhaps hundreds of hours. With no time in between, make yourself comfortable, we are about to go to the land of Zeus, Achilles and Leonidas: Greece awaits us!
As ancient as bread with olives
The story that unfolds before us in Assassin's Creed Odyssey it is not at all immediate and usable as that of its previous brother, Assassin's Creed Origins. We are exactly four hundred years before the events that saw us as a protagonist last year Bayek, the Medjai of Egypt and the birth of the Assassin's Creed. In the role of Cassandra o Alexios, we will have to carry out our odyssey and it will not be easy at all. During our test, we opted for the male protagonist Alexios, to then try Cassandra too, but we discovered that - as was logical to expect - the two are interchangeable and at the story level nothing will change: we are on the island of Kefalonia. , not far from Ithaca, the legendary island (now in ruins) of King Ulysses. On the white beaches of this islet, Alexios he lives a life as a mercenary, little inclined to the common good and rejected by his Spartan origins. After having resolved some local issues, Alexios will see himself involved in something bigger: to move him is the vile money and the desire for revenge against a man, which for practical reasons we will not reveal to you. Left on his journey, our unsuspecting killer will find himself having to face, by land or by sea, a sect of people who aspire to global hegemony (probably the ancestors of the Templars). During the course of our missions, we will be able to make choices through multiple dialogue options which, although in most cases they are only pretexts, in some focal points will be reflected in the end of the game, which may have seven different connotations depending on of the chosen path. The story will open and involve you in a crescendo of a time ranging from thirty to forty hours, depending on various factors such as personal choices, paths taken, level of difficulty (from easy to hell, passing through normal and difficult) and any gameover. .
Conquer the Hellenic Peninsula
Life for Alexios (o Cassandra if you prefer) it will not be "a walk": the map in which our pets move is nothing short of immense, we are talking about the same walkable surface as Origins, to which, however, an identical portion of space can be navigated by ship or by swimming. Let's go in order, the news are many and it is right to emphasize each of these: starting from the characterization of the character, we find the usual three viable roads, that is Cacciatore (the remote war machine), Warrior (a true weapons expert) and finally murderess; the novelty is that, while in the previous title it was difficult to combine the different styles between the three classes, here you will be encouraged to spend a few skill points in all three ways to create the perfect assassin. The choices on the personalization of the protagonist can also be conditioned by the weapons and armor that you will find, as every single piece of equipment will give you passive damage bonuses based on the nature of the skill you use. To give a practical example, skill Sparta football is related to the tree of Warrior; this will then deal two hundred Warrior-type damage to the enemy, ma maybe at that moment you are wearing a helmet that gives you a + 30% bonus to Warrior damage, at which point you will deal a potential damage of three hundred and ninety. Another interesting novelty concerns the enhancement of weapons and armor, which you can engrave at the blacksmith to insert passive skills found by increasing level or completing missions; the latter have been slightly revised since you are in a historical situation other than Assassin's Creed Origins and, of course, i are no longer present Phylakes, the mercenaries he was dealing with Bayek. We are in full war between Athens and Sparta, hired soldiers abound and this is where a system that resembles the one seen in the title comes into play Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (and in its sequel). In fact, you can find missions posted on the bulletin boards of the cities that will allow you to hunt down the mercenaries who will be sent against you. Whenever you kill targets or simply if you are found while stealing a treasure, an indicator from one to five will warn you how much the bounty placed on your head weighs: the higher the latter will be, the higher the number of mercenaries you will encounter, sometimes even more than one at the same time. In addition, as the size increases, the rank of the mercenaries that will arrive will also increase. To eliminate the bounty, simply kill them or pay the principals out of your own pocket.
The ship will be another protagonist of the game, a bit like it happened with the Jackdaw of the Captain Edward Kenway in Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. Once obtained, the boat will not only make you plow the waves, but it will be possible to upgrade it by deciding whether you prefer to increase the damage that your crew can inflict, or insert an armored spur to tear through enemy ships or, again, recruit lieutenants; the latter will be four and will have a fundamental role on the ship, allowing you to get bonuses similar to what happens with the above equipment. To recruit crew members, just avoid killing characters and, using a dedicated option, land them and offer them to leave with you; the more particular the enemy you land, the rarer and more valuable the bonus it will bring. Thanks to the ship, you can explore secret islands, submerged temples and go hunting for Spartans, pirates and Athenians. Another important novelty lies in the system with which the members of the brotherhood that you will have to hunt can be found: thanks to the dedicated menu, you can view the various connections between the enemy members, find them and once found choose what to do with them: whether to kill them or use them as infiltrators to find other useful information.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey it is, in a certain sense, less punitive than the brothers who have accompanied us over the years: for example, now you can jump from any height without dying, but always remaining with a single life point; in addition, you can enhance this feature, also going to inflict impact damage to surrounding enemies once you have mastered the reference skill. Always referring to the field of skills, the new Assasin's Creed allows you to recharge your adrenaline much faster, allowing you to use eight active skills, some of which do not consume this resource, but instead require a recharge time: for example you could decide to make your weapon incendiary allowing you to burn enemies or soak it in poison and poison the unfortunate. Speaking now of the fight, you will not have a shield to defend yourself but you will have to be good with counterattacks, respecting the timing and attack pattern of the enemies in order to block the incoming blow and respond accordingly. Like you, each enemy is immune to blocking when using their specific ability (and each enemy has their own), so you'll need to learn when to parry and when to avoid an attack, not unlike games like Bloodborne or Dark Souls. In Assassin's Creed Odyssey you will have to be careful of the level of the enemies that with two points of detachment can represent a serious threat to your health; considering that you will be attacked at the same time by several opponents and on several fronts, it will be convenient for you to choose your battles well.
Rise on others
Assassin's Creed Odyssey is probably the most complete game of the saga: you will have hundreds of hours of fun in front of you, which can always be spent in various activities, such as hunting, naval missions, history missions, battles for the conquest of Greece (it will be up to you to side if for Sparta or for Athens) and the search for the ancient artifacts of the civilization that was. So is it a perfect game, without flaws? No: the defects are there but they are trivial and easily correctable; starting with a really awkward frame rate in situations where thirty characters also appear on the screen, passing through abrupt stop and go in the loading of an area or the “Homeric” waiting times between the start of a mission and the implementation of the introductory film to the latter. Probably the most obvious flaw is the graphic aspect, clearly inferior to Origins, less detailed about enemies and terrain: sometimes you will feel like you are climbing mountains made of pixels instead of rock. All this takes a back seat, given the strength of content-rich gameplay, never boring and banal. The aforementioned defects are however correctable with any patches, which we hope will arrive soon. The appointment with the sequel is postponed, but we are sure that Odyssey will accompany us for the next few months without ever getting tired.
