Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Easy Allies Review 

First of all great review as always. For me, the most interesting part of this review is not the review itself, but the comments responding to your not mentioning micro-transactions (which is fine btw- no reviewer is under any obligation to mention anything when they choose to review a game). Personally, I've put 60 hours into this game and have completed everything but a handful of side-quests. There's absolutely a monotonous grind of repetitive and dull side-quests that throttle your progression through an excellent main campaign. If I had bought an XP booster, I would have had a manifestly better experience playing Odyssey because I found the side content terrible, and the main content great. The question is: does this throttling exist to 'force' you out into the open world, or does it exist to exhaust you and incentivize the purchase of micro-transactions? We will honestly never know, but the fact that we even have to wonder that is shitty. We used to be able to get XP boosts and special cosmetics etc through cheat codes- now we pay for them because we've ceded, little by little, parts of our experience to the microtransaction model. We've reached an equilibrium for what is and is not acceptable in multiplayer games (broadly speaking) but the battle over single player experiences is intensifying and AC: Odyssey is the most audaciously monetised single player game ever produced. Given the defense of these practices in this very comments section, which represents the core of core-gamers, I think it's safe to say that the battle is already lost and we'll see these practices become more pervasive with time. Which honestly makes me very sad. There's a lot of Jim bashing here, but Jim foretold the primacy of the lootbox years before everyone jumped on that bandwagon, and he's no less right here. This stuff will ruin single player games if people continue to not only swallow but defend it. I want to stress that this comment is not about the way that EZA approach this review (which I thought was excellent) but about what I was reading in the comment section.

I expected not to like it because it just seemed too much like Origins. Origins was alright but I am enjoying this one alot more.

I’m glad I found you guys. Game Trailers was my favorite review site. Glad to see you created your own channel. You have a subscriber! Thanks for the great review as always.

This makes me want to play Odyssey even more! But I have such a huge backlog of games to play >_

as a person who hasnt really invested in any Assassins Creed game since AC2, this one is definitely the game to pick up, it truly is a 9/10 game, meaning they really put hard work and passion into it.

Eliminating deaths from fall damage and being able to whistle for your horse, for it to get close to you and mounting it all while running and keeping your momentum are the two greatest additions to this franchise.

I don't think a game should be penalized just by having in game store purchases or DLC alone, but rather - if such things negatively impact the game. If it's a non-issue, no matter. But if it does alter the game's impressions in a bad way, it makes sense to dock the score accordingly. Watching this review, it seems for Huber - it was a non-issue. Hence why he didn't bring it up nor why it seemingly didn't affect the game's score.

What a game! Took me a year (150 hours) to complete this! I often lose interest in games, very quickly, but this kept me hooked!

60 hours? I know it's a first world problem but I've finished like maybe 1 game this year. Everything's too long.

Oh man, I got such a nostalgic attack with that opening song. It hit hard man.

I'm loving the game so far, hope I can beat it before red dead 🤤

Have put 100 hours into the game ever since September 21st, and have had a - mostly - fabulous time. Great game.

This is a good review. Huber's experience was this review and it told me a lot. Great coverage and edit, guys!! L&R.

I walked across the entire map in AC Odyssey. It took me 2 hours and 25 minutes!

This Game is a wonderful piece of art!

Developers keep making HUD's like the ad space joke from Ready Player One... this needs to stop.

Why in the FUCK is this game getting so much hate? I'm roughly 10 hours in and its fucking phenomenal, good God the gaming community is salty as all hell these days for no apparent reason.

Huber is honestly at his most delicate when it comes to reviews, you can tell its Huber reviewing of course but the word Delicate just comes to mind as well for some reason. He keeps getting better at reviews man.

Great review, Huber! I agree completely on the points having played the game for about 20 hours. Odyssey is simply amazing and one of the best entries in the series. Of course it helps that Ancient Greece is one of the most interesting periods and places in history of this planet.

FINALLY! A fair and unbiased review of this game, unlike some *other* content creators on the platform. I’m definitely getting it now.

also the soundtrack is bomb asf

Just saying. If you are hating on this game, without even playing it, you're the biggest stereotype ever.

Really good review guys! As someone who skipped Origins because I expected them to do even more new stuff with their next title, it seems like Odyssey is living up to my expectations. I might have to get this one, although there's so many games coming out soon that I might put it on hold till next year.

It makes sense that he didn't even mention micro transactions. According to ACG, you have to really SUCK at the game to feel like they are needed. So yeah, if you actually played the game and still complain about something that can be completely ignored, you should probably try an easier game.

Agree with the score after 45+ hrs, overall a great game in general. Edit: Lmao the salt in the comment section.

The vastness of the game is downright jaw dropping, easy 9, maybe even 9.5, really great game. My two cents, try playing it without a mount, force yourself to discover the world, gives it a fallout/skyrim feel 🙂

Just got the Gold Edition and it's amazing.

The game is fantastic. Basically is 'witcher 4'. The exp booster is laughably unnecessary as anyone playing this naturally (which means immediately dicking around as much as possible because that is what most people do in giant open worlds like this) is going to be like 10-15 levels at least above what they need by even 20 hours in. Hell, I am only 50 hours in and already hit level cap with half the map still uncovered and I would say AT LEAST a third of the core story to go. If you want to ignore everything that makes games like these great and race to the finish line, the problem is with you, not the game.

This comment section is really crying over the microtransactions they can entirely ignore. It supports the devs and is for lazy people who will always exist and want it.

Great edit. No criticism about the existence of microtransaction in a single player game?

it's a 9 ! I wish Huber talked about Kassandra's personnality, she's sooo much more relatable than Bayek.

This game is tight and the story is good

So which system do you guys like it better? Syndicate (Play as both male and female characters at the same time) or Odyssey (Choose between male or female)?

Two and a half years later I finally finished the main campaign…..

This review felt more like an explanation of the game rather than a review. Would have been great to get a bit more of an emotional side of things! Thanks for doing this regardless

Thank you for including a few snippets of the music. It’s often such an overlooked part of games and I’m glad I got to hear a bit of it, even if it wasn’t discussed.

I love this! Thanks Huber, keep being awesome!

I jumped on Ubisoft’s flash sale and currently halfway through origins. It’s good! Really looking forward to Odyssey!

20 hours in and holy crap is this fun. Great game. Between this and Far Cry 5, Ubisoft has made 2 of my favorite games this year. Good job guys.

Those who are in the “this is not an Assassin’s Creed game” camp like I was up until two days ago should consider giving this game a shot. (Disclaimer: I skipped Origins, so the rpg feel for AC is new to me). I haven’t been so immersed in an Assassin’s Creed game since AC II and Brotherhood. The combat could stand to be smoother, but 1v1s and dispatching a group of enemies without taking any damage both feel really good. I’m only seven hours in, but my goodness is Odyssey a pleasant surprise.

It's hard to believe the series only started on the 360 PS3 generation. With how many they have made.

that opening and closing music though 😩👌🏿

I think the issue here is not so much on how required or not required the microtransactions are. I can appreciate this review as a testament that the game does NOT require you to spend money to be greatly enjoyed. That said, why do these transactions even exist then? If they are completely unrequired then why the hell even have them.. are they intended as a purchaseable cheat for people who don't have enough time to put in the time needed to finish the game? Not really. The truth is the devs are just looking to score some extra bucks with this. And that is scummy to say the least considering 60 bucks is already a hefty price and we're not talking about some fledgling indie studio here, this is one of the largest gaming companies in the world. I understand shareholders need to make money, and I appreciate the effort put into such a massive game as this, however, devs like CDPR have proven that this type of thing is most definitely NOT necessary to make a commercially successful game, especially when the AC series has such a huge fandom and is likely to sell very well regardless. I will probably play it and not buy a single microtransaction, which is how I normally play these games, but I can't help but feel Ubisoft are slightly greedy here, I just wish nobody would buy these transactions so they would go away. At this point the whole microtransaction issue might be more damaging to the franchise than beneficial, I know sales are already down from Origins, and other series which extensively use them are also on the downfall. That said, the review was great, I don't feel the microtransactions were a point that needed to be addressed at all, at least not in the context of a review, maybe in a different type of content.

A lot of people are mentioning microtransactions, I don't like microtransactions at all, but the bottom line is you don't have to buy them.

Nice review Huber, I think touching on the performance of Kassandra and the overall writing for sidequests/main quests would have been nice since that's what would compel me to play this on top of the gameplay stuff you mentioned

They shouldn’t have even called the past 2 or 3 games Assassins Creed. Should have been a new Ip or spin off. You’re not really even an assassin anymore and you don’t wear white robes. Plus all of these new rpg elements and dialogue stuff makes this feel like a completely different genre. Not saying it’s necessarily bad, it’s just not Assassins Creed.

Very confused here. Blood explained that Huber didn't find the micro transactions intrusive and could ultimately be ignored so he didn't include them in the review. Several comments have also pointed out how they are 40-60 hours in and they have yet to even be bothered by the micro transactions. is this not enough for people? I've never understood why the simple fact of micro transactions existing in a game is a bad thing. pay to win is one thing, but the things you can buy here seem so insignificant to the overall experience of the game that if you dont want to buy them.....then dont?

Been feeling with this and Origins that AC has evolved so much past its roots that it's hardly recognizable as AC anymore. I feel it misses the fun of traversal or the sense of power you got from earlier games and the emphasis on deep dialogue and substories feels out of place and inconsistent in a series about sci-fi history assassins. I like where the series has gone in that sense, but I wish they shifted the storylines so they aren't associated with AC anymore. I think these would get a fraction of the attention if they didn't live off the name. Glad you enjoyed it and it is good, but it's also so big much of it feels monotonous. Don't know how to explain it, but it feels like the latest Far Crys to me. Menial stuff piled on to a world where they make you think things have an impact, but ultimately don't? I don't know. Good review regardless, Huber.

I enjoy the game a lot. However, at this point it's not feel like an assassin game anymore. Ubisoft only use this title because it's well known and make new IP always a challenge.

Those who are playing this : Do legendary weapons offer anything diffferent other than higher stat damage? That was by biggest gripe with origins, rarer weapons are just a number increase you dont feel more powerful like say in diablo which had a visual weapon change

Great review, Huber! Finishing up Origins atm, but this has me excited!

Great job EZ! Your reviews are ALWAYS excellent and of the highest caliber.

Great and thorough review Huber! Congrats!

I really love this game

I've never played AC game before. Is the franchise worth playing? Where should I start? Which one should I avoid?

Exploration mode is great...until characters tell you blatantly wrong directions time and time again. “It’s along the north shore” ..... quest is to the far south east of the island.

This is probably the first Assassin's Creed that's interested me since Black Flag, might be worth picking up, thanks EZA!

i am from greece and i am glad that you like this game

Is this another game where you're not allowed to just think it's alright because an ally said so? I miss the time when you were allowed to have an opinion and not just copy what reviewers think. But nowadays you will be called a fanboy of a random series or otehr game in a series if you don't like the newest one.

Odyssey to Origins is what Syndicate to Unity was & what Brotherhood to AC II was.

Game is fun. Comments are salt. The store can be ignored and never looked at period while you're playing. I swear people just watch a jim video then pitchfork there way to any video liking a game that has any weird ass bullshit in it.

Alright so I've been out of town for this weekend and I haven't been able to buy or play the game yet. I've seen mixed reviews across the board but I did enjoy origins alot and liked the RPG changes. Should I get Odyssey?

Thank you so much for this review! No other review discussed went into detail about stealth or the mercenary system. Many of them neglected to mention stealth at all. It was sounding like they totally removed the assassination from Assassin's Creed. I'm glad that isn't true and I still have somewhere to go for fully detailed reviews. Not just reviews that say, "It's big and pretty!"

You forgot to mention in this review how much they have recycled the same dialogue over and over again for the side quests. There is no story behind them, just go to an NPC, they say you need to clear this bandit camp because they have been harassing travelers (over and over again) and you have one choice, accept or refuse the quest, and your character has the same response every time depending on what you choose, Ubisoft really think we are stupid and wouldn’t notice, but that’s the only way to have a huge quantity of quests in a game like this. I did 3 quests in a row that involved clearing bandit camps and with the same dialogue and response from Alexios, the questgivers however spice it up a small bit but not always.

It looks fun, but at the same time. It looks like it should have just been named "Odyssey." Like they may as well drop the "Assassin's Creed" moniker, because it doesn't look like it means anything anymore. This is just an ancient greek rpg/adventure game.

Totally agree with a 9.0 I loved getting this platinum :)

I wish that diablo was like this game. That'd be amazing. Just beat this game today.

I've been waiting for this review for weeks now and I have the Kassandra edition absolutely loving it so far best money decision made for a video game also my favorite out of the franchise in my opinion so far!

i often end up with quest items that dont get used - for example already from the first island where i did all the quests?

Did he mention if the story is good? He talked about the premise and how choices matter, but I couldn't tell if the main story is actually good or not.

fucking LOVE the use of the word "gargantuan" huber

Great review Huber! I agree on most of your points, the only issue I've had so far was the slightly slow start but 24 hours in I am loving this game.

Was considering buying this game solely based on the potential of being a gay Greek assassin in a massive open world lol, but this review?! Guess I'm really buying it now.

I'm just happy the female protagonist looks strong. Wonder Woman like instead of a sufferer of bulimia.

Such a wonderfully written review! It's exciting to see Assassins Creed in a positive light again. I've been by AC's side from the get-go and have felt the ups and downs, Odyssey looks to keep the momentum going in an upward direction. Keep it up Huber!

Excellent review. Fair and wide. Congrats Easy Allies team!

Origins was way better to me. I prefer the setting to Greece. The visual style was more grounded compared to Odyssey's oversaturated and exaggerated look. I also liked the more focused approach of Origins with the single character, more compact (but still long) main quest and the clear targets all of whom had their own personality. The gameplay, in spite of having less features was more freeform because it didn't limit choice with character builds: stealth, head on combat and shooting arrows were all viable as long as your equipment was up to par. Side quests were numerous but there wasn't an overwhelming amount and the smaller world meant there was more fidelity as opposed to this one where the content is spread across a larger map and feels thin as a result. Origins *feels* large but in reality actually isn't where as Odyssey *is* large for the sake of it but the unique content is few and far between mostly consisting of repetitive stuff.

This game, for me, is AC: Origins+ While yes, Ubisoft has lately become known for soft core micro pick-pocketing, they have not lost their drive for innovation within their own franchises. I feel they lay somewhere in between Bioware/2K and WB/EA in terms of offenses. Neither fair nor egregious, but rather both optional and intentional in nature. I feel no need for the xp boost or to purchase currency to skip seemingly pointless payout mechanics to NPC's. This game- is intriguing and has taken the decency of Origins and expounded on it and with story innovation and character design. I'm happy with the fact Assassins Creed, in general, had pulled slightly away from its roots, in story and mechanic. Micro- Prostitution is here to stay, in various form and fashion- this is inescapable, I just ask that these companies ADD to their world in justifiable and tangible ways with this WORLD/ GAME MODIFICATION SYSTEM or keep it pure aesthetic. They must keep in mind the distance most gamers have gone with these franchises and companies, the understanding with which we consider to compare and contrast their products, and publicly paid-for press, with which we elect those who review their creations. They're in our world, experiencing their worlds, so best we work together for everyone's right to party.

Brandon, you give me nostalgic vibes from the ol' GameTrailers of past days... oh the feels.

Whenever I see stealth I just get an itching to play MGSV again or some Tenchu. Never played an AC game before and even though this got a 9 I'm still not 100% convinced.

This is the first game ive played in the series where I feel like they don’t want you to be stealthy. Especially during the first ten hours or so where a lot of enemies can’t be killed with stealth. I’m 20hrs In and I’m still having trouble going through a fort without alerting anyone.

You guys ignored microtransactions in the "before you buy" video now you do the same in the review; come on, this an important subject that is interesting to a lot of gamers.

While I think this whole thing has been overblown by both sides of the issue, highly repetitive side quests combined with slowed XP grind seems to be more and more prevalent in Ubisoft's games in particular. That is fact. All in all, everyone in this comment section needs to chill the fuck out. It is a review after all. An individual's opinion on a particular game, not the ten commandments! I'm referring to ALL of the edge lord critics of the Allies AND their fanboy white knight defendors! I see this way too often in what used to be a rather civilized comment section. It disapoints me that this is what much of the community has turned to... L&R

This is a good background game to play. You don't have to take it seriously and you can just casually enjoy it.

I agree with this consensus. They need to improve the combat, but everything else just needs to be given more depth in any future installments. I’m happy with everything else they’ve done.

Thanks for the review Mr Huber !! I was waiting on your take !!! I'm not huge AC Fan but I loved Black Flag !!! Excellent review !!! L&R

the song at the end ???

"We finally unlocked the perfect look for our hero" then cuts to 6:41. Was this intentional lol?

What about the micro transaction in the game. This has to be mention in all game preview and reviews unless there’s a back hand fee for no mention!?...

You know this game looked fun but without that iconic hood, it's just not the same.

Having just played Origins again, it really feels like Odyssey does a much greater effort in trying to funnel players towards microtransactions. Take just upgrading gear for example; this now requires resources, which are also now a pain to gather. Also, most gear found ends up in the lesser tiers of quality. It's very noticeable when you play origins first and then jump right into the new game. And it pisses me off, because I've just shelled out $90 including taxes for this game and I don't want to always think about how the mechanics seem to be pushing me towards micro-transactions instead of boring grinding. Ubisoft continues its tradition of doing several things well, but simultaneously screwing things up. Pity.

no mention of the agressive grind as an incentive for people buying microtransactions? mmm...

what's the ending music?

I love this game. This imho is the best assassin's creed game . Previously I'd of said origins .

lovely

Played this game all weekend, really loving it. It's super fresh for me because I skipped Origins. They finally improved the AC formula.

No mention of microtransactions is egregious to say the least. You guys can/should do better.

Ive watched multiple reviews but it wasnt until I watched this one that I felt compelled to play this. Keep up the great work allies. Best in the biz

First of all, EZA and Huber, keep doing what you do. It's absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted to know. Beyond that, I bet hardly any of the people complaining has even touched the game or is ever planning to. It's mostly just people echoing other voices.