Similarly, Egyptologists tend to take for granted how much popular interest our subject has and how great it is for us to be able to learn about these things for a living. It's always nice to stop for a moment and appreciate moments like this where the stars all align.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme Yes sir. A payed hobby is the best. I deal in computers and software. But none the less the stars align and it's good. I am fortunate to be able to enjoy gems like this, and side content like your video. it's the fine grain that I enjoy. The little details. Like: this particular fruit would not have been there, but I understand devs for including it for the color. its little things that make the internet an ocean of interesting.
Agreed. As one who has a deep and fond love for history, but specifically the many dynasties of arguably the most developed and intrinsically beautiful civilisations of the known ancient world: Ancient Egypt. The historical accuracy in most of the AC games, however shrouded in its fictional core, is astounding. This game brought me to tears. A fantastic storyline meets a fantastic timeline.
Take it for granted? Who are those, I was utterly wowed by everything in this game. More so than Oddessey even. Although the old AC games are more playable and are also very interesting...
I love the fact he said “when I’ve spoken to other Egyptologists about the game”. So all these professionals are analyzing and enjoying this game. Would love to sit in and listen to that conversation. I love AC Origins so much!
Quite a few professors of Egyptology at prestigious (read "fancy-pants") universities have spent dozens or even hundreds of hours playing this game (and many other Egypt-themed games). I think you genuinely would love to come hang out and participate in our conversations. For starters, there aren't that many professional egyptologists in the world. We ALL know each other on a personal level, so conversations tend to be pretty light and casual. They usually aren't at all formal or stilted as stereotypes of academics might lead you to expect. To give you an illustration (and I might be giving away too much top-secret egyptology intel by saying this), my wife throws together a "dance party" every year at the major US egyptology conference, where we all go to a dive in whatever city the conference is in and fill the place with drunkenly-dancing Egyptology nerds. Every year without fail the DJ somehow catches on that these are all the same type of nerd who are gathered in one place for some annual event, lets everybody get good and loosened up, and then busts out the Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian". The enthusiastic off-key singing (and general screaming) inevitably drowns out the music. The point is, egyptologists are actually just regular people. We're not even actually fancy or glamorous. Most of us grew up (lower) middle-class in the suburbs and often feel out of place at our fancy universities, which we attended in the first place because those are the only places where you can study Egyptology (right now), and where we survived on financial aid rather than trust funds. Most of us love video games and bad pop music as much as everybody else. All of us are privately impressed by the level of knowledge hardcore gamers bring to these conversations. I have to admit to being initially reluctant to speak publicly about this subject, not because I doubt my Egyptology expertise, but because I feel like I look like a huge noob streaming on twitch. I'm legitimately nervous that real gamers are going to make fun of me for being such a casual. I put that fear aside because I want to have this conversation as badly as you do, and I want you to be there too. All of this stuff that I'm putting online right now-this video, my full playthrough stream, my free online language classes, etc.-all of it is about brushing aside those silly artificial barriers (like "ivy-league" credentials or whatever) so that we can all come together and enjoy these things that we love as regular people. What else can we do to make this happen? Toss out some ideas. I'm down to try anything. Let's make this awesome subject something that we can all get together and enjoy!
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme I'm surprised they don't frown upon video games, for some reason I thought they did. That's very good! Also, there was some time ago a mail from the EEF about an event (don't exactly remember which one, or what type it was) about the reception of Ancient Egypt and the study of this reception. They mentioned video games explicitly in that message.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme Sir, I was pleasantly surprised by your personality.. for an Egyptologist. I enjoyed your review of the game that I love so much, and I'm excited to check out your playthrough of the game.. while I'm in the middle of making one myself!
I appreciate that you understand it’s a game and some things are changed for the players a lot of experts just dissect everything as of it’s real life and should be 100% accurate
Thanks for saying this. I worried that I was still being too much of a dweeb about it. It's hard to walk the line between taking it seriously and treating it as entertainment. I hope I managed to communicate that it works well from both perspectives.
@Alternate Account I disagree. I prefer my games to be accurate if it is touting to be historically accurate. If we have documented an event that happened in the time Ubisoft decides to show it, I expect it to happen as documented. That doesn't mean they shouldn't change it a bit to make it fit their story. I expect consistency. Assassin's Creed Rogue, Unity and 3 are one of the most historically inaccurate games they have made. VestigalLlama4 on reddit documents the historical events and determines how accurate they portrayed that event or person. The sources are also posted so anyone can follow the logic by checking the sources.
@@OmegaRidley90001 You are talking about a video game where people can relive peoples memories through a machine in the first person while searching for relics from a civilization of advanced beings responsible for human creation, and you are worried about historical accuracy? LMAO... Lighten up, dude. It's ENTERTAINMENT.
@@jedimindtrick75 I am concerned that they are misrepresenting historical events despite having documents that can detail the event(s). It's their job to merge their fictional story to real world historical events without conflicting interests. I'm all for these kinds of games since I can experience, even a little bit, what it is like to be in that time. I quite enjoyed Origins and Unity because of that unique experience. But, that shouldn't get in the way of accurately portraying an historical event. If not done properly, that can ruin the immersive experience. Remember, they're the ones who are touting historical accuracy in their games, and yet they have gotten worse, with Unity, Rogue and 3 being the worse. Movies that are based on real life events are also in this category. Wouldn't you be concerned if they had gotten an event wrong, despite the evidence and documents stating otherwise? For example, Abraham Lincoln getting shot by someone other than John Wilkes Booth. How far are you willing to let these inaccuracies go? That is the argument I'm making. There should be a limit on how far you want to portray these event(s). One more thing, even though entertainment is Ubisoft's primary goal, their sub goal is their historical accuracy. And by judging their previous games, their primary goal, entertainment, is based off of how well they can convey their sub goal (historical accuracy). So no, I won't lighten up just because they are trying to entertain me. I expect them to balance the two goals. I would like to direct you to VestigialLlama4 on Reddit. He has analyzed each assassin's creed game's historical events and compared them the real life events by using documents that support or explain such events. He also lists the sources used so if you doubt him/her, then you check the sources. Shadiversity has analyzed the AC valhalla trailer and Metetron have covered some stuff on AC Valhalla's dual wielding. Skallagrim and Overly Sacrastic Productions have done a video on odyssey and its historical accuracies. Whitelight also talked about some history pertaining to Rogue. You don't have to watch any of them, as they are just suggestions and recommendations. however, I do hope you understand my point on the matter.
@@OmegaRidley90001 You said "it's their job to..." You could have stopped right there. You obviously do not understand their job. I understand your point but it is completely irrational. There is a reason that games, movies, etc. have the disclaimer about inspiration. the fact that there are people who ignore that and hold them to a standard that only exists in that individuals mind is just not rational. But I am glad you get to share this view with other like minded individuals and seem inspired by this Reddit poster. But I will go on treating my entertainment as entertainment. As most rational people do.
I’m a brand new gamer, and i’m so happy that I chose this as my first PC game to dive into! I was obsessed with Ancient Egypt as a kid, and i’m enjoying the experience of exploring Egypt and “seeing” these landmarks through a pretty realistic-looking lens. The game is simply beautiful! I love walking through the cities, exploring the temples, and even just riding into the vast desert to find a tomb or catch a sunset. Playing the game as an “everyman” character forces the player to experience these historical events from a different point of view, and I appreciate being able to experience the world of the game from the eyes of an ordinary person, rather than a royal or political figure. The discovery tour is also a lot of fun, and is probably the closest thing to a museum tour that i’m ever going to get. I love learning about the significance of different sites, buildings, people, etc, and it makes me so happy when I stumble across something that I recognize or that I’ve read about. What’s even MORE exciting is the chance to identify the gaps in my own knowledge, and to spark up that curiosity again. This game is my introduction to AC (and gaming in general), but it’s also a return to a subject that is very near and dear to me.
I so glad to hear how much you're enjoying it. If you come across any burning questions, by all means, send them my way. Always happy to help a fellow scholar of ancient Egypt!
Welcome to the world of gaming,the ac games are my most cherished, I've played them all,on console and now playing valhalla, which the scenery is stunning and so realistic I forget it's a virtual world. Enjoy your gaming. Getting platinum on this was great, especially being 61. Motto: never too old to be a gamer.
@@sabiansatchel you are right u can get into anything at any age and its your choice happy to see a fellow gamer enjoying one of my favourite game franchises
The AC series is a solid introduction into gaming! Origins in particular is a favourite of mine. I love walking through the towns and cities and just watching the NPCs go about their routines. The level of detail is amazing
I’m what u definitely consider a kid, also obsessed with egypt. it’s beautiful it’s a bummer we’ll never see egypt the way it was then, it would be a beautiful experience to have. i’m glad we still have some stuff left of egypt and it’s culture. this game also really made me think more psychologically about ancient egypt, i somehow i don’t know why either have a weird feeling of obsession with it to be honest it’s weird. i think it may be a weird nostalgic type of feeling.
As a huge assassin's creed fan this makes me so happy to hear. This game kicked off my fascination with Egypt and the mythology. I've waited so long to hear professionals opinions of the games.
What you were saying about the accuracy of the layout reminds me of a story i read a while ago. A kid was in Italy with a school group and their leader got lost trying to find some church they were supposed to meet at. Suddenly the kid realized he recognized where he was and knew how to get to the church a few streets away, despite never having been there before. Turns out the church was really tall and just happened to be a fast travel/sync location from assassin's creed. He was able to lead them straight there in just a few minutes, using side streets and alleyways.
As an Egyptology enthusiast, I think one of the parts I liked most about this game was in fact the ordinary people and buildings and them going about their lives. Yes, the monumental stuff is undeniably awesome, but the everyday people is what breathed life into it!
@@ryanfitzsimmons2426 Not at all. Locations have vaguely the general shape they're supposed to have, but a lot of times they took a lot of artistic liberty with the terrain, specially considering the map is a condensed version of Egypt. For example, you can't see the pyramids from the real Alexandria, but in the game, you can. 😉
This game is the ultimate time machine to Ancient Egypt for me. I’ve always dreamed of a game with this size and outreach and I couldn’t be more proud of it.
I remember back when I try the first Assassin's creed, Ancient Egypt will be the perfect setting. Fast forward Assassin's creed Origins isnt only my favourite Assassin's creed game, its one of my favourite games.
I became really fascinated with ancient Egypt because of this game. I adore the Discovery Tour mode, just to wander around the stunning world they created and learn about what daily life might have been like.
I have play this game and love it. I am very passionate about ancient Egyptian ever since I was little kid. I taught myself on how to read and write in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic.
You’re most definitely fucking lying. First of all hieroglyphs can’t be read or spoken. Look up the definition of Hieroglyphics......it literally says “it’s an enigmatic or incomprehensible symbols of writing.” Hieroglyphics contain 4,000 characters, while the English Alphabet only contains 26 characters/letters. Which means each hieroglyphic character would have to have 153 meanings for each character. Linguist still to this day can’t decipher the hieroglyphs in Ancient Egypt so how tf did you? And I’m willing to bet you can’t explain how you did it either
@@user-rf9tt9fl1w Copying my explanation from another thread: "It's a groaner even by nerd standards. Origen was an early Christian scholar who lived in Alexandria during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. That's relatively close in time to the setting of the game (59 BCE), much closer in time than the "origins" of Egyptian civilization, which were about 3500 years earlier. A lot of Egyptologists prefer older things and didn't like that the game was set so late (by our standards). I wanted to put in an icebreaker to convince them that it's not a bad game just because it takes place during the Ptolemaic Period. So I went with a bad joke."
It's my favorite Assassin's Creed... Since I played it the first time I fell in love with ancient Egypt leaving me fascinated by learning more about this beautiful culture! The sensation that you feel when visiting the tombs, the hieroglyphics on the walls, the solitary desert... I love this game! They did an amazing job!
Playing the game and doing the discovery tour, I think the thing that boggled my mind the most was that there was already 2000 years of history before the games time period. The pyramids were already ancient to the people of the Ptolemaic Egypt. Thanks for a wonderful breakdown of the game. I truly loved exploring this game and was great to see you comment on it.
@Deniz Metin T. That fact right there is mind boggling. The Pyramids were so far back for her, and we think of her time period as ancient. When you bring up Cleopatra and Alexandria is seems so far away (it was Classical Era not Ancient I know) that to think so much history had already gone by by the time they were ruling in Egypt is crazy to me.
Which is why it’s madenning when people try to dismiss the ancient pharaohs as being black. The original rulers would have been, they were then conquered by the Persians, who were then conquered by the Greeks Ptolemies…Ancient Egypt itself was around for over 10000 years, with so many dynasties from different cultures. People dismiss it because they have prejudices about what a ruler can look like, or don’t want to give relevance that anything great could have come from black peoples, but fundamentally speaking, Egypt was just a melting pot because of how many times it’s hands passed through different rulers and for precisely how long it’s been around. There’s so much we will probably never know about it’s history because of just how long it existed before cleopatra
I absolutely love learning about world history and ancient civilizations. The Assassins Creed titles are a great outlet for me to experience history ( albeit tweaked versions ). AC Origins has to be my all time favorite entry in the series. Egypt is just so fascinating and its really cool to see actual scholars getting enjoyment out of it. Amazing video my friend!
It's always interesting, informative, and amusing watching experts play games in their chosen fields. I hope more join in and talk because it fleshes out the games and shows others that they're not just mindless entertainment. That said, it felt like I was back in college attending class haha
I just recently finished this game with all of it's DLCs... by far my favorite Assassin's Creed game. The story was awesome, being able to see and explore ancient Egyptian sites was great. I just love this game.
Thank you so much for putting out this very well thought through review from the perspective of an Egyptologist. It was really insightful for someone who loved Egyptology from a young age and also loved the game at the same time.
This is one of the elements of these games- specially this one- that I enjoy so much. The historical element. Learning and immersing yourself into another time period. It's awesome!
@@ValentinasWatching I won’t spoil it but odyssey and Valhalla has moved more into the fiction than history side. Valhalla worse than odyssey in my opinion. Fun though.
Thank you! I was a classics major and purchased Odyssey, loved the immersion and exploration, and the gorgeous scenery, but, after 180 hours, got burnt out with endless repetition and grinding and didn't purchase Origins. Will do so now so I can at least enjoy the first hundred or so hours. 😃
Of course assasins creed games are going to be repetitive and grindy after 180 hours lol. Those games are not intended to be 200+ hours of content, the fact you were bored after 180 hours is not a fault of the game, or it's design lol, i think thats just you wanting more out of it after doing absolutely everything, and then ciriticing it for not giving you more to do.
You don't even have to be a history enthusiast to love these games' attention to detail and accuracy. I've only played Origins, Syndicate and Odyssey (getting Valhalla soon) and each game fascinated me.
Believe it or not but besides my inate love for history Assassins Creed series is second biggest point that led me to studying it at university... And I must say I myself were amazed at how though out and executed Assassins Creed Origins was.
Oh man, this is so awesome! I speculated about this in the more-formal talks that I gave to academics, because it's a good way to convince even the most skeptical that video games matter. Our ability to do research directly depends on subsequent generations wanting to study these subjects. I'm glad that I was right about that, but I'm even more glad to learn that it has enriched your life in this way.
You did a great job striking a balance between viewing this from an academic perspective and a gamer's lens. I don't envy the developers whose task is to convincingly recreate a 2-millennia old setting, while also making the game fun to play.
Thank you. Christian, for your evaluation. I thought that Origins did a really good job of depicting their story within the confines of actual history of the time and place, but I have only limited knowledge to support my opinion. It was refreshing to know that what I believed was not wrong. The game has a gameplay mode that lets the player wander through their map apart from the tasking and fighting, where the player is given the history of the many places and people depicted in the game. I was hoping your were going to comment on that aspect as well. I do imagine, however, such commentary would involve more that fifteen minutes. I now want to go back and take the "museum tour" now that I know that the information will be close to accurate. Thank you.
Very academic from beginning to the end with clear arguments, supports, references etc. It is not RU-vid style, you're not rushing the video. So, it is like a proper video essay which is both educational and fun to watch. Thank you!
Great video and one of the best game ever made! It describes Egypt around that era very realistic there is no doubt! From academic point of view, if I may suggest, another second video and even longer should be made to cover all the important things that are missing in this video.. For example: traditional jobs of people and crafting, historical clothes and jewellery, wall and temple arts, weapons and armory, and fauna but wild one and finally to pick up some 3 or 5 most important monuments and show all what is right and what inccorect to that era. Thank you! Looking forward for PART II 😉
Man AC origins definitely had my like. As someone who played the old AC games, it took a minute to adapt to the fighting mechanics, but after some practice I could clear out an entire fort with ease. Also this game intrigued me, I never cared about ancient Egypt, but now I am curious a little. Good review by the way.
Thank you for doing this! I am actually one of those people who, after playing this game, went completely nuts and started reading academic literature about Ancient Egypt. Let's see where this is going to take me. 'Harvesting unripe wheat for some reason'. Yeah, the things NPCs do in games. By the way, did you check out the discovery tours as well? I find that the NPCs there are even more believable, often carrying out complex tasks like processing food, manufacturing things or taking out organs when preparing a body for mummification.
I like how in the senu pov u can see what each person is doing Such as "resting working etc. " If u never noticed before Just aim at someone And it will tell u what they are doing at that moment Also works on animal Realy fun detail
@@crypto137 It's just about the most interesting thing in the whole world if you ask me. I specialize in Egyptian language, and I never get tired of reading in Egyptian. After nearly a decade it's never stopped being awesome every time.
Read the pdf you posted on Reddit (Brown University pedagogical thing about ACO) very interesting! Can’t wait to play the game now, just finishing Odyssey atm and it’s reignited my fascination with Ancient Greece :)
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme I have a question for you in the game. In the city of Krokodopolis, people worshipped Nile crocs and the crocs that swam in the channels of the city never attack you. They also wore ornaments. Was this true for that city in this time? Was there also a real Little Sobek?
One thing I really loved about the game was how Bayek's faith was handled. I don't think I have ever seen a video game with a protagonist who was so religious and even superstitious!
However can explain to me why ancient Egyptian religion, at least the part of it that focuses on specific sacred animals, like falcons, crocodiles, rams, hippos, jackals, bulls, snakes, etc., is based on some kind of early Totemic religion, that probably began back in Predynastic times? Totemism is common in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the crocodile in particular is one of the most widely venerated animals in Sub-Saharan Africa, so the Egyptians considering crocodiles sacred seems to be an African thing, not a near eastern thing.... the crocodile is sacred in Burkina Faso, as well as South Sudan, yet modern Egyptians as far as ethnic psychology is concerned, in way have the same beliefs as ancient Egyptians... But why? I'll wait...
@@Hamitic_Race You'll have to wait for someone else, I have no idea about Egyptian religion 😂. I just felt that the fact that Bayek is so religious and superstitious is a breath of fresh air. So Bayek is travelling the Egyptian sands and looking to help the folk. Some person has some problem and he/she thinks it's because the Gods are angry or something. In other games or movies etc. the solver of the problem would be 'above' such superstition and know that there must be some other reason. But Bayek totally believes that it's the Gods. Through his investigations he finds out there's a human cause, but his faith doesn't shake. I loved that.
I've been telling teachers ever since AC II that this franchise is AMAZING to analyse and work with students. I majored in history and was so surprised to see so little students and professors had played games from the franchise, like... what are y'all doing with your lives??? Your content is what I've yearned to see on youtube for ages, thank you!!
I admire those artist who put their freaking whole passion into these games to let us experience these stuffs that we could never would have experienced in life.
Thank you for this video. I'm currently playing this game because it is free on game pass and loving every second of it. Only comment I'd really like to add is the landscape is absolutely stunning. Ubi did an amazing job on it.
Glad to see my fellow Brunonians enjoyed this game as much as I did. I literally spent over 200 hours in this game and had to resort to S/N for one of my class lol
Exactly! I've just written a paper where I argue exactly this in overt terms. There's a huge difference between reading a book about Paris and visiting for a week (and a difference between visiting and living there). You gain different knowledge and insight from different views. This is the week-long visit to ancient Egypt. It won't teach you everything, but it will give you a unique perspective that you can't get any other way.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme Is there a way we could perhaps read this paper? Because the thought of writing something like that has occurred to me and I'd be interested to read yours.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme hey Chris, very nice video, I really enjoyed it. Sadly, the link you provided for your paper is not working :(. Is there any other way for me to read it? Thanks! Greetings from Argentina
Nice and insightful review. One aspect I feel is not well represented is the different life styles and social stratus both in AC Origin and AC Odyssey. You are informed of where the rich & powerful live but due to the extreme freedom of movement, you don't get to experience the natural social boundaries of each time, so everyone and everywhere you go feels kind of the same.
I'm a philisophy teacher and i'm dealing with ancient greece.right now, then went to play assassins.odissey and it's been quite a journey in my free time
I'm loving this game from a historical perspective. seeing the way the egyptians and greeks interact, then later with the romans entering the mix is so cool. seeing the way it affects regular citizen,for better or for worse. seeing everyday life adds weights to the big moments like when ptolomey orders his troops against the romans in alexandria. i cant believe i slept on this game for so long, its amazing!
For the mud-brick houses, some villages in Egypt still build the same houses to this day, they used to be in every village before building the Aswan dam in the 60's/70's but now it's more modern red bricks and concrete houses, also the white pigeon towers/dovecote still exist to this day in many Egyptian villages.
Assassin’s Creed has such an undeniable historical presence. Some elements remain hinged into the fabric of video game entertainment, but as a general theme, everything has a historicity indubitably communicated throughout the game. The game itself was extremely engaging, and I actually recall crying when I completed it...
I played this game mainly for the pleasure to walk and see the places and the landscape, for an immersion in the ancient Egypt. I really loved to see with my own eyes how that world was, a very engaging experience. Now that you confirmed that the game it is quite accurate, for me is even more emotional. Thank you.
I lived in Egypt for over 5 years before this game came out. The game really did great job reconstructing each cities and structures to express unique Egyptian beauty. Great job in mixing their game story with actual historical events, too. I loved this game and the sequel Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. 👍
"One of the places where they did decide to change things a little but was in the height" ... hahahahaha! Fans of AC know why they decided to make places taller in game than in real life ... we need our parkour!
Definitely! This was originally aimed at Egyptologists-who usually have a much better mental model of Karnak temple than they do of AC games-so I had to pretend like it was weird and explain it from that view. From an AC perspective, it's a no-brainer. I would argue that the Origins solution is better on average than Valhalla's. There they've tried to compensate for the flatness of the English countryside but putting things behind locked doors and underground. Finding a way into a locked room isn't nearly as fun as climbing heights that "shouldn't" be there.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme I do think, though, that Valhalla was just a very intentional response to fans who demanded Assassin's Creed, but demanded it to be reinvented. They chose to get rid of elements like stealth, range and parkour, because those are the things which made them feel like the same game in different places and periods. So I don't think it's accurate to say they came up with locked doors as a half-baked solution for the lack of height, but rather that it was a deliberate alternative.
Sent this to my Egyptologist friend, because he was absolutely ADDICTED to this game during covid last year. He agrees with everything you've said, Criticism AND Positives.
I started playing this game to ve an assassin and sword fight. However i cant help just sitting for hours and traveling around at the absolute stunning places they have built
I have 100+ hours in this game and the DLCs and I love it so much. I'm still exploring and doing things in it and it's the only reason I haven't got Valhalla yet lol I skipped odyssey but was thinking of playing that as well. Egypt is so awesome!!!
Tipp if you intend to get more of the newer AC's: get Valhalla first, then odyssey. I played Odyssey first, then tried origins while waiting vor valhalla. I ended up not playing to much origins since it is a bit to close to Odyssey and vice versa to do them back to back imo. Both are good games (though I prefered Odysseys combat), but they correctly show how much influence Egypt and Greek had on each other back then, and ofc the ton of similarities due to the climate and such. Valhalla is a completely different beast with it's northern european areas another thousand years time difference, so it works great to break up the monotony imo.
This is a great video. I really like knowing that a game that seems so intricate and accurate, actually is. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the culture portrayed in the game; the religion, the songs, the folklore, etc.
I've been really into Ancient Egypt since I was a kid, reigniting my interest sometime in 2016, then turning it into a full-on obsession in around 2017 when I finally finished school and could pursue studies at my own pace, rather than rely on institutions specifically adapted to NT people. Now I've dedicated this portion of my life to studying zoology and Egyptology, as well as working on art and making knowledge available to others. Subsequently, I got my first proper PC in 2017 as well which has a 4k screen and can handle this game in such a resolution. To put it simply.... I've dedicated a thousand hours to this game solely, simply because I really love walking around, looking at the architecture, the pottery, jewellery and clothes. My focus is primarily on the cultural side, but I would love to properly study this one day. The Discovery Tour is simply phenomenal, I would lie if I told you I didn't cry at least....6 times while playing this game, and screamed many more. The fact that I can just sit down next to some farmers and eat or go pick some grapes- well, it puts me into a state of euphoria. I'm also practicing photography with the integrated screenshot system and I've taken around 6000 screenshots at this point.
Wow, I loved this game - played it through 3 times - Nice to know that it was good, and well thought out - It felt real, like you were there in that world. Which is important to emerce the player :)
However can explain to me why ancient Egyptian religion, at least the part of it that focuses on specific sacred animals, like falcons, crocodiles, rams, hippos, jackals, bulls, snakes, etc., is based on some kind of early Totemic religion, that probably began back in Predynastic times? Totemism is common in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the crocodile in particular is one of the most widely venerated animals in Sub-Saharan Africa, so the Egyptians considering crocodiles sacred seems to be an African thing, not a near eastern thing.... the crocodile is sacred in Burkina Faso, as well as South Sudan, yet modern Egyptians as far as ethnic psychology is concerned, in way have the same beliefs as ancient Egyptians... But why? I'll wait...
This game is so amazing, just wandering the world and do some interesting side quests... I observed the irrigation system of the fields shown in the game for a long time to understand how it worked.
It would be really cool to see your opinion on Pharaoh, a 1998 citybuilding game made by Impression Games, set throughout all the ages of egyptian history, all the way up to Cleopatra.
I would like to offer my opinion, but I've never played it unfortunately. It's not easily available on any platform I have access to. I'm hoping to write a (both academic and accessible) book about the use of ancient Egypt in games, and this game is clearly essential research. I'm going to need to build a gaming pc as a part of this project, which I might try to get a grant for because it's truly a research tool at this point, and this game is clearly a classic.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme Wow, I didn't really thought you would respond, that's really awesome, man! If I'm not mistaken, Pharaoh plus it's Cleopatra expansion is available at GOG.com, and it isn't that much expensive, so I hope it helps. Or, since you said you're gonna build a gaming PC, you could wait for the remake that was announced some time ago, it would certainly look way more nice than 1998 graphics. Looking forward to more of your content, I really liked your AC Origins review.
@@MarceloZ2 I did find GOG but it looked maybe complicated? Maybe just complicated for late on a Sunday. I'll definitely give it a look. And of course I responded! You're helping me with my research. I couldn't be more grateful. Hit me with whatever you got!
As long as you can filter the fiction from the non-fiction in assassin's creed games you can learn alot about history of those places. Sometimes is makes you interested in certain events of the period in that region making you look something up and learn even more.
They also dropped a model of the Rosetta Stone in there was mucking around in the discovery mode and saw it just laying there and was like "huh. Neat."
Finished the game a few years ago. Explored all the locations, received all the trophies and I did the discovery tour and I had a lot of fun. Just finished AC Valhalla and found this video. And right now, I'm thinking about playing it all over again, because it was such a great game to play and a world to explore!
I’m not sure I understand you completely. Do you feel that I was dishonest about something in my video, are you interested in discussing controversies regarding the age of certain monuments (e.g. the Great Sphinx), or are you simply disinclined to trust egyptologists? I’m happy to discuss any of these subjects with you (honestly and with full transparency, of course), but I want to be sure I understand your position first.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme No; I actually respected your take. I was referring to the politically hegemonized aspects of the field that subvert the findings of true anthropologists to paint false narratives about Egypt, reinforcing European affluence over the continent along with History in general.
@@maurikuvalentinus1657 I see. Egyptology is a deeply colonial enterprise. Anyone who tries to say otherwise is not to be trusted. We're going to be dealing with the consequences of that for a very long time.
@@tansebentmntrmnkeme Your a humble guy, Christian...I thank you for that. Too much ego to go around these days. Anthropology & Philosophy have been my passion since I was a teen. Sometimes, my cynicism can be a tad overbearing, and for this I apologize.
As far as the game goes, I consider it a "clever fiction", and I mean this in every way. The relationship between Cleopatra & Julius Caesar was extremely controversial back then, but it was not anywhere near as sinister as the writers made it...and in my opinion, they dangerously blur the line between genuine history and propagandized fanaticism.
This game is on sale for PS5 right now and I can't wait to play it. I knew the developers had payed attention to historical details but didn't realise just how much dedication went into a realistic portrayal of daily life. I would've preferred New Kingdom rather Ptolemaic Egypt but I can see why they chose this time period for the story. As a massive Egyptology nerd, can't wait to spend hours playing this thing :)
Surprised you didnt talk about the embalming and preparation of the dead and ritual, its all over the game and very interesting, especially when compared to modern western attitudes to death and the dead
An oversight for sure. There’s never enough time to talk about everything, but this would have been an especially good thing to mention. IIRC I might have mentioned it in the paper I wrote: christiancasey.github.io/ACO.pdf If not, maybe there’s more detail in there that you might find interesting.
Very interesting video. its so cool to see all of the little attention to detail that I don't even really notice while playing. Ubisoft has always done a great job with historically accurate settings in these games. I'm not sure if you were actually confused by the title or if you said other people were, but the Origins in the title refers to the origins of the Assassins Brotherhood that is the focal point of the games.
Hi Christian! Just finished watching your interview on the Digital Hammurabi channel for AC Origins, very cool! I will play this game soon so I started reading a National Geographic encyclopedia about history that's starting with three volumes about Egypt. As soon as I clear the third, I'll start playing Origins, so I have at least some background of the world I'll be immersed in. I was wondering what an Egyptologist might think of this recreation of ancient Egypt and came accross that interview. After seeing the Digtal Hammurabi video, I was wondering what you might think about the time period Ubisoft chose, because for a total ignorant like me, it looked too far away from the golden age of ancient Egypt. But you actually answered that in this video. I stopped half way because I don't want to spoil me the game, but I'll come back to it later. Anyway, thanks for all the info (in the DH inteview and here), playing a game set in a historical recreation even praised by historians is really cool! ps: nice set of the Royal Game of Ur you have!
Hi Nicola, I'm so glad you enjoyed my videos, and I hope you enjoy playing the game even more. Let me know if you have any thoughts after you start playing.
For me, video games are so good these days they are now just a different form of media for telling stories and learning, we have books, documentaries, movies etc. and now games, and AC is so good because you learn about real history, but it's not like a book or a documentary because you actually get to live it in a way, you get to walk around it and experience it in a way that no other form of media offers. Alexandria is a place I've always been amazed by and I've always liked learning about it, if I could get in a time machine and go anywhere it would be there, the mathematicians, scientists, philosophers, inventors who lived in that city just to study and understand our existence, it was basically a hub of knowledge and culture, and it sounds so cool to me, to be able to walk around an almost living breathing version of that city was just incredible, and the way they accurately rebuilt it based on pictures of what it actually looked like meant that it felt familiar too, such an amazing game.
Thanks to gameranx for suggesting this game. I was actually looking for an egypt-themed game after watching the mummy(brendan frasier) then several weeks later saw this. My favorite AC out of all of them, with Bayek being my favorite protag!
