Assassin's Creed Odyssey has an Alexios Problem | Illoominations

A video essay about why AC Odyssey should only have one protagonist, and why it should be Kassandra. Also discussed is the role of diversity in Assassin's Creed and the disappointing state of Ubisoft's marketing for female protagonists.
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/ loomer979
/ loomer979

[@loomer]

Hey everyone! Just want to say that while you're definitely free to disagree respectfully in these comments, personal attacks on me, the devs, or other fans is only going to get you banned here. Don't be a dick.

[@salm-wt3wm]

Having played Origins I think that Ubisoft missed an opportunity. If they knew they were going to go the route of heavier RPG elements and in-game choices, they should have switched focus on the present day component of the games to be set in the precursor times. It's fairly established that the precursor society can delve into the future, and that they would need some ability to influence it. Which can be explained by the presence of hidden sages if needed. And since the "modern day" portion would then be in the precursor era that would make most of the content of the game set in the future of the present day. So whether the main character of Odyssey is male or female could be explained away because in order to get to the timeline where Desmond exists the gender typically doesn't matter (near the end it could/would but before that there is a lot more room for flexibility). Similarly choices inside the game would represent non-essential parts of the timeline. For that matter the games themselves could be explained as precursors examining points in time where they've predicted a sage would exist and be able to influence the world as needed.

[@mrbust999]

is just a game man, ubisoft don't care bout little details as long as we get more choices and fun

[@user-ij6rk5ou7k]

I dont have a promblem with kasandra but for a creece setting alexios is the best choise. You see at the time the game takes place all women could was do choirs at home and look after their children and i know that because i am from creece and ancient culture was part of our history lesson .Also all of our myths are talking about men so alexios is a percrect fit

[@salm-wt3wm]

Not so much. I don't know enough to say whether that is fact or not but because of the games premise of using the animus to view the true history, it could be implied that Kassandra is out of the norm.

[@eliaswinston549]

Sorry, just made a HUGE paragraph about it.

[@baduploadschedule1015]

Alexios is as close as i'll get to Leonidas soooooo, yea, THIS IS SPARTA

[@ghettonetwork]

BadUploadScheduleツ I agree 💯 percent #THISISSPARTA

[@thelytz9806]

#TeamAlexios

[@sanjanaunni8205]

Agreed

[@baconman7178]

#THISISSPARTA

[@Logaterasou]

#TeamAlexios

[@kajarlarlim1617]

I always thought that before you start playing any next title, if it has any connection to the previous one, that they should ask you before new game to briefly give some information about how you played it. Like: ''welcome to Assassin's Creed Valhalla, have you played Assassin's Creed Odyssey? If so what character did you play as?'' so that every player can have his personal lore and that the game can adjust to it when those small little details pop up during gameplay.

[@Joker3180Z]

That's how they should've done it because Odyssey's whole thing was player's choice

[@jteaff6300]

This should have been the explanation: “we did it to give you choice, have fun.”

[@allinonedirection1949]

Agree

[@mrpsyco5884]

For me this argument boils down to "you need to choose kassandra because diversity and strong female protagonist" My counter argument is "if it ain't broke dont fix it"

[@cssbr3191]

@@mrpsyco5884 and then they make her the canon,why needs then two characters to play in the game?

[@athalonARC]

@@cssbr3191 Because the higher ups at Ubisoft felt a female protagonist wouldnt sell, which btw is not always true.

[@TheDarkGBJ]

​@@athalonARCit would have been true here. A female Spartan protagonist is just dumb

[@LeojPT]

Looks like they are getting an “Eivor” problem in AC: Valhalla

[@greengrugach1984]

@@10tailedbijuu You are getting your history from the Vikings TV show, there is a reason it's called 'programming' and you are another programmed sheep, shield maiden were last line if defence along with old men and children, they were used in battle very very sparingly, there wasn't a load of Lagerthas running about, imbecile.

[@birdy4112]

These new activist groups are pushing for too much “representation” in a game series where it prides itself on being historically accurate. Being frank there is little to no room for representation

[@jazzyb3424]

@@birdy4112 assassins creed has never been historically accurate. Even down to the first game. It’s historical fiction. It uses historical and mythological characters and throws some sci fi on top. If you think AC is historically accurate bc they have characters of real historical people then you’re actually a moron.

[@gwens2463]

@@10tailedbijuu "I can stomach meeting gods in this sci-fantasy game, but female protagonists are just too ahistorical for me."

[@ajayavsm7476]

@@10tailedbijuu Sheild Maidens most likely existed, but they were very few and were probably in battle only when there was no other choice

[@Ren_Davis0531]

Saying that Jacob is bisexual after the fact is super annoying. They tried to play it both ways by allowing you to think that he’s straight while at the same time they half-assedly state that he’s bisexual. I’m not giving them credit for that. You don’t have to sit up there and guess about any other characters’ sexuality. Evie is the other protagonist in the game, and her sexuality is front and center. Jacob is the only one in the series that you can kinda maybe sorta say he’s bisexual based off of how you interpret one relationship, and different people will have different takeaways on said relationship. That’s lame. If it ain’t in the game, it didn’t happen, so you can take the half-assed inclusion somewhere else. It’s bullshit of the highest order to make Kassandra canon, yet put Alexios all over the marketing. Aloy is the only playable character in Horizon: Zero Dawn and that game was very successful, so we can stop with the “‘men will only play male characters” argument. People will play good games. End of story. I would have more respect for them if they stopped coming up with nonsensical lore reasons, and just said that they believed in player choice and wanted to implement that feature, and went with Alexios in the marketing because they thought that it would sell more. At least that’s being honest.

[@WADEPH33R3]

yea whats dumb is Cassandra isn't cannon in the novels its alexios but after the game came out and Cassandra was more popular (for reasons I dont understand) she's cannon but when you play the game you see that it doesn't fit very well once you get to first blade. also this whole shit with sexuality is annoying. yes the Athens and the romans were gay but the thebes, Persians and especially the Spartans were not. for one for the Spartans they look at same sex stuff as shameful and it was outlawed 2nd spartan woman were look at in very high order because they created spartan men and they aslo had laws saying you had to be married by a certain time and death penalty for adultery and if you forgot you character is a spartan. another thing pointing to the fact that alexios was supposed to be the main character is first blade, neema male counter part was hired after the fact neemas character had already finished her lines which is why the dialog with nemmas male counter part is off. but remember people whined and cried that evil ubisoft made you have a heterosexual relationship so they had to patch the dlc so your character could say things like "i only did this for the blood line" which is why the dlc is so glitchy

[@magda2770]

@@WADEPH33R3 i really don't know why the sexuality part is such a big problem to people. You can literally not fuck anyone the whole game if you don't want to. And also, Kassandra / Alexios mainly grew up in Kephallonia and not Sparta. So I don't think that their morals would be of big importance to them. I also think it's disappointing that they didn't commit to one character. They should just make one quality character instead of two half-assed ones.

[@yunarukami7943]

Exactly

[@WarriorOfStarclan]

@@WADEPH33R3 I didn't read all of your comment, but the first part, Kassandra is the protagonist in the novel (I read it lol)

[@inkyfreddy3539]

Same with male Evior. Every piece of marketing, he’s male. But all of a sudden, it’s female?

[@Ok-wb2jb]

I’m just gonna say (for my headcannon) that which ever one you choose becomes cannon, thus, you choose the past.

[@birdy4112]

I like that

[@barbussygirl2908]

Is it okay if I choose to have odyssey as non canon in my head canon?

[@TakumiOfCarX]

This would be okay if I didn't play Valhalla and in the new DLC it's Cassandra

[@zainhartono7193]

Why couldn’t they do a Jacob and Evie Frye thing and allow you to switch them simultaneously as the focused protagonist?

[@colgantyskwicz7239]

Well bc the other one is an antagonist

[@GrindyVine]

@@colgantyskwicz7239 true

[@arthurmorgan8765]

@@colgantyskwicz7239 playing as an antagonist would be cool as well. Remember when we played as Haytham for a while?

[@borger298]

Or like a Valhalla thing where it swaps based on the animus

[@tfordham13]

@@arthurmorgan8765 but you can be a bad guy you can lie,steal,kill

[@swiftyunknown]

I think people are taking this video game too seriously. I'm sure the game will be fun, and that's what games are for, fun.

[@fraughtmonster8]

Swifty Unknown that doesn’t change the fact that developers are breaking their own fucking rules that they made for the sake of a gameplay mechanic 🤦‍♂️

[@SkyGuy4991]

You don't seem to realize just how serious AC has become for longtime fans.

[@mdd4296]

I will stop taking video game seriously when all of them cost $10 at max.

[@MegaFrance69]

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Return to fortnite to have "fun" then.... There's actually of lot of fans who cares about the story...

[@Sizzox]

Swifty Unknown fucking up the overarching story doesn’t seem like fun to me........

[@MatiZ815]

I'd welcome a female character but not in this particular game. Since the setting is in Greece, I would like to play as a Spartan warrior and they were all dudes.

[@RafaelSantos-pi8py]

Spartan warriors were gay and had sex with each other all the time. Still want to play as a Spartan?

[@MatiZ815]

Sure. The only fact I care about is that on the battlefield they were the greatest badasses of the ancient times.

[@g.potstra8318]

Rafael Santos Same as samurai. Do you still want a game set in Japan?

[@MatiZ815]

Jimmy De Santa What do you mean?

[@TheDarkGBJ]

MatiZ815 ignore the retarded SJWs

[@SH3RIFFO]

Here's my theory pitch. Alexios and Kassandra are twins. When you choose one as the protagonist, the other becomes the antagonist. Somewhere near the story, they battle, and they bleed. Their blood is mixed, so not only are they twins, but their events have been mixed. As such, Layla's animus is working with this unstable and confusing DNA sample, in which the Animus fills the memory gaps with constructed simulations, as done in the Last Descendants trilogy novel series. What do you think? EDIT: For those who haven’t noticed, this theory prediction of mine was posted BEFORE the game launched.

[@haleylarue1192]

SH3RIFFO I like that

[@mome5493]

brooo that’s actually really good

[@guitarman0365]

Once again the common folk that are truly passionate about the project always have better explanations and story ideas than the actual creators. What a shame.

[@StarwindAmada1]

In Andromeda the Ryder you don't choose is your sibling but here they're both the same person so the other one doesn';t exist.

[@ayyq6795]

Well you're right, one becomes the protagonist and the other becomes the antagonist

[@hipeople6490]

I’m not arguing I just prefer using boy characters so I love having 2 characters in this

[@kamakazed3747]

Oh come on Alexios is far funner to play in my opinion.

[@LazerzZ]

I agree wholeheartedly. Choices, although nice, break what the series has built for nothing more that keeping up with popular gaming trends The protagonist should be Kassandra alone because she’s canon in the novel. And their reasoning and explanations are absolutely dumbfounded. Great video pal, nice to see some uploads :)

[@norseca542]

well, hello there !

[@atharvavadeyar5157]

Julio Espada General Kenobi

[@joshuaromero7984]

LazerzZ do you feel Ubisoft is doing this the the new fans and not for the old ones?

[@brokenbridge6316]

Here, here LazerzZ.

[@ScrubsBeAfraid-]

The only good thing about choice for this game, is i can choose not to play this shit. Ubisoft have finally killed AC for me.

[@emilkatborg5067]

Agree with all of your arguments that are rooted in lore. However I don't think that Kassandra should be the only protagonist because she is a woman, but because she is the canon character. To me doesn't really matter whether I play as a man or a woman. But it matters to me that the gender and ethnicity of the character has a reason beyond diversity for the sake of diversity. It has be a narrative reason why this story makes most sense to tell through the eyes of a woman or a man of what ever ethnicity is selected. Love your videos man. Cheers!!

[@emilkatborg5067]

We can agree on number 3. As for the others weeeeelllll. Thats just your fucking opinion and i don't really care. Your probably just a fucking troll.

[@FerroMagelock]

agreed, more or less. I do think AC lore is kind of a joke though, so the only thing I really care about is how good the game play/story is. I'm a little annoyed at the video for how it minimizes Aveline as a character, when I really enjoyed that game and her story. Sorry to necro your old post.

[@Oscararon]

But is white man necessarily the default?

[@FerroMagelock]

In AC or in general?

[@nickarmstrong4677]

This is the only comment I’ve seen that has tried to make a point without seeming as if your talking down at someone. Thank you.

[@GeneralZeroOfficial]

Honestly, I would argue a few points here... I'll only briefly touch on 2 of them. 1: Yes, the idea that you have 2 strands of DNA makes things feel convoluted and contrived, but I would say that you could look at it as whichever you choose is who the memories belong to. Simple, I know, but not unreasonable to ask of the player seeing as we already have to suspend our disbelief of the world every time a kill animation doesn't synch up. It does add technical challenges as you have pointed out though. 2: Your argument as to why the main character should be Kassandra is weak. No offense. You pretty much say "she is cannon" and "we already have enough white men." Cool, whatever. I don't care about politics here. I'm open to Kassandra being the one they choose, but I would rather hear about how the world makes sense for her, how her story of survival is more suiting of a strong woman, that there is evidence of prominent female combatants in Ancient Greece, how she might be easier for our Animus pilot to work with and relate to due to being the same gender. Saying "we need more wamen" is noble and understanding, but not a talking point. It's a shallow desire without deep contextual relevance. Have you considered reevaluating your talking points now that the game is released?

[@user-ly1ml6ue9n]

Alexios is not a "white" man

[@AnthonyRizzuti]

There is no evidence of prominent female combatants in Ancient Greece

[@ZekeAxel]

I'll definitely agree that the marketing is all over the place. Alexios is front and center, but Kassandra is canon

[@SkoomaBoi.]

I dont agree with the character selection argument you made as its just a choice that its given to the player, I dont think it should go further than that. The other part however, I strongly agree. Ubisoft puts those diversity disclaimers as if to keep people from criticizing them, when really, they dont have much to show for it

[@connornicholas8628]

I agree with you on your first point, Odyssey should only have one protagonist. However, I would prefer Alexios because he fits the image of a Spartan warrior better and it’s more historically accurate. Assassin’s Creed has always had a tinge of science fiction, but they stay grounded where they can and I think the very identity of the protagonist should definitely be held to a historical standard.

[@kerart0-]

@Masticatious yes. Game setting: ISU civilization, and you don't actually meet zeus as it is part of the animus. A mercenary woman at that time? Very hard to believe

[@fraughtmonster8]

“Old and imprecise” if that were true we never would have gotten Connor or Ezio especially Altair

[@dripchief8837]

Alexios is like 3000 years before so there DNA would be more precise than Kassandra's so that's wrong

[@violetrose415]

Still, I vote for Alexios because he at least is more historically accurate and, nah a female lead in a sexist country without highlighting sexism is a nasty tasting idea. I want female leads, but not of that type that is made for specific reasons, specific message and we all know what it is. I want a genuine character that doesn't serve certain ideas, because from the head on start, it seems that the character is made to show "SJW" ideas, and that's a really sad thing, because once a character serves an idea it gets stripped of its speciality and it's personality revolves around that idea only. Characters like Ezio and Edward didn't come to me as males, they came to me as people with dazzling personalities and views, people who changed my views in life and made an effect in me beyond being men, real people. I'd prefer a series full of men with personalities than a series with females that serve an idea rather than do justice to their personalities. And trust me, I'm a female. When a protagonist is respected because it is a "female" and not a "person", there is something wrong here. That's my opinion.

[@loomer]

"A female lead in a sexist country without highlighting sexism is a nasty tasting idea." Agreed, stay tuned for the next video essay I make. ;)

[@violetrose415]

I will, as always 😎🖒🖒🖒

[@beckyweiss6072]

@Violet Rose You're hitting on some points that I definitely agree with, and I think I know what you're getting at. I think back to Aya. She, in reality, was not a pleasant character. She had a chip on her shoulder (sexism), but that chip was a pretty realistic one imo. I know Ancient Egypt gave women a lot of freedom in its height, but it still had a lot of its own issues - and this is Ptolmey's Egypt as well, where I'm sure Greek culture has seeped into Egypt around Aya's time. And ancient Greece at large was not kind to women. Aya did her best to overcome it. Her successes were admirable, but her lust for revenge still wrecked her as emotionally as it did to Bayek. Like you, I appreciate a character regardless of gender *when there's a personality and a character arc from start to finish.* This "blank slate" formula doesn't offer that at all. I find Ezio to be too generic for my personal taste (just the star prototype of his sort of character), but I very much enjoyed Altair's personality post AC1, Edward's entire character arc, and what made Connor and Bayek different from most male protagonists in games and to me, more like real characters. Evie had potential and I do adore her, but she was overshadowed by the fact that Ubisoft wanted market Jacob more heavily and by the fact that they ignored that Evie would *absolutely* have dealt with a host of sexism that Jacob would have never had to face. It wouldn't have been quite as hostile as what Ancient Greece had, but Evie would have been seen as very alien in Victorian London. For me to go into details would involve an essay, (I've studied this a bit in my own writing research), so I'll stop there XD A sidenote: If they marketed Aveline differently and paid more attention to her game, I think she would have done really well. Aveline is a wonderfully unique character on her own, and they did tackle her facing sexism in mid 18th Century Louisiana. You could argue her gameplay mechanic is her trying to use those struggles to her advantage and get through them. I regard both Kassandra and Alexios as generic, which is why Ubisoft trying to pass them off as unique and dynamic is so heavily insulting to me. Alexios is every other grizzly manly man that makes attempts to be charming, and I know of a fantasy version of Kassandra that exists in video games: Femme Hawke. Blank slate characters are literally regulated to just "female," and "male," which is why I hate them so much. There's no unique personality in there at all that makes them act and feel human, because the player inserts those qualities themselves. I hate that. Every time I tried to play a game like that I had zero fun at all. So I've given up on those types of games.

[@violetrose415]

Becky Weiss First, hats off for this awesome commentary. I totally agree. (Especially the Evie part, I'd like to see your research about that, and I mean it)

[@beckyweiss6072]

@Violet Rose, this article is an example of what I was hinting at: www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hatpin-peril-terrorized-men-who-couldnt-handle-20th-century-woman-180951219/ And keep in mind this "hatpin" scandal happened when Lydia Frye would have been a pre-teen. The article speaks of the fact that women were just starting to vocally voice the need to defend themselves and were facing ridicule from the press, but the voices were growing louder by the month. Logically, this sort of thing would be bubbling underneath the surface during Evie's younger years - women that sought a need to defend themselves but got ridiculed for it at every turn. Here's a theory based off of something based out of this article alone: Evie, going through the streets of London, faces the constant question from strangers of why is an "appropriate" male companion or relative not with her. Like Aveline, she gets noticed when she's out on her own carrying weapons. Like Aveline, you must err on the side of caution as Evie, *especially* when walking in the richer parts of London. A upperclass women defending herself would be seen as less common than say, a female factory worker. That difference should be shown as you hop from district to district while playing as Evie. She'd face a mixture of ridicule from men and women with a touch of admiration and perhaps envy - but the admiration only from women, and a scant few men in the game who know what's up. Evie then also gets questioned about her intelligence and her ability to protect herself wherever she goes, yet it's *her* that has to clean up all of Jacob's messes, as seen in the game. When Evie displays intelligence that surprises her male peers, let that be shown by those men who don't know any better and let us see Evie get irked over it (but likely resigned, unfortunately).. Perhaps this could be part of why she falls for Henry/Jayadeep - he's a non violent man that respects and admires Evie and what she does. In those times, men like that would be incredibly rare for Evie to meet, even though there were likely a small handful of female assassins she trained with while growing up. (Thus the male assassins would be used to the concept of a female one). Even then, it's very clear that Evie was a perfectionist. I doubt in a society like that, the male assassins in training would have taken kindly to Evie besting them at every turn. The only male who truly would be cool with it would have been her twin brother, and that's because he sees it as sibling rivalry, not a matter of a girl beating a boy. And as far as Evie and Henry/Jayadeep...wasn't that actually part of the reason why Evie falls for him in the novel? And why not let Jacob see some of the issues that Evie deals with as a part of him "waking up" and not being reckless? During the time of Syndicate, the women's suffrage movement in Britain was just being born and slowly taking root. I would think that for Evie, someone that is very aware of how actions have consequences, would have a few things to say when this was brought to her attention. This was a period in history that was moving into the modern era as we know it at a fast clip. I would think that, at the very least, there would have been a sidequest in reference to this. But to my memory, there was absolutely nothing. It's just as puzzling as the fact that there are no npc characters of color shown in Victorian London when it would have been *very* historically accurate to show them beyond Henry/Jayadeep and Duleep Singh. The Hulu TV show Harlots takes the time and the care to show plenty of PoC, and it's a genuinely historically accurate tv series set a hundred years before the events of Syndicate - also in London. PoC in London goes back even further. Elizabeth I blamed a famine that hit London in the 1590s on the black community that resided in London at the time. If you're curious, here's an article speaking about some of it: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/early_times/elizabeth.htm For a series that prides itself on historical accuracy, the sort of populations that existed during each time, and what they were affected by (since the Brotherhood prides itself on protecting the downtrodden), they've been doing a junk job at showing it since AC Unity dropped. I can forgive a tiny thing here and there, but Unity was when they truly began to not care. AC Origins was a bright spot that I thought symbolized the series trying to recover, but it's clear that Origins had the historical accuracy and representation that it did thanks to Arshaf alone.

[@mrbummble4570]

I spit out my drink when you jumped from the really deep "anyone can leave their mark on history" to "To paraphrase a quote from Ratatouille"

[@Urbancohort337]

Kassandra as the main protagonist messes up my understanding of Greek mythology, and the expectations of women in Classical Greek Timeline.

[@athalonARC]

Greek mythology has always been tweaked over the years in stories. Heck, the greek myths you know are likely not even the originals.

[@fenrisvermundr2516]

@@athalonARC You're right about that. The Greek Gods were in fact an all-male race that came from the stars. The depictions of the female gods were made up by humans as they had no idea there could be species that can be entirely male.

[@based_misogynist1424]

@@fenrisvermundr2516 Wait really? Can u provide source for that?

[@arxohalk335]

@@based_misogynist1424 there is no source for that. the original myths featured both male and female entities, and Gaia, the entity that supposedly appeared as the earth, is female. Through her then came the elements, such as the sky, the mountains etc and then came the pantheon. Even before the Greek gods and entities were thought of, (or better say "documented" ) the entities that were first worshipped at the first civilizations were female

[@based_misogynist1424]

@@arxohalk335 Source:Trust me bro

[@cyberking8049]

I made a big mistake picking Kassandra, she was totally un-immersive I regretted playing as her I wish had picked Alexios.

[@user-ly1ml6ue9n]

@@10tailedbijuu yeah me too

[@Ma1q444]

I played as Alexios it made more sense and she made a better Deimos as Alexios as Deimos is so generic. People say kassandra has better voice acting but I can’t notice and playing as a female Spartan is un immersive.

[@falagazzi]

You know as a huge fan of the AC games since the first one (I've built a brand new pc for it in 2008) and I ve played through all of them. I'm gonna play through the game as Both Alexios and Cassandra, by deviating from the traditions of one main character in the past they basically created this weird situation when fans talk about gender, Ubisoft needs to have the balls to create a good and well written interesting female hero, because until they do it and they do the gender selection thing it will always feel that they just added the option to be politically correct. For me the core of Assassin's Creed is about exploring interesting time periods with interesting characters with a good story both in the past and in the present and doing cool looking shit and climbing any building that I see. Until they decide that they create a story with a female hero without the gender selection screen the female hero will always feel tacked on and secondary. Ultimatly I will play Odyssey because the time period is very interesting and it looks fun and I wish every fan of AC to have fun playing it as well. :)

[@brandonpick1486]

Actually ubisoft wanted the last 3 games to be just female. But the heads of the company for some reason like to think. that if you put a female on the cover it won't sell as well. So the forced Them to add male options so they could put the male on the cover.

[@athalonARC]

It was going to be a female only game. You can even see that Alexios is a better Deimos, and being a woman fighter in Old Greece adds a certain charm.

[@Nick935]

Great video Looms, love the intro! Glad to see you are back ^.^

[@DarkSkinDoffy]

Argument of "there should only be one" kinda gets thrown out of the window when you realize that Desmond Miles exist. You know, the guy, who's the descendant of Altair, Ezio, Edward, Connor, *and* Haytham.

[@shanedawndusk3290]

He means there shouldn’t be a gender selection as it messes with the history.

[@No_Relation_666]

right but they’re not experiencing the same story

[@adaytoremember592]

The whole player character choice is just lazy tbh...if they had their own unique abilities, personality/beliefs, and dialogue unique storylines & missions, that would've been so much better and there would be a great reason for replayability. at its core its a reskin. ..with no depth, like if they made alexios & kassandra brother and sister instead of what they're doing...it would be a lot easier on the lore & building a great narrative

[@BonzerMrT]

sean k it’s to pander to the SJWs

[@beanmaster4161]

Understandable,and,under different circumstances,I'd agree with you,the only problem is,Ubi had one year to get this game up and running,the mocap,VO and casting was all done in a year, honestly,give these people some.credit,and try looking at the masterpiece they've accomplished given their circumstances

[@doritomaster7112]

I was about to agree with your argument until I found out that you were just pushing an agenda.

[@greengrugach1984]

You know it, anti male, anti white, anti straight.

[@negan8496]

Nah, I'll stick to playing a male in time periods like these. I'm not going to have feminism re-write history for us. Spartan warriors were men and men alone. If this was from Persia, having a character such as Artemisia as a protagonist, then by all means, use a woman. But "she" (Kassandra) is supposedly a Spartan woman interacting with Spartan male soldiers, which most of them would look at a woman like "um... the hell?"

[@desantatao9815]

Bogdan 96 So you are blaming all men for sexism? That's a bit of over generalising don't you think? Have you thought about women having their own choice just to stay at home because I am pretty sure in the Peloponnesian war(the time period for AC Odyssey) in Greece Spartan women had the option to train with Spartan men but only a small number trained and were told to guard Sparta when the men left for battle? Negan was just stating his opinion and you are bashing him for it. If it is equality you are seeking then attacking men is not the way.

[@danielling5283]

Everything is gettinh to PC now these days

[@nothisispatrick5691]

She's a mercenary not a Spartan. Stop being dumb.

[@nelsonivan9297]

I Am Jacking the hell? So she is from mercenaryland? I always thought she was from sparta. smh

[@negan8496]

I am well aware she is a merc. But men in that time period would not be so "HEY LETS LET THIS LADY FIGHT FOR US" they'd probably laugh. Feminism is now running the gaming industry. What next? Hope this games good though. Alexios ftw!

[@eltren6120]

I'll argue Alexios because Kassandra, from the videos I've seen, acts like a man. Her posture is that of a man and many of her responses aren't feminine. She doesn't feel unique or woman-like. She's just female Alexios with his personality, posture, responses, fighting, and movement. Like a skin for Alexios. Had they gave her all her own things, then, maybe I'd choose her. But the way I'm seeing it so far, Alexios is the one I'll be choosing. IDC for this "female finally in Assassin's Creed" (when we already had several) & "representation" or "diversity" BS being shoved down our throats. None of that is what makes the series special. Me, my girlfriend, my gay sister, my other sister, my brother don't care about that shit. What we care about is a story, writing, graphics, and gameplay are all done right and not for the sake of an agenda BS. That's what kills a series. You have to let it be natural and NOT a focal point. The Last of Us achieved this right. They didn't really shove anything down your throat and the star of that game was gay. If there was 1 major flaw in that game, it was that all the leader in that savage world were women. But other than that, they nailed everything down. But anyway, I'm gonna pick Alexios and platinum this baby. Origins was the most beautiful from a technical perspective and gameplay was better than ever along with exploration (they nailed this one perfectly). So Origins mixed with my own personal favorite Black Flag = Odyssey - I mean, that's what the devs are saying. So, of course, I'm hyped!

[@loomer]

You're touching on the focus of my next essay, which is that they've written the experience and dialog to be identical for Alex and Kass, leaving the story (especially for Kass) in this weird place where your gender doesn't matter in history WRT your interactions with people. They should really be writing a story and world that embraces the female gender and its historical experience, not ignores it.

[@THIZZAVELI]

Ben Dover No such thing as a female spartan and the shit looks silly. Also ubisoft's lazy asses just reskined the guy to make her lol. They probably gonna fix it after the game launches smh. Hella patches gonna eat up hella space smh. This game clearly is not finished.

[@THIZZAVELI]

Ben Dover stop defending ubisofts bull shit. She has on spartan gear, no women wore that gear at this time and nobody would take a woman serious. A mercenary would not be walking around in that gear lol. The syndicate team worked on this game, that should tell you something right there lol!!! Your explanation made more sense than theirs and your explanation is a big reach. They don't actually give a shit about AC, they experiment with shit. Look at there discussion panel interview. You can tell none of them are actually familiar with the series. They were obviously given a brief overview and they worked from that. The syndicate and unity team don't know about AC. They need to give it to the AC4/origins team. They are the only ones who still care. They know how to change shit but still keep the series core in tact. They seem to actually be fans of the series and played the games. Ubisoft had to call them back to save the series. Now the ACS team stepped back in and are about to fuck this soft reboot up too smh.

[@bigdellchannel9523]

ShadowsDieThrice I agree I mean it has been female spartans before for example Leonidas wife from 300 she was the queen of spartan but she wasn't all buff & man like you could still tell that she was a great warrior tho without the manly posture💯💯💯

[@THIZZAVELI]

bogdan 96 umm gender equality did exists. it was and still is like this in africa(non muslim conquered areas) and pre european invasion america. Women being treated like 2nd class citizens/property is mostly a european and middle eastern thing. When Greeks first invaded africa they couldn't believe females had jobs, were in charge, educated, men taking care of childen, were worshiped, and had a throne right next to their husbands lol. They were shocked at seeing regular ol females being pampered by their men. Lots of ancient european scribes wrote about this. Some European countries adapted this later in history. Of course they were frowned upon and made fun of.

[@hunterzamastil3825]

Assassins Creed has become Creedless Mercenary.

[@dlacyanmitchell6997]

I wouldnt have played it man honestly without alexios

[@J64866]

I'm done after they ended the pivotal juno storyline in the comics.. Ubisoft doesn't give a crap anymore about the story.

[@Blballerboy]

Silent J same. Odyssey does look like a really solid game tho, I’ll play it eventually.

[@J64866]

Yeah i'll probably buy a used copy at 20 $ at some point..

[@jakubgrzybek6181]

Blballerboy solid like Unity...

[@MatiZ815]

They ended it in a comic? How?

[@jackblack9605]

Yup haven't kept up with the franchise since Unity and not really game into stepping back. That said i'm also Interested to know how they the ended the Juno.

[@grumgre]

Thanks for the Video Loomer:) I personally wouldn't mind if they only made Alexios a protagonist of the Game, but to make it like this? I liked the way they did it in Syndicate except for the promotion of the game maybe... but why make them the same person? Equal representation is important so I agree with you. As a female myself I normally don't care if it's a male or female protagonist as long as it serves the story, but what Ubisoft has done this time is just wierd frankly.

[@justint7764]

It should make sense to play Alexios because if you wear a male cult mask with a female voice you should be caught instantly

[@bloodprince113]

And why would a woman be trained to be a Spartan?

[@shirairyugrandmaster92]

So Yeah, It Makes More Sense For Alexios To Be The Protagonist

[@Ma1q444]

Facts you can tell they made the game for Alexios and then changed it.

[@someguy7639]

But didn’t Kassandra try to not speak? And when she did she tried to imitate a masculine tone if I remember correctly. Ahhh idk ill have to see some gameplay again and see.

[@someguy7639]

@@Ma1q444 “ermmm ackshually ☝️🤓” it turned out to be the other way around. You can look up the novel or just ask “is Kassandra originally the mc?”. Lmk if that’s not the case.

[@nanmonstaway3599]

You nailed it. And thanks for helping me pick which one

[@mikeyalyanak928]

yeah, still gonna pic Alexios, because I wanna Identify myself more with the hero. but great video, the points make sense

[@Minsooky]

I agree fullheartedly and do not have high hopes for this game. The more AC games Ubisoft releases, the less effort they seem to put into storytelling. It's a shame because the story is what drew me to AC in the first place.

[@leolizguela1437]

Wait maybe there are Alxios and Kasandra in the DNA is because Kasandra thought he was a guy😂😂😂

[@dualkuble889]

John Torres Dude please you are trying too hard just stop being so butthurt about a comment, people have been asking for a good AC story because thats what made AC fantastic in the first games.

[@dualkuble889]

John Torres Watching your hypocrite ass being roasted is the most funny thing I saw today ahahahah!

[@Ocean5ix]

Wellp Origins IMO had the best single-game (won't compare the entire Ezio trilogy to one game) story and storytelling in the entire franchise. It just isn't Assassin's Creed anymore, which I have to say I'm pretty happy about. They went away from the "kinda like GTA" game design to "kinda like Witcher 3" and since I couldn't care less about AC story since 3 I thought the game was excellent. In terms of gameplay it's leagues better than every other AC.

[@tannermiller3967]

You all must have way to much time on your hands to be arguing about this. 😂 Entertaining though 🤙🏻

[@TheUZUMAKIchan]

GREAT video! I agree to every word you said! It's good to see that a few people see it as this

[@MarvelSHS10]

Awesom video, Looms! Pls make more illoominations

[@mot5919]

I think with Alexios and Kassandra being the same person you can just think about it like the Lutece twins frim bioshock infinite. Alternet realities where they were born different genders

[@abbyvilayne]

It made me really sad when you showed that clip from AC1, because it reminded me of how cool this series used to be and how much direction it used to have, while now it just seems like an unorganised mess. The AC series had been a huge part of my life, but I honestly believe Origins was the last AC game I'll ever buy.

[@SleepDaMouse-xd8dn]

MC Cooper "probably the objectively" lol

[@LKLyrics470]

@MC Cooper not ever near to best neither good, delusional fanboy bitch

[@ryder4482]

Did you like Origins?

[@pwnzlikeme]

@@LKLyrics470 I'm not sure you are so angry about it. I genuinly love Greek history, and loved this game almost as much as I loved 2 and brotherhood.

[@Parbat_theSpectacularGamer12]

Abby tell me did you have fun playing AC Odyssey I bet you did and that’s all that matter having fun playing the game

[@tiagos5804]

The Layla parts are important for the story, but everytime i play Odyssey/Origins/Valhalla and the game takes you back to Layla, i always think "oh no, not a Layla part again... i'm going back to the animus asap"

[@nickarmstrong4677]

A few things, I thinks it’s fine that you can choose between the two because you end up meeting the other in the game anyways. I don’t quite understand the confusion. But I do understand the frustration. I do agree that Kassandra would be a better fit for the reasons you explained but, in terms of the lore the choice makes since, within the context of the game. But I personally will be making my choice on who feels more natural in the role and who’s voice acting seems to be better executed, that being Kassandra. Also that hair braid is freaking bad ass.

[@macadamianuts6363]

Phenominal explanation. This is one of the best explanations i’ve heard without hurting the game or bashing but giving a educated suggestion.

[@Selestina118]

Great essay, Loomer - I agree with you on all of your points. I was a bit underwhelmed with the marketing for Odyssey. It initially struck me as "Hey, you know 300? Now you can play it! We even have the (TM)Spartan Kick!" Honestly, all I want is a cohesive story-line that's worth all of the money I will be putting out for each game now and in the future. (Don't even get me started on how the Season Pass doesn't get you -everything- anymore.) Regardless, I will be playing as Kassandra as she is canon and i will happily be humming "She's Got Medals" in the meanwhile. lol Also, I really like your Illoominations graphic - nice work!

[@charlesdeleo4608]

I just always play as Alexios, since it would be more historically accurate for the Olympics, and the Agoge. In ancient Sparta, the agoge was a school for boys, and there was another for girls, I forget what it’s called. Anyway, also in the Olympics, there is a big difference between Ancient Greece and now: women were not allowed to compete. Though I am still miffed that they got rid of the ability to use a shield in this game. Seriously, Ubisoft!! Why!?!? Why couldn’t we just use Darius’ hidden blade from the start and have Leonidas’ spear as a complete weapon, or his sword for that matter!? Also…why did the Persians in this game wear Ottoman style shishak helmets?? Did anyone else notice that?

[@LeviUlysses-mp5wg]

I keep thinking about the Alexios issue as I play, he has the flashbacks as an infant being sacrificed. And how did his infant self keep the spear tip

[@brokenbridge6316]

Loved this video Loomer. Great job. Ubisoft should hear this video.

[@blivion7203]

I understand you. I think it was done the wrong way, I hope it’ll not be the case with the next AC game.

[@blivion7203]

Bogdan 96 I agree

[@TheOverkiller]

RIP

[@yokki356]

Hey Loomer and everyone! Do you know between 0:35 - 1:33 in this song (dreams of venice) what's happening? Is that a woman's voice or man's? Could someone please explain how this part created ? watch?v=2UVi5Pzjjs0

[@TheMatt141]

Love this. Loomer I would love to discuss the current state of this series (being a fan since AC1). Yes I'm going to say it, the mystery, gameplay and STORY of this franchise is what brought a lot of people into the series. This includes the modern day people. It is what kept the whole series together and had actual story progression up until AC Unity. Since then the series has not been the same at all and Ubi has made games simply for pure profit and new players which is sad. People complained about Desmond, yet now after seeing thousands of posts and having games with a faceless, voiceless first person character, they want him back or to have a playable third person modern day character back. Even if you do not like the modern day, the games have had no real progression and honestly moving the Juno plot to the comics was terrible..

[@TheMatt141]

@@10tailedbijuu I know terrible move. To me the parting glass ending of AC4 was the end of the series for me

[@tanvirhassananik9980]

Or they could just give a new name of this game instead of making it a sequel of ac

[@beckyweiss6072]

This game REALLY should have had its own IP. If it did, it would have been far less of an outrage and would have just been seen as Dragon Age, Ancient Greek style.

[@senseishu937]

@@beckyweiss6072 Actually I disagree. Could've been an AC spinoff however, like an Assassin's Creed Story

[@beckyweiss6072]

@@senseishu937 If you mean telling the story and making it clear that no one is seeing it through the animus, then yes that could work. But that's the only way. Because the idea of gender choice and seeing things through the animus cannot co-exist. The "sketchy DNA" is a flimsy excuse.

[@couchpotato5944]

Agreed. I love the game, but it isn't an assassin game.

[@enkidude9372]

“Odyssey: an assassins creed story”. Is that better?

[@Zach-xk9gq]

Or the fact that it’s going against all previously established lore. PS I’m pretty sure one of the things we can easily get from dna is gender

[@shanedawndusk3290]

Yeah gender was never a problem for any animus. Layla’s id probably just badly glitched.

[@TheEllimist]

Loomer please post a video about your thoughts on Juno's story ending in the comic!

[@videotasticz]

Scientifically they could have explained it away if the character was a chimera, which would also suit the Greek theme perfectly. Two separate sets of DNA but in one person. It'd be hard to distinguish whether the figure was Alexios or Kassandra, so you can choose whomever and it would explain the identical memories. Surprised they went with something so convoluted and frankly, lazy. You bring up an excellent argument overall, great video!

[@Ma1q444]

Their should of been only one choice and that should have been Alexios, making kassandra cannon is just a weak attempt at “diversity”. But either way Deimos is a horrible hot head villain that has no personality, Kassandra would not be raised to be a warrior that simply is historically wrong it makes no sense. Ubisoft is basically just spitting in the face of History and realism but the game is already a joke a shame they ruined Odyssey and Valhalla doing this.

[@laughingatnothing4642]

I mean it makes sense in ancient greek to have a warrior woman. Spartan women were trained till their childhood. Amazonians and Daughters of Artimis were all women warrior groups who more or less held themself against the rest of the greek world. It makes sense in Odessy for a Spartan woman to be a mercenary

[@OTW18]

4:20 - 4:30 Another way of this is that the game opens up with one character and some where down the story a character dies or something “convenient” happens and you play as a new character. It’s a bit much cause then you’ll have to get used to playing as the new character but a way of balancing it out is both characters have different abilities or attributes.

[@wdthrows]

i never look that much into it, i just like alexios and have fun playing as'em

[@Slotered]

Great video! Just like the old days! Thanks Looms.

[@kieranmcnamara551]

major problem was not taking another year off to properly develop the game and make it feel 100% unique to the players instead it looks like a copy and paste of origins with a few small changes which is why they are probably focusing too heavily on how diverse the game is with its characters and story telling. secondly assassin's creed's main target demographic is teenage boys so ubisoft are probably afraid that merchandise sales will drop with just a woman on hats and tshirts. ubisoft should just grow a pair and trust kasandra to take a leap of faith with the franchise solely on her shoulders

[@shawncoyle9530]

5:24 that is what happened I noticed in Valhalla on the computers emails that it is referring to the staff own by Kassandra no mention of Alexios.

[@isaiahtomoana1101]

What time period does Odyssey take place I know it takes place in "ancient Greece" but like the Athenian - spartan wars or like maybe during Persia's invasions or even the battle of Troy?

[@jasonsinatra6176]

They probably marketed Alexios more heavily because that’s who they originally planned the canon protagonist to be the whole Kassandra OR Alexios deal feels like something thrown in last minute so that they could SAY that they had a female protagonist on one of their console games. ..... since their story is the same I feel like they made Kassandra’s story canon to solidify their claim for diversity by I get the sense that’s not how it was ever originally planned (no matter what anyone says otherwise) This may ruffle a few feathers too but Alexios probably remained the more marketed character because female protagonists in video games (while there are exceptions-Lara croft-) don’t sell as well when compared with Male protagonists of the same basic character. Just my two cents

[@dog8438]

They just confirmed that Alexios was added in last minute because they were scared to do a female led AC

[@gyrox0031]

6:48 but most big leaps in technology, politics, culture, and philosophy were

[@greengrugach1984]

Fact.

[@andresguzman6797]

Dont think I’m the only one that thinks this way but anyways, I like feeling related on some way to the character whenever I play any AC (like living it I guess) and I just can’t feel like I’m in the story if I’m playing as a different gender than what I am. So I think it’s great that they do offer a choice. I don’t think that they should only be one or the other only. Simply adding a choice for each user to kinda feel like they are in the game without losing the essence of a story line of someone specific is great to me

[@imakeshoes1]

It's a game it doesn't matter. Just have fun and play it as the character you want

[@toonanimals317]

I agree with this so much! Although I originally was thinking I was going to play as Alexios (what, I like the attractive men in the series!) this may of swayed me to play as Kass. Still not sure, though, but 100% agree with everything said. Kills me a little inside.

[@matheussanz1952]

Alexios >>>>>> Kassandra In every way, the ending with his wife, The true Spartan man. Because there were never any women in the war, and finally he has a lot more charisma than she does

[@Keanan2012]

Just like to point out that when Desmond tried to go really far back the animus rejected him... so in reality Ancient Greece shouldn’t be accessible by the animus...

[@isabellalaylaa]

As a female, I personally don’t give a shit whether the protagonist is male or female. Obviously there are many people who care about that but it’s just my opinion. As long as the protagonist has a good story line I’m okay with that. I think I’m going to play Alexios because he personally appeals to me the most, even more than Kassandra. I’m sure she’s going to be badass but I personally think I’m going to go with Alexios. But, my opinion may change in the future.

[@dinnye2810]

This is actually an excellent video, I was a bit surprised by that. Great job, keep up the good work :)

[@probablyfear124]

Red Dead 2 in the same month has honestly completely killed my hype for this game.

[@fantasyeve87]

I honestly liked having a choice and although I admire more people loving a female character finally starting to outshine her male counterpart, I do like having the choice. As a woman who plays this game, I still found myself wanting to play a male protagonist as that's what I was used to and have come to associate with the series kind of like how Lara Croft is always the Tomb Raider. I also found it more compelling to want to "save" my sister from her "alter ego" so to speak. I played through as Alexios and liked him just fine and in some cases even more.

[@mikemyers2144]

FantasyEve87 So I just got assassins creed odyssey, yes I know I’m late to the party but I’m having a really bad time trying to pick either alexios or Kassandra and I want your opinion

[@Wildcard-Jack-47]

So when i get this game i care very little for these two so do they affect the ending at all

[@theprodigalson4003]

5:00 love how this guy can push kick a probably over 1000lbs bear

[@WjKoenHD]

I agree with everything you've said, only I'll be playing as alexios (if I'll even play it) just because I can't stand Kassandra's voice

[@jakubgrzybek6181]

I can't stand animations in cut scenes... At least Origins had solid expressions in lead characters. This however, it's step backwards.

[@WjKoenHD]

Jakub Grzybek yeah true

[@WjKoenHD]

Bogdan 96 alexios is not good either but the better of the two

[@YurikoShaku]

Wjkoenhd industrieS Nope! Kassandra's voice is so much better!

[@ryder2k174]

I'm choosing Kassandra because she looks and sounds better, and cause she is the canon Protagonist!

[@TheWetCatFish]

Having played the game, this is my interpretation (spoilers for a MAJOR reveal relatively early in the game below): The DNA they get is from the spear of leonidas, and its specifically said there are two people's strands of DNA on the spear, Alexios and Kassandra. Regardless of whoever you pick, both characters will appear in game as fully fledged adults, however whoever you pick to be the hero, the other one will become the villain. Here's how I see it: whoever you pick in game becomes the historical canon for that playthrough. If you pick Kassandra as the hero then 'canonically' if you picked Alexios then you would have followed his villain storyline, but no matter who you pick, your choice becomes the hero. In game its said you can pick between two strands of dna to pursue, not that you can pick who the hero is and who the villain is. basically all the choices you make regardless of how large or small they are purely exist as game mechanics, and become the historical canon for YOUR game.

[@masterlinkster]

Could care less about all the previous Animus lore. I bought the game for the odyssey story and I was satisfied with it. A character being cannon or not cannon had no impact on me and I'm sure other people could care less too. Alexios is the better hero.

[@ErenMortel]

That rattouille quote brings back so many memories... Remy assassinating people...

[@tfordham13]

K makes no sense in lore she wouldn't be trained at all plus she legally can't join the Olympics also people want to play as a badass spartin and most players are men and want to play as males and female lead games Don't sell as well

[@Ma1q444]

Facts it should of been one character Alexios

[@bigjess7406]

So your argument is... it should be kassandra because you're tired of playing men... that's such a shit argument.

[@bigjess7406]

@kangarooyo yeah thats what I got from it cause that's what was said. And if that's not what you heard than you're choosing to legitimately IGNORE what he said straight up.

[@zhuala]

The music at the end of the video izzit from brotherfood or revelations?

[@zanuba1995zy]

I agree with you Kassandra should have been the main character, I do think that the story is interesting and the fact that Layla is now a protagonist has me looking forward to how everything will unfold. I understand the frustration with Ubisoft when it comes to story line and this definitely doesn’t make that much sense but I was thinking what if they were trying to let Layla find that sixth sense that everyone lacks. First Layla is now able to see any Assassins life through dna there’s no need to be an ancestor of that person. And if you remember in origins one of those recordings what if life is a simulation and also that everything is permitted, what if with this rpg game Layla is studying various outcomes like the isu and with that she will be able to stop the next catastrophic disaster that’s gonna destroy humanity and also stop Juno

[@viktormustapic]

Pls do more of these!

[@maverick2009ish]

very intelligent video Loomer nicely done!

[@TheSchyguy]

Just scored a 9 on your AP English essay (excellent argument, thank you)

[@douglasfree1664]

Its super refreshing to see a channel that is more aware and bringing up these topics. Thanks 👍

[@saint6236]

I. Love. This. I agree 100%. Even if I didn't agree, I appreciate how you presented your arguments.

[@RafaelSantos-pi8py]

I agree 100%. If you can choose characters, dialogue options and the ending of the game then you're not reliving history, you're making it. You won't be playing AC but Fallout Greece instead. And a female protagonist is long overdue. Gamers don't mind female protagonists at all but welcome them. Tomb raider, anyone?

[@jamiedoyle132]

Rafael Santos Personally I think there are a lot of people who are like me, I want play a male protagonist because I like to pretend that I AM the character, I just don't have as much fun playing a female protagonist because I can't imagine that I am the character then. I put myself in the shoes of the character and pretend that I am them. I couldn't give a shit about what works in AC lore, gender choice MUST be in the game...and I think it should've been there a long time ago as I'm sure there are plenty of ladies who do the same thing as me and pretend that they are Lara Croft or Alloy.

[@ruifigueiredo5486]

gender choices should absolutly not be in this type of game tell me you pick up a movie or a book anything like that would you like a pop up at the begging asking you if you want the main character to be a man or woman? assassins creed has always been a narrative driven game and above all the whole premise is that you re reliving the memories of someone by chaging the gender of a chracter you change their lifes completly so you re not reliving their memories anymore i agree with you that certain games are fun to have these types of mechanics like skyrim or fallout but that has no place in assassins creed

[@jamiedoyle132]

rui figueiredo I think you are wrong. The movie or book argument that you just made is very invalid to the point that I am making, with a movie or a book I do not imagine that I am the protagonist, with a game I do...I enjoy pretending that I AM that character and NOT having a gender choice takes that immersion away and I would have to settle with playing someone that I don't want to. I don't want to play as Kassandra or Alexios, I want to be a massive nerd and play as me, put myself in that world and that's why I mainly play male. Also Assassin's Creed has always been a POORLY written "narrative driven" game. I, and so many other people would absolutely accept the trade off of having a few retcons and lore breaks for more freedom to roleplay what we want. The game's narrative and lore just isn't good enough to not have the gender choice at this point. This game is no longer the bland game that AC used to be, it has changed for the better in every sense when it comes to gameplay, the story may even be far deeper than past games despite all of these die hard AC fans complaining about how it's not friendly to the lore. Seriously just forget about the lore and original story, it was never that good. To sum it all up: AC narrative wasn't great to begin with. Most people will happily accept more freedom and not care if it "works" in a game that no one plays for it's story. This RPG route is a far better path to take than sticking to their dead roots, and we need more RPG's with consequences to our decisions as Fallout and Skyrim fail in that department. I'm a sad fuck that wants to pretend that I am Alexios because I can't do that with Kassandra. Have a good day pal.

[@ruifigueiredo5486]

well i do understand where you re comming from but assassins creed games the early ones 1 ezio trilogy and black flag have all had great story lines so good that they could make comics books and a movie with it the ezio trilogy was praised for having a great plot good dialogue and characters so you re saying that they ve been poorly written games thats sounds more like your opinion all i want from an assassins creed game is a good story about a good character an assassin fighting against the templars while impacting the modern story line i want more treasure hunts throught time this game might be set in teh same world but its not an assassins creed game ubisoft should have named it something else and called it a spin off again you cant be relieving memories if you re the one choosing the route to take decisions dont matter if its someone elses memories you re watching just that alone breaks immersions because it makes no sense and if they keep going like this assassins creed origins will be the last AC game il buy but i hope you enjoy yourself if you decide to buy it

[@beckyweiss6072]

You want to play as a male because you're a male? Then play every other game in the franchise, play every other video game on the whole goddamn market. Women have to constantly deal with playing as men in video games. It should not have to kill a guy to play a singular female protagonist in a main console game with good marketing. And if you don't like it? Don't drop 60 dollars on the game. Simple as that. I loathe what they're doing in Odyssey and I'm not giving this game any of my money. I want to play as an assassin female in a game that doesn't have the availability of gender choice because that SNAPS the lore in two. That shouldn't be a choice I have to make. But here we fucking are. You want your games with gender choices, go play mass effect and dragon age. Bioware excels at blank slate characters.

[@isuckateverything]

perhaps the explaination is that they both do come into contact with the spear. lets say you pick Kassandra as your character. the game plays out with you going through her memories normally, but near or at the end she comes into contact, or maybe even kills, Alexios. that would explain the two strands of dna. now, if you pick Alexios at the start, you still get the main story, but you eventually come into contact or kill Kassandra. i know it doesnt explain how they have the same memories, but from a strictly narrative perspective, it would kinda work

[@one2547]

i know i’m late but i’m curious, if the dna is old and imprecise so that it allows you to play both characters .. then why bother only making one of them canon..wouldn’t that be a strong base that they could Both be canon depending on who you choose to play, and depending on the perspective of the player, if its imprecise then its left up to how the player interprets it or it should have been meant to, and thats what matters, it adds to and makes a strong reason to why you can play both as well … alot of holes tho

[@CaptainDV]

I don't agree with your reasoning, that there should be a female protagonist just because there hasn't been one. Mostly because it's obviously this game was meant for Alexius to be the main character and they only made Cassandra the main character because of angry feminist.

[@hunterirby4127]

2:41 this is where the issue started

[@mmaxine1331]

thank you sir, what you said really reflect what I value personally

[@secondaccount2634]

Whichever you choose is the one in your game universe the DNA represents basically you choose who the DNA belongs to amd the other just fills in the opposite role, it doesnt belong to both and its not undecided whos memories they actually are. This guy is making it a bigger deal than it needs to be really.

[@AntiLifeEquation1]

Exactly...its just a gameplay mechanic.

[@flykope9211]

“We need diversity and representation in assassins creed” Mmhmm suuure

[@dennisheikki6786]

Couldn't agree more. Keep political correctness out of our games and movies.

[@robsonwaterkemper]

First intelligent critic for lore breaking in Odyssey I've seen. Congratulations.

[@nothisispatrick5691]

Robson Waterkemper ACs lore is a jumbled fucking mess that's been broken many times before.

[@westernwarhorse]

Alexios should be the canonical character because the story was clearly written with a male protagonist in mind. For example, women could not even attend-let alone compete in-the Olympic Games. Have a feeling that they decided to make her the canon character late in development and just ran with what they had… as though Ancient Greece would’ve been the same experience for Alexios and Kassandra. And the “diversity rules” argument for Kassandra is just weak. The market is what it is and prefers what it prefers, and a female protag isn’t some inherent benefit or good. If it is substantive for the story, so be it, but “meta” arguments about sociopolitical daydreaming will never hold water.

[@AnthonyRizzuti]

Your theory that they switched Kassandra to the canon character late in development makes sense when you look at all the merchandise and marketing for the game that ALL features Alexios

[@andyboo23]

Excellent video. Smart and fair approach