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Among all the gorgeous visuals, dramatic music and frantic action featured in the promotional material of 'Assassin's Creed Odyssey' There is one theme that is always strongly emphasized: the emphasis on choice as the central mechanism of the game. This is somewhat unusual given that the previous games in the series have always insisted that the stories we have seen happening in Animus (a cutting-edge technology that would allow an individual to virtually inhabit a simulation of the memories encoded in the DNA of their ancestors) were: engraved in the marble, the past has unfolded as it did and there was no way to change it in the simulation. In the previous game, a new model of Animus was developed to allow anyone to access the memories of another person, regardless of his lineage, provided he has a sample of his DNA. And in "Odyssey", the developers announced that the old readers of the Greek DNA were "old and imprecise"Which means that the Animus simulation is sometimes not sure how to proceed with the small details. The implication is that Layla, the pilot of the Animus, and therefore the player, should invite the machine in those moments, thus bridging the small gaps in the simulation within the limits imposed by the. historical.
Of course, the most obvious choice (and most touted during the game's marketing campaign) comes at the beginning of the game: will you play the role of the male or female version of the mercenary hero? A short time later, you are asked to make another important decision about how you will interact with the Animus simulation. Are you going to choose the more traditional guided mode, in which the Animus provides you with a view of Zeus on your current goal via markers telling you exactly where you need to go? Or will you try to immerse yourself in the history of the Mercenary in Exploration mode, collecting clues of other characters to guide your journey along the world map of impressive size?
Once the simulation begins in earnest, the number of choices to be made increases exponentially. When it comes to fighting, "Odyssey" resumes where "Origins" left, giving players a branched skill tree that will allow them to stitch together stealth style "Assassin's Creed-" classic with archers and blade work. Players must also choose their equipment from a very large number of options, customizing and enhancing their favorite pieces throughout their course to maximize combat effectiveness, although this freedom may seem more of a burden to some players. . Then come the vertiginous panoply of side quests and optional stories that you can choose to make or not according to your moods; In addition to experiencing the main storyline of your mercenary, you may also decide to lend your spear to the Spartans or Athenians during the Peloponnesian War, sneaking behind enemy lines to destroy supplies, damaging morale. targeting key civic leaders and engaging in chaotic activities. Melés on the battlefield that give the impression of having been removed from "300". You can also choose to become a detective and search for members of the Cult of Kosmos, a secret order that manipulates both sides of the aforementioned conflict. You can even, for the first time in the series, choose to engage in a small extra-curricular area between missions if you are interested in this area.
And yet, all of these choices introduce a fundamental question about how the game will ultimately fit into the rest of the series. "Odyssey's" Animus could have the extra computing power to fill in unknown historical fragments, but the larger forces that surrounded the mercenary protagonist in the past and continue to direct the fate of the world into the present franchise history remain in place regardless of whether you are fighting on behalf of Sparta or Athens, no matter who you choose to love, and no matter how many followers of the plot that you kill. If so, are the choices offered by the game really important? Or is it simply a showcase offering an illusion of control to the player as he advances in a scripted story unfolding in a deterministic universe?
Ultimate developer Ubisoft offers players of "Assasss's Creed Odyssey:" the opportunity to purchase inflated weapons, experience upgrades and in-game maps revealing the location of valuable treasures in their online store. The representatives of Ubisoft have denied having manipulated the difficulty curve of the game. direct the actors towards the realization of these additional expenses, calling them "100% optional for players who wish to boost their progress "and stating that they" were not taken into account in the economy or the difficulty of balancing the game. "However, it There are times when it feels like the player is stuck in one area and forced to finish repetitive side quests to move up to the next level, so the ability to shorten those periods of time forced is extremely tempting, although it is a little thin.
Perhaps the decision to participate in these microtransactions is in itself a brilliant meta-narrative on the part of Ubisoft. After all, the moral dilemma they raise reflects in some way the ideological cleavage that separates the two great city-states from ancient Greece; Like the Spartans, players can decide to engage in a masochistic and conscientious approach towards a perfect mechanical execution. Or, like the Athenians, they can reject hierarchical regulation in favor of greater freedom, provided they do not pay more for the privilege. Or perhaps all these additional monetization systems represent Ubisoft's attempt to play the role of their own series, the Abstergo Corporation, which has recently started playing in the production of video games in its previous titles. Whatever the case may be, it must be said that the purchase of the experience booster makes the game more fluid. That players are willing to bear the assassination of their wallet, however, is in itself a matter of choice.
Megan Condis is an Assistant Professor of Game Studies at Texas Tech University. His book, "Masculinity in the game: trolls, fake geeks and the sexual battle of online culture " was published in 2018 by University of Iowa Press. She blogs on https://megancondis.wordpress.com/ and you can find her on Twitter @MeganCondis.
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