AC Odyssey: Darius

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

Darius wasn't sure how the Persians had found him, or how they now had Spartan allies, but he wasn't going to let them take him alive. Leaping from his perch he smashed his hidden punch-dagger down on the unsuspecting Greek warrior that had followed the trail of bodies he had left behind. Unlike the others this one could parry the surprise attack and subsequently go toe to toe with the old assassin.

Moves pretty well for an old man...

"Father! Stop!" cried Neema, his daughter who arrived only minutes into the fight. "This is the Eagle Bearer, the one sinking those Persian ships!" The two men stared off and lowered their arms.

"You can call me Alexios," said the Eagle Bearer, his golden Minotaur axe still firmly grasped in his hand. "Now can someone tell me why the Persians are so interested in invading Greece?"

"They simply want to expand their empire," replied Darius, not wanting to admit his murdering of their previous ruler, King Xerxes, had led them to these shores. "But if we work together, we can stop that from happening."

Alexios readily agreed.

Insight: The Legacy of the First blade adds a new cult to hunt down and fight against - the Order of the Ancients, with new members arriving in each chapter.

AC Odyssey: Cheated at the End

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

The Ghost of Kosmos, leader of the now nearly memberless cult, watched the battle from a safe distance. Like many battles before it, the blue armored Athenians clashed against the red themed Spartans but this time the cult's top enforcer, Deimos, had taken the field. On the opposing side was Alexios the Eagle Bearer, now renowned for all his previous adventures across most of the Greek world.

It was a sight to behold the two of them locked in mortal combat. Even some of the other soldiers on the field stopped fighting to watch as explosive heavenly light erupted from the ground while each champion took turns doing even more and more amazing feats of agility and strength... It was as if two demigods were fighting in their midst. Neither had the upper hand.

And then, the unthinkable happened. Two large flaming trees fell right on top of them, abruptly ending the fight in the most comical way possible. This result stunned everyone in silence with each army losing an appetite to continue the battle that day. Only the Ghost could think of something to say.

"Malaka!"

Second flaming tree incoming... in three... two...

Insight: While I'm ending this story here for now, the game certainly has more quest plots going on (and a much better ending) - most of which I avoided writing about! Speaking of Stories though, there is a capability to for players to generate their own quests for everyone to play. As expected, there are numerous XP farms (just keep replaying them without leaving the mission) if the level grind is too much for you. And yes, that totally counts as cheating!

AC Odyssey: Over Achiever

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

The list of accolades for the Eagle Bearer was long. A veteran of many battles and wars both on land and sea, verified leader of the usually female only Daughters of Artemis, and even an Olympic Champion for Sparta. None of those mattered to Keneon the Plains Walker who was now in Sparta city, along with numerous other mercenaries to protect the Spartan King that exiled the Eagle Bearer from those lands.

The Olympic quest line has some funny dialog options.

Besides the influx of mercenaries, the King was prudent enough to put all the soldiers in town on high alert too - knowing his life was in danger due to this decree and he was right. Keneon's keen eyes spotted the corpse of a soldier hidden in a nearby shrub, easily missed by someone less than rank Secret 4. The Eagle Bearer was close. Too close... right behind him!?

Though the backstab didn't do much damage, it did disarm Keneon's shield leaving him with just a sword. The Eagle Bearer then engaged him in a lengthy duel right in the street. Unfortunately for Keneon, his opponent was just too experienced now and could read all his moves flawlessly. And so, the Plains Walker died on that street. While he bled out, his last thoughts were of how he couldn't even land a single strike. The Spartan King would follow him to Hades shortly after.

Insight: Once you reach level 50 you unlock Mastery Levels which might seem more boring than the usual skills (they are just maths) but are far more useful. Only put 12/20 points in each one you want though as after that the gains are too small to be worthwhile. Whatever you choose, make sure to engrave your gear with synergistic components. For example, I focused on criticals: higher chance, higher damage. I was eventually one shotting any Secret rank 3 and below merc because the odds of me landing an insanely powered crit was so high.

AC Odyssey: Most Wanted

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

From atop his horse Exekias could see a ragged group of workers frantically set about repairing the Adrestia, beached upon a hidden cove. Despite the improvements that had been made on the ship, the Athenian Navy, bolstered by mercenary vessels, triumphed against it and the invading Spartans. Judging from the damage, the Adrestia barely escaped.

Dual simultaneous boarding is the best type of boarding!

A loud horn and a pillar of smoke over the hill caught the rider's attention as he kicked his horse into a trot. It was a signal flare of the nearby fort and most likely caused by the Eagle Bearer having been detected there. Sure enough, soldiers and mercs were scurrying up onto the battlements when Exekias arrived. Most just ended up falling back down as corpses. The warrior was happy enough to wait below.

When it finally stopped raining bodies, the Eagle Bearer leaped down and suddenly noticed the helmed rider quietly watching him.  While numerous mercenaries occupied the lower tiers, only one person was classified as tier 1 - Exekias the Legend, the most renowned warrior in all the land.

"Malaka," swore Alexios under his breath.

Insight: It pays to upgrade your boat, and a good way to get resources is to buy them from each blacksmith you encounter. They are available at the end of the "to buy" list.

AC Odyssey: Ambush at Kos

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

Lavrentios watched from a rooftop as Alexios made his way to the beach side square of Kos. He had spent some time and a good amount of drachmae organizing the welcome party for his "friend". A friend whose death would see him earn a king's bounty from the Cult of Kosmos. Apparently, Alexios has been busy hunting down and executing their members all across Greece.

Right on schedule, the three other mercenaries he hired moved out of their hiding spots. These were tier 4 warriors, and would be unlike any other Alexios had previously encountered. At the same time, marching feet signaled the arrival of the Spartan leader of Kos and all of his elite bodyguards, to seal the deal as it were.

Confident that his prey was now surrounded and doomed, Lavrentios appeared from the balcony - his long hair swaying in the sea breeze. "Sorry Alexios!" he yelled down with a shrug. "It's time to die!"

All the warriors attacked in unison: spears, maces, swords, and arrows targeting one man. Most missed or were parried but those that hit certainly knocked the wind out of the Eagle Bearer. With a burst of speed, Alexios suddenly cut through the Spartan line and ran into the narrow streets of the village.

So many mercs!

"After him!" cried Lavrentios, not realizing he was funneling the Spartans to their doom. A narrow alley negated their superior numbers and when the heavily armored mercenaries got there, all they found were corpses, including that of the leader of Kos.

Lavrentios then made his second mistake. He and the mercenaries split up to look for their prey. Using hit and run tactics, Alexios wore them all down, killing them until only Lavrentios was left.

Knees trembling and urine staining his tunic, Lavrentios didn't notice that Alexios was on the balcony above him. Without any ceremony, the Eagle bearer leaped down onto him and shoved his spear through Lavrentios' face.

Insight: Evasion is easy especially in places with lots of cover. While its best to be crouched hiding in a bush, remember that they also block line of sight, provided you are crouched behind them - even if you aren't in them yet.

AC Odyssey: Conquest

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

Blood, sweat, screams and death raging all around. That's what it felt to be in right in the middle of a battle field of clashing Spartans and Athenians. Darting through them all was Aphaia, her dual poisoned blades cutting through any hapless Athenian she could come across.

Battles between Sparta and Athens is common.

Nearby she saw her ally Lukos throwing small bombs like a mad man before suddenly being decapitated by a large axe, wielded by the Eagle Bearer. No big loss, no one liked Lukos anyway. With a sly grin she pulled out her bow and started firing poisoned tip arrows at her foe, but none found their mark as he dodge rolled closer to her. Just as she wanted.

With blinding speed she dropped her bow and drew her swords again, easily parrying the slow axe he was wielding and inflicting little cuts time and again. Weakened, the Eagle Bearer dropped the axe and switched to knives instead. He was defending better with these lighter blades but still couldn't land a hit in. Aphaia had this in the bag.

With a surge of energy the Eagle Bearer suddenly became a blur, moving so fast that even Aphaia couldn't keep up - suddenly finding herself with cuts she hadn't had before! Dazed and confused, she watched as the Eagle Bearer came into view again, casually picking up his great axe from the battlefield once more.

And then to her horror, he blurred out in a sprint heading directly towards her. Her arms were dismembered as she attempted to parry, and found the axe blade carving up between her legs in the very next second.

Insight: Slow Time is a very useful skill, especially against non-humanoids!

AC Odyssey: Adrestia

[Part of the AC Odyssey journal]

"Row faster you malakas!" yelled Theokleia from the prow of her ship as she watched the small Athenian blockade fleet get demolished by the Adrestia, a non-descript pirate vessel they had been sent to intercept due to the chaos it was causing with the merchant vessels in the waters around Kephallonia.

Timing to brace for impact is important!

As planned, they had chased it into the waiting Athenian ships near Megaris but those were now capsizing from the encounter. Theokleia knew that the previous owner of the vessel, a low level thug known as the Cyclops, would never have been able to pull off such a feat.

"What is he doing?" asked Beewolf, her bewildered first mate. "He's turning towards the Spartan beach head!" Theokleia grit her teeth in frustration, knowing they wouldn't be able to safely pursue as they were flying the Athenian blue.

"Let them go and retrieve any survivors in the water," ordered Theokleia after a brief pause. The Adrestia might have escaped for now, but she always got her mark.

Insight: Ramming is super effective, especially if you hit your target dead center.

300 / 300: Rise of an Empire

This is SPARTA!

"300" follows the story of King Leonidas, from his childhood when he is brain washed and trained like the rest of his male kin to become fearless warriors and focuses more upon his command of three hundred Spartans defending a narrow pass against the uncountable armies of Xerxes, the incredibly tall and gifted with a poor sense of fashion. The plot has a narrator which is forgivable for me in how it is used here, and it also calls for a lot of violence, decapitation, awesome FX and combat routines and a tiny bit of sex.

They probably deserved some Maccers after training to look like that!

But what it has the most is: slow motion capture. Yep. That dude getting hit by a spear? Slow mo! This guy getting hacked to pieces? Slow mo. Sex Scene? Slow mo. Guys walking / traveling from point A to B: Slow mo. That last one irritated me a little as it's basically just filler. Also filler is the majority of Lena Headey's role here. She and the council bit could have been entirely cut or at least been tied in better to the one eyed guy who basically is the one who gets shit done in the end.

Also, while the fighting scenes really take more than a few liberties in that the Spartans hold a phalanx for... oh around 60 seconds in the entirety of the film and spend most of the battle out in glorious solo combat like Highland berserkers, Leonidas' decision to "not use" the hunchback doesn't make sense. Yes, he's no good in a phalanx but that's not exactly what you guys were doing anyway! Still I give this violent and bloody film three and a half swords out of five, and wouldn't mind watching it again.

~-~

The sequel "Rise of the Empire" again makes use of a narrator, not so well this time, and follows the Athenian champion Themistocles (who ironically doesn't have the charisma of Leonidas acting wise). It also acts as an origin story about the war and Xerxes himself, how he was a normal dude before jumping into a magical pool of godliness. Erm? Also, the "bad guys" look less hideous this time around, while the "good guys" are less buff (makes sense since they aren't Spartans) - which also smells a bit like saving some cash for the props and training department.

While most of the combat here focuses on ship to ship combat it is still a brutal and bloody affair. There's also less slow mo which is better for me as you can appreciate the fight choreography more. Alas some of that goes out the window with the feats of jumping, throwing, and magical sniper-archery involved but perhaps the worst plot part is the "we need to put a sex scene in". The scene itself is nice (hello Eva Green!) but just ... story wise, you'll see what I mean. Anywho, I give it two and a half out of five heat-seeking arrows and also wouldn't mind watching it again (though the first one would be preferred).

F*** you, physics.