Assassin's Creed Origins reshaped how we think about the franchise. Specifically, it introduced much more nuanced RPG mechanics, which are set to heavily return in its successor. There were many prominent traits that are accustomed to an RPG: Exploration, Progression (a multi-faceted term that stems into story, character, stats, skill, and much more), Branching quests, and Choice. All these elements seem fine and dandy but are things that could make or break a game.

Does Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have what it takes to stand alongside other fully-fleshed out RPGs like Skyrim, or The Witcher 3? Continue reading to find out!

Of course, we have a lot of questions about Ubisoft's franchise because its carrot-on-stick mechanics. The franchise has evolved a lot over time, and knowing that they'll be skipping next year's game, a lot is riding on Odyssey to be something that fans of the series can savor for a long time. We have no doubt the latest Assassin's Creed will be huge, but will its world be dense enough to engage gamers for two full calendar years? That's another question entirely.  With all that said, it's time to dive into all the things we already know about the franchise, and some things we wish they would fix entirely.

19 Wish Wasn't True: Yes, They're Doing Another Season Pass (Sigh)

This has been a common issue with AAA Franchises like Assassin’s Creed for a while now. Sadly, we're in an era of video games where the base game will always feel incomplete.

Odyssey is implementing a season pass that will release playable content every few months. While it remains to be seen how much this will impact the game itself, it's still disheartening to know that in order to have the full experience, gamers will have to shell out extra.

18 Confirmed: The Ending Will Change Depending On Your Choices

In Odyssey, people will have the ability to progress through the game via their own choices within a dramatic narrative. There will even be different endings for the game, which was a hefty promise for developers, and hopefully a successful one. Choice is one of the most important things for a game to be considered in modern single-player games. If you can’t choose your actions for your character, then how are you playing the role? Odyssey has given us the gift of a dramatic, linear narrative while still allowing players to choose different paths within that said narrative.

17 Wish Wasn't True: The Hidden Blade Is Gone?

The other guy has one, so why can’t I?

Ubisoft, you have taken away the most iconic weapons in the whole franchise and replaced it with a spear.

Assassins across time have gone so far as to sacrifice their fourth finger for a hidden blade, but now it’s our time for us players to make the sacrifice. I understand that there is logic behind the loss of the hidden blade, and that Leonidas’ spear is a piece of Eden, but if you can change history to the point of adding mythical creatures, you can give us the option to wield the hidden blade.

16 Confirmed: Characters Have Dialogue Options

I personally can’t wait for this. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has given players the ability to not only choose their character’s responses in conversation but build relationships as well.

You can have a romantic interest (of either gender), which hopefully means you can create enemies as well.

This has a lot of potential that I genuinely hope affects the game in a satisfying enough way to warrant it being there. If our dialogue choices don’t affect anything, then I don’t see the point. That said, it is the right step in the RPG direction, to which players are grateful.

15 Wish Wasn't True: The Gold Edition Comes With Assassin's Creed 3 For Some Reason...

Ubisoft Quebec is trying to make this Gold edition worth our hard-earned money by giving us “for free” an HD remastered version of Assassin’s Creed III. But, why? That was probably the least successful of the AC games, next to Unity.

I would have much rather be given a remastered version of AC II, Brotherhood, or even Revelations. I would honestly pay money for that.

I don’t plan on wasting time replaying AC III just because it “looks nicer.”

14 Confirmed: The Map Is Absurdly Huge

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has the biggest map to date out of all the AC games. While I am nervous about loading screen wait times, I am also excited to see how sublime this will look once it's in our hands. While a large map can be overwhelming at first, it is necessary in a role-playing game for the player to feel the freedom of such a world.

The first person to get 100% map completion deserves a cookie and a pat on the back.

Without the iconic map synchronizations required to reveal pieces of the map, this will open so much opportunity and potential for exploration and an open world aesthetic.

13 Wish Wasn't True: Where Are The Templars?

This is another iconic AC franchise ideology. Feel free to prove me wrong, but in my research, I found zero evidence of the game containing templars.

Haven’t Assassins and Templars been in conflict since the dawn of time?

What about essential AC lore? Templars give the player an immediate antagonist and allow for a deeper conflict that goes beyond the realm of the single time frame itself. It gives us, as Fans and Followers of the Creed, something to move on from one game to another. It ties everything back into modern time, even to us as players.

12 Confirmed: RPG Stat Mechanics Are Back In A Big Way

There is something enticing about a deeply customizable skill tree. It allows players to really get into their own preferences and their avatar’s character. It allows room for imagination as well as unique experiences due to each person’s personal play-style. I have spent far too much time reading and mapping out my desired skills in past games, so if this is supposed to be even better than I can’t wait. It adds to the progression overall of your character, and how you coincidentally view how they act. Are they stealthy, or do they prefer a full-frontal approach, etc.

11 Wish Wasn't True: Choosing Your Character Doesn’t Affect Anything

I struggle to understand why they decided to make this the case.

It takes away from the RPG aspects of the game, where the player’s choice directly affects the state of the game.

If we choose Kassandra over Alexios, shouldn’t there be a difference that reaches deeper than a different avatar look? Would playing a female in Ancient Greece instead of a male not make some differences in their quests and endeavors, and vice versa? Or was that too tall an order, so they made the character differences redundant to the actual game story.

10 Confirmed: It Will Have A New And Improved Wanted System

While an open world is fun and full of potential, the player must always bear in mind that actions have consequences. Odyssey will not have a new and improved wanted system.

No more tearing posters.

This wanted system will make it so that players are no longer capable of running around willy-nilly wreaking havoc, unless they want a bounty on their head. It probably isn’t the worst-case-scenario for an assassin, but it does add a bit more realistic approach to the open world aesthetic. This also goes deeper into things like quests, where you could do one thing that could negatively affect your character with something else. Choose your paths wisely, assassins.

9 Wish Wasn't True: No Multiplayer (Again...)

Any Assassin’s Creed Multiplayer fans out there? The multiplayer from earlier games was something of both frustration and excitement. It enabled players to test their assassin skills in a concentrated mechanic of kill or be killed matches.

You had to hunt your target, blend into crowds (a throwback to social stealth at its peak) and utilize your abilities at just the right times.

There are still people who play the old multiplayer games, but the queue times are longer than all the GTA V loading screens combined. This is something that Ubisoft has wrestled with, and ultimately given up on after the devastation we know to be AC Unity.

8 Confirmed: Side Quests Galore (And A War Between Athens And Sparta)

There’s nothing like the good ol’ volley of side quests to completely set you off the main course of the game for hours on end. Without branching side quests, a lot of the other aspects of the game would also fail to step up to the RPG plate.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey also promises to have an ongoing conflict between rivals Athens and Sparta, which players will be able to impact on the fly — it's a neat addition to game with a lot in it already.

7 Wish Wasn't True: No Social Stealth

No more hiding behind mercenaries, or brawlers. This isn’t new to AC, but it is something that’s now been eliminated completely. It's not as big of a deal as the hidden blade, but it is one of those mechanics from the old games that I feel loss over. I still remember the tutorial for social stealth in Assassin’s Creed II.

For someone who prefers to approach assassination targets stealthily, this is a bit of a game changer.

Players won’t be able to casually hide at a close and convenient distance while sending in their allies to wreak havoc.

6 Confirmed: Exploration Mode Will Be Available At Launch (And Will Show Off The World)

This one is pretty straightforward. An RPG can’t work in a setting that isn’t immersive for the player. Odyssey’s ancient Greece is a beautiful setting for an RPG, from it’s diverse landscapes to its naval potential. It is obvious that a lot of work has gone into making the game look rich in culture and history. It even has a unique vibrance to it.

Players will want to be immersed in the world of Ancient Greece.

The more immersive the setting, the more the player feels like they are actually playing a role that feels real and worthy of their time. If you can exit a game as quickly as you entered it, then something isn’t working.

5 Wish Wasn't True: It's Aggressively Expensive...

On a very related note, the price of the game is quite hefty. In short: Assassin's Creed Odyssey will range from $60 to $150 USD depending on which package you buy.

The average of minimum wages across Canada is $12.10, which means that the game is worth 10 hours and 45 minutes of work.

That is some serious dedication for a game, will it be worth it? I encourage fans from far and wide not to pre-order something that price until reviews are out there — it's just absurd.

4 Confirmed: Magical Realism

Not unlike Assassin's Creed Origins, AC: Odyssey will have fantasy elements woven into its hyper-realistic aesthetic. The game will be tackling Greek Mythology in a way that can be characterized as magical realism.

Creatures like Medusa are going to be real characters than you can fight within the game.

This adds to the layers of role playing, because not only are you able to take on the life of an assassin in ancient Greece, but you can dive into the depths of Greek mythology as well.

3 Wish Wasn't True: It Has Very High PC Requirements

This game is HEAVY. I looked at the minimum requirements and it seems fair, requiring at least 8GB of ram and GTX 660.

Running the game on a PC that meets the minimum requirements is achievable, but also nowhere near an enjoyable experience.

I played Syndicate on my old PC with “minimum requirements” and low settings (so tragically low) … but the game would always drop to around 14-16 fps. With such a large game like Odyssey – and if you want to have a good experience – you need to reach those recommended requirements that call for a GTX 970, or Radeon R9 290X.

2 Confirmed: Customizable Appearance

This isn’t new to Assassin’s Creed, but past renditions in the franchise have not yet hit the nail on the head with it. Hopefully, Odyssey gives players the perfect amount of customizability and variants in loot that affects the way the game is played.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey plans on releasing new items that can be obtained as the game’s life after release progresses.

When players choose what armor or weapons they use, it enriches the game with further role-playing aspects that add to the player’s unique experience and playstyle. This is not only due to the loots’ stats, but their aesthetics as well.

1 Wish Wasn't True: History Versus Role Playing

Assassin’s Creed games are built around history. If the game wants to be a successful RPG, there needs to be a good balance between what is paved in history, and what the player can change. I hope for the sake of the franchise that they kept history in its respectable form (otherwise, the game approaches the very fine line of existing in a world that is no longer ours, and therefore loses most of its reason for existence).

If there are going to be multiple endings, then how different can they really be if the future must remain the same for all? Otherwise, everything we already know will be altered, including the present day of the game.

We came to play AC because it offers us the ability to experience the past, but an RPG style game could break that delicate structure.