Assassin’s Creed Odyssey places more emphasis on role-playing elements than previous games in the series. The game contains dialogue options, branching quests and multiple endings.[2] The player is able to choose between siblings Alexios and Kassandra as to whom they use as the main character.[3] The game features a notoriety system in which mercenaries chase after the player if they commit crimes like killing or stealing in the presence of others.[4]
The player character is a Greek mercenary and a descendant of the Spartan king Leonidas I. They inherit his broken spear, which is forged into a blade to become a weapon that grants the player special abilities in combat. The game uses a skill tree system that allows the player to unlock new abilities.[5] The three skill trees are “hunter”, which focuses on ranged attacks through the use of a bow & arrow, “warrior”, which focuses on weapons-based combat (swords, spears, axes etc.), and “assassin”, which focuses on stealth and silent take-downs. This replaces the system used in Origins, which granted the player a series of passive abilities.
The hitbox combat system introduced in Origins returns and is expanded upon to grant the player access to different special skills when the ability bar fills up. These skills include calling a rain of arrows and a powerful kick to knock opponents off-balance,[4] and are similar to the “Overpower” mechanic introduced in Origins that let the player use a powerful finishing move in combat. The game features a gear system in which each piece of armor the player wears has different statistics and provides a range of advantages.[6] These can be equipped and upgraded individually. The “eagle vision” mode, which was used by the franchise to give the player the ability to scout an area by highlighting enemies and objects, has been replaced by a golden eagle named Ikaros as a companion,[7] similar to Senu in Origins.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey features naval combat again, with the player having access to Hellenistic-era warships to explore the Aegean Sea. The conflict between Athens and Sparta is represented through a “War System” which enables players to take contracts from mercenaries and participate in different large-scale battles against hostile factions. The war system can change a faction’s influence over a region.[6]
The player can develop romantic relationships with non-playable characters of both genders, regardless of their own character’s gender.[8][9] Creative director Jonathan Dumont commented that “since the story is choice-driven, we never force players in romantic situations they might not be comfortable with (…) I think this allows everybody to build the relationships they want, which I feel respects everybody’s roleplay style and desires.” Players and critics appreciated this inclusion of queer romance options. However, many reacted negatively to a plot development in the Legacy of the First Bladedownloadable content in which the player character has no choice but to enter into a relationship and have a child with a person of the opposite gender, considering that this invalidated their character’s identity and the role-playing aspects previously emphasized by Ubisoft.[10][11] Ubisoft responded that “we strive to give players choice whenever possible in Odyssey and apologize to those surprised by the events in this episode”.[12][13] Ubisoft later stated that the forced romance would be removed with a future patch along with a modified cutscene.[14] However, this consisted of editing the cutscene slightly so that the player could tell their partner they were only doing it for the blood-line – the child is still compulsory.
