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    Assassin's Creed Origins

    Game » consists of 11 releases. Released Oct 27, 2017

    Assassin's Creed Origins is an action-adventure RPG video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the tenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

    francium34's Assassin's Creed Origins (Xbox One) review

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    Fresh start

    Assassin's Creed Origins takes a mumble jumble of systems and somehow works them into a (mostly) coherent whole. It is a welcome refresh of the series, both story-wise and mechanically. I usually do not enjoy open world games. Despite my interest in the historic eras the AC games are set in, 3 was the only one I tolerated to completion. In many ways AC: Origins was tailored for me, in that it is basically an RPG. The game nails is its story and world-building. AC:O is a story of revenge, as one Egyptian Medjay (cop?) seeks out members of a shadow organization responsible for the death of his son. Where other games often falter by settling into a stale routine, the story here mostly stays fresh by using different narratives and twists. Bayek is a great lead. He growls, sneers, but more welcomingly also jests and grins through his adventures. The range of emotions he shows was compelling enough for me to turn off the hood/veil on his outfit just so his facial expressions are unobstructed. Side characters tag along long enough to be memorable, some of which lead to interesting side quests after their turn in the main story is over. Make no mistake though, the main draw here is the breathtaking world of Egypt around 45 BC. The graphic fidelity helps, sure, but the environment is inherently compelling. As an RPG, enemies and quests from each region are tied to levels. So while free roam is possible, the game essentially is a guided tour through Egypt: look at these deserts, now climb a pyramid, ever wonder what the city of (spoilers!) looks like, here's nile and her crocodiles, etc. Few settings provide the sense of wonder ancient Egypt has to offer. The flavor texts and side quests also flesh out the era. Any time things start to feel stale, new locations and peoples (Egyptians of different towns and worships, Greeks, Romans) are introduced to spices it up again. For those still invested, the outside-of-Animus plot is still going, although thankfully sparce. In the end the story kind of resets to a state prior to 3's disastrous ending, with more potential for interesting story-telling in the future. Some of the mechanics and ui seemed straight out of other Ubisoft games. Big yellow numbers pop up on critical hits. An eagle, basically a drone, can be called in to scan/tag locations/enemies of interest. Tower climbing and a map vomit of icons are unfortunately still present. With it's RPG overhaul, loot system, weapon perks, material for crafting, etc are introduced as well. A revamped combat system helps to ease series fatigue. The previous Batman-style counter and combo system is replaced with more free-flowing action. The comparison often made is to the Witcher 3 or Dark Souls, but much less polished. The camera in combat can be frustrating, especially since the dodge roll goes way further than in other games. Heavy attacks also have considerable lag, which takes getting used to. Each weapon behaves slightly different, and the limited moveset can be slightly expanded with upgrades in the talent tree. The talent tree also branches into bows (with a good variety of bows) and stealth tools, leading to some fairly powerful upgrades towards the end. Combat, shooting, and stealth are all decent, but not top of the class. Long time fans may be disappointed that stealth no longer guarantees a one-hit kill. Everything is decided by numbers, which mostly means Bayek's level. An enemy more than a couple levels higher is so resistant to damage, combat or stealth, that speed running is out of the question. In particular, towards the end, I had to halt all momentum in the main story to grind side quests to level up. The problem is exacerbated due to main and side quests almost always being multi-step, and only granting experience at the very end. Being forced to do multiple side quests (around 3 side quests grants one level), I also began to notice more rough edges in the quest designs. Too many missions boils down to going to a marker location and do one of 3 things, then repeat in another location. Sometimes Bayek realistically has no way of knowing where the target enemy/location is, but the game drops a marker down anyways. (The worst example is Bayek trying to find a hyena to retrieve a swallowed object. He shouldn't magically know which hyena to track down.) Some open world jank is still present, such as floating corpses, AI getting stuck on terrain, and clipping through objects (I am sad to report that although you can pet cats in the game, videos taken of such petting will most likely include at least some seconds of the cat clipping into Bayek's body parts), and a couple strange performance problems. But the issues were not often nor severe enough to take away from my enjoyment. Even with those gripes, however, AC:O is an overall very enjoyable experience. Somewhat in the vein of AC1 or Mass Effect 1, one can imagine the devs follow the same formula yet clean up certain parts to make an extraordinary sequel (with one concern: not many historic settings are as naturally interesting as Egypt. Will be interested in where they turn to next).

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