The Assassin’s Creed series is Ubisoft’s gold mine. The franchise first debuted eleven years ago in 2007 and took off in popularity as soon as the first trailer hit. Before Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft looked toward Prince of Persia for a franchise it could consider its flagship series. However, Prince of Persia could never replicate the legs Assassin’s Creed has displayed.
The franchise has been expanded upon so greatly that it hardly looks anything like the first game in its own series. The open world nature has evolved in such ways that now the main draw is to immerse yourself in the expansive environments. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag should be credited with bringing about the idea of having one map to keep players engaged. After that game, every installment has produced a map several times larger than the previous one.
The drawback of having such an enormous game is that a majority of the elements get lost in the process. More than 75 percent of the players purchasing a copy won’t even have a clue of most of the games’ offerings and this is a shame indeed. In their attempt at providing gamers hours’ worth of content, Ubisoft has also snatched away most of the stuff that is there to be discovered.
In light of this, this list will see the 30 Things that players totally missed while playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey—the latest entry in the series. These form gameplay elements along with trivia you most likely aren’t familiar with.
30 The Misthios’ Age
The ending of the game went too far into Sci-Fi territory by revealing that the Misthios—either Kassandra or Alexios—was alive the whole time. And by “whole time” we mean the entire time from 431 BCE to 2018 CE.
The Misthios lived through every Assassin’s Creed game ever released.
This made the Misthios over 1500 years old before their demise at the end of Odyssey. It’s cool to realize that but also ridiculous in that Assassin’s Creed has really jumped straight into Sci-Fi without any regard for realism.
29 Kassandra Was Canon
The Assassin’s Creed games always see simultaneous releases with novelization of the games’ events. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was no different and brought about the events of the story in book form.
The game gave us a choice to either be Alexios or Kassandra, making it ambiguous who was the canonical character. However, the novelization confirms Kassandra was the canonical protagonist of the game. This makes sense as players have noticed Alexios’ role seemed to be more rigid compared to Kassandra despite having the exact same storyline.
28 Historically Inaccurate
For a series that has a storyline about prehistoric advanced alien civilization whose tools are now used as weapons of war by two competing factions over a number of centuries, Assassin’s Creed still held strong to historical accuracies.
This changes with Odyssey.
Kassandra wasn’t a possibility in real history as at the time the game is set there were no female warriors present during the Peloponnesian war. Of course, people at the time never foresaw women’s rights to progress further so what’s stopping Ubisoft from rewriting history?
27 Cult Of Kosmos Were Proto-Templars
With the Templars far from being in existence way back in 431 BCE, they also did not have a direct role in the story the same way as the Creed of Assassins didn’t. This doesn’t mean the Templars sat this story out, though.
The Cult of Kosmos were the primary antagonists of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and these not only take on the role of the Templars—they are the Templars. The Cult is what would develop into the antagonistic group of the series that has lasted into the 21st century. This makes them the Templars’ forefathers.
26 No Actual Creed
The Assassin’s Creed series gets its name from, well, the Creed of Assassins. This would sound like an idiotic thing to talk about, but the fact of the matter is this game doesn’t actually have an Assassin’s Creed.
There’s about a 400-year gap before the Creed’s formation.
As shown in Assassin’s Creed Origins, the Creed started out by being known as the Hidden Ones; founded by Bayek and Amunet in 49 BCE. So, everything you did in this game isn’t endorsed by the Creed because they just don’t exist by this point.
25 Largest Map Ever
Assassin’s Creed Origins blew everyone away by delivering a truly massive environment for us to explore. Before that, Syndicate tried to do the same but wasn’t as interactive. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s map size destroys everything the series has shown us before.
The map size is three times the size of Origins.
This makes it a mammoth compared to any other open world game released. Unlike Origins, Odyssey focuses more on the naval missions whereas the former was based on the desert.
24 First Singular Female Protagonist
We’ve already established that Kassandra was meant to be the canonical protagonist of the game, making Alexios’ missions purely stuff of fantasy as far as the story is considered. Kassandra also takes the title of being the first-ever singular female protagonist of the series.
Before Kassandra, Evie Frye was a playable protagonist but had to share the stage with her brother. Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation also had a single female protagonist but that game isn’t part of the main series.
23 Juno Storyline Is Abandoned
Assassin’s Creed III’s ending was widely criticized for being anti-climactic as it disposed Desmond Miles and unleashed Juno. This storyline was downplayed but still a part of the main story in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate by featuring Juno’s husband as the mysterious Sage who looks to bring her back fully into the present day.
However, Assassin’s Creed Origins and now Odyssey both seem to have moved on from that story by shifting it into another direction. It’s for the best anyway, because the Juno storyline sucked.
22 Layla Is The New Desmond
The games from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to Assassin’s Creed Syndicate featured the present day protagonist in the first-person; a gameplay style that never kicked off and was replaced by the third-person narrative once more in Assassin’s Creed Origins.
Ubisoft seems to be intent in replicating the Desmond style of storytelling by giving us a main protagonist in the present day once more. As revealed at the end of Odyssey, Layla is meant to be the chosen one in the conflict between Assassins and Templars. We all know the Chosen One story was done before with Desmond.
21 Story Is Very Similar To Star Wars
The Sci-Fi path Assassin’s Creed’s taking is getting pretty ridiculous. From the first game till Assassin’s Creed III, Desmond Miles held the role as the prophet of sorts who would prevent the Earth from disaster. But this wasn’t outright stated and was left ambiguous until the very end.
Layla seems to have been handed the role of Anakin Skywalker where an older wise person—the Misthios in this case—informs her that she is to bring balance to a conflict. Remember when Qui Gon Jinn claimed Anakin would bring balance to the force? So when does Layla get her Lightsaber?
20 Multiple Endings
Assassin’s Creed always remained straightforward as far as its storyline was concerned. The first game was completely dry in storytelling; with long intervals where all you could do was pace a room while another character drawled on and on.
This time round your choices lead to where you end up.
There are multiple endings available in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. For those too busy messing around in a vast open world map and not bothering to indulge in the story, this should provide incentive to get your act straight and finish the plot.
19 Visiting Atlantis
With Aquaman set for release in December, a lot of people can’t wait to get their Atlantis fix. You could quench this thirst for the lost city in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
It’s a game where you can fight mythological figures; a lost city isn’t that far-fetched.
Atlantis is one of the many sunken locations that can be found in the game. With the option to head on underwater always around, skilled gamers can take a shot at finding Atlantis by completing a huge number of requirements. It’ a lot of work, so maybe just wait for December to watch Aquaman instead.
18 It’s More Of An RPG
Assassin’s Creed series has seen a lot of shifts in gameplay since Assassin’s Creed Unity. These were rather subtle at first before Assassin’s Creed Origins changed quite a lot. But the series still remained an action-adventure game.
This changes with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey which is way more of an RPG than a traditional adventure game. A whole lot relies on the choices you make; even the conversations. Due to this, gameplay feels much different compared to how it was earlier on.
17 Black Panther Reference
Black Panther took the world by storm at the beginning of 2018 with the film becoming something of a cultural phenomenon. It brought several mannerisms that have been integrated into pop culture society.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey featured one of the film’s more memorable sequences.
Heading over to the Gortyn Waterfall in Messara will bring you a sight of two men engaged in a duel on a cliff overlooking a waterfall. Not only is this resemblance uncanny, there’s even a crowd hanging on every strike made by the competitors. Wakanda—err, Athens Forever!
16 You Can Regain Cyclops’ Eye
Right at the start of the game you’re forced to relinquish the Cyclops’ eye. After the rather unbecoming manner of disposing of the eye, it seems as if there’s no way you can get it back. Here’s where you are wrong.
The Cyclops’ eye can be regained later on in the game—although only ardent gamers have taken up this challenge as of yet—by undergoing goat hunting in Kepahollonia. It’s not really fun gameplay so be ready to undergo an exhaustive task.
15 Greek God Boss Fights
Assassin’s Creed Origins had hidden boss fight deep in the desert where Bayek had to fight off ancient Egyptian Gods to gain prizes that really weren’t worth the trouble. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey replicates this by bringing in Greek Gods for you to combat.
Enter Medusa – Your needlessly difficult boss fight.
By beheading this legendary abomination, you can use it to decorate your ship with a new figurehead. Because who doesn’t like a creepy Godhead as a souvenir for their ship?
14 Cutscenes Are More Than 30 Hours
There’s a large portion of viewers on the internet who prefer to indulge in game watching rather than playing the games themselves. Jimmy Kimmel made fun of this fanbase, who proceeded to act like little brats and threaten the comedian for his jokes.
These people won’t be getting through all of Odyssey on YouTube.
The game has over 30 hours worth of cutscenes! With all the number of choices the player has, combined with the side missions and the main plot, the game is overflowing with video content.
13 Weather Is Dynamic
You may have been too engrossed within the game to have taken notice of the weather, because Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has taken great lengths to ensure it retains a dynamic weather feel. Weather was the farthest thing from Ubisoft’s mind back in the days of the 7th generation of consoles; now, however, the world presented to us is ensured to be bustling with life. And what better way than producing a real-life portrayal of how the world works? You may have noticed it tends to rain naturally in the game, and if you haven’t taken notice then go back and savor the realism.
12 The Size Of The Game Has Been Criticized
There’s something known as “Too much of a good thing” and it’s pretty real. Something that is enjoyable turns exasperating when it’s doled out liberally. With Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, a number of reviews have criticized the game for being far too large in terms of map size.
It is kind of true.
The story takes a backseat when you feel obligated to traverse the entire plains and seas before you. Missions also feel like a means to an end when the only reason you’re completing them is to gain access to more of the environment.
11 Graphics Aren’t Great
Although the in-game world has been crafted to near perfect detail, the graphics aren’t as boosted up as one might imagine. The environments do look great, but they aren’t anything new. What’s more is that the character models are detailed to the degree of staying stationary.
When these characters speak, they don’t look real at all. Of the two protagonists, Alexios looks and sounds terrible. He seems to be confused whether he wants to impersonate an ancient version of Sylvester Stallone in Rambo III or a rip-off of Rocky in Rocky IV.
