Assassin's Creed: Odyssey - The Review (2018)

The size of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is something that many people will love, but to be the experience feels drawn out and the inclusion of XP boosting microtransaction makes me wonder why this bloat exists. Unquestionably, AC: Odyssey is a great game by many metrics, but it's missing some of the elements that go into making it a universally acclaimed classic
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As I do with all of my big reviews, I've worked with a very talented graphic artist to produce a limited edition script exclusive to Patrons. If you'd like to get your hand on that, or just support what I do, check out my Patreon: / skillupyt
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You can check out some of my recent videos here:
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[@SkillUp]

This had to be re-uploaded due to copyright shenanigans. Sorry for the hassle. As I do with all of my big reviews, I've worked with a very talented graphic artist to produce a limited edition script exclusive to Patrons. If you'd like to get your hand on that, or just support what I do, check out my Patreon: www.patreon.com/skillupyt

[@animegeek3109]

When i play a game i like it to last for awhile and this game really brought what i wanted 😊 and fell in love with it

[@littlelight7973]

Skill Up you gotta check the chimera prologue-in WF

[@ittainativ6606]

I LOVE YOU

[@andregonzaga5926]

Skillup, i would love to See a review of call of duty Black ops 4 made by you. I absolutely Love your reviews.

[@rubz41]

I was watching the original video when I saw the re-upload of this one, just stopping by to get you that one view and like

[@otakamerd1220]

Fun fact: Scholars recently discovered that Medusa was only defeated by Perseus after he spent 20 minutes running away and hiding on a rock to regenerate his health

[@renegaderaida526]

You fight her with arrows

[@axelstone3131]

Lolll

[@maccmoses]

They also know now that her head of snakes was actually a bad weave.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

It's because in the ancient times people didn't know if they eat 8-10 cheese wheel they could heal themselves up 100%.

[@TheSpawnfan]

​@@Zodroo_TintThey also didn't know you can literally shake off the petrification caused by Medusa's eyes with sheer rage.

[@stelexr9044]

About how annoying Sokrates is, I think it is being historically accurate because he was literally executed for being annoying.

[@simpleandrew4461]

wasn't it impiety?

[@Narusasu98]

If this applied on the internet the youtube comment section would be so empty

[@broseidon1658]

He was only annoying because he always asked ‘why’.

[@thebigcapitalism9826]

I know this is probably a joke and I’m probably autistic but I’m almost sure he was executed for “corrupting the youth”. Or at least that was the excuse.

[@Carlosdreamur]

Mr. Problematic I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure didn’t like his teachings so they gave him a choice of being exiled or executed and he chose execution

[@fourfyfsix]

"it starts to wear thin after the 50th question Socrates throws at you." Yup, that's an authentic Socrates experience then.

[@DisDatK9]

I remember sitting in my first ever philosophy class and one of the students asked “So Socrates is the the adult version of the kid who asks ‘Why?’ To literally anything?” Pretty true.

[@markwheeler4245]

fyfsixseven I’m actually put off playing many “AAA” games now they are to big! If they were big and interesting and genuinely needed to be so big cool but this review sums it up perfectly, each area blends into the next copy pasted assets, memorable games have very distinct areas in my eyes, I’ve took to playing shorter games, a lot of indies and 10-20 hour games not 100-200

[@absoluteunit8334]

@@markwheeler4245 Well Corona is really doing you a favor then

[@dishtosser6223]

@@markwheeler4245 The areas don't blend into each other at all. They're really quite distinct. There's deserts, swamps, plains, mountains, and even a forest full of stone corpses.

[@SappeREffecT]

@@DisDatK9 SO true! I'm not looking forward to Socrates again :/ Playing this game through again, it's still good and it's still huge... Man I dunno if I'll finish it though, I keep getting distracted 'oh look at that question mark over there'

[@SoulsOfWisdom]

"Bandits took it" Literally the setup for almost all sidequests in both Origin and Odyssey it would seem. lol

[@bricktop.]

Also...." Don't know, ask that bloke" That bloke: " don't know ask that bloke" That bloke : " don't know, ask that woman" That woman: " Don't know, ask that bloke, BUT there will be a huge great fucking cliff in the way because reasons".

[@theblackknight101]

Thats all the game consists of though.. there were no set pieces where you could actually feel amazing for sneaking up through some cleverly placed pathway or higher walkways or underground areas like in any older titles. Just bandits all over the place.. makes me think how anyone survived on an honest days work in those cities

[@gabriel897100]

@@theblackknight101 i don't think the older titles did it that well either

[@octavianapostol5208]

So true, bandits literary make 98% of the populace

[@sanishthebrilliant2558]

Black Flag also had the same habit of throwing you into tailing missions

[@RealCGH]

Dude I thought I clicked on the wrong video because of the music thing 😭😭

[@joekkl]

Same here. WTF.

[@brett84c]

That's his style. He uses analogies to help him make a bigger point. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but people who like Skill Up like how in-depth his reviews are.

[@ryanhenderson8908]

Yeah, honestly since music is part of a video game I kind of hate using them as an analogy.

[@Basket69]

@@ryanhenderson8908 that's stupid

[@hawaiianpunch1813]

bruhh frr lmao

[@greatwhitnorth]

When is Skill Up gonna start selling boosters to get through his review video intros?

[@NiccoloHamlin]

Never knew how needed microtransactions are until now.

[@kalenics123]

@@NiccoloHamlin inb4 skipping in youtube is locked behind a paywall.

[@kevincarter2020]

8:29 you're welcome

[@kalandarkclaw8892]

No kidding I need a level skip for having to sit through that bullshit filler at the start.

[@greatwhitnorth]

lol I was making a joke though. I love Skill Up and love how he does all his videos.

[@alec187]

Lol 40 hrs into this game and I completely forgot what the story is about

[@imo098765]

I need to restart my playthrough because cant remember what I was doing but I dont want to play all those hours again. So I ended up shelving it indefinitely thats why I'm watching reviews again to give me motivation to play it

[@alec187]

Imraan Omar yeah, I managed to rack up 70 hrs into it but just gave up

[@JJJBunney001]

I fi wished everything in this game, I think it took like 200 hours. That includes DLC too... and i don't think i could tell you the names of most characters or what happened to them 😂

[@RA1KU]

@@JJJBunney001 That's exactly my experience. The only character that I kind of remember is the first templar I met named Elpenor, I don't entirely remember what quest he gave me but him as a character was very mysterious and I kind of hoped he would play a bigger role. Then jump forward a few hours and I killed him... Don't really even remember most of the Cult of Kosmos people, pretty much all of them were like "you found a hint(not sure what the wording for it was)" now you know where he is... go and kill. Like 30 hours into the game, I kind of just ran around trying to complete all the fortress objectives and stuff like that and derp around and trying to sparta kick as many bastards off of high areas as possible, and with all that I somehow managed to get to the end. To end my rant Origins was more fun.

[@Kangjatt21]

Probably the weakest story so far tbh. Since the Kosmos things becomes a side story as the game progresses. The main story is you attempting to save Deimos/find your mother. Everything else is just side stories

[@samuelcourliss8496]

Ghost of tsushima had an open world map with tons of real estate, but the thing is, every location looked different. There was so much to explore, it was insanely beautiful, and it never got old. How the AC series hasnt figured this out after like twenty entries is astounding to me.

[@AdarshSingh-qz5xq]

Simple,Sucker punch took their time to craft Ghost of Tsushima.Ubisoft just pushes out mediocre games every 2 yrs

[@olzeess6740]

I'm considering buying this game today while it's still £16 on the store for the deluxe edition, is it shit and full of dull quests with forgettable side stories? Only asking as you're probably the most recent to comment

[@duitpanas]

@@olzeess6740 yep, this game is way more boring than i first thought, have spent 80+ hours in game and I just get to middle of main storyline... So I was decide to quit playing it like 3 months ago. Funny thing is, after all those hours, I forgot what the main story of the game is. Today, after randomly watch this review, I installed it again to my ps4 and after just half hours I decide to uninstall it once and for all. Remember, you heard it from the guy who plays Death stranding and have fun with it, even Platinumed the game. Don't call men Kojima's fans, I never play Metal Gears game.

[@olzeess6740]

@@duitpanas lol tbh mate I thought origins was the same, just a stinking huge grind, a fetch questers dream, I didn't bother buying Odyssey in the end, got Borderlands 3 and World War Z, I also considered The Outer World's but I heard it was heavily narrative based with multiple choice conversations that go on for 25 mins and stuff like that, not my cup of tea! I've not actually played Death Stranding but I hear it's of a particular taste, if you've not seen it already give The Act Man's review of Death Stranding a watch, I'm sure you find the beginning really really funny

[@duitpanas]

@@olzeess6740 ah sorry for my bad english, I mean I already platinum Death Stranding, and that game never get me bored. Honestly i burned out play ac odyssey in 30+ hours, the reason I kept playing because i brought the gold edition in launch in full price (yeah, how stupid i am). Safe to say i kept play because I don't want to feel robbed by Ubisoft. But never mind, it's just my thoughts. The purpose of the game is to make player having fun, If you have fun with it, good for you. Especially in £16 :D

[@mattbaines]

*Clicks on a game review* Starts to be informed about song lengths Just to clarify, yes I have been watching Skill Up for a while and yes I understand what he's doing and why he does it

[@Theron101]

Welcome to the channel

[@alexanderhs1617]

I was playing AC while listening to it so I didn't even remember I clicked on a game review for a bit, I was so into the music part

[@insert_random_code4733]

*clicks on a game review,* Starts to be informed on the worlds biggest boat

[@Hollobaby1231]

x Mowatt lmao same

[@PlaceboZypresse]

Gamers need that common knowledge you know.

[@Ch0cken]

"Some might say you've paid to skip, others may call you an honorless coward..." What a perfect line to describe predatory microtransactions

[@brandonthompson7075]

I don’t understand the hate for micro transactions for this game. It literally does not effect anyone who doesn’t want to buy them

[@enceladius4537]

@Brandon Thompson I think the problem most people (like myself) have with it is the question of why do they exist in the first place. Like SkillUp said, for multiplayer games it makes some sense to have them to cover server costs and continuous work on updates, patches, balancing, etc. For exclusive singleplayer games like Odyssey that argument doesn't work that well. Like he said, it makes you question the design philosophy of the game: did they make all that sidecontent for you to immerse yourself and enjoy the game world? or just to annoy you so that you buy the xp- and ressource boosters to skip parts of the game? If a full price, triple A singleplayer game has the same real money shop as a free-to-play online game....that's just weird and questionable. Also i think many people want to get the hate train going in an effort to make the publishers realise we don't tolerate this stuff, in a (maybe vain) attempt to prevent it from getting out of hand like it got with the lootboxes

[@sneakymitchell7802]

In a quest ingame talks about that. It’s to do in doing trails and getting tokens but you can buy the tokens with coin.

[@sparkyspinz9897]

@@brandonthompson7075 how so? The game is literally designed to drag on to entice people to buy them

[@ThatBum42]

This SMBC comes to mind: www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2012-01-12

[@cillajendar4378]

"Bigger Isn't Always Better" Well, tell that to my ex-girlfriend

[@metatronblack]

😲😲😲😞

[@harrygallagher1253]

I have 😉

[@stinkytamez2525]

He sacrificed his dignity for a good joke,god bless his soul

[@DavidLee8981]

@@stinkytamez2525 not a good joke

[@JMrealgamer]

cilla jendar Lol!

[@quiettimegaming3642]

AC:O is like getting a great meal, but in a RIDICULOUSLY MASSIVE portion... (like a 10 pound hamburger 🍔 with a shield-sized bun) after a while you don’t want to even look at it anymore. Sure you can eat a little bit tomorrow and the day after that even... but after a while, you’re just forcing yourself to eat it because it’s taking up too much space in the fridge and you don’t want to waste it. And what was INITIALLY an incredible, once in a lifetime meal becomes a punishment and a chore. Not due to quality or taste, but because the portions are unreasonably big... And what’s detrimental to getting “too much” is that you’re not going to want to eat that meal again for a VERY long time.

[@wallyb6051]

This perfectly describes my problem with the game. That and the loot.

[@quiettimegaming3642]

Brandon Wallace don’t even get me started on Ubi turning every single game into looter-shooters. If Ubi made a one-on-one fighting game they’d make it a looter-shooter.

[@jamesallmon7756]

Very true Dougdoug

[@iampleasant]

@David Christian Bru same, just bought both DLC's but thinking about playing them is giving me legit vertigo...

[@kian2302]

No. It would just be a large, shitty, ugly, disgusting burger.

[@gg-er1vv]

"hey, wanna spend some money to skip some of this game we made"?

[@SnakeEater776]

U no it's bad when they say yes

[@austinsmith3011]

@OzarkoBlam I am in the process of my first playthrough of AC:O. I did use Cheat Engine to give me like 20 levels, for free ofc so I could do the main quest and dlc content without grind I did not feel like doing.

[@exodus1759]

Pay to wait

[@tbd2553]

Lol u weaklings paid for shit?

[@austinsmith3011]

@@tbd2553 I pirate TV shows /movies .. because easier. I do not pirate games to help support single player games development.

[@BeardedWonder]

Microtransactions do not belong in full priced games. End of story. It's like paying a premium price for a subscription but they still make you watch advertisements. It's unnecessary and only stems from greed. You're right that the next microtransactions battle will take place over single player games but gamers need to draw the line now before another battlefront 2 situation happens.

[@cephalonblue5991]

Bearded Wonder it’s like having ad sections in that cable tv you have to pay for if you want internet.

[@stuartbagley2586]

Hulu is paid and has ads and you have to pay more for ad free. The fact of the matter is we have micro transactions instead of a base price increase. The boosters for Odyssey are for people that want to rush through the game and not play the side content. I’d much rather have that as an option than an across the board $10 increase. The Witcher 3 has a lot of grinding if you want to stay leveled for the story, just like Odyssey. People need to get over it or be willing to cough up more cash.

[@BeardedWonder]

@@stuartbagley2586 Microtransaction sympathiser alert! Okay buckaroo let me set you straight: I've played through the Witcher 3 8 times now varying from quick 60 hour playthrough to full on 100% completion so I know about the "grind". In order to keep up with the story line you only need to do main quests. They give you enough experience to be the same level as the recommended level for the quest and notice how I used the word recommended instead of required. The only time where you'll find quests that are higher level than you is for the sidequests and witcher contracts but the difference is that this content is actually good. Zero fetch quests or "go here and kill 10 demons" quests. They all have stories and reason. That's what makes a quest a quest instead of grind. As I said, we're already paying 60 dollars as a minimum. There are also all the collector's editions and DLC's and pre-orders on top of that. They do not need microtransactions to make a profit. AC games have turned profits ever since the first one and now that the gaming market is substantially bigger, more profit is made. At this point it's nothing but greed. People like you who defend it ARE the problem and why games like Battlefront 2 exist. In the words of Jim Sterling: "If you've made a game that people are willing to pay more money not to play it, then you have made a shitty game". Thank God for him.

[@TheOneGreat]

@@stuartbagley2586 They created a problem only to sell you a solution. It's funny thar some people aren't seeing that blatant rip-off.

[@sillyskeleton]

Stuart Bagley funny you should mention The Witcher 3. That game neither required any microtransactions or a $10 increase for the base games RRP to make it a financial success. Same goes for games like God of War or Spider-Man. Do you think Rockstar needs microtransactions to stay afloat when GTA has become one of the biggest selling franchises in gaming? Absolutely not. They have them so they can rake in more cash than they can count.

[@SG0041]

I really just saw a 50min review of a game that I'm not even interested in

[@erichall090909]

His narrative style is extremely satisfying

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

Is that because you’re interested in the design? Perhaps more than the experience

[@SG0041]

@@EmperorsNewWardrobe probably, I really like Greek metrology and like eric above you said his narrating is brilliant

[@EmperorsNewWardrobe]

@@SG0041 Yup, it’s weirdly satisfying to hear good analyses, even when you have no intention of playing. Mark Brown’s analysis of Dark Souls did that, sending me down a rabbit hole of then playing through the series

[@habirton]

To be honest it wasn’t too bad for me. I bought it on sale and I tend to play games over months. I’d drop it and pick it up a week or two later, grind a bit, drop it again etc. I can see how it can be frustrating if you’re actively trying to finish it though. I just don’t have the time for long gaming sessions nowadays and every replay is all about relearning the mechanics.

[@CommaderRockwell]

The fact that I can't have a shield in odyssey annoyed me personally.

[@lceQ]

Having a shield glued on in Origins pissed me off..

[@prestongreenbay6336]

@@lceQ yep I hate shields

[@prestongreenbay6336]

@@jamesknowles.3552 True I wish they would just go to a shadow of war or sekiro style combat because it's so repetitive now Odyssey had the same problem same animation over and over when unity had 100 animation

[@hadison6838]

Wait, what? The only reason why I want to buy Odyssey is I really thought we could use both spear and shield as a Spartan warrior... Oh, man... there goes my unused Steam Wallet...

[@johnP0908]

@@hadison6838 you can save it on better games anyway, so yeah. good for you.

[@IndianTelephone]

"You see, in old AC games, the parkour system was such that you had to look for things to climb, which means that some parts of the games could be built where you couldn't climb over, so to be a way for level designers to control and enhance how you experience an event. But in Origins that system was changed to you can climb almost anything, *Character climbs a smooth statue* like what the hell am I even holding here?" THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MENTIONING THAT! I hate the climb everything parkour. The other side effect of that is that your character feels like he is skating around instead of running, and you don't even have to strategize anymore since you know, you can just climb literally anything, so you always have a high ground. There are no limitations anymore.

[@CanelaAguila]

At my peak with this game my mind was calculating paths over walls and buildings while walking the streets irl: "I could climb that. Oh wait..."

[@kanalkucker14]

"... you always have a high ground" So, you are greek Obi-Wan then?

[@noswadnarabnitsuj]

@Steve Robertson kind of ironic that you say its ASSASSINS creed, yet you say odyssey is the best one, which in fact is the only game without assassins - or a creed

[@marklevy1785]

I played Odyssey (never played any AC game before) and enjoyed it so when I saw another AC on sale I bought it, it was Black Flag (heard lots of AC fans that say it is the best) and I my god it felt terrible, the parkour was horrible, the fighting mechanic just felt dumb, the character could not even crouch (a stealth game without crouching mmm). The evolution is pretty clear and having the freedom to climb over almost anything is great compared to what other AC games had before... My kid played Odyssey for hours and when he played Black Flag he quit after about an hour and said that the game sucked and has not touched it again. So I think Ubisoft needed to make the change to attract more players and new customers to the franchise... the old ways feel very clumsy and dated for new players that don’t have any nostalgia itch...

[@weaverquest]

@TRISTAN KAHL The idea in the previous games is that you have to observe the environment not just run-up to any kind of obstacle and climb over it. AC Unity was the peak of the series for me when it comes to a good parkour system. Also, there is no sense of momentum when your character movement feels weightless and unnatural and looks more like getting yeeted all over the place because of the underlying system like here: 15:10.

[@LonelyGallifreyan]

I miss the ASSASSIN lore emphasis from the earlier games

[@mrlittleclone]

Assassin't creed

[@PxrStx]

It's showing what the assains and templars were before they were the assasins and templars. The cult is the templars and the player is the assasin

[@Aka_GodSpeed]

picklethepuckle the problem with that is that if we’re playing before assassins and Templar’s then we’re not really assassins and Templars....

[@the_seer_0421]

@@Aka_GodSpeed and the cult isn't actually related to the templars in any shape or form. It was the order of the ancients that later evolved into the templars. They were only inspired by the cult's ideologies and had the same end goal. And the assassin brotherhood/hidden ones didn't even exist yet, soooo....

[@erichall090909]

Yeah I miss the actual stealth and assassination focus of the games.

[@cant-use-my-other-name]

I'm going to have to play Witcher 3 to see what happened with that fry pan.

[@junzi44]

good luck when you're on your 10th sidemission hours later ignoring the main story haha, Witcher 3 sidequests are sooo good!

[@zenbrown7144]

Found the pan have ye?

[@bernardocarneiro1982]

It's actually a very deep sidequest. It's implied that the guy who messed with the old lady's house is another character from the Witcher series that doesn't appear in this game. So even the most random sidequest from Witcher 3 has lore behind it

[@fellowtemplar5679]

@@bernardocarneiro1982 He appears in the game, lol. You meet him if you decide help Dijkstra with his mission regarding Radovid. He's also character in the first game.

[@bernardocarneiro6029]

@@fellowtemplar5679 really? Coulda sworn that mission was in Hearts of Stone (when I said he didn't appear I was refering to base Witcher 3)

[@XLR8Games]

Ubisoft released a patch yesterday that reduces the level requirement for main story quest. So to level gating has been severely reduced to the point tha xp most items are kinda laughable now. But good thay videos like this and others brought this to ubisoft attention and they took approrpiate actions.

[@kindxx3239]

Or they already planned this, gladly take the money, when it gets too much flame they turn it back to how it should be and earn a reputation.

[@GeoAgeAlien13]

They got the money from idiots then as only stupid people buy EXP boosts for single player games.

[@novartez8051]

kind xx Or maybe they actually care? Quit acting like a saint if a company screws up you bash them if a company tries to fix something and do good you bash them. No wonder you people are always mad nothing pleases entitled gamers

[@ubongenyiema4526]

@Gunther Pie if i broke your jaw but paid all your medical expenses, does that make what i did any less shit? if i stole money from you that you needed to feed your family because you just lost your job but gave a referral to apply to a new job, does that make what i did less shit? publishers dont give a fuck about you, they care about their image and sales. stop defending them.

[@gwynbleiddroach2589]

Pc still doesn’t have that patch

[@tomh5094]

"that's a problem for tomorrow" With breakpoint, tomorrow is here!

[@JNST2023]

That is so true...the conclusion of this video was foreshadowing what's been done with Breakpoint

[@GioGioPietromica425]

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I went into this purposefully forgetting it was an Assassin's Creed game, and I had the best time I've had in the whole series

[@j.vinton4039]

It really shouldn’t have been labeled an AC game. For a game about Ancient Greece I’d have been just fine with it.

[@MrSuperman957]

Most people enjoyed it. It's rated around 90% audience score. The common complaint is that "it's not an AC game". Who cares, though? AC games were getting repetitive, ubisoft lost sales so they changed it up. We can only blame ourselves for not supporting the old model

[@cybersphere]

Totally. They should have started a new RPG franchise with this game.

[@MrSuperman957]

​@@cybersphere They could've but it simply wouldn't have sold as much. The franchise name is what sells at this point. They're a company so their focus is money Can't exactly blame them

[@MrSuperman957]

@iSolvano / Games on OLED AC3 is old. Sales went downhill after that. So they changed the formula There's like 4 games after AC3 before Origins you know

[@Gungrave123]

I loved sailing in this game. Sailed from Messenia to Lesbos without fast travel more than once.

[@chrisd8180]

Its so amazing being able to sail to other islands/continents, accually feals like a planet and not just a map of a small world.

[@Maverick.D.]

Windwaker inspirations baby!

[@didijunior971]

AC Oddysey is my guilty pleasure. I know how much flawed this game is but I spent more than 70 hours into this game. Don't worry. I didn't buy any micro transaction

[@Joker-nh6dd]

You can absolutely love a game and know that its flawed, I did it with kingdom hearts 3. Different people have that different thing that makes them stick to a game even if the game is flawed.

[@didijunior971]

@@Joker-nh6dd Thanks man. It's good to know that I'm not alone :)

[@Smokez360]

I really liked Oddysey, I (think) I finished it the other day lol. I unlocked new game plus but didn't see any credits roll, Will leave it there in case of spoilers. Yeah it was a lot of fun and I'm still not done with it all, but I do agree with skillup in that it felt bloated. There were some cool side stories on some islands, but I never even got to see them all in my 60 hours of gameplay. A very fun but flawed game indeed. My hopes is that they listened to the criticism and make the next AC a really good RPG with meaningful side quests. I have faith in Ubisoft these days.

[@didijunior971]

@@Smokez360 I heard AC is getting another year break. I wish they took their time to make the next AC game as good as Origins

[@Smokez360]

@@didijunior971 I would be very surprised if we saw an AC this year, and that's perfectly ok in my books. I never played origins actually, I loved the setting but the gameplay seemed meh to me, it's on my list tho for sure, in the middle of replaying unity and with its performance issues mostly sorted, it's a really fun game.

[@CriticalNobody]

Unfortunately, most companies won’t bother to listen to a review like this. Instead, they’ll just look at all the mainstream 9’s and 10’s that offer little to no real critique and based on that, keep doing exactly the same thing next time around. After all, why change or improve when everyone seems to love what you’re doing?

[@nothinisworthit]

most of the reviews that give this game 9 or 10 are proven to have the exp boost already enabled so these reviewers think that people are complaining about a nonissue.

[@quanthai201]

@@nothinisworthit lol so hard to your conspiracy theory. I must have a review copy too, so as my friends.

[@ck9103]

They listen to sales. Random reviews on KZbin (rightfully) mean nothing to them. Why 'rightfully'? How many large game reviewers can we name that produce anything of substance beyond circle jerking or shilling? I can only think of two. Game reviews are just as much of a corrupt and greedy business as (insert 'evil' game company here). Sales have and always will be the end-all metric of how well received a game is.

[@adarwinterdror7245]

any proof for that, any posts from ex-journalists admitting that, any sort of evidence that can back up to your conspiracy theory? or is it just that - a theory? Because some people say the earth is flat and every employee of every space program in the world is paid off to lie as well.

[@adarwinterdror7245]

@@brokengames9020 i have no idea what Youre talking about. Havent heard of it. Got sources for this? I will love to readd further.

[@raidengoodman8754]

I remember having 80+ hours before i made it to chapter 3 because I literally went around doing every location objective and side mission. No i have no life why do you ask

[@Ryattt81]

That is what I do...its why I love Ubisoft games even though they arent great. I rarely finish a Ubisoft game, but put insane hours into them. I just like clearing markers to be honest. Ill be headed towards a story mission and get side tracked for hours and hours

[@raidengoodman8754]

@@Ryattt81 it’s a good time waster i’ll give it that

[@firelord4662]

Nobody asked or gives a fuk is your life you choose to do what you want with it just wanted to only point that out

[@cheeksahoy6188]

This is coming from someone who did not play at launch and just finished. I guess growing up being a history nerd and enjoying this time period a lot made the 30 hours you spoke of very enjoyable to me. I just loved exploring, seeing the sights and hearing familiar names. Not gonna write a book but if anyone’s still visiting this video let’s talk about it.

[@firelord4662]

There's nothing to talk about you liked what you like stop looking to argue mindlessly lol

[@octobotimus]

@@firelord4662 there’s a difference between discussion and arguing. A lot of people somehow can’t tell the difference

[@OfficialNice]

Loved the game, the story and set piece are amazing even today. Just how far cry has became bland, far cry 3 was still able to create a beautiful fun world with a good story and that’s how a good game is made.

[@christianbethel]

Same!

[@thaddeushamlet]

"People didn't like the focus on stealth and assassination" Assassin's Creed ASSASSIN's Creed It's not Warrior's Creed, or Boxer's Creed

[@floshjix02]

Thaddeus Hamlet agreed brother

[@bencegergohocz5988]

Imagine telling the Battlefield playerbase that the next title will focus on 1v1s cause they wanna move away from large battles 🤔

[@CRAZYMUGMAN]

still better than the trash ezio games though :)

[@kartikeygupta6432]

@@CRAZYMUGMAN lol have u ever played ezio trilogy I think u are just a 12 year old kid who is a Fortnite player and his mommy bought him ac odyssey first play ezio trilogy

[@CRAZYMUGMAN]

@@kartikeygupta6432 never going to play the ezio games until every last ezio cocksucker is gone, and my first ac was ac4 not odyssey, so i will never play those trash ezio games

[@iiTsMacca]

These aren’t reviews anymore, these are fully fledged documentaries

[@theninjaassassin4468]

@Charles Lee I think he was praising, not complaining.

[@spiderman9972]

@Charles Lee He wasnt complaining dickhead

[@DragonSlicer]

I found most of what he said repetitive and kinda pointless at some points in the video.

[@dreambiscuits]

@Charles Lee dumbass

[@hanshoppe3307]

I spent 289 hours in this world, 100% completed it, got the platinum trophy (and all DLC trophies) and loved every minute of it. However, I totally understand that people find it all a bit too much. None of my friends even completed the main quest because of the “bloat”. Edit: I did not buy any microtransactions.

[@ismailraza5883]

your comment inspires me to play this game, bcz i buyed gold edition and i was thinking i regreted but i don't know...... it's on downloading btw how many days taked you to complete all

[@Internetgamer420]

Ah yes, The Witcher 3 and the illusive pan. Its been years since i did that quest but i can't get it out of my head.

[@poere1234]

"Winds Howling"

[@michac.8283]

Still haven't finished it. It's like a phantom that has been haunting me for years now. I feel like I need to go back to Witcher 3 to finish this one quest and get the peace of soul

[@Internetgamer420]

Michał C. It’s a dumb quest but it speakers volumes as to how much time and effort was spent on the writing alone

[@michac.8283]

@@Internetgamer420 agreed. Witcher 3's side quests actually kept me engaged, which is rare. And voice acting in both polish and English versions is great

[@Leeyawnn]

The parkour system wasn't killed It was mauled.

[@monalisa-bs4zs]

Odyssey’s parkour is the best to date. Real parkour is only limited by the climbers imagination. The less limitations in video games the more enjoyable they become to play.

[@younglord1579]

@@monalisa-bs4zs exactly and i played since ac 2. the limitations for parkour because i had to run in specific areas to climb was pathetic to me

[@emmerrzett]

You know you can roll to extinguish fire? :> (im only 12hrs in at this point)

[@MrCriistiano]

I've learned it 100h in. FeelsBadMan

[@drayquan23]

Yes, at 38:48 --- It seems he never realized you can roll to put it out right away.

[@drayquan23]

@@MrCriistiano rofl wow that must have been really really annoying to play with not knowing!! some of those bounty hunters with flame attacks must have been infuriating ;.(

[@cheezburgrproduction]

Poor guy never learned Stop Drop R O L L

[@ivanflebus6877]

lol 110 hours in and just read your comment. Many painful deaths from the flaming mercenaries

[@nooberus9241]

It didn't drag for me at all to be honest, but I get why people feel that way.

[@breadone_]

you know the witcher frying pan quest is good when i remembered EXACTLY what it was about as soon as i saw that house + npc

[@sammyflinders]

Fair warning: This review ventures into spoiler territory pretty hard at points.

[@CaracuSC]

Yeah, he just spoiled some end game locations for me. WTF?

[@thedarklordx]

What was spoiled?

[@torkpenderloin]

DBJ I definitely didn’t know he did that. Never seen his vids before. I’m just lucky enough to have checked the comments before getting to the spoilers.

[@resetbutton7982]

Tork Penderloin I’m glad I checked the comments as well. I just hit level 20 in the game so I have a ton of content left to enjoy.

[@alexvswrld]

Damn, good thing I saw your comment, but now I can't finish the video. I can get this game new for $15 ..is it worth it for someone who never played an AC game??

[@Ch0cken]

Am i the only one who thinks the real life story of Assassin's Creed games is the glue holding the entire thing together? After they killed off Desmond it just felt like the stories had less meaning and impact especially since characters only last for one game now and are never even mentioned again. Assassin's Creed ended for me when they stopped caring about the modern day story

[@alexbou7966]

Origins started off with a new modern day main character, which has been continued into Odessey. I think it's pretty good tbh.

[@Ch0cken]

Ok interesting. I haven't played a full assassins creed game since Unity. Im guessing it's not as fully fleshed out the desmond story? I'm glad they are continuing a story either way though

[@Hunterssoldier]

I always thought the modern day stuff was an unnecessary tacked on plot since AC1. It felt like a chore to me playing as Desmond outside the Animus & I had no emotion at all when he died in AC3.

[@TorinAst]

I have never cared about the modern day storyline

[@Pwophet_of_Twuth]

I fall into the crowd of people who dont care much for the modern parts of the story. I did enjoy Desmond as a character and they were building up to something grand with him, but they threw away that idea and are doing with the series what they want. Layla (The new Modern Protagonist) is, for me atleast just filling the slot thats been left open for the last several games and shes doing an okay job of it. I would rather not have it at all but I understand why they have it included.

[@DarshanBhambhani]

Devs: *make single player games grindy Cheat Engine: cute

[@whodatninja439]

cheat engine makes the game 100 times better. removes level gating plus you get the microtransaction armors for free.

[@Thrashman138]

I got this game for $20. More than worth that price.

[@itsyaboiherman]

Well damn

[@sadhanasharma1448]

It's worth $7 at max

[@FunkyDaddyO]

This isn't a simple game review. This is high quality, informative and well researched journalism.

[@zeromailss]

yep, that's why we are here isn't it

[@weirdo7319]

That's this entire channel

[@ysoserious8526]

No this isn't a simple game review. A simple game review don't contain massive story spoilers... Also Skill up has NO clue about the franchise otherwise he wouldn't praise the character and dialogue choice system that stands in direct contradiction to the key term of the narrative in the AC Universe: The Animus/Helix. I also want to make clear that I like Skill Ups channel and also the Laymen Gayming so this is not a hate comment. The review is really good (not every reviewer has to be an expert on the AC Franchise) but he should at least give a warning before spoiling massive parts of the story. For me that was really annoying. I don't expect getting massive story spoilers when I watch a video with the word "reiview" in it.

[@iXBLreach]

If you see a 50 minute review and seriously expect it to only cover spoiler free stuff during such a long time I don't know how to help you

[@Lord_Laskov]

Actually, its not real journalism at all.. its purely based on one persons opinion that it is wrong or immoral for companies to make money. (you dont have to buy any extras).

[@esaigonzalez8157]

Probably got copyright claimed because of some music. Freakin KZbin lol

[@zeromailss]

true

[@WorldzMo5t3pic]

Either that or someone _REALLY_ didn't like the video. It's always been _far_ too easy to silence a video (hell, _channel_ ) you don't like.

[@mattyoblobber]

Or re-uploaded to get rid of the downvotes aha

[@declanmillar6356]

After playing the game for myself, I have to say even at the repetition of particular assets, I found the scope and scale of the game world to be incredibly enjoyable. It almost helped encompass you in the story, a personal journey in a massive world populated with civilization. Your a small character in a massive world with events transpiring around you. Even the sense of scale helps the believability of the Cult and their goals in the spread and reach of their control.

[@danieldimov8625]

​@@freakyplory5721Nah I agree with him, he put how I feel about the game pretty well.

[@treywilliams5400]

@@freakyplory5721I agree with them too!!

[@philbarton2832]

If they scrapped a whole third of the size of the map and bland side quests you would still get that feeling of scope. The game is simply to big and bloated, I was almost on autopilot mode going through most of it. Give me an open world that grips me narratively ,challenges me somewhat and respects my time, odyssey hardly does any of these things.

[@declanmillar6356]

It's also worth noting two things about myself that my personally shape my bias of the game: 1. This is the first assassins creed game I've played since Syndicate, prior to the English Entry my last played entry was Revelations to conclude the Ezio Trilogy back in the 360 days. 2. I'm a homosexual with a deep love of Greek History and Mythology. This game lets me play as a gay lady spartan running around and just battering my way through with aggression and sass.

[@danieldimov8625]

@@declanmillar6356 Honestly ive always seen the assassins creed games as the fast food of gaming, its cheap (as in the thought that went behind the content of the games) and not very original, but its still tasty. Lots of people hate repetitive list checking activities, but something in my brain just likes to cross shit off on a map, to see something get fully complete. Of course there are limits, I love MGS 5 a lot and the way you progress and check things off your list in that game, but even it got repetitive and tiring at the last stretch of the insane amount of side ops in that game.

[@Jerbsinator]

I agree, I'm about 60 hours in and haven't seen even half of the landscape yet and Im bored already. Will have to finish it later I guess. The only thing that keeps you going in this game is the campaign but even that can't save it. It's definitely a good game and the most fun I have had with Assassins Creed, but it's just too damn big.

[@sopranophantomista]

I loved the Legendary beasts questline. I finished it up yesterday, before getting back to getting land back from the Spartan Kings, or solving the cult, or anything like that. I didn't even realize that would be the final arc with everything, so that's really cool! It was very sweet seeing Kassandra again in the modern day, and it was most definitely a very sweet goodbye to the character.

[@kaenerka9209]

ShantyLady it isn‘t the „final arc“ when you can play it midway through the family „main story“. I dont know why he said it like this but yeah

[@HeroDark98]

I think where Odyssey really failed for me was the lack of attachment I had to its cast of characters and consequentially its setting. The Witcher 3 excelled with its cast of characters not only because they were brilliantly written, but also because they were given enough time for you to know them. Look at The Bloody Baron or Cerys. You spend hours with these characters, in quests that are sometimes separated from one another by other quests, allowing for better pacing. In Odyssey, you do 1 half-hour quest for a character like Hippokrates, then move onto the next historical figure. Characters are treated like quest-givers and tourist attractions rather than real people. You have no time to develop a sense of attachment to 98% of the characters in Odyssey and as a result, you don't develop a sense of identity for the setting they inhabit. For how pretty and big Athens is, I don't remember anything about it. It feels hollow and bland.

[@ninjos4]

*fondly remembers Leonardo da Vinci showing up in the glorious AC2 line. *fondly remembers the glorious AC2 line

[@EvolutionIX219]

Loved the characters and story of the Witcher, but its combat was such a snoozefest, even on the hardest difficulty.

[@immamlgproo]

Im not sure what you mean because theres a lot of side quests with these main side characters and they also show up frequently in the main story to help you out

[@Kroganmerc]

I felt the same way with origins... Didn't care about bayek at all

[@DNH17]

Ac odyssey is for pseudo gamers... it s like clone of trends like cod and other clone pubg because they are not IP creators. They just buy stuff and then destroy it...

[@nextlifeonearth]

8 minutes and 30 seconds in: "Now here's my review: " Big oof.

[@emanuelgonzalez7500]

He starts talking about pop songs.... Like... Wtf

[@souchoysaeteurn5211]

Dude seriously. Get to the fucking point

[@jarllim4713]

Y'all have no patience, it was an introduction to give emphasis on the monetization of the game

[@foxfff123123]

When you’re on fire, roll to put it out. Fire is honestly not as devastating as poison can be

[@MrsGrendalFaust]

Wow Skill Up that was a fantastic review. There wasn't a minute of it I didn't like. Thank you for doing these ❤

[@Vesperon]

That was good. I liked the intro and the conclusion, but the middle felt a little...bloated ;)

[@dreero_]

Honestly I really enjoyed lots of the side quests in this game. Mostly because I truly love Greek mythology and anything to do with ancient Greece, but I thought lots of them were well written.

[@cryodann]

Exactly!

[@amberorion1549]

Part of the reason I come back to your reviews every few months, even though I've already watched them, is because you really wonderfully tie in other parts of our lives and worlds to the economic and artistic design of video games. Your coke-v-pepsi tangent in the Forsaken review, the album length tangent here, and the humble tangent all play such a lovely part in really selling your connection to the games you're reviewing.

[@arunjako]

I find it sad that no one cares about the present day story anymore. I feel like without that Assassin's Creed is just another generic game. The first 3 parts really had me invested because there was a reason for why we were playing as these characters. The Desmond story was brilliant. After that there was really no need for the series to continue. Assassin's Creed died after Assassin's Creed 3 IMO. Dont get me wrong AC 3 was mediocre and AC4 is still the best game in the series for me. But was it really an Assassin's Creed game? I would say no. The series has slowly moved away from making us feel like an assassin who strikes from the shadows to just another RPG. I understand that Ubisoft needs to make money and thats why they continue. But at this point it just feels like they are just milking the AC brand rather than make the typical AC games that made them famous in the first place. If you are going to divert from the core gameplay so much i would rather that you make another new IP rather than milk everything you can out of an old one.

[@splinteridiot]

I am on the same boat with you where I played the AC series up to AC3 which is where Desmond Miles story ended and honestly was the only reason I played AC3 was to find out how AC 1~3 story arc ended. After that it was just milking the brand because I was wondering AC4 onwards about how the game will be like in terms of whether there is the past and present thing that they had for Desmond Miles which they sort of did but became less and less important.

[@arunjako]

@@splinteridiot glad there is atleast someone like me. And the sadder thing is that even the reviewers dont care about the present day story anymore :(

[@inertian4723]

Boy am I glad to meet someone who shares my views. I’ve felt so alone. I got into AC at Brotherhood, and I loved it. I loved the historical roots and the linear storytelling that coalesced two stories into one. But in recent years, the franchise has seemed to devolve and divert from its original roots into a choose for yourself RPG. The main point of the original games is that history can’t be changed, it can only be utilized to influence the future. And that people in the present storyline were using memories to find the pieces of eden. I would have preferred it if Ubisoft decided to make the present story the main story line while using the past as a way to uncover the mysteries of the lore.

[@arunjako]

@@inertian4723 exactly!

[@light370]

I’m so upset about this fact I’m watching reviews of Odyssey trying to find someone with the same opinion. I’m not trying to find my echo chamber but I’ve the feeling everyone is living the thing they hated a few years before. “There’s too much open world”, “I hate micro transactions”, “I hate grinding”, “I hate uncharismatic characters”, “I hate boring stories”, “I hate developers which give gender choice”, etc. Now people see Vikings, a hidden blade and the AC logo and they preorder. It’s just sad. Even as just games they’re nothing like The Witcher 3. I don’t understand the goal of making AC in an RPG in the first place anyway. They could simply have said “AC is done after Syndicate” and move on. This way the development would have been easier.

[@morbid1.]

If someone plays AC and complains it has too much stealth and assassinations... IT IS ASSASSIN'S CREED ffs not God of War... I understand when people complain about arbitrary stealth section for action games but whole point of AC is to be an assassin not spartan warrior with flaming stick +3 and "stab sponge" enemies just to excuse "rpg stats". This is open world rpg game with tons of microtransactions and broken design to force people to buy it... That is what bothers me, just change the name, make it own IP and let someone else to do AC like Hitman in medieval times.

[@astrocyborg]

yeah thats like complaining that porn has too much sex scenes lol

[@artscorsese3203]

why the fuck would they change the name when it is about a mercenary (assassin) killing a group of corupt/ cultist leaders (templars) using an enchanted peice of eden, all while being controlled by a chick in a time/simulator machine. welcome to Assasins Creed.

[@edgeboyyy6380]

@@artscorsese3203 I think you missed his point. He was talking about how gameplay and mechanics in this don't reflect the ac franchise itself anymore. Personally I agree with him, I loved the first ac games back then, but with this I was bored to death after 2 hours or so. But if so many people enjoy this, good for them.

[@theblackknight101]

I think these warrior focused games highlight the various factions of the brotherhood like the mercenary faction from ezio games like bartholomew and uncle mario who were more battle oriented but still technically part of assassins

[@z-rossi3672]

They got me with the xp boost when the ultimate edition of the game went on super sale, and it definitely makes the games pacing better, I might take my time when it comes to open world, but I was 10-20 levels above you in this video on all the scenes, but they made the world scale with your level so unless youre building right its still a grind. Its dangerous territory for sure, not long before it becomes that Raid cellphone game

[@zeroThreeSixHD]

I really enjoyed this game overall, but always fun to see you articulate the nuisances within each title. I had planned to platinum this one but burnt out after 60 hours or so (which is still a lot of gameplay) but you nailed it as usual.

[@GameoftheYear-fx4mq]

How do you play Witcher 3 with no subtitles?! MADNESS! I cant understand a word she said! 18:38

[@jakpote88]

dude the accent sometime are so strong... imagine me who doesnt speak fluide english yet

[@TheCloudCreation]

Disclaimer: I wrote this comment in the first video, but Shill Up must have liked the comment so much he had to take down the whole video. Absolutely love the new formula you've come up with. A seemingly random analogy somehow gets turned into a perfect parallel to the game you are reviewing. I have no idea how you come up with your analogies, but great work as always.

[@IWantToStayAtYourHouse]

"See this coca-cola? That is a perfect representation of this comment"

[@WorldzMo5t3pic]

Research, my friend. Too little of it goes around these day and most people take things at face value and react to _that._

[@chanman947]

Something I found odd is that there is an inverse relationship between difficulty setting and skill in the combat; the higher the difficulty setting, the more likely the outcome is to be determined entirely by level. I am a Soulsborne vet and my normal approach is to learn enemy attack patterns and exploit the weaknesses I find; this involves a lot of rolling and taking a few hits to gauge enemy DPS but at higher settings an enemy more than 1 or 2 levels above you will kill you in a single combo. The only choices are to turn down the difficulty or grind up some levels.

[@mravg79]

Good point, this relation and having the levels defining the difficulty seems a poor design choice. In Fenyx Rising also an UBI game you could go to an overpowered enemy it was marked as such but if you had enough skill and patience you could win the fight. This is something why I get bored with games like the division, AC origin, odyssey, Valhalla (I tired all of them during fee weekends). And after playing for a dozen of hours or so I didn’t see a reason to continue.

[@fatihunalll]

The main thing preventing me from playing most of these types of games is the pointless bloat quests. I'd rather play 20 hours of a good game story than 60-100 hours of fetch quests

[@MPT1983]

Yip, open world games are getting tiresome, especially cause many follow the same old formula

[@PapaDino]

A year ago the average game review on KZbin lasted 10 minutes but today it can last a grindy 47 minutes.

[@spyros4604]

I really loved your review especially when you started talking about ancient Greece.I am Greek and loved the fact that you did this historical recursion explaining the importance of greek civilization...HUGE RESPECT!!

[@coleflames]

I wish I heard more of a fuss made about this kind of thing back when Deus Ex: Mankind Divided came out. When I saw that I could purchase one time use upgrade points (praxis kits) for a single playthrough, my jaw hit the floor. I was flabbergasted at when I was seeing. Combined with how it feels like a chunk of the game was cut out and made into a pre-order mission - similar to Mass Effect 3's day one DLC with the promethean squad member - and that game went from a 9/10 to a 7/10 for me.

[@xbree_]

I’d never bought a micro transaction and Odyssey as my first AC. As I was playing I felt like I needed to buy a few. I got the exp boost and materials for my freakin boat. I’m glad I was able to finish it though because I adored Cassandra and enjoyed the main a story.

[@alextheloud]

"It's not about the size but how you use it" - Shill Up 2018 (Gotta put my comment back)

[@shishaceo5204]

And Odyssey used it perfectly well the game has over 300 story focused Witcher 3 like quests. If you only play the daily procedurally generated quests than yeah it can be repetitive.

[@JAZJPisme]

I don't think I've ever seen a game that let's you choose to cuck someone(17:10). That's an insta-buy from me

[@D25Bev]

I never disagreed with this review but in hindsight, he's completely right. The game is too long. I got to about 85-90% through the story then never went back to it. I felt no desire to go back to it, even with all the dlc that's released since. I didn't dislike the story but i just lost any appetite to continue which is strange considering i was in the closing stages. I don't dislike the game, i actually really enjoyed it for the most part & maybe i'll go back to it someday. It's a hard balance, i want value for my money. I want a decent, long story & vast world, however i think Odyssey is maybe 5hrs too long. I felt myself having to remember on too many occasions what happened nearer the beginning or even half-ways through the game as it'd been so long since i'd experienced those things.

[@kloklify]

Same for me,i finished it,started New game+ but quit shortly after,although im not quite sure why people are complaining about higher level quests they cant do,there's a setting in the game that sets the game to scale everything to your level so i just used that.That seems to be one of the biggest points of this video yet it's solvable in the options menu.

[@DantesInferno96]

The problem I have with both Odyssey and Origins is the lack of originality of side quests.

[@MrSuperman957]

It's not that long for me

[@theal1n]

Phenomenal review really. In a world where the majority of reviewers are "influenced" to be more positive towards games, it's a damn pleasure to discover your channel. I literally have the same general opinion about Odyssey, it's a great game but you have to wonder how much better it could have been without the aggressive monetization. Again, really great review, you have my subscription !

[@Sahtoovi]

I've played Odyssey for a while and the game has a lot of strong points, but also many weak points. I agree with what you said. The good parts of the game are astonishing, but the not-so-good parts are meh, or just boring

[@110000116699]

With the parkour system u may as well put no clip on

[@reeanimationgaming1034]

The time and effort you put into reviews like this, it outstanding, and it really shows.. 👌

[@stalok5963]

I'm playing Odyssey right now and thats my main issue with it: - OK this task is very important and we need you to do it NOW!!! - Just stay here, I will come back to you as soon as I get another 4 levels. And also it is funny when you are Lvl 34, come to a Lvl 36 mission and see Lvl 38 enemy

[@antonybrisson4090]

Got the exp boost and it was worth it. The game flow is really top notch with it. Which also prooves how scummy micro transactions are...

[@themambawarrior2290]

@the fighting liberal because you liked the side content. It's scaled for people who enjoy breaking off from the main story to do side content. For the people who want to enjoy the main story without interruptions, the XP booster is basically required for them to not get frustrated at the pacing.

[@seafarinhare]

I try to stay away from games with a "Time Saver" microtransaction, because even if it's a great game, the devs saying they can save me time tells me they don't believe in their game. Why should I?

[@kohl4life]

I did not buy the booster and my game experience was just as good.

[@Masappo]

Well you bought it, so...

[@Ocean5ix]

I think some people are just getting too lazy or don't have time to play anymore honestly.... If it were any other company and any other game without microtransactions but if still had the same game design people would be raving about it. Each quests literally gives you 2/10 to even 4/10 of a level and they vary from being either "go there kill that" (which isn't good in terms of narrative but still are quick enough to not be considered a "grind) or they are fully fledged and well done quests. If you can't stand playing this game because of the leveling pacing boy I'd say you can't play JRPGs and the majority of western rpgs either. Also, of course the game is scaled to people that does side content, Origins already screamed how it was borrowing from the success of the Witcher. Maybe that's the problem, maybe people still buy this thinking it's the old GTA style 25-30 hour Assassin's Creed experience. I get it, micro transactions suck but for some people it affects their entire experience and cloud their judgement too much for they to really analyse the game and compare it to other experiences.

[@deckard3755]

I just realised that you're the only reviewer that I'll watch do a game review nowadays. The length, depth and effort put into them just makes them so much better than the usual ten minute review I tend to have seen in the past. Bigger isn't always better, but your reviews are perfectly sized for me. I doubt I'll ever play AC Odyssey, but I've watched all of your review on it anyway because I really enjoy your style and dedication to covering a game Well. Keep em coming, mate!

[@JohnDBlue]

Catick - PREACH! I'm not that big on watching KZbin videos generally, but god damn I could just listen to this man speak for such a long time... about ANYTHING, pretty much!

[@MyEvilTaco]

Try ACG, he does a lot of quality reviews.

[@Tiern0c]

@@MyEvilTaco Was going to suggest ACG myself.

[@donaldvjr]

Too bad you're missing an awesome game.

[@Dark_Voice]

To be honest the fact how he rated Origins in this already put me off and the way he tried to joke about the temples was as bad as if you went to Notre-dame and said "just another church" then shown Saint Etienne "and another one" then in Rouen "and another one" and Beauvais "and another one". Simply it is a Gothic cathedral and the style of those buildings are the same. Sure we have a lot of styles here at this point in TIME but then they didnt have as many years passed and of course they will look similar.

[@augustbrown9711]

At first, I was so confused. Then, when he actually started talking about the game, I understood why he used the music analogy for context. 🤣

[@totaleclipse8880]

The review starts at 5:00 lmfao, we didn't need a 5 minute analogy to get the gist.

[@dogshithandle111]

I have never watched a longer review than this. Absolutely amazing work. The entire video was absolute masterpiece holy crap.

[@pfergee]

My dude, your video essays could be used in a video game design class.

[@Dainjuh]

the one thing that Holds odyssey back in my opinion is that it’s lost the simple joy of moving around the world... Has anyone else felt this? The parkour/climbing in odyssey is so watered down and simple that it’s become boring. There’s a huge lack of animation variety and alexios/kassandra aren’t able to perform a fraction of the cool maneuvers that You could perform in Unity or syndicate. You end up just watching them do the same little hop over absolutely everything. The pathing around the environment has lost its kinetic flow and feels clunky and unsatisfying. Even their running animations look off. this may sound nit picky but it’s hugely important when moving around makes up like 1/3 of AC’s gameplay loop. Move/kill/loot repeat. Unity was a buggy and flawed game but the movement was and still is so satisfying to play with. Odyssey does loot and combat so well but the movement part is boring and joyless compared to previous games. At least to me. I hope the next game brings back more nuance and visual flavor to the movement. If so, we could have a near perfect AC game.

[@runbaa9285]

Do you know that if you hold down the crouch button while running, Alexios/Kassandra will vault over things automatically like in AC3? It's nowhere like Unity's parkour, but it's there.

[@177SCmaro]

There is a lot about Odyssey that's boring and joyless. The repetition and lack of diversity, for example. They shouldn't have called it "Assassin's Creed". It's an okay ancient Greece hack-and-slash enemy sponge open world rpg but it's a terrible AC game.

[@exodus1759]

I don’t agree that the combat is better or on par. Back in AC 3, you had to time your blocks pretty well. You had to know your enemies, because certain moves wouldn’t work on certain enemies. In Odyssey, you just mash attack and spam block. No timing required. Every single enemy is a sponge and it makes the combat feel weightless. In AC 3, every interaction was perfectly animated; each hit and block, each 2v1, etc. In Odyssey, you just spam special moves endlessly, intersperse some regular spam attacks, and repeat.

[@felipeterranova2452]

They did Unity dirty both Ubisoft AND AC fans, Ubisoft fucked up on release, no doubt, and THEY deserve The backlash, but Unity's problem was Fix VERY quickly considering The size of The problem, And make it up for The mistake by having a full expansión DLC as Free... Fans Without reason decided to keep digging ACU a grave for no reason for The whole year (The famous face and map glitches I've seen are The same 3 Screenshots and 4 or 5 clips, meaning THOSE Bugs weren't as present as they Made You believe). ACU is not My favorite, but probably The Best in the series

[@mackenzierichardson7008]

The setting makes the parkour difficult.

[@AbiShoukathAliA]

36:18 is the most accurate description for "I once lopped off three heads with one blow" quote

[@djvelocity]

*This is such a fantastic, in-depth review!* I am actively playing my way through Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey as we speak (no fast travel, so I’ve logged 110 hours so far) and it’s an amazing game but everything you said is completely true. I haven’t played The Witcher but this review makes me want to try it out. You make it sound fantastic! Side note, *I just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed this content that you made* 😊🙌

[@Sams-xi7xf]

Hey dude did you manage to play Witcher 3?

[@djvelocity]

@@Sams-xi7xf I haven’t played it yet but I have a friend who recommended it and said that it is an amazing experience! He said it was the best game ever played. What are your thoughts?

[@Sams-xi7xf]

@@djvelocity it's fricking amazing, the main story, the DLCs and most of the side quests have solid writing and they're genuinely enjoyable... If you have time for it I strongly recommend it

[@djvelocity]

@@Sams-xi7xf yeah that’s what my friend said, he said there’s not a single pointless mission in the entire game and that everything you are sent to do actually makes sense and fits in somewhere. I have to admit, between your review and his, I think I need to pick this game up in the near future 🤩

[@Sams-xi7xf]

@@djvelocity that's awesome, I just want to give you a small tip. If you decide to start the Witcher 3, during the first 2 hours you'll have to talk to a seemingly unimportant individual. A bald guy that says he is a mirror merchant... Just watch out for that guy, keep him in your mind for later (DO NOT google him). This isn't a spoiler, just something to keep in mind ;) This will make the game more enjoyable for you in the long run.

[@HedOnFire]

Man, I love this game. That intro music to odyssey gives me chills every time. I don't know why I like this one so much, I couldn't stand Origins or Valhalla and got sick of the grind after about 10 hours. Dunno what it is about Odyssey...I absolutely adore it lol I still play it to this day. I think it's like what you said, I just love the gameplay loop, and whenever I do decide to actually pursue the main story, it's always a treat cause it's so good XD. Maybe I need to be more critical. I haven't spent a single penny on this game outside of the initial purchase and have put in like a thousand hours, and I still find myself going back to it. Just watching this video is making me want to go and play it some more XD. That quest you highlighted always cracks me up XD getting bear nuts

[@zicuvalentin2251]

Played ODYSSEY 3000 hours...ha ha

[@philbarton2832]

I swear you kind of gamers were an urban myth but here I am reading your own words 😮...😂

[@zicuvalentin2251]

@@philbarton2832 is just a game

[@eccentrikhat3863]

I enjoy Skill Up’s analysis so much, I’ll watch his reviews of games I beat years ago.

[@Daniel-wz3yv]

Great review, i discovered your channel recently (i guess i can thank Anthem for something eh?) and now watching this video i might buy Odyssey, i bought Origins and i couldn't get past lvl 10 without feeling extremely bored, surprisingly you pointed out a lot of the issues i had with the game and how they were solved in Odyssey, knowing that these issues were solved i might have fun with the game and i'm fine spending say another 20 bucks for a xp boost if i need to, after all i'd rather spend that much than get bored in the middle of the grind for the next quest which would make me stop playing altogether, though i read a few comments saying that the level gating was reduced so who knows, i probably won't even need to spend extra money for xp boosts if i decide to buy the game. Sorry for the wall and thanks for the review.

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsi4065]

They reduced level requirements for some missions in an update btw.

[@coolumar335]

Amazing review. It's independent journos like yourselves that allow for such nuanced, detailed critique and discussion regarding video games as a medium. Keep up the great work!

[@animosityreigns9932]

Now I haven't watched this whole review yet, but with him talking about the Witcher 3, I just wanna say that my all time favorite quest line was in Skellige when you had to help Cerys cure one of the Jarls from a curse! It as so cool and very well written, and I wish their were more Hymn quests because I thought it was a very interesting lore piece imo and want to see more on how they attach to their victims, because let's face it, Possession, was a rather dark side quests and is still one of my favorites! what's yours?

[@jaehaeryss9651]

discovered this channel in 2024, loving it :)

[@Meddixi]

Story took me about 50h - twice as long as it did to get a platinum on spider-man. But... I've never felt any drag or grind. While progressing through story and doing some sidequests i've got enough of xp and drachmae just to push forward.

[@ricardosuarez5399]

LiveToLearn, I guess is the way you play the game. Some people just want to rush everything and find the game grindy, others who like to explore and do everything in a balance way do not have this problem.

[@distortedsoul27]

In the end to do everything it took me 120 hours. If I wanted to just do some mapping, I did mapping; if I wanted to do some side quests, I did side quests. I thoroughly enjoyed the game, so much so that I prefer it over RDR2; so much that I've stopped playing RDR2.

[@twistwist777]

It takes like 100+ hours to do everything, not bad imo!

[@Kanelgifflen]

Same.. I dont get the "grind" thing at all.. I played the game, I explored locations, only did mainstory and gold-sidequests, and didnt spend a minute grinding and ended up at lvl 50 with 40hours played.. not sure what everyone is doing..

[@UnitedMA2489]

I know you say you hated Origins and enjoyed Odyssey, but my god, almost everything I've seen of Odyssey looks exactly the same as Origins. Even the very few differences you mention don't seem like they would have anywhere near that much of a bearing on hating one and liking the next. I finished pretty much everything in Origins and loved it, but there's no way I'm putting another 50 hours minimum into a Greek re-skin with dialogue options. Just the fact that they were released within a year of each other (being the size that they are) has to mean they are basically identical. Surely. Enjoyed the review!

[@jaggy-snake]

Odyssey feels and plays totally different from Origins.

[@shishaceo5204]

Literally the only thing in Odyssey that reminds me of Origins is the parkour and horse animations and if that bothers you, you're a knobhead.

[@sslim29205]

Origins has way more brown people.

[@zadusto6515]

It's a shame you feel that way because Odyssey is ten times the game Origins was. Better characters, better story, better combat, better visuals, better music, far more variety in gameplay.

[@Xerazal]

@@zadusto6515 odyssey is definitely more refined, but thats all it is. a more refined origins. Literally everything, rpg and combat wise, in odyssey is in origins, its just less refined. Its why I'm not understanding the reviewer's views here, because he complained about origins combat system, then went on to praise odyssey's combat system which plays almost exactly the same, just tighter and more refined. Like he praised the whole assassination damage thing,but origins did the same exact thing. It just didn't have abilities that were tied to assassination damage, thus being less refined than odyssey. Honestly it made me feel like this guy didn't play origins, or didn't really complete the game himself but rather watched someone else play it.

[@adsensedd]

I didn't find this game too grindy, I enjoyed the journey and if anything, I was levelling too fast. But the video does raise very good points for future games.

[@MrSuperman957]

Same, I reached level 50 when my main quest level requirement was 27 or something. I had to use heavy scaling as it became too easy

[@dswin6306]

Learned of you from the FF7R review and i have to say I'm really impressed with how much depth you go into in your analysis of core concepts in gaming. You have a point to say and you successfully deliver it. As for AC:Odyssey, you have to think that initially, when the developers at Ubisoft started creating Assassins Creed games, that their first speeches and talks were about not making the game bland - having unique settings with unique places that looked ... unique. Same with the game design, climbing rooftops by specifically holding onto ledges: giving each building a distinct climbing point and a path to remember. I believe it's that architecture that creates fun games. Looking at the AC: Odyssey as a whole, I believe that their are core parts of the games that the developers have loved to create; Kephalonia, the new gameplay mechanics, the Ancient bosses. But the game is damaged by the main drive of the game, Greed. Instead of making a hugely unique and re-playable world like RDR2 or The Witcher 3, or giving off that huge sense of awe at the re-creation of great buildings, they've delved into the business side of things, not realizing the wants or desires of the people that put them in the job in the first place - us, the consumer, the player. They've forgotten most of what made AC unique, and will quickly start losing their fan base if they don't change.

[@zackstatham6721]

Honestly the best game reviewer to date. Your constant devotion towards gaming and producing the best quality content absolutely stuns me. Truely spoken by someone who cares about gaming rather than the classic 3 minute reviewers who publish instantly to just gain revenue. Keep up the amazing work.

[@JordanMarsden]

One of the best Assassin's Creed: Odyssey reviews I've seen. Keep up the incredible work, man.

[@Roald80irs]

I agree!

[@adamkondracki3201]

Thanx I will :)

[@DanTE_1203]

I appreciate that Yakuza is getting a mention. I really do hope you cover it one of these days. It's really good

[@abraxis59]

Yes its 4 years later I got to see this. Brilliant review! I LOVE this game, so it hurt a bit to hear you say some of the things you did, but I must admit I think you are right. As for the microtransactions, I fall in neither camp. I do not defend them and I do not condemn them. I like the side quests (I think more more like 20% were memorable but I can't argue that is still too low) so I did not hate the grind as much as you did, but I cannot argue there WAS a grind. The other question you raised was what part did microtransactions play in the design of the game. I think the answer to this is the microtransactions definitely DID influence the game design as much as I would like to say it didn't. However, I think the game designers/developers tried to mitigate this somewhat. When the game first came out, the material costs for upgrading your gear was utterly outrageous. And lo... the shop had a way to buy materials. Unsurprisingly, the fans started to get very vocal about what they considered and obvious cash grab. The devs then turned around and claimed it was actually a mistake and immediately drastically reduced those requirements and claimed that the resource bundle was just there for people who hated hunting that stuff at all. Do I believe them? I am not sure. Regardless, it demonstrated the fine line they are walking either way. It's always going to be a challenge to push things just far enough to make more money and not too far to destroy the game and franchise. In the end, the money people are a double edged sword for us gamers. On the one hand, they will try to bleed us dry because that is their function. On the other hand, it is because of the real money potential in games now that we are seeing a magnificent renaissance of game investment and development. I for one am willing to "pay the price" so to speak as long as that price is literally not too high. Thanks again for such a balanced review delivered with respect and care.

[@snyders21]

I had made level 50 in 60 hours of game, and i am playing on exploration mode, and i love every inch of the game and map.

[@johnsmithson4479]

As someone who has completed literally every single objective in the game, down to the tiniest bandit camp, I would definitely recommend.

[@rcyoung86]

I haven't played an AC game since Syndicate. I'm a huge fan of 300, Spartans and the whole Greek Mythology. With that being said, I haven't been too big into AC for awhile, but this is one game I've always wanted to play. The Gold Edition is currently on sale right now for $25 and I'm thinking about picking it up. It comes with all expansions and AC3 & Liberation Remastered. Great review, I respect your opinions, but for me, I like large games, I hate spending money on a game that I'll beat in 15-20 hours that'll probably never play again after that.

[@happyaxident]

I continue to be stunned by the quality of your work. Extremely enjoyable to listen to. Thank you for your passion.