I Drank the Kool-Aid

I decided to cap off my "free" game adventures (my new graphics card came with a special promotion that offered three free games) by saving the biggest game for last--Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey.  Here's the part where I admit that I've never played an Assassin's Creed game prior to Odyssey.  Yes, yes, I know that's really weird, but I've had a sort of doubtful bias against the big name, AAA titles who make it a point to roll out a new game annually.  How good can a game really be if there's virtually no development time between games (and, I think they actually skipped a year prior to Odyssey if I'm remembering correctly)?  Well, it turns out that those games can actually be pretty dang good.  I'm currently having a blast sneaking and stabbing my way indiscriminately through ancient Greece.  I drank the Assassin's Creed Kool-Aid and I'm glad I did.

Since I've never played another AC game before, I have no idea how Odyssey chalks up against its predecessors.  It could be the worst game in the series...or it could be the best, honestly, I don't really care.  Not having played the previous games doesn't seem to have me at any disadvantages other than not really understanding the backstory of the modern, technological parts of the game--there have been a couple of cutscenes involving a VR-like apparatus and some researchers who are basically viewing the story of Kassandra/Alexios.  There's obviously a much bigger story that has played out through the series.

The main story in the game follows your character--either Kassandra or Alexios--as they uncover their strange past in the world of ancient Greece.  They both survived some very traumatic events and have some powerful, almost god-like gifts.  Trying to unravel exactly what happened to their family members is just one piece of the puzzle--there are much bigger conspiracies at work throughout the Greek world.

I've been playing for about 23 hours and have progressed about 25% into the main storyline.  Here's what I'm loving so far:

1.) Kassandra as the female character.  She's tough, smart, beautiful, and exactly the type of female character that I think many female gamers will enjoy playing.  In recent years there seems to have been a shift away from the scantily clad, eye-candy type of character to a stronger, more realistic portrayal of women.  I love the fact that she has bulging biceps and can rock the Greek armor as well as the male character and in a completely unsexualized way.

2.) As someone who loves history, I keep having these nerdy moments of awe as I navigate the Greek world.  I had to stop and take a minute while I was exploring the temple of Apollo just to take in the sites.  It's absolutely amazing to wander around a game version of these real-life wonders of the ancient world.  I love checking out the mosaics, murals, and statues that adorn the temples in cities.  It's also fun to see how they've implemented everyday life into the game--olive groves where workers make olive oil or vineyards filled with vats of grapes being stomped by workers.  So cool!

When they introduced Herodotus as a character....it sort of blew my mind.  The "father of history" in a video game!  Anyone who has ever taken an ancient civ class has learned about or studied Herodotus.

3.) Massive, open world.  I haven't progressed far in the main storyline because I am having a difficult time tearing myself away from simply exploring.  The map is filled with one of my favorite distractions--question marks.  Each of these ? represent a new location to discover and each also includes a virtual to-do list.  It could be a fort filled with soldiers, loot, and war supplies to destroy or a bandit camp that needs clearing.  Either way, I've made it my goal to fill my map with check marks...I have a feeling that will keep me busy for quite awhile.

4.) So much to do!  There's the main storyline, there is exploration, there are mercenaries who can be tracked down and killed so you can rise in rank, there are cultists to unveil and kill, there is a ship to be upgraded, a spear to be upgraded....there are options for a wide variety of player activities.  I've been very impressed with the depth.

5.) Using Ikaros to scout ahead or just to fly over areas and take in the view.  I'm loving having my eagle friend mark enemies and locate treasures.

And now, for the parts that I'm not liking as much or that are confusing to me:

1.)  Early on, players are introduced to the idea that the Greek world is at war.  Athens and Sparta are battling it out for control and each area is under the influence of one of those two factions.  You can influence who is in control of each zone by completing specific objectives that reduce the "nation power" of a faction.  These objectives include killing enemy soldiers, burning "war supplies" that are hidden inside forts, and killing higher ranking enemies--captains or polemarchs.  Each zone includes a leader who must be killed for the area to be vulnerable to conquest--reducing nation power means that this leader gradually becomes more loosely defended.  After you've disposed of the leader, you can participate in a battlefield event to either keep the current faction in charge or replace it with the opposing faction (which is supposed to be more difficult).

So far, I don't really understand the point of this system.  Maybe I haven't progressed far enough in the story to understand how the war ties in with Kassandra's quest to find her family, but I mostly just want to complete the location objectives.  As a result, I've been slaying Athenians and Spartans with no real purpose other than to get that magical checkmark on my map.  Should I be picking sides?  I don't know.

2.) Civilian reactions could be more realistic.  There's a part of me that wishes that they would react like the characters in Dishonored--if they catch you sneaking around in a place where you don't belong, that they go grab the guards.  Instead, they mostly just stand around or don't really react to the fact that you've just jumped off the roof of a building and stuck your spear through a guard's head.  This is probably just nitpicking, and the game doesn't seem to be about hardcore stealth, so it's probably for the best that they don't have a set reaction.

I foresee myself playing Odyssey for many, many more hours.  I've barely scratched the surface of this massively sprawling RPG, and there is a huge checklist of things for me to do.  If you're like me, a PC gamer who hasn't given the Assassin's Creed series much of a chance, I would recommend that you look into them.  I'm having so much fun!

ADDITION 10/28/18:  I decided I should focus on the main storyline (so I can figure out the war and whatnot) and headed into Athens.  Athens is absolutely amazing--a huge, sprawling ancient city that is filled with historical locations--I could climb on top of the Parthenon!  I can fast travel to the top of a massive statue of Athena and take in the sites!  BUT WAIT....I don't want to do that because performance in Athens is REALLY, REALLY HORRIBLE.  I desperately wanted to enjoy these moments as Ikaros flew around and revealed the panorama of the city, but instead was treated to my game slowing down to a sluggish chugfest.  I had Kassandra choppily scamper down the massive statue and noticed that there was an improvement in performance--but not by much.  Don't be surprised if you hit Athens and see your performance tank.  Every other location has run smooth as butter for me.  I've been trying to rapidly finish the locations and missions in Athens so I can get out of the city, which is a bit of a bummer because it's so cool. *Later, that day....so, apparently the problem was that my video card drivers were out of date (I had been willfully ignoring the message that popped up when I logged into the game--alas, it was correct).  Upon updating them to the latest version, Athens runs beautifully.  I took a trek up to the Aeropagus and enjoyed the magical view of the Akropolis.