Who would have guessed that stealthily scaling a building with a trusty hidden blade would become an annual tradition, but back in 2007, the exploits of Altair in Assassin's Creed were practically revolutionary.
https://www.techspot.com/article/2189-13-years-of-assassins-creed/
Plenty of us who've seen every other franchise flogged to death by the same studio (Far Cry, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon / Rainbow Six / Splinter Cell, Anno, Rayman, The Settlers, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, etc)... I mean Ubisoft openly admit themselves that fresh original ideas are not exactly their thing...
Plenty of us who've seen every other franchise flogged to death by the same studio (Far Cry, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon / Rainbow Six / Splinter Cell, Anno, Rayman, The Settlers, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, etc)... I mean Ubisoft openly admit themselves that fresh original ideas are not exactly their thing...
If you liked Odyssey, you might also enjoy Origins,which is usually on sale for a solid price. That is, if you ever run out of things to do in Odyssey!I'm ashamed to say it but I'm only now, for the first time, playing an Assassin's Creed title, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. Now, I understand that for many AC purists, the Assassin's Creed series has become completely different from its origins and I feel for you because I know that I'd hate it if my favourite game series departed from what made it unique. I am by no means an expert on Assassin's Creed and I do not claim to be.
What I am an expert on however, is what makes a game great. I've played so many games in my lifetime that I'm not even sure that I could list them all. I started on an Atari 2600 when I was 4 and was an arcade hound in my teens. I can say with certainty however, that even if Odyssey isn't a "true" AC game, it is nevertheless phenomenal, easily one of the top three games that I've played in the last ten years.
The sheer scale of this game is mind-boggling. The open world itself is gigantic. I used to think that Skyrim and Witcher III had big worlds but they pale in comparison to Odyssey (or at least it seems like they do). Recently, I've been disappointed by how quickly I finished both Rise and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Those games lasted me a week each while Odyssey has lasted me six weeks so far and it's still not done (I have the legendary version with all DLCs included). I finished the main story a week ago so the base game lasts about five weeks.
The fact that this game hasn't gotten the least bit boring is a testament to how much effort Ubisoft Montreal put into it. The naval battles with Greek Triremes is just awesome ("RAMMING SPEED!") and the way the Agean Sea acts is incredibly realistic with different states from calm and flat to storms with huge swells and waves. I still love going out and sinking pirate ships, something that I think will never get old.
Finally, the presentation of the game is nothing short of awe-inspiring. Ubisoft's attention to detail is made very apparent with the designs of the major cities like Athens, Corinth, Argos, Thebes and Sparta. Presentation-wise, this game is every bit as beautiful as Witcher III and that is high praise indeed.
Beautiful and realistic city-states alone aren't enough though because lots of games have that but some of those developers ignored the "little things" that give the cities life. Ubisoft Montreal on the other hand, has ignored nothing. In Odyssey, the characters actually sound Greek (unlike in the countless movies where the Ancient Greeks sounded like English royalty).
Also, the spellings and pronunciation of everything is authentic. Hell, I had to go back and edit what I wrote because I realised that I had typed "Korinth" instead of "Corinth". Learning that "Macedonia" is actually spelled "Makedonia" and pronounced "Mak-eh-do-NEE-ah" really gives a feel of being in Greece instead of just playing a game that is set there. There is no "soft c" in the Greek Alphabet so anything word with a c in it is comes from kappa which is K and Ubisoft took the time to implement this. I've also heard the word "malaka" so many times that it's starting to feel like a normal word.
I think that part of the reason that I love Odyssey so much (other than having always been fascinated by Ancient Greece, even as a child) is that it eats up time very quickly. It's the perfect game to lose yourself in to fend off cabin fever when you're stuck at home during a world pandemic. Being bored is impossible when playing this game because even the more grind-y missions are interesting.
I'll definitely be playing more AC titles now because, as much as I hate to admit it, I actually have been enjoying it more than Far Cry (and I LOVE the Far Cry series). It's quite clear that Assassin's Creed is definitely Ubisoft Montreal's marquee title series. Not bad for a game that was originally supposed to be the next "Prince of Persia" sequel, eh?
I got the legendary version (on sale) for $28CAD. When I saw it, I thought "It must be good to have survived this long and had this many titles so what the hell?" and bought it. It's easily one of the biggest games I've ever downloaded at over 90GB. Considering how it has made me immune to COVID cabin fever, it's perhaps the best gaming value that I've ever purchased. Well, ok, it's the second-best because nothing could compare to the original PC version of Starflight because that took over a year to complete.
I'm not really sure what you're thinking but Ubisoft Montreal is one of the largest video game development studios in the world. Ubisoft Montreal puts out Assassin's Creed but that's not all they produce there. Don't forget about the Far Cry and Tom Clancy series as well. Not bad considering that Montreal is only one of Ubisoft's locations. In fact, there have been so many games put out by Ubisoft Montreal that the list of them has its own dedicated wikipedia page. Remember, this is only the Montreal location, not all of Ubisoft:
