Assassins Creed Odyssey

Ok new question. I am at the part now where I should go to Athens, but I am exploring around and taking my time. How many locations does the main quest take you too in total? I mean there are so many Islands. Can I just go to whichever level appropriate one and explore?

Also thank you for the snake warning, hate the pesky suckers. You've played Origins right? Probably gonna ask you about them Cobras later.

dazk , the Epic gear being the best was a conscious design choice. The legendary stuff is supposed to be just that: legendary gear from myths and heroes of old. It’s really good, but not necessarily better than the best of the present. You can take the best features of the old, the engravings, and incorporate it into the new. The randomness of Epic stats keeps it fresh. There’s always a chance, even after hundreds of hours, that you’ll find a piece better than what you currently have. I like that about it. I’m not a big fan of inventories and rotating gear, but this at least adds meaning and some fun to it. It also means you don’t get stuck in one set after acquiring “the best”. Of course, the upcoming visual customization feature will help with that, too. (Legendary weapons often are the very best you’ll get. While you do get really good epic weapons at 50, they’re rarely better than a comparable legendary in your inventory. It’s cool to have options, though.)

I haven’t touched the game for a couple of days, now. I’m not tired of it, yet, even after 290 hours. There’s nothing new to do, though, for now. We’ll get Steropes on Tuesday, and he’ll be fun to fight once on each save. I’ll check out the new bow and see if it competes with the Bow of Eros, Fanged Bow and Hades’ Bow. Then? There will be nothing to do. I’m holding off on any new PT until the new level cap is added. The cosmetic feature will be great, but is based upon your inventory. This means it will be at its best in an established PT in which you’ve built an expansive inventory of items. This game really needs NG+.

Speaking of the cosmetic feature upcoming, I’d love it if it worked with weapons. The best weapon designs are the quasi-realistic basic stuff that gets immediately deconstructed or discarded. I’d love to have the perks of the Atlantean Blade or Bow of Hades without the ridiculous visual designs. The currently existing, non-functional cosmetic menu does open for weapons, but I’m not assuming it will apply in its final form. I hope it does, but I’m assuming it won’t. I’d love to run around in simple iron armor with weapons that don’t look like they came from a cartoon.

I finished the game. Liked it a lot how choices, specially on the main quests, affected the outcome of other quests much time later but still think Origins has a better story. Instead of a prequel Odyssey feels more like a spinoff of Assassin's Creed. That is not to say the main quest (and a few of the bigger side quests) were bad, on the contrary.

Also because of the size of the map sometimes it was tiring to follow some interrogation signs on the map just to do the same thing over and over again: steal random gear, kill some captain, release prisioner.

I think the size of the game actually detracts from the game itself by reducing the story component to such a small piece, something I thought TW3 suffered from as well. I am beginning to miss the smaller more linear games that kept you on story and interested with their tighter narrative focus.

Yeah the feathers etc were a bit of a pain but I actually didn't mind the climbing challenges they often presented. I am not sure I agree re Origins but that may have been more because my approach (the same as in Odyssey) was the wrong strategy. I like to clear areas and work my way through the levels in order and that led to a lot of grinding, repetition. When I play Odyssey again I am going to focus more on the story at the beginning and treat the side quests as something to focus on more at the end of the game which is more like what I did with Skyrim. My strategy is usually to try and Level Up as fast as possible but I am not sure that is the right approach in Odyssey. 

OK so the bounty thing definitely has an issue, I got a bounty on me for simply doing a cut scene with Perikles!!!!!!!!

It's one of the reasons why I enjoy DA2 and ME2 to this day. Well, ME2 is not a small game with all DLCs, but it is still tight. The last game I played that was all narrative and small map was Vampyr. I am replaying it right now and enjoying the different feel. Though I still get pissed off when I lose a clue on a NPC.

You’re sure it wasn’t linked to a story element or actions earlier in the game? I’ve never once had any issue with bounties. I’ve somehow earned every single one.

I just remembered something I didn't mention. You can shoot the sharks with your bow if they're not too deep in the water.

One example; the entrance to Swordfish's hideout is patrolled by three sharks swimming a metre or so in the water, easy pickings.