legacy of the first blade

[amovingtarget]

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey - Legacy of the First Blade
played mid December?, 14 - 22 March

I can't remember much about playing the first episode of the DLC -- except that I liked it, I guess -- since it predates my ability to talk about things or keep a decent journal (even in private).

The second episode seemed to go by pretty quickly, maybe because it had been a while since I played Odyssey, so I kind of jumped right in and found I couldn't stop playing. And I had seen out of context wank on tumblr about this episode (which is part of the reason why I didn't play it straight away, I don't like having my impressions tainted by tumblr) and I feel like they seem a little unfair in context. On the one hand I was feeling understanding of people being upset and angry about it, but now that I've played it myself it just didn't seem like what they were making it seem like? I hadn't looked at any specifics based on the post I saw, and only made the connection towards the end of the episode, after the time skip, that they were making veiled references to a Alexios' child -- at which point I was like oh, was that all? I admit I was a little put out that I didn't really get a say in the matter, but the impression I got from the post was that there was a real in-game narrative element of actually forcing you to have that child. Maybe I'm just an old hand at rationalising canon elements in whatever way I feel most comfortable with, I don't know.

In any case, I kind of enjoyed the aspect of Alexios... not exactly settling down, but having a home and family of his own to go back to, because I'm all about the trope of weary soldiers finding some kind of peace after all they've been through. I also kind of liked the way they didn't seem very romantic with each other -- something they seemed to do away with a bit during episode three -- and more about having been through something together, and both kind of holding on to the ideal of not running any more. You don't see them have sex or even kiss, there was more tenderness and familiarity than actual attraction, and I guess it made me put a slightly queer-platonic kind of vibe on the relationship that I really liked. I will also say that Neema is more attractive to me than Natakas.

I also admit that even though I'm sad they went with the whole your loved one dies and your child is kidnapped bit, I guess it kind of fits and I'm not sure I'd have picked anything different (except of course, everyone living angstily happily ever after), and I liked that I could get Alexios through his grief with the minimum of aggression, without making it all about him and his loss. I'm still kind of tickled by the idea that, if you play Kassandra and Darius had a male heir (which I didn't know about at all until I realised the relationship storyline wasa thing that was happening), it's him that does all the talking about wanting to settle down, and playing house husband with the kid while Kassandra goes back to being a mercenary. And then there was the fact that all the home stuff had Alexios unarmoured, which was nice, until I forgot about it and carried on playing, and then realised I wasn't assassinating efficiently because I was in just a tunic and bare handed. So... when I went to kit him up again, I maxed all the assassin damage from other items so I could use the most baring chest piece I had, just because I can do that. I kind of loved the ending too. Cliched sure, but it was cool seeing little roots of the creed being spoken and acted on during and after the final battle, and seeing Darius take the baby away to Egypt at the end where the bloodline leads into Origins. I'm curious about their choice of Aya as the cameo character, since it's Bayek that has the eagle. Then again, it's Aya who becomes one of the master assassins as Amunet...

What else can I say...

I enjoyed playing the game again so much that I kept playing a little longer after I had finished the DLC storyline, and even after I had assassinated all of the Order members, which, interestingly enough, I found those guys quite a bit easier to deal with than the Cult members, besides which, Odyssey (and Origins) have some of the more enjoyable (if that's the word?) boss battles that I've come across in games, though I couldn't really say why that is. Maybe it's just because I don't die a million times. I spent a good deal of time just riding or running around discovering viewpoints and question marked locations. Strangely enough, I ended up getting weird deja vu feelings about doing simple things -- riding around, harvesting crafting items -- back in September when I was first playing it and it was all new... I don't know why my brain was doing that. I also unexpectedly got through the full questline for Aiantides the Proud which was pretty funny, and I got him as a legendary lieutenant for the ship, and the one for Markos.

Since I still had some of those Cult members left too, I took care of that where ever I could, first finishing the Delian League, and then doing a lot of questing and running around to get through the last two cultists each for the Heroes of the Cult and the Worshipers of the Bloodline branches. The naval branch was last -- The Gods of the Aegean -- and I made sure to get myself a breathe underwater engraving and get out to an underwater ruin, and then I went down there and fought off a bunch of sharks and wandered around for a while only to realise that I'd already found the cultist clue that was down there! That's what happens when you take a long break from gaming. There were two more that were hidden from me and revealing one of them was a pretty involved process of weakening some island and then fighting a conquest battle, but after that they all went down like bowling pins. I'm so glad I played the DLC first though, I can't imagine doing all these naval battles without that flamethrower that you pick up for your ship as part of the story in episode two. Then I did the encounter with Aspasia to finish that storyline -- I picked the option to destroy the artifact instead of killing her, though I'm not entirely sure what that means for the game universe -- and finished the Gladiator arena, and found a few more locations. There's just the Atlantis quest string to go now, and the odd sidquest and bounties and such, but I think that's enough of this game for now.

It was really fun to get to level 50 and then 60 but I'm kind of sad the game keeps the level scaling so that I'm never more than five levels above the quests, and general enemy level. I love being overpowered, it makes endgame exploring and collectible and trophy hunting so much more palatable if I can breeze through encounters. Still, it was kind of a game changer when I realised by accident that I could ranged-assassinate the bears that keep trying to eat me.

Comments

[enemyofperfect]

So... when I went to kit him up again, I maxed all the assassin damage from other items so I could use the most baring chest piece I had, just because I can do that.

How can you say this and not provide a picture for your loyal readers?

Still, it was kind of a game changer when I realised by accident that I could ranged-assassinate the bears that keep trying to eat me.

This is a magnificent sentence.

[amovingtarget]

Oh, shit, you're right!!! Well, without turning on my console (and turning to the internet instead) it might have been this one. Or it might be this one.

This is a magnificent sentence.

Why, thank you. :T