Introduction
After countless times of repeating something mindlessly, sometimes it's best to return to your roots. Assassin's Creed Origins takes this thinking to heart and steps into the open world of ancient Egypt with a soft reboot to the franchise- a much needed reboot if I might add. This move in particular shows a brighter future for the series with the necessary improvement as it also provides a huge dynamic change of the core gameplay of the once going-stale series.
Blending the lines between a prequel and a sequel, Assassin’s Creed Origins takes us back to literally the origin story of the creed, of how it was born, while also rebooting the present day story with a new storyline and a new protagonist. The path is set in Ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period (48 BC) using Bayek, a medjay on the path of revenge following the death of his son by the Order of the Ancients.
Combat
The combat in this game took a huge turn from what we know compared to the earlier games of the series. It was inspired by one of the best RPG games - The Witcher 3 - and another series called Horizon Zero Dawn.
We got introduced to a more hit-box system rather than an animation one; and I have to say I really enjoyed this new system as it’s much more intuitive and brings a bigger dynamic factor into the gameplay.
Now, allow me to explain how it works: for example, pressing R2 allows the player to swing his weapon in a heavy attack, holding the R2 button brings the player to a huge heavy attack, sometimes allowing to have some free swings at an enemy that either staggers from the huge attack or drops on the ground from the attack. On the flipside, it takes a while for the attack to charge, making sure that Bayek will have to dodge the enemy’s upcoming attack otherwise you will have to charge the attack once again, losing health in the process. Coupling that with a light swing attack and the dodge mechanic, you will have to think fast and swing fast which is just so much fun compared to the old animation system of the old days.
The Worldbuilding
While the main story is delightfully mystical and breathtaking on its own, Origins also has some of the strongest mission stories and environment designs I’ve encountered in the entire series. From collecting clues in order to solve mysteries, to chariot racing and gladiatorial arena fighting, to chasing down leads and assassinating high-level enemies hidden beneath the fortress, to naval combat by the sea, I was definitely surprised by how much I enjoyed each and every one of these since I usually despise side quests that don’t enhance the story or don’t add anything of value to the characters of the world.
I spent a good over 30 hours on the main campaign as it took me to various places within Ancient Egypt. From Siwa, to the deserts, to a city like Alexandria - and all of these places look lively with their unique architecture as the series takes Bayek on the journey to find the killer of his lost love. As Bayek, who is simultaneously compassionate, bold, and driven by revenge, you go through a twisted story of pharaohs and corrupt leaders, of love both gained and lost, and the plights of the lower class in a time when they were routinely worked to death and nobody batted an eye.
There is also a side quest that further develops the personalities of other characters of the world, giving them more depth. It provides some of the more interesting characters with much more believable motives compared to the ones from the earlier games of the franchise. I will always remember a particular mission about the little girl selling fake Siwan items for her mother which further underlines that all of the characters have their own lives and journeys that they follow.
Gameplay
Of course, since this is an Assassin’s Creed game, there is a lot of parkour. In this game, the parkour felt the most refined among all the other ones from this series. Things that can be climbed are blended more organically into buildings and the act of climbing feels clean and almost as easy as running. Though true, some of the old kinks still exist- for example, sometimes you want to climb a building but in the end only manage to scale up without grabbing the ledge.
There is also a new XP-based RPG progression that is introduced in the series which is what makes the game a whole lot better. It allows us to customize Bayek in a play style that is suitable to us as a player and this allows for a lot of replayability in that regard.
For example, if you want to approach missions stealthily, there are abilities that give you bonuses for stealth kills, ones that let you shoot arrows in the air in a matrix-like slow-down fashion and even one that lets you visually predict the path an enemy will walk on.
If, even, you want to build Bayek into a more loud-blazing kind of a play style character (which I did) then you are free to do so! There is an ability to have more XP after killing the opponent with a very gruesome finishing move, which is my favourite, or even to have a damage increase via fire. Additionally, there is also an option in making you a virtual beast in melee combat. In the earlier stages there are some more obvious picks, but I think most people will end up with very different sets of abilities by the end of the game which I feel is for the better as each and every one of us has a distinct playstyle.
Conclusion
In the end Assassin’s Creed Origins is a deep game with a truly stunning realization of ancient Egypt with its rich culture, genuine and real characters, and a much bigger mission variety than any other game in the series has provided thus far. The combat is challenging and thoughtful, and with the introduction of the loot system, enough different weapon types and enemy varieties to keep you swapping between weapons, the game catered to every situation and I enjoyed that immensely. The RPG elements encourage challenges of their own and that makes this game a very positive addition to the series.
