Assassin's Creed Odyssey is an action role-playing video game played from a third-person perspective. At the beginning of the game, the player can select to play as either Alexios or Kassandra,[1] Greek mercenaries and descendants of the Spartan king Leonidas I. In addition to completing the story campaign, players can freely explore a large open world set in Greece on foot or on horseback.[2] As the player explores the world, they will encounter various non-playable characters (NPCs) who give players side missions to complete.[3] They also discover locations of interests, clear out fortresses and camps, explore tombs and shipwrecks, and collect hidden treasures.[4][5] Synchronization points in various landmarks in Greece, which serve as fast travel points, can also be unlocked.[6] Players can also collect various crafting resources, such as iron ore, wood, leather, metal, and precious gems, through exploration and hunting wildlife.[7] Other side activities players can undertake include competing in a gladiatorial arena and completing time-limited bounties and contracts.[8][9] Unlike the previous games in the series, Odyssey offers two modes of gameplay: Guided mode shows the player the locations of their objects immediately using waypoints, while Exploration mode tasks players to find out the locations themselves after being given brief clues from other NPCs.[10][11]
While the main campaign missions follow the mercenary as they reunite their family and stop the Cult of Kosmos, additional questlines task the players to defeat mystical creatures from Atlantis and take down cultists.[12][13] As the game is set during the Peloponnesian War, Athens and Sparta control various parts of Greece. An area can be weakened if the player assassinates the nation leader, defeats members of their army, burns down war supplies, or pillages their nation chests.[14] When a region is weakened, players can join a conquest battle to aid either the attacking or the defending side. Winning a battle will earn the player valuable loots and gears.[15] Joining the attacking team is a more challenging experience but it will offer more gameplay benefits.[16] A bounty is placed on the player character if they commit a crime such as stealing or hurting an innocent bystander in public. NPCs called Mercenaries will then arrive to hunt the player character, who can either kill the mercenary, pay the bounty, or assassinate the character who place the bounty on them.[17] Each area has a recommended level. The player may be easily overpowered if they venture into an area too early. However, the game's difficulty is scaled in accordance to the player's level.[18][19] When interacting with other NPCs, players can select various dialogue options, including the option to develop a romantic relationship with some of them.[20] At key moments of the game's campaign, players make crucial decisions which can affect the course of the story and lead to several different endings.[21]