Assassin's Creed Odyssey RPG-all

Boudreaux wrote:

Anyone who is playing the game already have any thoughts on this?

Assassin's Creed Odyssey's best feature costs an extra 10 bucks

When I left the game last night, I was at level 9, but my main quest was level 10. I may be able to do it, but it involves assassinating someone, so the level difference can be important. I had exhausted the main side quests, but I could do mercenary quests, which are posted on a board, and don't seem as interesting. At the time, I wished I was level 10.

I'm not sure what all the hubbub is about here. This system is very similar to the Origins boosts. You could buy ability points with helix credits, and enough abilities granted XP boosts that you never had to do anything but story quests.

People who like the extra content can do it, and people who don't can buy time savers. AC games have been doing this sort of thing for years.

I honestly don't mind that the option exists. I was just surprised that I was tempted by it so early.

I caved. I bought it. And soon after starting download, Internet goes to crap because of storms. Ah, fun times..

More thoughts:

It turned out that doing one mercenary mission and clearing out an area was enough to level up. Then the level 10 mission turned out to be incredibly easy.

I've already respecced my abilities. It doesn't cost much, but I wish it was clearer which abilities are always available and which take up a slot (of which there are 4). There is not too much of a tree of requirements, but higher abilities are unlocked in the story or by gaining levels (5, 10, 16, 23). The shield breaker has been useful (level 5) and setting your blade and arrows on fire seems good (level 10). I've generally been focusing on Assassin and Warrior trees.

After completing a major story section I earned 200 Helix credits, so if that happens 4 more times, that is enough for the XP boost.

It's often the case that the Gold or higher AC editions include some helix credits. Don't know if that's the case with this one.

I'm really liking this game so far.

High points thus far:

Voice acting is terrific, especially for Kassandra. She has a great range and really delivers her lines convincingly

The combat is much improved over previous AC entries. It is actually fun and challenging for the right reasons.

The world is gorgeous. Just so vibrant and feels lived in.

A horse that's actually good?! WHAT?! I pretty much go sans horse in any game I play because they typically control terribly, but this one is just.... well, I'm feelin' a bit like Kinky Kelly and the Stud right now. Hey!

Welp, now I know what Kinky Kelly and the Stud is.

FYI, via Twitter, there is a warning not to explore Aja'x's tomb or ruins until you're at the end of the Blind King's mission, which is a bonus mission for preorders.

If you have Twitch Prime, you can get the Aegean Pirate Pack, which you can apply to the Xbox, PS4, or PC version of the game. The Ubisoft Club also has several free things, including a lieutenant from a previous game that I will be happy to add to my crew.

BadKen wrote:

People who like the extra content can do it, and people who don't can buy time savers. AC games have been doing this sort of thing for years.

Uhhgggg, sounds like a weak defense of a strategically implemented system for cash. It just reads "if you don't like filler missions, pay up!".

It arrived yesterday and I haven't fired it up yet, so I don't have a personal opinion, but that argument is just falling flat....

That's a rather cynical point of view. Non-story missions are not filler missions for people who enjoy playing them. The developers know what people like to do with their games, because they have telemetry out the wazoo telling them what every player does. They're going to tune their games at least in part to give the players what they want according to their data.

I read that they backed off the loot-boxiness this time around, so they are definitely listening to players.

I'm not defending their design, I'm just saying that anyone who doesn't care to play the game the way it was designed shouldn't buy it in the first place, or should use the option that's available to them to speed up the game. AC games, like other open world games, are not quest corridors. At least the option is there so that people who want to focus on the main quest and only the main quest can do so!

I'm also not trying to say "love it or leave it." To me, it's just common sense. You're not going to see me buying any From software games even if they have DLC that makes players invincible.

I dont have a problem with games expecting people to do side quests to progress. Actually, I prefer if they do that, since too often the alternative is that you outlevel the main story, making it boring.
But having a extra paid option to skip it, certainly makes me worried if they designed the game around pushing people toward that paid option. Like making the game more grindy and what not.

That doesn't make me worried, because I trust the Assassin's Creed designers to design their games as narrative games and not exploitative money farms. Maybe I'm just naive.

The problem that I have with the opposite outlook is that it is so often voiced (not on GWJ!) with the same kind of overblown passion that I see sexist or racist jerks complaining about diversity in game characters and in the changing nature of gameplay. That stylistic echo of protestation is what makes me worried.

Shadout wrote:

I dont have a problem with games expecting people to do side quests to progress. Actually, I prefer if they do that, since too often the alternative is that you outlevel the main story, making it boring.
But having a extra paid option to skip it, certainly makes me worried if they designed the game around pushing people toward that paid option. Like making the game more grindy and what not.

I've never played a game (mind you I don't play free-to-play games) that this actually ends up being true. Origins, certainly, had the option at the main menu from the get-go but was completely unnecessary and sticking to the main story missions with a few side-quests would keep you at the appropriate level.

Man, don't forget to update you video card drivers. I'm on a Radeon card, had no trouble running AC: Origins at high or highest settings at 40-60fps. In Odyssey, the benchmark was telling me I was around 25 fps at very high settings. I tried dropping a bunch of stuff, no real change.

Then I noticed the benchmark tool had my video card driver in bright red. I went and checked and I was on 17.x, and there was a beta 18.9.x. I guess I haven't updated in a while. Installed the new ones (which said they included improvements for Odyssey), and now I'm back up to 47 average according to the benchmark. So yeah, update your drivers.

Subjective impression for levels 1-15 is that the level progression seems balanced for moderate completionists and tourists (i.e. people who I, perhaps naively, believe to be 'ordinary gamers'). If your goal is to rush through the main story quests, you will encounter some frustration. If you enjoy wandering around, checking out the scenery, seeing what's at the question marks, doing the main side quests, and maybe doing a few of the generated quests, you won't have a problem with the experience and resource progression.

I am instinctively grossed out at the notion of video game 'time savers' and I recognize that they hold the potential to really damage players' experience. But, I don't see that Ubisoft has tweaked the level progression rate in a malicious way in this game. The existence of the 'time savers' does seems like a cynical cash grab aimed at a certain kind of low impulse control whale gamer who has to have every possible advantage.

The unicorn skin totally rocks.

Tagging, even though it will be some months til I buy this, since I'm barely four hours into Origins.

"How in hades is it already 3am?!" -- said me last night

So yeah, Ubi has the resources to try their own Witcher III -- which they started tinkering with in Origins apparently. Seriously... you have a horsey, with a set name, from the (almost) start and a big open world to romp around in. The geography thus far has been similarly, which is to say lovingly, handcrafted. Heck, the combat isn't that far off given its economy of movement: you have a sidestep-style dodge, a full ninja roll, and still a block. You can also determine this with a WASD double tap vs the dedicated dodge key... The character has a core in straight up combat but can augment with assassin or archer stuff. I'd prefer some W3 sign action 'ala igni, but I can deal.

The RPG elements are lighter: the responses more narrow to match a world with less breadth from its supporting cast but overall it's been fun. In fairness, the parkour is great which is something you don't get in Witcher III. To hone that a smidge: dialogue seems ME style mold-a-Sheperd minus being able to create your character's face. Hasn't bothered me yet as I'm down with Kassandra as Greek Femshep. I even dig the story setup once I landed in the 2nd area after the starting island -- it's not the best you've ever seen by a good country mile but it's also nowhere near the cringe fest of most game writing. Usually ;-P I have rolled my eyes on occasion.

They ripped a (lite) bounty hunter system from Middle Earth: Shadows of War. Actually, I'm let down that they didn't just ape that full enchilada. And yes, you can recruit them later on. This can lead to crazy, dynamic combat scenarios when they show up. I do rather like that they wander the world and you can track\bushwhack them vs the aforementioned's tendency [in ME:SoW] to simply materialize.

My main gripe: I absolutely HATE when games make enemies suddenly double in relative power every frigging level up. This also leads to loot churn in the worst of ways. Fortunately, the game has you rolling in da loot but it's still, upon occasion, annoying.

ps. The 'grind' hasn't bothered me the first ~10 levels. Hopefully they can keep that up.

I really like this game. I'm about 15 hours in now and I'm just really impressed with how they've managed to take a series I came to really dislike and make it something I like a lot now. High points for me now:

- Still loving Kassandra. She's voiced so well and with so much oomph. People raved about FemShep, but I never really understood the love for her. She was so monotone and just not really that interesting vocally. Kassandra, on the other hand, she's fantastic. She exudes so much emotion with her delivery of lines.

- The game is just really fluid. I've always had major issues with the janky movement and parkour of the previous games, but here I just truly feel like I can move with the environment as I should. I rarely run into any issues where Kassandra does something I did not want her to. And when it does happen, I can attribute it to my own fault. Secondly, the horse really is superb. Recreational Villain mentions the horse in Witcher 3, but holy gods did I hate Roach in W3. I stopped using him entirely because he was so useless most of the time. But here in AC: Odyssey? The horse is just superb. Maybe not realistic, but guess what, I don't play games for realism and the horse works so well. It very, very rarely gets stopped by the terrain and it just moves so well.

- The combat, while simple, is much improved over the previous entries and it is just fun to play around with. I'm looking forward to seeing where they take it in the future. There's a lot of potential there. And they're on the right path.

- The primitive implementation of the nemesis system is great. And it baffles me it has taken so long to see a game use it that isn't Shadow of Mordor/War. I hope they keep this in for future games and add upon it.

- The total lack of the Assassin/Templar story is SO WELCOME! The series is really, really held back by it and they just need to move on from it. Just have discrete historical/fantasy games with loose connections between them. And people will eat 'em up.

- The RPG mechanics are a fun addition and I hope they add some more depth to them in the future. It was a great step for them, though. And it adds more playability to the game.

Tomb Raider official twitter posted this to congratulate the AC team on the release of Odyssey.

IMAGE(https://i.redd.it/r8p3a3wj11r11.jpg)

BoogtehWoog is spot on with the parkour. The sweet spot of the speed, coupled, with an intelligent sense of where you are aiming the mouse (or so it seems) flows perfectly. The design and dedicated descend key also works amazingly well.

It's not just an escape gimmick for when a hoard of soldiers are following you. You can intelligently bounce around the Z-scape in combat while actively fighting and it feels great. My preference would be a, very lite, stamina requirement because the advantage seems heavily weighted to the player. Enemies will follow you 'up' in a fairly aggressive manner though -- enough so that you don't feel it's an outright one-sided power abuse.

My only real gripe thus far is that my autosaves have been all sorts of glitchy. I've had it spam and create 4 to 5ish saves in under a minute and they often get whack when this happens -- hanging and odd world state stuff. As such, I've been relying on manual saves when needed.

I mean, maybe a few more skills to fill things out? A shield line might have been fun for variety. I frequently fight bare handed, just for kicks, as there are a variety of finisher anims there too. Would be nice if there were gloves with the same hunter\assassin\warrior stat buffs as other weapons. Spear seems a bit OP.. I like the balance of the staff, personally, if I am going with a weapon. Kassandra is, indeed, great. Hah, I have mine running around with a fake eyepatch right now because I can't give it up in lieu of better helmets I have found.

BadKen wrote:

At least the option is there so that people who want to focus on the main quest and only the main quest can do so!

I recall doing this in the prior games without paying a extra dime but it's been a few generations since I played one. Back then I found the side missions boring, and there wasn't major RPG mechanics, so mainlining was a legitimate way to play. Again, I haven't played this one yet so I'm not making a judgment on this game. Just didn't like the sound of it, but it could turn out being nothing. I'm trying to wrap up Uncharted 4 so I can get to this one.

Thank goodness you can unlock a second wheel of melee abilities. It was getting tiresome swapping abilities in and out. I was level 15 when I got it, but if you want some hints, keep reading:

Spoiler:

Eventually you unlock the ability to assassinate cult members, and they drop Artifact Fragments. If you have 5 of them, then after a story quest having you travel to an island near Athens you will be able to unlock that ability.

Oooh, thank you! Good to hear. Not sure why they thought it was a good idea to gate that, but whatever, I'm just glad it is there relatively early.

I just started this last night. I am playing via Project Stream. I have to say, It runs amazingly well on my cheap lenovo laptop. I plug in my xbox controller and I am off to the races. I would of not thought the streaming service would work as well as it does. Downside is if I choose to buy the game later I will have to start it all anew. But playing for free on a laptop is pretty amazing in and of itself. Signup if you can.

Igneus wrote:

Downside is if I choose to buy the game later I will have to start it all anew.

Are you sure? I've not signed up but it looks like you have to have a Ubisoft account. Doesn't that mean you'll have "cloud" saves?

Moggy wrote:

Are you sure? I've not signed up but it looks like you have to have a Ubisoft account. Doesn't that mean you'll have "cloud" saves?

According to the FAQ:

Google FAQ wrote:

Q: What happens to my game saves, achievements, and in game-items when Project Stream ends?

A: Unless Google notifies otherwise during your access period, you will lose your game progress, game saves, in-game achievements, any in-game items you obtained, and any unused in-game credits or currency upon termination.

It would be nice if they find a work around. My thinking is the build for the game is special. So cloud saves won't work except for the special build.

I don't really care for the sailing in this. The simplified system just isn't that fun compared to Black Flag.

So, what's the verdict? Is Odyssey just more of the same as Origins, or is it significantly more?

I got about half way through Origins. I enjoyed what I played, but pretty much had my fill of the game loop. This one coming out so very close to Origins (less than a year!) makes me wonder if it's just more of the same in a new setting, and with a choice of character?

So far (12 hours in), it's Origins at the core, but with a bunch of other stuff piled on top. That includes:
- light Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor
- sailing and naval combat from Black Flag
- moar gear from...every RPG ever (instead of a single outfit slot, there's head, torso, arms, and legs, and each can have multiple bonuses and you can add even more)
- a territory control element where you can weaken the territory by doing sabotage missions (I think from Shadow of War?)
- dialog choices and some light forking paths from Bioware RPGs
- more strictly-enforced choice in approach. Origins was happy to let you be a monster sniper, deadly stealth killer, and monster fighter all at once. Odyssey really wants you to specialize in one of those three. You can still be effective at the others, but if you balance your loadout so you can one shot dudes from stealth, you probably can't also reliably one shot people with your bow too.

I fully expect more stuff is going to show up as I go deeper in, but that's what's shown up so far. If you burned out halfway through Origins, I'm not sure this will do it for you either. The core game isn't far off, and there's just more of it (and Origins was already a gigantic game). On the other hand, if you're like me and fell DEEP into the Origins loop, this is definitely an excellent thing to have. I will say that if you fell off Origins because there wasn't enough variety, then maybe take a look at this. The systems piled on top definitely spice things up from what could be a fairly same-y gameplay loop in Origins.