Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is a divisive game. In 2018, when it first launched, it felt like a loud declaration of where Ubisoft intended to take the franchise – in the direction of open-world RPGs like The Witcher 3, and to a lesser extent, looter games like Destiny, Borderlands and Diablo. Some fans welcomed this new direction, while others shunned it. Given that financially, this new batch of Assassin’s Creed’s has performed better than any of the preceding titles, it’s safe to say that the detractors are in the minority.

Still, the game is divisive. For me, it’s divisive in the literal sense – as in, I love about 50% of it and abhor the rest.

Assassin’s Creed, as a franchise has had its ups and downs, to be sure. Arguably, in terms of quality, Assassin’s Creed Unity – released in 2014 – is the lowest point for the series. While I personally have a soft spot for the game, there is no denying that it was rushed to meet an end-of-year release window. Despite sporting some impressive visuals for the time, Unity’s story seemed disjointed, its stealth sections were barely functional (enemies could detect you through walls, for instance), the parkour was needlessly sticky, and at launch, the game was a buggy mess. The bugs have been fixed for the most part, but stealth, story and parkour remain largely broken.

The infamous “no face” bug from Assassin’s Creed Unity.

But we’re not here to talk about Unity. No, it’s Odyssey – released after Unity’s two follow-ups, Syndicate and Origins – that has me vexed. Unlike Unity, Odyssey largely works as intended. Its story makes sense from start to finish, its stealth sections and combat system are more than competent, its parkour, while simplified, works great, and the game had no notable bugs at launch.

What’s more is that the game also has RPG elements, such as dialogue options and the ability to make crucial story decisions (just like in Mass Effect!). Odyssey’s recreation of Ancient Greece is stellar, and so is the soundtrack, which complements the visuals perfectly. Furthermore, the female variant of the protagonist, Kassandra, (you get to pick your character this time around!), is one of the most charming and engaging Assassin’s Creed protagonists in a long while.

So, what’s not to love, you might wonder?

This has been discussed endlessly, but the biggest problem with the game is its aggressive level gating. Basically, each quest has a recommended level that your character must be – like in many modern RPGs – meaning that you have to do side content to level up. The Witcher 3 is the open-world RPG that inspired Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, alongside its predecessor, Origins, and successor, Valhalla. Where Odyssey differs from The Witcher 3 is in the amount of side quests you’re required to complete to reach the recommended level needed to pursue the main narrative.

The pace in Odyssey basically amounts to this – do a main quest, then do at least five side quests to level up. Then do another main quest. Then do five more side quests to level up. Rinse and repeat. For about 60 hours. To achieve the recommended level, you’re essentially forced to open up your map and start hunting for those side quests and keep completing them until the recommended level is reached. In The Witcher 3, side-quest requirements are far less steep.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s spreadsheet-like quest log.

Another way in which The Witcher 3 differs from this is by having many side quests branch out from the main narrative. Think of the infamous Red Baron questline. You meet the character as part of the main story, but the rest of the character’s quests are optional. The game lures you into completing them with its storytelling. With the character himself. It makes you want to see his story through to the end. And there are many more questlines like this. Your motivation (and reward) for completing them is experiencing more of the story, not leveling up (even though you will level up as a result). This is true of many other story-driven RPGs, including Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and even the much-maligned (in some circles) Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

In Odyssey, the main motivation for completing side quests is leveling up. You’re not lured into them by the narrative. You’re lured into them by the need to get to the narrative. And while it’s true that some side quests in Odyssey tie into or branch out of the main narrative, similarly to The Witcher 3, most don’t. And given that you need to complete about five side quests for every main quest, that’s a problem. A problem not helped by the fact that most quests (main quests included) basically involve sneaking into a military base (or camp) to either fetch an item or free someone from imprisonment. It gets very repetitive.

It all just starts to blur together.

You end up with a sense that Ubisoft had some kind of quota to meet – whether it’s to include a certain amount of quests or to achieve specific playtime length.

Because of this, while the main narrative makes sense from start to finish (unlike Unity’s, for instance), it feels disjointed, as it’s being constantly broken up by the need to do side quests. This is a problem that’s also present in Origins, mind you, and in Valhalla – though in that game, you don’t have to level up. Instead, the game forces you to do all of its quests as part of its “main story” (even though most quests barely relate to the main narrative).

Point is, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is just too long for what it has to offer. I think leveling should’ve been made faster or level requirements should’ve been lower. Some of the less interesting side quests (ones that have little to nothing do with the main narrative) should’ve either been cut or made less visible (on the map) than some of the more interesting ones.

The Cult of Kosmos segment – which involves hunting down Ancient Greek Templars (who are not really Templars) – should’ve been reduced in scope. While I loved investigating, discovering, and subsequently, assassinating the cultists, I wish there weren’t so darn many of them. The payoff at the end is just not worth the effort or the amount of time it takes to get there. The mercenary system should’ve been gutted altogether – or made more relevant to the narrative, like the nemesis system in Shadow of Mordor.

The Cult of Kosmos.

A smaller map would’ve also been an improvement. But even with just the reduced amount of required side quests, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey could’ve been a far better game. In fact, it could’ve been one of the best open-world games of the last 10 years. Instead, it’s an overly long and repetitive slog akin to Mass Effect Andromeda (minus the bugs). A serviceable 7-out-of-10 game. It’s fine – until it isn’t.

On paper, Odyssey is better than all of its predecessors, including Unity. Its stealth works. There are no annoying insta-fail tailing or stealth missions. You get to make meaningful choices. The combat is an improvement. I can go on.

In practice, however, because of its exhausting pacing, it’s a much lesser experience than any of the preceding Assassin’s Creed games. The same applies to Origins and Valhalla. All three games are just too big and repetitive to be enjoyable. They are bigger than Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, bigger than Ghost of Tsushima and bigger even than Guerrilla’s Horizon games. But bigger isn’t always better, and Odyssey is probably one of the best examples of how size can ruin an otherwise great game.

The reason I’m singling out Odyssey is that I do think it’s a cut above Origins and Valhalla, which is why its bloated nature hurts all the more. I’m still secretly hoping for a patch that would make leveling faster, but that’s unlikely to happen, given that Ubisoft has moved on to other projects.

I hope the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows can deliver a much more robust and focused experience by taking lessons from similar games, including Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring and even Cyberpunk 2077 (or heck, The Witcher 3 – just the right kind of lessons, damn it!). Star Wars Outlaws felt like a step in the right direction, given how much shorter and more focused it was, but it too was held back by a fragmented narrative.

Even so, I still hope Ubisoft has cooked up something awesome for us in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.