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: 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: 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.