Reading Time: 5 minutesI’ve decided to write my thoughts about Assassin’s Creed Odyssey a little differently.  Due to the epic scale of the game, I didn’t want to wait until completing the game before writing my review. Instead, I’m going to keep a sort of diary of my experience of the game, coupled with some photos, screenshots and videos.  I’ll also be using my Ubisoft Club stats.  Read on for part one of my journeys back in time to Ancient Greece. Part 1 I’m just short of 4 hours into my Odyssey journey, and I have literally not even scratched the surface.  This game is huge!  The game opens with a cutscene of the epic battle of Battle of Thermopylae, otherwise known as the battle of 300, between the Spartans and the Persians!  And what a cutscene it is.  You’re thrown into the action quite quickly, as you get to control the Warrior King Leonidas. This introduces you to the games fighting mechanics.  Although it felt quite similar to Origins, there are a few added extras which add to the experience.  For example, you have new powers which can be used with a combination of the LB (melee) and LT (ranged) buttons and the A, B, X and Y buttons. After the battle, you then time travel to the modern day and meet Layla who is this game’s user of the Animus.  In a big shift away from past Assassin’s Creed games, you get to choose your main character.  This is explained in-game by the fact that the DNA is so old, and damaged that there could be two possible matches. I chose Kassandra, purely because it was good to have a choice and you didn’t in Origins.  Next, you choose your difficulty and game type, either Exploration mode, or the classic Guided mode.  Guided mode is the more traditional experience, the game will hold your hand and guide you through.  I went for Exploration mode, which relies upon you to discover targets and quest objectives. So it begins… The game starts with very basic tasks, find your gear, talk to people, explore your surroundings.  This should have taken a very short while but I very quickly got distracted by the beautiful scenery of the game and Photo Mode! Birds of Prey Just as Assassin’s Creed Origins had Senu, Odyssey has Ikaros.  Again, he is equally as adept at finding treasure and secrets and marking enemies.  Locating synchronisation spots will, of course, increase his perception and abilities. No hidden blade Another change to the game is that your hero/heroine doesn’t have a hidden blade.  Instead, your main weapon of choice this time is the legendary Spear of Leonidas. Dialogue Choices A feature that is totally new to Assassin’s Creed games, and takes the series in a new direction, is the ability to choose dialogue options.  This is a refreshing change and how you answer will have an impact right throughout the game. Broadly, there’s a choice to be made between good, bad or neutral.  This changes Assassin’s Creed into an RPG game.  I really enjoyed this new feature and it made me feel more invested in my character. Familiar Features Fans of Assassin’s Creed Origins will be familiar with the games menu where you can find the map, information about quests, weaponry, abilities and mercenaries.  You can still view and compare individual weapons.  A new feature this year is the ability to customise each part of your armour and you’re able to engrave each piece of gear to improve their stats.  A press of the L stick will show your the objectives at each location. I’ve enjoyed the flashback cutscenes in the game so far.  They do an excellent job of filling in some of the back stories. After almost 4 hours, most of which was spent exploring the Island of Kephallonia, I have discovered caves, found loot, killed a mercenary, picked a horse, helped a Priestess, collected wood, swam in the ocean and levelled up my armour and weaponry.  As you can see from my above stats, I’m only 6% into the game, so I have a lot more exploring to do. Smarter enemies The enemies in Odyssey are a little bit more intelligent to me compared to Origins.  In a couple of battles, I was quickly surrounded.  Also, the level of enemies seems to have more of an impact.  Fighting an enemy at a higher level than yourself does seem to be harder than it was in Origins.  This could just be my experience of the game so far though! I loved Assassin’s Creed Origins, and I was worried that Odyssey wouldn’t live up to expectations.  However, I’m glad to report that it takes everything that was good about Origins, and turns it up a notch. Join me next time for part 2, I’m off to Kleptous Bay to defeat a Cyclops.  That’s if I don’t get distracted by the stunning scenery on the way! You can take a look at my Photo Gallery from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at the following link, https://assassinscreed.ubisoft.com/game/en-gb/photo-mode/?sharegallery=true&username=msp.ohara&userid=c2118a74-43e4-4f2d-b7f3-1897cb1a365b&platform=xbl&game=odyssey