I don’t play a lot of single-player games anymore. Sure, I cut my teeth on Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt as a kid. But the rise of Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games like Everquest and World of Warcraft got me more into the social aspect of gaming as an adult. I’ll take a fun co-op game like The Division, Borderlands, or Minecraft over most single-player games.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was strongly recommended to me by a friend, and it was on sale on Steam for something like $15 a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to give it a try. I’ve tried Assassin’s Creed before and it didn’t quite grab me. The biggest lure for me this time around was the option to play a female character for the whole story, which was a first for the franchise (and it must’ve been popular, because they’re doing it again for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla this fall).
I’ve put 42 hours in so far, and I’m just over halfway through the main storyline. It’s rather easy to get distracted by side missions, because it’s an open world game. Needless to say, I wouldn’t have put 42 hours in if I wasn’t enjoying it, but… I’m really enjoying it!
The graphics are terrific, and the world is just so, so beautiful. Kassandra is an amazing character, and I love how they made her tall and strong, as opposed to a skinny little waif that looks like she shouldn’t be able to lift a sword.
The story is also captivating. I minored in Classics in college, so that probably contributes to my fascination with the story. You brush elbows with historical figures and see ancient locations as they once were—full of color and life rather than ruins scrubbed to bare stone by time and the elements.
My only complaint? Snakes, snakes, SNAKES. I have a serious snake-phobia, and the first time one attacked me out of nowhere I came out of my chair like a bagel from a toaster. (Suddenly, violently, and utterly without warning.) Then I started noticing them everywhere, from frescos to stonework to jewelry… I never realized how into snakes the Greeks were.
Anyhow, that’s what I’ve been up to for the last couple of weeks when not busy writing and editing. My adventures in ancient Greece (and Sparta!) have been giving me some story/plot ideas, too.
And I’m 99.99% sure those stories/plots won’t involve snakes.
Single player is mostly what I play these days! Though there are a couple games that have the option to invite someone into your game. I do miss some parts of MMOs, but not the teenagers.
I think a lot of my nostalgia for my MMO days is through rose-colored glasses. Though I do re-subscribe to WoW now and again and play for a month here and there. It’s not quite the same without my old guildies.