Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
1. Exploration Mode
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey allows you to play the game like you’ve been able to in past iterations. When you pick up a quest, a waypoint will be placed on your map telling you exactly where to go. New to the series, though, is Exploration mode.
In Exploration mode, instead of receiving waypoints that tell you where to go in your quest line, you’ll simply receive clues.
Whereas the standard mode will tell you to go “here” or “there” (and mark it on your map for you), Exploration mode will tell you some landmarks nearby, what direction on a compass it’s in and maybe a few other key details.
You won’t always get waypoints, though.
This mode really allows the game to breathe as an RPG and will serve those who want the utmost immersion. It’s something you should at least give a try.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
2. Stand on Your Horse Like the Spartan You Are
There’s nothing more lame than rushing into a fight on your horse, only to have to hold a button to get off your horse.
On top of that, that button usually tells the character to simply get off the horse, without all the bravado an encroaching fight calls for.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is here to remedy that and it does so in the most badass way.
When riding on your horse, press L1 (or its equivalent) and you’ll see Alexios or Kassandra prop themselves up on their horse.
When it’s time, jump off the horse and with a perfectly-timed attack, you’ll look like the Spartan (or Athenian — the choice is yours) warrior you were destined to be.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
3. Swim With Whales
Yep. That’s right. You can swim with whales.
In Assassin’s Creed Origins, you could swim with hippos, sharks and alligators (although they’d try to kill you), but Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has upped the ante.
Hippos, sharks and alligators are child’s play. Now, you can swim with a full-size whale.
Enough said.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
4. Riddles
Every so often in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, you’ll come across a small tablet. These tablets can be found in key locations. Once you find one, you’ll see a short riddle appear on the right side of your screen.
These riddles are usually quick and simple and lead you to a place with a small reward at the end.
This isn’t a game changer by any means, but it’s yet another carrot on the end of a stick to keep you exploring the massive Ancient Greece Ubisoft has built in this iteration.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
5. Make Choices That Affect The Game in Massive Ways
When Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was said to have dialogue choices, nobody was quite sure what that meant. After some time with the game, though, like us, you’ll learn that these choices matter in a very big way.
There are hundreds of choices to make in the game. Some of them matter very little and some matter very much.
One single choice our Kassandra made saw an entire town die at the hands of a plague that Kassandra could have stopped.
For the rest of the game, that town is a barren and desolate wasteland, with no signs of life. You’ll make choices like this throughout your Odyssey too — hopefully, they don’t turn out as deadly as ours.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
6. Pet Animals
Assassin’s Creed Origins allowed players to pet cats. Now, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is taking that a step further and allowing players to pet dogs.
Superior to cats in almost every way, dogs are the ultimate source of happiness in any mercenary’s life (duh), so it’s no wonder Ubisoft lets Kassandra and Alexios pet these beloved animals.
Simply crouch down to their level, approach them and pet them for as long as your heart pleases.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
7. Fight Mercenaries
With Assassin’s Creed Odyssey comes the addition of a bounty system, similar to the likes of Grand Theft Auto. Like in Grand Theft Auto, the more criminal things you do, the higher your bounty rises.
As your bounty rises in Odyssey, more and more mercenaries will be after your head. With clear inspiration from Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, these mercenaries will be constant in your journey and each of them comes with a distinct personality.
Furthermore, like the orcs in Shadow of Mordor, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses you need to take into account when fighting them.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
8. Spartan Kick People Off of Cliffs
When the world learned that the nation of Sparta played a major role in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, everyone’s mind went right to the legendary and iconic Spartan Kick.
Fortunately, Ubisoft knew what we wanted because one of the first special abilities you unlock in the game is the Spartan Kick.
Even better, the AI is programmed in such a way that virtually all enemies will follow you wherever you go, including the side of a cliff. Line up your enemy and Spartan Kick them off the cliff like the 300-wannabe you are.
It never gets old.
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
9. Tame Animals
In Assassin’s Creed Origins, Bayek was able to tame a number of animals, but naturally, only animals native to Egypt since that’s where the game took place.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place in a completely different area of the world which means there’s an entirely-new host of animals to tame.
So far, the highlights of tamable animals are wolves and goats.
To tame these animals, you must first unlock the ability that allows you to do so. From there, tame whatever you can as each animal provides a different benefit to you in combat (usually along the lines of helping you kill whatever it is you’re trying to kill).
Cool Things to Do in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
10. Fight Mythological Creatures
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey takes place in Ancient Greece. It’s safe to assume that once everyone learned of that, the next question on their mind was, “can we fight mythological creatures?”
The short answer is yes. What capacity we’re able to do so in though is still unknown. In Origins, we fought giant serpents and more, but they were symptoms of a poisoned or cursed Bayek and not actually real.
Will Odyssey go this same route or in this world, are the mythological creatures we all read about in high school actually living and breathing in Ancient Greece?
Only time will tell. We know Medusa is in there, but she’s more woman than mythological creature. Here’s to hoping we get to fight the Hydra while sailing the high Mediterranean seas.
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