Historians REACT to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | Experts React

We know you could only imagine that in school you could learn history from video games. Well, today it is possible. Please welcome back our favorite Historians and Mythology Experts Kyle Smith-Laird and Brad Holmes with another episode of Experts React specifically for our viewers. Today they will explore mysterious ancient Greece, will meet the Oracle and the well-known Spartan king Leonidas and even face legendary mythical creatures in one of your most loved games - Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
This part of the Assassin’s Creed franchise is considered to be one of the best due to its enormous open-world gameplay with dynamic weather, ground or ship battles, a numerous number of armor and weapon combinations, and of course a lot of historical personalities and legendary creatures which you studied on your history lessons
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#AssassinsCreedOdyssey #Historian #ExpertsReact

[@wesleymiles8756]

My favorite thing about Greek mythology is that like 70% of stories start with Zeus being too horny for his own good

[@firewarrior5828]

For real lol

[@scifinut6155]

Dammit Zeus, keep it in your tunic!

[@livingcheese2910]

Zeus sees literally any living creature walking around, minding its own business Zeus: *"THERE ARE NO WORDS ON GODS GREEN EARTH THAT CAN DESCRIBE HOW SPECTACULAR ERECT I AM!"*

[@aceshotz5051]

It’s true anything with a hole Zeus with smash

[@mewo4614]

then there is his jealous wife smh

[@lilsirix3990]

I wish gamology would explain to the people reacting what the game is about. I wanna see their reaction to Adam and Eve being the first Humans and how the Mythologies are the "ones that came before"

[@kabukiuchiha6020]

Same, but it's also cool seeing them figure it out for themselves and piecing it together

[@shaufandavis]

Yeah it would be nice if they got like a quick debrief of what they are about to see. I’ve noticed it with other videos where alot of experts react go in blind and dont really understand what a game is about and misinterpreted some aspects.

[@notthatsrssrsly]

Fortunately the historian on the right said he's played the game so he has that insight

[@icefire1316]

Exactly

[@thefisherman0074]

In gamology’s defense it wouldn’t be a genuine reaction if they did tell them stuff. Yea it would clear things up but their reaction wouldn’t be 100% so it’s give and take.

[@cloclob1124]

I wish they show them more of the real thing like, Alkibiates, Brasidas,sokrates and other acurate character than the mythologic creatures

[@joelmiller6698]

Truee

[@ryankirkpatrick3771]

Not exciting enough for a clickbait video, also guy on the left refused to listen to the context from the one on the right

[@spartan8561]

@@ryankirkpatrick3771 perhaps because the one on the right is influenced by its excited identity and does not take into account the ancient culture or the laws that were in force at that time, against such a free identity, if they had had to talk about ``some of quest`` the two would have quarreled

[@dozer11]

Loved this video. I just wish they showed the “fake Minotaur” of Leiandros to contrast with the one shown in this video. Would have been fun to see their reaction.

[@tomassoejakto1833]

And the "Grand Mino-tour" too!

[@jdenton1337]

Fake? You're mistaken, that was 100% definitely a mighty Minotaur!

[@honquewastaken2298]

@@jdenton1337 cate for some minotaur hoof juice? Only 200 drachmae!

[@manoeleduardoaraujofilho782]

Fun fact: The mythological creatures from AC Odyssey are in fact, abominations created by Project Olympus, an attempt from the Isu ( aka Those Who Came Before ) to harness and control the evolutive properties of the Apples of Eden.

[@MARYWTHER]

Yes, they're basically here to create game hype, more than historical accuracy at anything. It would have been more interesting to have them react to the settings, the places, the political/historical figures etc. Everyone knows that the boss fights, weapons and armors in AC games are not accurate, they've never been and the devs never pretended they were.

[@domiiinik4320]

About Pythia - yeah, in this game she is basically cultists' puppet, so she is telling everyone what they want her too tell

[@shaufandavis]

Gamology, you know this means we want them to basically react to every assassins creed game if possible lol. Its nice to see historians react and give there opinion on one of the best history games franchise there is

[@TheTheMyth]

Maybe a little bit downhill after the ezio saga, or the one who simulate him in animus (i can't remember his name, it's been so long after my last gameplay)

[@MikasaAckermann831]

@@TheTheMyth Desmonds arc

[@PsychoKinezis913]

It would be nice to make them react to Unity’s French Revolution or Syndicate’s Victorian Era.

[@joecrazy9896]

Maybe different historians, don't know if their expertise is strictly ancient Greek or if it's more than just that.

[@fauxvier8519]

No thats a waste of time

[@aisadal2521]

It's awesome to finally see historians reacting to Assassin's Creed 😄✌

[@joshfournier9390]

@@will360yt i think he was making a jab at them

[@katerinaneoralova8403]

As a semi historian myself I can only agree 😀 All I need now is historians and more sword fight masters reacting to Kingdome Come Deliverance 😀

[@glennhkboy]

There are other historians reacted to other Assassin's Creed before. You should check those as well.

[@BrightHero_Ultimato]

That's not assassin's creed

[@theguy3129]

@@BrightHero_Ultimato kinda is, kinda isn't lmao.

[@hyperious3454]

I wish they showed more of the historical figures like Herodotus

[@theportugueselegend]

Being an avid fan of Classic Civilizations, I absolutely LOVED this react. Both of them have a really great chemistry and understand the mythology aspect and the fact that it's just a game. From the little details to the full on historical details and myths, it was amazing! If any of them know about Egyptian Mythology and Ancient Egypt a reaction to AC Origins would be neat!

[@ermishatziantoniou5113]

Main Errors : The Λ was not adopted and standartised to every spartan shield till the Peloponnesean war . The spartans didnt call their city Lakedaimonia but the whole region of Sparta from the area of Lakonia , the city was called Sparta by them and the rest of the world . Thermopylae is located near the North Evoian Bay (and at that time compared to now it was even nearer which is why the path was narrow and used by the Spartans in the first place , so what you see is a sea where the Persians land their ships , not a river/lake . The army of Xerxes in Thermopylae was not 1 million(thats an exaggerated myth) but 180000-300000 . Ephialtes was not deformed nor a spartan but from the land of Malis , a region in the borders of Thessaly at the time . Also not a single comment was made for the vambraces that everyone seems to wear in the game . Are we sure that these guys are historians and didnt just saw 300 and said yes now I am qualified to spread my knowledge to the world??

[@alekoschill9486]

well spoke brother .also they didnt comment about how Leonidas throw his shield on the the battle of Thermopolis intro and how important is the shield on the the greek warfare. no Greek threw his shield unless he dies they also critisized very like mocking Herodotus writing. The father of history... Maybe i didnt understand correctly what he said about him amazons werent greek women were scythians originaly tribes that contact with hellenic world and some of them hellenized and had greek names by settle on greek populated areas like Anatolia, Pontus , Thrace , Lesbos island the guy that said he played the game said that the first civilazation artifacts are form the early bronze age people... yeah sure historian...

[@ermishatziantoniou5113]

@@alekoschill9486 😎

[@glacialisaurus8188]

Probably a little late, but they also talked about the incorrect version of Medusa’s story. In the correct story, Medusa was always a gorgon, and was eventually killed by Perseus. The version where Athena turned Medusa into a gorgon is a version written by (I forgot his name) to spite Greece because he was kicked out, so he wrote stories insulting the Greek Gods

[@therainbowkilla]

They bounce off each other so well Love to see these guys in more videos!

[@Ingel_Riday6690]

I expected a Skallagrim-level meltdown at the lack of phalanxes and Leonidas literally throwing his shield away, breaking formation, and performing wu-shu spear dancing against his foes. These two clearly had other concerns. :-P

[@altechelghanforever9906]

I think they held that because at the end of the day it is a video game and would be unorthodox to do in an Assassin's creed game no less.

[@danielmurillo5915]

I'm glad that these guys are back to react to Ancient Greek history and Mythology. I hope they do a part two.

[@ModernDayGeeks]

I remember getting most of my history lessons from playing the old Assassin's Creed games. It's great to see that historians are finally doing their reactions about it 😂

[@timconner7693]

If I'm remembering correctly, I'm pretty sure when Leonidas went to the Oracle he was actually told something along the lines that in order for Greece to be free (or to achieve victory) a King had to die or something similar along those lines.

[@A-G-A-G]

According to Herodotus yes, Because I’m the Spartan oligarchy there were two kings, one as head of government while the other could act as general in war, meaning if one was lucky enough to have a warriors death then the political vaccum they left wouldn’t be so dire

[@timconner7693]

@@A-G-A-G Ooohhh, for some reason I thought there were three kings. Not sure where I picked up that notion but I appreciate the history tidbit.

[@solidpat221]

This is actually pretty awesome seeing historians looking into these historical games. I’d love to see more of this!

[@MathewPrajes]

12:55 if only they showed them the historical figures/places. That would've been more entertaining to see their reaction.

[@AlexZenigata]

I love these two historians. Bring 'em back for more!

[@carolinapaixao7894]

Love these react videos, just wish they showed more of the actual history and characters involved in the peloponnesian war to see the experts reactions (for example King Archidamus, Brasidas, Alkibiades, Perikles, etc). But it's still a pretty great video! ;)

[@JackHarlowComboMeal]

Appreciate this new perspective with historians and mythology experts! They seem really dark on the actual details/context of the scenes they watch, but still, lots of cool insight! Also as a request, PLEASE bring back some martial artists to take a look at Sifu! The game drops on February 8th. We don't get many games primarily focused on martial arts, and I'd love to see Gemma, Noah, or RJ check it out!

[@kabukiuchiha6020]

Love seeing these two talk about everything, the history, scenery and accuracy of some things in Assassin's Creed, would love to see that with the other games Edit: wish they had shown the Steropes boss fight right after would've been funny

[@larniieplayz6285]

Yeah

[@superhetoric]

two super cool high school teachers lol

[@JustinTotino]

These two were fantastic! Hope to see them do other Assassin's Creed games too!

[@uscmantis323]

Love these guys! Hope there are more coming!

[@spymaster3366]

greek here actually we greeks have a lot of similarities in the looks and traditions from the middle east because we lived there for almost 2000 years we are more similar to them than the europeans

[@manuelalfaceribeiro7875]

Keep doing these one's guys, great job 👌🔥

[@JonasB7]

that was super cool! maybe also reactions on the DLC content for this or other AC games with historians, i would love it all!

[@Nomad416]

The Spartans didn't have Lambdas on their shields in 480 BC. This practice originated with the Perioikoi in the 420s BC and was subsequently copied by the Homoioi. Ephialtes being a deformed Spartan exile is purely a creation of the graphic novel and film 300.

[@altechelghanforever9906]

What did they have on their shields instead at the time?

[@Nomad416]

@@altechelghanforever9906 Individual family crests, mythological monsters, etc, same any other polis' hoplites.

[@altechelghanforever9906]

@@Nomad416 True

[@WeedCop]

I like how they dont endlessly explain to the camera, they just talk to eachother like its a regular conversation, honestly its easier to understand and much better to follow

[@CrazyGamer480]

Those guys look like they would be great to have around. If I ever got someone like them, they would be in my top 10 friends list from day 1.

[@jonklier1512]

"Was there a river in Thermopylae?" The battle took place on a narrow coastal path in Thermopylae called "The Hot Gates", so no, there wasn't a river, it was the Mediterranean sea. Something you would expect a historian reviewing a game that takes place in ancient Greece to know.

[@B-A-L]

I think you'll find that sea is the Aegean Sea actually.

[@CheeseMcRatson]

Confidently incorrect

[@twotoned219]

For being historians these guys can actually piece together the mythological stuff from the ac games really good! Especially that one guy assuming the pieces of Eden came from an earlier civilization! Great vid 👏

[@twotoned219]

Just realized that guy played the game too 😂😅 still, great job explaining things to the other guy who wasn’t as informed, especially the cultists and stuff

[@kyler124]

Majority of locations in this game did exist in real life. There's a history mode that lets you explore everywhere in greece and learn about it.

[@NashaWriter85]

I stumbled upon this video because I looked at the preview and wondered aloud, "what the hell is Jay from Red Letter Media doing on this vid talking about history and video games" lol. BUT...luckily, this video ended up super interesting and now I have subbed! :D

[@xRaoriex]

The way these 2 play off each other is gold. Sign me up for a semester

[@nozuchan]

Wow these extra details about the spartan war blows me away These experts are cool

[@assassinscreedislife7636]

This game is absolutely fantastic! Amazing story and characters and I love how they weave the Isu stuff into Alexios’ story during the Peloponesian war. Having some parts with Leonidas was super cool too!

[@ravenmadd3895]

Man, that was so much fun seeing two Greek mythology/history nerds just chillin' and chattin' about stuff that largely went over our heads.

[@jackkennedy3661]

One thing I would like to point out in the cinematic for the battle of Thermopylae, during the part when Leonidas gets overwhelmed by the Persians, the arrows would not penetrate his chest armor so cleanly, it would take a lot more than that

[@TheQuestionmarkstudi]

Okay, though fictional, I want to explain something about the First Civilization, which in some other games is known as the Precursor Civilizations. They were a race of god-like beings that were on this planet before any of us, and was the most advanced civilization of all time, including even inventing laser shields. Unfortunately, the fall came when the sun screwed up their inventions basically, and a lot of the cryptic warnings was about a similar event happening again. Adam and Eve, if you go by what was said in the Assassin's Creed 2, were slaves essentially to this civilization..something like that, may have to look that one up again. But yeah..wish they'd do a game specifically on them, but the games just get so vague about them, and that's all we have..

[@I.YanaCeee]

This has to be a series of them reacting to every AC, please!

[@Argacyan]

There is a river at Thermopylae, but what irks me as a geologist & geographer is the entire scene is fantastical. The landscape is a lot less rough and you actually have a stretch of farmland decently wide sandwiched between marshy coast and smooth hills.

[@Crpmart1]

Great reaction I loved this! A great idea would be historians react to Hades, absolutely love everything about Hades. Although it might be kinda difficult on what to show the historians exactly.

[@SSJ3CyLink]

yeah they mentioned the furies, would be fun - not sure what to show either

[@Galvakev]

The info on the alternate channels reminded me of an SNL skit. It was awesome. 😂

[@gdc4736]

These guys are great! So many games they can react.

[@thothtahuti5509]

Isn't the quote from the cave "and the cyclops dashed the men's skulls against the rock like puppies..."? I remember being a child and thinking, dam, that's cool ;)

[@headphones2333]

Some points for anyone wandering: Thermopylae was actually at the coast of the Greek world so the "river" was actually the gulf of Malis. The Greco-Persian wars didn't entirly set up for the peloponessian wars. A common mistake is the misunderstanding between the first and second Peloponnesian wars whcih sandwiched the Greco-Persian wars. There was actually a peace treaty that was signed between the Peloponnesian states and the attik area within at the beginning of the Greco-Persian wars. Ephialtes wasn't kicked out of Sparta. This is another misconception that stems from the movie 300. He was a local man from trachis (where the persians set up camp). Everything else from the mythology parts seemed right but these are just things i randomly picked up

[@vocondus9585]

There’s so much historical elements missing from this video. There’s literally famous figures like Socrates they could’ve reacted to.

[@davidparkes7741]

Mythical stuff aside I love these games for how historically accurate they try to be. Emphasis on the word try.

[@triton5336]

Facts

[@ibrahimbinimran4320]

Yes a mercenary would never use a shield.

[@Monarch_Pilot]

@@ibrahimbinimran4320 why

[@Hoplite2258]

@@ibrahimbinimran4320mercs literally use anything they can buy.

[@Elephantsaresupreme]

@@Hoplite2258 I thought it was obvious I was being sarcastic(this is my alt BTW cause I forgot the other accounts login)

[@thetruebatman4632]

Dude, i’m new to the channel but damn I love these vids. Thanks to all the experts. If you ever want any of the Batman Arkham games done, and you need a meat headed, 90’s child dork i’m your guy.

[@CoCoLightning]

Im liking these new guys a lot

[@poopsqwigle]

I thought the Pythia was saying cryptically, Xerxes invasion will set the events in motion that will lead to uniting Ancient Greece. The threat of being conquered will bring the region together and lead to eventually conquering Persia of course.

[@jackv8195]

My cousin got to do the principal photography for the project when he worked at Ubisoft. Pretty much predicted this would come out

[@Model_Jb300]

perfect timing. i just have over 109 hours playing this game. i still haven't completed the game yet.

[@stevemac6707]

Good luck, I had 250 hours and didn't even do the Atlantis dlc, I couldn't take any more and quit without starting it. True story.

[@tomassoejakto1833]

I'm at around 230 hours, spent around 180 on my first playthrough getting the good ending, and now on my second trying to be as much of an a**hole as I can so I can get the worst ending. Been wanting to chill in the Discovery Tour and learn all about ancient Greece, but always got distracted by the game itself.

[@rowltyde]

This game has several different stories to follow. There is one with the war. There's one where you meet Xerxes brother (DLC). There's the mythical aspect to it. There's the family part of it. In the political part of it, Alkibiades , Aristophanes, Brasidas, even Herodotos and Sokrates (and so many more)... I wish you guys had concentrated on that storyline with it LOL. There's A LOT going on.

[@itsme-mj9ic]

I love odyssey because it full of history but not limited to reality. Greek mythology is so interesting and odyssey sparked that interest in me.

[@GameplayRunner]

These guys are awesome !!! Maybe ORIGINS or the older assassins creeds.

[@davidkolman]

they should show them the representation of the city of Athenas, it's the most magnificent city i've ever seen in a game.

[@winklenator]

Cool video. I wish they would’ve showed them Herodotus around where they were showing the combat. I would love to see this on all of the games. I think Unity did the best job

[@thestilwaterronin189]

I’d love to see an ex prisoner react to prisons/prison scenes in video games

[@sebastianperalta5139]

I would have liked if they had showed the different scenography (markets, sculptures, ports, palaces)

[@jdugans77]

Kyle’s rolling eyes in the thumbnail is hilarious

[@senittoaoflightning4404]

Pretty sure the entire Athena (or Minerva as Ovid wrote) punishing Medusa with her being turned into a monster is written down by Ovid and thus more part of Roman mythology than Greek.

[@seanarnett7468]

I'd love to see these guys react to anything Total War related (the historical ones, obviously).

[@sottyify]

2:25 About Masks in Sparta; Masks hung in temples, like the temple of Artemis Orthia were there to remind young Spartans of the ugliness of failure and was a life-long duty to avoid. These Cultist masks remind me of that.

[@arguekayes]

Hearing them geek out about history is so fucking relatable honestly

[@derekbenson81]

I never actually the knew the Cyclops in the game were actual cyclops in mythology, so when he listed off Argos and Steropes after Brontes was surprising

[@Sepherroth]

Play it with all dlc, especially the Atlantis part and you will understand how those mythological monsters fit In with games storyline.

[@meredithgamblin7958]

Amazing react video

[@nickz4444]

2:33 yes there was a river near Thermopylae called sperxeios

[@keiztrat]

There are soooo many stuff they could've seen! Including the DLC stuff! I hope they make it back again!

[@sjtv3185]

I like that they said "is there going to be steropes and argos" there are actually those two cyclops in the game

[@meredithgamblin7958]

Assassins creed is my favorite game thx for making this video😀👍

[@crlpxz]

I'm a historian so I'm forever critical with everything (life in general) but I've been a gamer longer sooo! Lol i appreciate the AC series (AC1 - Revelations, Odyssey and Origins)

[@toddlacroix8992]

Idk why but Medusa was always such an interesting greek mythology character to me her lore was interesting

[@422katieleigh]

Lolol I can NOT believe you guys put them through doing that ad read in the beginning 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Floth.]

This guys amazing pls bring them back.

[@awalk00]

“Do we get arges and steropes as well” they actually did add them later lol

[@tnt8522]

Hyped to watch this

[@BabuMosahi]

Never attended the history yet always has been top of my class in history, because of this game.

[@spartan8561]

I'm sorry for you but this game tells so many historical falsehoods, in Greece you would be the last of the class

[@Enzo-gw7zf]

Literally waited years for you guys to do this 1. Plz do AC origins

[@Sepherroth]

The first civilization were called "The Isu", they had advanced tech also they had a sense of time a bit like Casandra from Greek mythology where she had the ability to predict the future. However, while having advanced physiology, they lacked empathy and prone to making evil decisions. There were some who were good and corrupted. I will not go into detail so as yo not spoil it for anyone.

[@jonalaurenson7242]

We need a part 2 of Odyssey

[@patrioticjustice9040]

History and mythology are two of the reasons why I love the Assassins Creed series.

[@nicholasnguyen5181]

This is amazing… . Good video! Edit: I love assassins creed! That’s all

[@dominictorretto4089]

They Forget The "SPHINX" Sphinx Is My Favourite Mythic Creauture I'd Like To See They're Talk About Sphinx But Great Video Anyway Thanks Gamelogy

[@Shawn4815162342]

Being that Kassandra is the cannon protagonist of the game, i wonder what they think of the story arc where she competes in the Olympics....

[@spartan8561]

exactly but if they talk about her, they will have to explain 90% of the bullshit told in the game and their propaganda agenda does not allow it

[@squange]

Some inside baseball: Ubisoft not only took pains to bring a bunch of the history to this game, but they also hired many Greek v/o and PCAP performers to do the voices and performances of the characters. They continue this trend in Valhalla by hiring Scandanavian actors. Good eggs over there at Ubisoft.

[@jonathanbrooks9768]

Im a big fan if norse mythology and northern European history and Valhalla and how they treat the era and the people theyre portraying, its obvious that countless hours went into research and it was forced into the game everywhere it could be. ive been researching this stuff for almost 20 years on my own just enjoying learning about it and I'm learning new things from this game lol

[@angelserrano6525]

You should definitely have historians react to the Uncharted Series. I'd love to hear what they have to say

[@Daniel__Nobre]

“They got the shields right”… yeah, and it’s so painful that you can’t use them 😆😆

[@iainkilcar7463]

There is a lot of the war in the game you just chose the four mythological beasts you fight to react to. Also the reason he's taking parts of the beasts is because the mythological beasts are explained as being precursor/isu constructs designed to protect artifacts with great power (it's all part of the assassin's creed lore as the the isu are an ancient race with advanced technology that went extinct but were viewed as gods to early humans)

[@jaywilliams4750]

Would be cool to see historians react to the AC games that actually cared about historical accuracy

[@LordHoth_09]

Yes, accuracy in a video game about two secret orders fighting down through the ages for the fate of the world using ancient, highly advanced technology from a lost civilization… there’s good accuracy and there’s pointless accuracy, which do you think this series applies too?

[@Hoplite2258]

Soooo... only assassin's creed 1.

[@spartan8561]

yes especially from the cultural point of view of the time, but I bet they don't, otherwise ubisoft will have to throw the game in the trash

[@SmashingSnow]

i'd love to see them do more assassin creed games and some movies.

[@brettsymons604]

I was hoping you'd show them the actually historically accurate stuff. I don't need experts to go "yup the Minotaur was a myth and not real." Let them discuss the day to day life of the background of the game.

[@spartan8561]

arguing about real life would nullify the whole game

[@iceYoni]

5:27 I'm sure there was a fight over Leonidas' dead body during battle. Historians never mentioned that

[@Simon-ff1kp]

my dudes are wrong. the oracle of Delphi DID side with the persians before the invasion

[@justXsmokeXtrees]

Respect to the historian that played this game

[@thevaultdwellergaming]

Them reading the lines is stressing 😂

[@gourav_ontherun]

Next one: Kim Jong Un reacts to Fallout