The Angel of Darkness is maybe the only notorious game in the otherwise much loved and acclaimed Tomb Raider saga. Released in 2003 following a great hype and even greater promises, it unfortunately featured innumerable flaws alongside its good elements. Core Design, the historical development team that had been responsible for the first five (eight with the gold expansions), now classic, Tomb Raider games, had very intriguing plans for both the game and its possible sequels but sadly all went down the rabbit hole after The Angel of Darkness saw the light and all of us saw how much more work it actually needed before getting a release. Several problems led to this, and since the release date of the game had already been postponed more than once, the sixth Tomb Raider installment eventually had to appear in the market while, in reality, it was still in development.

The story of the game takes place a few years after the events in The Last Revelation. In the fourth game's dramatic finale, Lara got trapped in the depths of the Great Pyramid and, as we can see during most of the fifth game, Tomb Raider Chronicles, was presumed dead for a certain period of time. Her old friend and mentor, however, Werner Von Croy, followed his clues and subsequently located her, while she was still alive and breathing. 

We assume that Lara was then rescued and it is implied at the start of The Angel of Darkness that she was still holding a grudge against Von Croy for supposedly leaving her to die in the pyramid. And this is where the problems of the game actually begin. Because we do know very well from The Last Revelation that Von Croy didn't really abandon her. For starters, he was possessed by the evil god Seth for most of the game's story, during which he acted as an enemy. But at the end, after Lara locked Horus in his temple inside the pyramid, Von Croy was not only set free, but he also desperately tried to help Lara get past the collapsing rocks, something that Lara knew because well, you know, she was there to witness the whole thing.

So the initiation of the scenario in The Angel of Darkness is actually based on a concept that isn't really true, and this is something that both protagonists know, and also something that we know. This somehow sets the pace for the rest of the story, but in fact the story itself is much more interesting, much more intriguing and much more complex. Von Croy asks Lara to find an artifact for him, a certain painting, but while they are in the middle of an awkward argument, something happens, Lara loses her senses and when she comes to, she sees that her hands are full of blood and that her mentor is lying dead in front of her. Doing her mathematics in seconds, she realizes that she will be accused of Von Croy's murder, even though deep down she knows she wasn't the one who killed him. Feeling that the death of Von Croy has a lot to do with the painting he wanted her to find, she begins her quest which leads her first to the criminal underworld of Paris, then to the very Louvre Museum itself and a secret dig site at its basement and eventually in Prague where she finally locates the culprits and puts an end to their evil plans. All this, not before she solves some fascinating, old-school puzzles and not before meeting a mysterious stranger who happens to have a connection to the painting as well and whose own story is also very interesting.

Said mysterious stranger is Kurtis Trent, a new character with whom we have the chance to play two chapters and carry out a nasty boss fight. Core Design had some pretty awesome plans for Kurtis, but with how things turned out, he prematurely became part of the game's past mythology. Kurtis was met with enthusiasm from a decent amount of Tomb Raider players, and it's almost certain that if all had gone smoothly and The Angel of Darkness hadn't been such a hell to play, he could very well still be active in the saga somehow.

But as I just mentioned, The Angel of Darkness is a hell to play. Technically, the game is not much different from the previous ones. The control system is pretty similar, and there are also a few new cool moves, like the commando crawl or the stealth attack. The problem is that the way Lara and Kurtis are programmed, they respond to the commands as if their whole life bores the hell out of them, and their movements are so slow that you so feel the urge to fast-forward everything somehow. For some insane reason, they always - and I mean, ALWAYS - make a few walking steps before they start running. I don't know if this was supposed to be there for realism, or if it was a left-over, or a feature that was going to be present in certain occasions only, but it still is one of the most problematic things that I have seen in gaming. There is a sequence where Lara must go through a hallway trapped with deadly lasers while taking cover in doorways in the way. At the end of the hallway, there is a strong enemy waiting to shoot at her. While Lara is trying to make it from one doorway to another in a zig zag manner, she must also take care to not bump onto the lasers so as to not trip them. In the course of doing that, she'd better not have her weapon out because her scripted combat moves (another hell, to which I will refer later) are the worst thing that could happen to her in such a situation. Because of that, she has to move along as usual, but regardless the enemy will start shooting at her as soon as she steps out of a doorway. The most logical thing at that point would be to run as fast as you can. But NO. Because Lara is scripted to ALWAYS take a few walking steps before running, even in this critical, life-threatening situation she will AGAIN casually walk her few steps before setting off to running. And guess what, she will have already been shot several times, all this while trying to make just a few frigging steps to the next doorway.

And now the combat moves. Oh my, the combat moves. When there is no enemy around, Lara and Kurtis can walk and run (preferably walk because that's how heroes do it obviously) normally. But when an enemy shows up, even if he is behind a barrier, they will start hopping around in circles, resulting in you shooting in panic and losing your orientation in the process. And what to say about the upgrade system. Lara will refuse to push a tiny glass case if she is not "strong enough", but she may very well kick open a heavy door without the slightest shame.

It is such a pity that you can see all the flaws, but at the same time you can also see all the potential. The graphics are fantastic (keep in mind that the game was released almost twenty years ago, so the standards were very different), and there are sections that are unforgettable. You can imagine these in a better setup and see how amazing the game could have been. The whole dig site under the Louvre is one of the best stages in the whole Tomb Raider saga. It is a huge hub consisting of a main area and four puzzle areas that are based on the four elements - a reminiscent of the Lost City of Tinnos from Tomb Raider 3. But my most favorite is definitely the stunning Bio-Research Facility, a vast area made of several rooms that connect with each other via security doors, and said rooms host beautiful but deadly plants and a creepily calm atmosphere.

The facility rooms are in fact greenhouses, but their carnivorous plants and poisonous mushrooms are only a facade for what truly goes on underneath. Evil masterminds, crazy scientists, power-hungry madmen are again present, as is always the case in our beloved Tomb Raider games. By the way, this whole section holds a cunning resemblance to Javier's greenhouse from Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. I guess all villains have some things in common after all.

Puzzles are not very difficult, but they do require some thinking. The aforementioned element areas under the Louvre involve a series of trials that are easy to understand but rather difficult to execute, but definitely one of the most memorable moments of this section and maybe of the whole game is the room at the top of the Hall of Seasons with the one-of-a-kind boss "fight" against the red ghost that guards the painting: it is not a typical fight in that you cannot battle against the boss, but rather you have to carry out a timed process in order to be able to take the painting and leave without the ghost messing with you. This sequence was one of those stages that back then had players, including yours truly, pulling their hair in anger and despair, but somehow now I managed to do it with my second attempt. Draining the water in the Louvre sewers is an ingenious process, as is the whole sequence with distracting the mutant fish in the Aquatic Research Area. Among my favorites is surely the puzzle in Vasiley's library in Prague, set in a lovely environment which makes you wish there was more to explore there.

The lab in the final stage is also a beautifully made setting involving a series of cleverly thought puzzles. It is in fact an Alchemy lab, as the game's backstory has mainly to do with Alchemy, and it is where the plot reaches its climax and you begin to see where all this is going. The arch-villain is a man that does not come from this century, and everything in his lab betrays that. Vintage decoration, old-time equipment, even zombie skeletons, comprise the compelling environment of his secret laboratory. Don't you just love those beautiful vintage items in games? I know I do.

Character-wise, the game is doing pretty well, although there was still room for a lot of improvement and development. Now that I got to play the game again after so many years, I saw that there is a lot more depth in both the characters and the story than I thought back then, as I also noticed details in the dialogues and the notes that I previously missed. There are six villains in the story, although only three of them actually become threatening, and Lara finds out in the end that the real evil mastermind was someone that, up to that point, preferred to move mostly in the shadows.

As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, Kurtis is a very interesting character and he had a lot of potential. Core had plans for him to be the protagonist in a possible spin-off and maybe even become a recurring character in future Tomb Raider games. Kurtis is a demon hunter, coming from a long line of ancestors that shared skills similar to his: he has some sort of telekinesis and can see very far away by using his special power. He has a powerful weapon, a Chirugai, which however he only uses in a cutsene at the end of his boss fight. I want to believe that if the game had been more complete, we could have been able to use it in gameplay as well. Kurtis can control his Chirugai with his mind and the weapon essentially "senses" his presence even if he is hidden somewhere around. Such great elements that would fit so well in the Tomb Raider world. The levels that we get to play with him take place in a sanatorium, also a secret experiment center of the bad guys, which now is a nest of creepy, blood-thirsty mutants. The bonus is a boss fight with one of the mutated evil masterminds, which, like the aforementioned red ghost sequence, used to be a nightmare for us back then. Now, after having played so many difficult games in the meantime, I realized that what truly made those sequences tough in The Angel of Darkness was the broken control system, because otherwise they were very straightforward and easy.

The Angel of Darkness has its peculiar charm and its own cult merit but unfortunately its flawed gameplay system is a curse that it will always carry on its back. Regardless, it's an experience that left and will always leave good memories to Tomb Raider players, at least; if anything, it was the last game made by Core Design and this alone is a reason to consider it historical anyway. The Angel of Darkness stands in the middle of the two eras of  the Tomb Raider saga, after the end of the classics and before its rebirth, first with Legend, Underworld and Anniversary by Crystal Dynamics and then with Reborn, Rise and Shadow by Square Enix. It was an unlucky game because at the time of its production the gaming technology had taken big steps compared to the previous decade, but still it had not reached the impressive heights that became a standard a few years later. It had so many innovative and interesting elements but its technical flaws prevented it from making a breakthrough to a bigger fanbase and thus creating its own legend in the Tomb Raider universe.

Sometimes You Have To Let Go (But Do You Ever Really Let Go?)

Twin Mirror is the latest game by Dontnod, the team that was responsible for the first two Life Is Strange games as well as Tell Me Why. The main element that the four games have in common is the metaphysical factor: in the first Life Is Strange Max could manipulate time, in Life Is Strange 2 Daniel had telekinesis, in Tell Me Why Alyson and Tyler were able to communicate with their minds, and in Twin Mirror we have Sam Higgs who can enter and navigate in his own grey matter. But whereas in Max's and Daniel's cases their gifts were more or less superpowers, in Sam's case, like in Tyler and Alyson's, his ability is more like the development of a process through which he used to go from a very young age, being a lonely, marginally antisocial child with high perception, who preferred to keep to himself and seek comfort in the presence of an imaginary friend. Having the full support of his father but facing the doubts of his mother, Sam grew up as a loner, summoning his imaginary friend through a mirror every time things got tough. Soon enough, this imaginary friend crossed the line that separated him from Sam (the mirror glass) and became part of his own reality and his daily life. Being the contrary of what Sam was, the unnamed friend, who looks like a clean-cut version of Sam and is referred as "Him" in the game (for this article's consistency, by the way, I will call him Imaginary Sam from now on), would offer Sam advice on how to act and react in society, since he was a social and friendly guy who could easily adapt to any situation while, at the same time, being totally accepted by his surroundings. Except one little detail, he didn't literally exist, so it was actually Sam who, thanks to his friend's guidance, was able to go through situations that would otherwise be unbearable for him.

Naturally we get to know all this as the story progresses, but from the start we become aware of Imaginary Sam's presence in Sam's life and his major role in it. Sam has the ability to evoke memories and feelings by entering his mind at will, which mind is presented as a fragmented space called "Mind Palace". Once in there, Sam is not only able to revive scenes from his past, but also predict the development of situations that lie before him. Imaginary Sam is tightly connected to Sam's Mind Palace, since he was literally born within that space, but he is not always part of it. Once he moved through the mirror into Sam's reality, he immediately adapted to the real world, being constantly Sam's guardian angel since then.

We do not know much about Sam's life as the game begins; we only get to know that he is a journalist who had left his isolated hometown in West Virginia a couple of years ago, supposedly because Anna, his then girlfriend, refused to marry him, and now he is on his way back to attend the funeral of his best friend Nick, who was killed in a car crash. Sam is late for the funeral, but he is in time for the wake that follows. Nick's friends and several other residents of the town have gathered to honor his memory at the local bar, where Sam finds out that he is not exactly welcome. It is revealed that two years before, Sam wrote an article in the town's paper, exposing the local mine where a severe accident had taken place, due to which the mine was soon closed. Since it was the main source of income for most of the town's residents, all the workers lost their jobs and ended up hating Sam for causing the closure of the mine. This along with Anna's refusal made Sam leave abruptly, not wanting to ever come back. At the wake, Nick's daughter, Joan, expresses her suspicions that her father's death was not an accident. Since Nick was a journalist too, Sam decides to look into the matter, sensing that his friend might have been working on exposing something big, which might prove that Joan's instinct was right. 

Like in the Life Is Strange games, and also in Tell Me Why, here too the choice system is dominant and is very much connected to how Sam decides to act in accordance or not with Imaginary Sam, who, more often that not, will attempt to lead him towards the more socially accepted path. Sometimes it is his advice that is more effective, other times Sam should better follow his own instinct. Usually there is a very thin line between the two options, and picking one choice over the other may have a dramatic consequence. At the bottom of all this, however, it is actually Sam battling with himself, or rather with the version of himself that had taken shape years ago in the form of Imaginary Sam, about which path he truly wants to follow in his life. 

Being social, like Imaginary Sam, feels and looks cool, but it does not always prove a good choice for the living and breathing Sam who may be an antisocial, misanthropic and cynical sociopath, almost completely void of sentiments, but is able to see through people and actions and view the world as it is, no matter how ugly it may be. Imaginary Sam is a diplomat in his interactions, while Sam is bluntly and sometimes painfully sincere. Sam does not care about being happy, therefore he does not care about getting along with other people. In reality, Sam is an unconventional human being who prefers to observe the world around him without necessarily participating in it. On the contrary, Imaginary Sam wishes to be in the company of others, even if this means burying hurtful truths and secrets. While Sam's view is more universal, Imaginary Sam is focused on the small world of Sam's circle of friends and acquaintances. Throughout his life so far, probably Sam tried to adapt to society in ways that were not fitting for him; proposing to Anna was one such instant. Anna wasn't interested in getting married, which is why she refused, but her refusal simply made Sam understand that doing what you are supposed to do is not always the correct choice. 

The contrast between Sam and Imaginary Sam is highlighted by two supporting characters, Anna and Joan. Anna is more or less like Imaginary Sam; although she seems to be a free spirit, she is well-adapted in society and gets along with almost everyone she knows. Little Joan, on the other hand, is like Sam: she is an unconventional, difficult child who, however, expresses her feelings far more loud than he does. Anna and Joan, albeit in very different positions in Sam's life, are like two opposite poles. As far as Anna is concerned, Sam's decisions will not affect much his connection (or not) with her. But if in the course of the story Sam decides to follow Imaginary Sam's advice on most important dilemmas, his relationship with Joan will dramatically change, escalating into almost complete deterioration, save a small light of hope in the end. This practically means that, following the accepted path of society, Sam rejects his intuitive side, aka his inner child, which is represented by Joan in human form.

Imaginary Sam was formed in Sam's mind during an age when he felt vulnerable and helpless. Growing up, his imaginary friend grew along with him, both of them gradually distancing themselves from their common childhood. Nick was an essential part of this process, being the solid link between Sam and the world around him, especially after Sam's father died. In fact, both Sam and Imaginary Sam were able to sentimentally grow up thanks to Nick's presence. With Nick gone, Sam was thrown back to his nightmarish, lonely childhood again. Except this time Imaginary Sam was unable to accompany him there. The social, imaginary Sam had already adapted to society, while the antisocial, real Sam had bounced back to the origins of his Mind Palace. His reunion with Joan automatically connected him to both Nick and his inner child - the original self that part of him was trying to eliminate. During an important climax, Sam takes a long and painful walk in the depths of the maze of his Mind Palace and manages to reach its root: a memory of his father giving him a small tortoise made of glass. Little Sam is amazed at how clear it is and how he can see both all of it, as well as through it. 

The glass tortoise clearly symbolizes Sam, how he is and how he sees the world. Like the tortoise, he has secured himself within a (metaphorical, in his case) shell, but just like the tortoise's glass substance, equally he can see both within himself (by traveling in his Mind Palace) and analyze the reactions of others so as to get to the essence of things. This becomes solid reality close to the end, when Sam has to choose between keeping or abandoning his imaginary friend. If he decides to keep Imaginary Sam in his life, he will be in good terms with most of the people around him, but he will only be able to get to a small part of the truth concerning Nick's murder. If however he chooses to say goodbye to Imaginary Sam and go on with his life on his own, he will be able to proceed much further and get to the real mastermind behind not only Nick's assassination but also a network of drug trafficking, organized by a seemingly unscrupulous resident of the town.

So does Nick become more social if he keeps Imaginary Sam in his life? Probably yes, but mostly because Imaginary Sam will always be there to guide him and point him to the "right", socially acceptable path. And does this mean that if Sam chooses to continue on his own, he will remain a cynical sociopath? Partly yes, but it seems like he has meanwhile learned a lot from his social self, and is now able to somehow adapt to his environment, albeit this may not be impressively obvious. In reality, Sam never truly lets go of his imaginary friend, he simply places him back to where he initially was, in the (literal and metaphorical) mirror of his childhood. The moment that Sam chooses the "Mind Palace" against "Him", he becomes more self-aware and ceases to depend on his imaginary friend for sentimental support and comfort, marking a coming-of-age point which, in his case, has more to do with coming to terms with his inner child and less with sentimentally growing up. Because he does need his inner child to always be there for him, but without being dominant in his adult life. Adult Sam is now far more capable to deal with the world and face it head-on, in his very own anti-social and cynical way.

Twin Mirror is fantastic as far as its metaphysical / psychological aspect goes, and Sam is a solid protagonist, presented with great precision and realism as the cold sociopath that he is. Where the game is somewhat weak is when it comes to the mystery story that backs it up, while one of the supposedly important people around Sam feels like an unnecessary addition that offers almost nothing to the development of the plot: his ex-girlfriend Anna had a lot of potential, but she appears simply as a neutral ally who could practically have been any other person in the small town. The fact that she became Nick's girlfriend during Sam's absence does not add even the slightest tension or intrigue, because on the one hand Nick is already dead when Sam returns and on the other, Sam loved his friend so much that any traces of jealousy towards him are unable to survive. This means that, on the romantic side, there is absolutely no conflict present. Not that there needed to be any romantic conflict, but its lack practically cancels Anna's role as the person who used to date first Sam and then Nick. She could have been any other friend, co-worker or whatever. She could have been a woman or a man and it would make absolutely no difference. Even her dialogue lines with Sam are neutral from that aspect, no matter whether you decide to let Sam form some kind of bond with her or not.

Joan, on the other hand, is the plot's strongest weapon. As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, the most dramatic twist that happens concerns Sam's relationship with her. With Nick gone, Joan basically represents all the things that made her father stand out, while at the same time sharing character elements with Sam. It is Joan who is the true and essential connection between Sam and Nick, and not Anna. Sam's memories that involve Anna are not always pleasant, while the memories where Nick, Joan and himself participate, are happy, careless times. Joan has less screen time than Anna (which becomes even less if certain decisions are made), but her presence never stops to loom over Sam in a rather ominous way. Joan is a constant reminder of Nick, and she is also the one who literally pointed Sam's attention into details that made him start investigating the accident that caused his friend's death. Joan is obviously a gifted, intelligent child with strong instinct; she loves bugs and even has the Death's Head Hawkmoth stitched on the back of her jean jacket. Just like Sam, Joan is unable to deal with the stagnant life of the province, but while he chose to shut himself within his "shell" and thus find a way to survive, Joan shouts and protests and makes her feelings and intentions more than clear. Joan is intuitive like Sam but has her father's gift of easily blending in society, something that she may not be fully aware of yet. In fact Sam has a lot to learn from Joan, who is like an updated version of Imaginary Sam.

As far as the other characters are concerned, some of them, like Ethan or Walter, desperately needed more screen time. Ethan especially, the barman, is a very interesting character with whom, unfortunately, you only get to talk on two occasions, and there may be a very brief dialogue scene with him much later if you choose to go for one of the bad endings of the game. Very early in the story, if you make a certain choice, Ethan will talk to Sam about his family, and in particular his sister, who has apparently left home and now lives in a commune of outcasts in the outskirts of the town. This is in fact Sam's very first hint about the case he is investigating, although at that early point in the game there is no indication of its importance. Similarly Walter, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper where Sam used to work, and where Nick also worked until his sudden death, although being a rather stereotypical character (big and loud with a heart of gold, a cat lover who adores his mother), he is presented in such a way that makes him stand out and become instantly likeable. Anna's father, Joe, is also a solid, imposing character who could probably deserve a bigger role in the game, given that he was also one of the tragic victims of the mine accident that Sam exposed in his infamous article.

With Life Is Strange 2, the Dontnod team reached a peak that is very hard - if not impossible - to surpass. Like Tell Me Why, Twin Mirror is based on an extremely interesting idea which however seems to not be fully developed, although Twin Mirror is far more complex and elaborate than Tell Me Why. Speaking of which, the mystery story that I mentioned before carries out in a rather smooth and expected way, although parts of it involve intense moments of investigation thanks to Sam entering his Mind Palace to reach certain conclusions. There are very few people involved, so you can, more or less, easily deduce who may be the culprit, even if Sam chooses to keep Imaginary Sam, and therefore leave the case partly unresolved. Regardless the investigation is simply a background story, the main and prominent  theme being Sam's spiritual and sentimental development, which also happens to be the game's most interesting aspect. 

Life Is Strange 2 was also about the spiritual and sentimental development of its main characters, but additionally had an intense and powerful story to back it up. Twin Mirror lacks the latter, although its "realistic" story did have potential and the game could have been much longer if certain aspects were developed more and if some characters had a bigger role in the events. For example, I would have loved to see more of Nick, either via Sam's memories or through flashbacks; and maybe get more details about Sam's obviously close bond with his understanding father. For what it's worth, Sam's father was an essential supporting figure during the hero's troubled childhood, and it looks like, after his death, both Imaginary Sam and Nick kind of replaced him in Sam's adult life.

The Beautiful Legends of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Regular readers of this blog may find it strange that I decided to write about a game of the Assassin's Creed saga, mainly because it is a series I have never mentioned before anywhere here and its gameplay style is quite different from that of the games I usually play and am interested in. Of course I was familiar with the series since a very long time now, but although I own two more of its games (Brotherhood and Revelations) I never got down to play either of them (just a tiny bit of Brotherhood; a brief segment from the beginning). Games that involve complicated combat where you have to combine skills and perform them while fighting are not so much my style; I prefer yielding a handgun or a revolver and shooting mercilessly at the enemy, be it human or zombie. Regardless I managed to learn a few cool moves in Odyssey, and it made my gaming life so much easier in my replays of the game. Above all though I am thankful for stealth; fortunately the Assassin's Creed games rely a lot on it. In Odyssey at least there are almost always alternative stealthy ways to clear or pass a section; I managed to weaken whole forts while nearly exclusively defeating the enemies with stealth kills, and go through enemy-packed areas by moving around silently without anyone taking notice.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey is a player-friendly game which gives you the option to focus on the aspect that you wish, choosing between difficulty levels that  highlight different sides of it. So for my first run I chose the mode which allows you to enjoy the story without worrying too much about the enemies. This of course does not mean that the gameplay is a walk in the park this way; the bosses are still a pain, the elite enemies are still bugging the hell out of you, certain missions are still playing with your nervous system. Some mini bosses are so frustrating that you will maybe find yourself wishing you never accepted their respective missions. But overall everything becomes quite easier to go through than in the more demanding levels, especially as you level up and upgrade your inventory, offering you the chance to move on with the plot faster. Even so, it took me ten days to complete only the main story and a few important quests when playing the game for the first time.

I knew Odyssey was going to be an amazing game, after seeing a few clips and knowing that its main plot was taking place in Ancient Greece. And this was the reason why I wanted so eagerly to play it. As it turned out, not only was not I wrong, but the game even surpassed my expectations. The main story is incredible, the graphics are stunningly beautiful, the characters are magnificent and inspiring. Odyssey is one of those games that actually never end. Pretty much like the latest Tomb Raider games, you can finish the main story and then still be able to roam around every single mountain top, valley, city or lake looking for treasures and all sorts of stuff. Odyssey is even more of this kind, as it continuously offers new quests so that you can practically gather money as reward and keep on levelling up. And if you love complex combat, you have the chance to practice even more as your character becomes stronger and try out those cool, complicated moves.

The main characters are Alexios and Kassandra, two siblings of Spartan origin, grandchildren of the great Leonidas, who get separated after a tragic event in their early childhood, and whose fate is both tragic and glorious. You can pick either of them as your playable protagonist, and whoever you choose to play with, will be the older sibling, having their own respective flashback scenes and childhood memories. I always play with Alexios, so he is going to be my canon protagonist in this article as well. Alexios as the protagonist is a mercenary of Spartan descent with royal and divine heritage, and Kassandra as the antagonist plays a crucial (and dramatic, depending on your choices) role in the story from a point and on, after we discover that she has been brainwashed almost beyond cure by a dangerous Cult whose members offered her shelter as a baby but then trained her to become a human lethal weapon, turning her against her own bloodline. The father, Nikolaos, almost blindly loyal to Spartan laws and honor, played a crucial part in the events that caused the tragedy of his family. The mother, Myrrine, sought her fate elsewhere and found a new destination, in an attempt to put the past behind her. A cunning but good-hearted man, Markos, took little Alexios under his wing and raised him the best way he could, to grow into a brave and strong-willed young man who trained to become a mercenary. Alexios had an eagle, Ikaros, as a companion since he was very little, and now uses the bird always as a helper to scout the places he has to explore; this is how he got the title of the Eagle Bearer. He has his own special and literal bird's eye view. The family's paths are doomed to cross again, but whether this is for the best or not, depends on your choices and how you decide to guide your hero.

For me, Alexios is perfect for the part of the good lead protagonist; he is proud, imposingly handsome, with something genuinely candid and pure about him even when he becomes cocky or too daring. I like to cast Kassandra as the evil sibling, because she may be fine as the main, good heroine, but as a villain, she is compelling. She is an extremely fearsome, terrifying, lethal and blood-thirsty killing machine, highly intelligent but brainwashed to the point where she becomes marginally paranoid with a god syndrome, and all this is intensified even more when you get the bad endings - plus certain dramatic segments become even more chilling with her as the villain. Evil Kassandra feels as if, deep down, knows very well what is going on around her and is conscious of how scary and threatening she can be. Whereas Alexios as the antagonist comes off as an angry misguided boy who may lose his temper all of a sudden even without an obvious reason. For others, it may be the other way around. I guess it comes down to how players view their heroes, and in the end of day, this is how RPG games like Odyssey are supposed to work - and this is exactly their greatest charm.

The story takes place during the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece and, apart from the main plot, there are numerous missions and side-missions, mandatory and optional conquest battles, riddles, puzzles, mysterious quests and prolific questlines. As part of the main game, there are two additional long plotlines complementary to the core story - one where you can hunt and kill the members of the Cult who are responsible for the separation (and potential demise) of your family, and one where you find a truth about your past and subsequently discover the key to Atlantis. The latter is actually a path that unlocks Fate of Atlantis, an extra three-episode story. The game features the player choice system - for the first time, if I am not mistaken, in an Assassin's Creed game, opening up different conclusions and endings to both the main story and some of the side quests, depending on your decisions. The game alone comes with nine (!) different endings, and some of them depend on choices you may have made as early as in the second chapter of the story.

Odyssey pays tribute to the beautiful landscapes of Greece, the forests, shorelines, blue skies and crystal waters, the sun-bathed islands of the Aegean, the misty valleys of Peloponnese, the mystical mountains of the central mainland. Wandering along the vast and adventure-filled environments is accompanied by beautiful music, and there is something to spot and something to look for in almost every nook and cranny. I recall bumping onto a fight between a bear and a wolf on a completely isolated hill in a dense forest while making my way on horseback from Lokris to Malis. Or a group of soldiers in the course of a bloody battle on a lone road in a stranded countryside. The Aipeia port at the very south of Peloponnese, drowned in mist, dark and ominous, prepares the ground as you make your way to the nearly fatal battle of Pylos. And the stunning Aegean islands, that look like they come out of a fairy tale, set the mood for the mesmerizing adventures that you are about to live there. Some are dramatic, some are funny, others are full of passion and love, some are mysterious, others are chilling and compelling.

But apart from its stunning visual beauty, the game highlights the power of the spirit of Ancient Greece, as one of the most crucial strategic plans towards the finale is shown to be conceived by philosophers, playwrights, historians and scientists. Alexios (or Kassandra, if you play as her) can also romance other people, in all combinations and possibilities, depending on how spicy and varied you want your story (and your character) to be. And it is interesting how the people involved in these seemingly random romance stories, sometimes may have some indirect connection to the main hero that is only revealed once you decide to flirt with them and thus get to know them better. Lykaon, the young doctor that you meet in Delphi, turns out to be the grandson of the Oracle who caused your family's tragedy, albeit against her will. And Thaletas, the proud young Spartan polemarch with whom you can have one of the deepest and most powerful romances on the Silver Islands, is the grandson of one of the 300 soldiers who fought in Thermopylai under the command of Leonidas, the hero's grandfather.

Myths are dominant, but there is also much realism and emotion. You can explore the numerous subplots in whichever order you want, as the side-missions are always available as soon as they become active, although some of them expire after a certain amount of hours has passed; but those are just complementary for gaining XP, money and items and I think they do appear again after a while. There is night and day alteration and weather changes, but you can shift to the time that you want by sitting down and meditating at any point. The game features the fast travel system, which allows you to visit any area whenever you wish, as long as it is unlocked and synchronized. That said, the synchronization process offers some panoramic views that are breathtaking, to say the least. You can travel all over Greece whichever way you want, plus early on you become commander of a cool ship, which also serves as a safe haven. The naval battles that you fight on it are fantastic, and the sea looks amazing, especially whenever there is a storm. Those waves are seriously savage.

Several historical figures, like Perikles, Aspasia, Herodotos, Socrates, Hippokrates, Phidias, Alkibiades, Kleon, share an important part in the development of the plot. Alexios gets to know them, become friends or enemies with them, help them with tasks and they will offer their assistance in return. We also have the chance to fight legendary creatures, like the Medusa and the Minotaur, all connected with amazing storylines leading to them, and in the DLC we get to see mythical heroes like Persephone, Hades, Adonis, Poseidon, Perseus, Achilles and Agamemnon. The most prominent though is the Spartan general Brasidas, whose portrayal is one of the most fascinating, respectful and brilliant ones that have ever been made of a real person in a work of fiction. You can take my word on this, because it is my heritage, so trust me, I would be very judgy if it was otherwise. Brasidas makes the most epic entrance in the story, in an unforgettable battle scene that looks like choreography, and, with his godlike physical presence and natural charm, easily becomes the unofficial star of the game.

His storyline runs through most of the main plot and a good deal of the Underworld episode from the DLC, and his character affects the course of events and the main hero's evolution in more than one ways. His relationship with the lead character, if you take the right decisions, is a beautiful, deeply touching tale of everlasting loyalty, caring love and precious friendship. If you play as Alexios, like I did, you will also get that extra spicy bromance. In fact it is worth playing with Alexios if only to watch his intense bromance with Brasidas bloom progressively as the story proceeds. Brasidas is a charismatic general who has a very pivotal role in the story, becoming Alexios's strongest ally and most trusted friend and war partner, which instantly makes him Kassandra's worst enemy and red rag. On two occasions, Kassandra attacks him directly with extreme violence during decisive battles of critical importance, specifically aiming to get him out of the way with a clearly personal motive, and not only because certain members of the Cult want him dead. The writers of the game's story have done a great job in perfectly blending historical facts and fiction, with fiction adding those details that spice things up while at the same time respecting history. Historical events like the accusation of the Spartan king Pausanias of treason or the death of Brasidas in Amphipolis are cleverly linked to the lethal underground activities of the Cult. Similarly, the story highlights the difference between the way Spartans and Athenians viewed war: there are two optional tasks that the main hero can carry, assigned to him or her by an Athenian and a Spartan general. It is interesting to notice how, when you meet them, the Athenian Demosthenes appears as a lover of intellect and arts, who resorts to battle because he knows there is no other solution and he happens to be skilled with a sword; while the Spartan Lysander is openly aggressive and bloodthirsty. Brasidas is an exception though, resorting to violence only when every other option has failed, and although he is a great warrior, relies much more on his brain.

The Fate of Atlantis is divided in three episodes with the first taking place in Elysium where Alexios, besides his main goal, which is to find and enter the Underworld, meets Adonis and accepts to help him organize a revolution against Perspehone's reign. Persephone has created an idyllic Paradise, but what she does is keep people imprisoned there in order to maintain her illusion of power, desperately wanting to make Adonis love her. Adonis wants to escape and go find his true love who once was Aphrodite, but in the process things take a twist and nothing remains the same, both for him and Alexios (aka, love is in the air). In the second episode, Alexios arrives in the Underworld where he is called to face ghosts from the past, related to good memories as well as unhappy ones, and he comes face to face with Hades and his weird tricks. In the last episode, he unlocks Atlantis and learns that he is doomed to decide upon its fate. The episodes are very distinctive; Elysium is full of colors, flowers and mythical aura, the Underworld is a dim, stagnant place with a still, gloomy sun, and Atlantis is a realm of harmony and bliss. It is interesting, however, how the Underworld feels far more friendly, because it is exactly what it seems; while Elysium and Atlantis hide so much darkness and corruption below their sunny surface.

Persephone and Hades are by far my favorite villains, from both the main game and the DLC. There is something tragic about Persephone's spite, caused by her unrequited love for Adonis, that made me feel compassion for her, not to mention the absolute cuteness that is her war provisions, which are stacks of flowers. And there are times where the otherwise terrifying Hades, pale, cold and imposing, appears as a lonely, desperate man who is unable to handle eternity on his own, so he somehow has to entertain this endlessness, even if this means he has no second thoughts about tormenting the residents of his realm. Regardless, you may notice that he does feel sympathy and tenderness towards them, albeit he admittedly shows it in a rather peculiar way, seeing how he treats Brasidas and Alexios - well, at least before he gets furious at the latter and unleashes his plutonic rage on him.

In the progression of the main story, we learn at some point that Nikolaos is not Alexios's real father, so our brave hero starts a quest to find his roots (this is not directly connected to the core plotline, and you can go for that long mission even after the end). Certain locations that you visit during said quest, in connection to specific myths related to those places and the fact that the protagonist and the antagonist are brother and sister, warriors with divine heritage, made me form a certain theory, which felt very logical and obvious at the time, but was rebutted when the actual revelation happened. I felt slightly disappointed for a moment, despite the fact that the real father was the legendary Pythagoras himself, I confess that. But after completing the main story and having a more all-round impression, I partly changed my mind. Because the developers did something ingenious, they connected the roots of civilization to volcanic energy and mathematics. I love how they depicted the volcanic islands as forges of the world and sacred, isolated places that continuously give life to everything by just being there as constant sources of energy and power. 

Where the game loses a bit is in the present day segments. I know this is how all the games in the Assassin's Creed series work - there is a modern day story and a story from the past that at some point connect. I can't speak for the previous games, but in Odyssey the modern day parts are generally bland - to put it gently; the action is dull, flat and inconsistent and Lyla, the playable character, is so boring and unlikable it hurts. The part she is supposed to have in the story is anything but convincing and she looks and acts like a decal. Although even a decal is definitely much more lively. In short, Lyla is a modern day Assassin and she was apparently chosen by the Isu (the ancient civilization that holds the secrets to the creation of the subsequent word, which is a constant in the Assassin's Creed saga) to inherit an important artifact that Alexios (or Kassandra) owns as its keeper after a certain point. Sounds promising enough, and indeed it had all the potential, but it is far from being so, mainly because the supposed heir is so godawful. Lyla is tedious, sluggish, unoriginal, silly, lifeless, and the list could go on forever. It is impossible to believe that of all Assassins, she was the one chosen to be the Heir of Memories, as is her (definitely not deserving) title. I guess the Isu were drunk while picking the next keeper of the artifact. Or Alexios got impatient and demanded a quick replacement otherwise he would bring havoc, so the Isu panicked and picked the first random person that they found. These are the only two legit reasons that I accept for having Lyla "inherit" the artifact.

Well maybe all this wouldn't have felt so bad if the main story wasn't so terrific. The (thankfully very few and rather brief) parts where the plot switches to modern day feel like crashing on rocks after an amazing ride. Or, you know those stand-alone carousel-like devices where you put a coin in and they start swinging while playing a song. Sometimes, the device breaks or something goes wrong and the music suddenly falls short and distorts before fading away bluntly. This is how it feels every time that you are forced to part with Alexios (or Kassandra) and bear with Lyla for a few torturing minutes. I wish in New Game Plus there was an option to skip the modern day segments altogether and just enjoy the fantastic Odyssey story as a standalone adventure. It is so cruel having to go through the punishment that is Lyla's part every time that you want to unlock the Atlantis episodes. And it's a shame because some parts are really nice (like exploring the tombs to find the three symbols), but they are ruined because you have to bear with Lyla running around like a poor excuse for a poor man's Lara Croft; not to mention the way her arms are hanging from her shoulders like convicts and the impossible boulder-like stomping sound of her footsteps. Even the Monger has more charm. The good thing, however, about this kind of games, is that they leave you free to focus on those elements of the plot that interest you mostly. So I completely eliminated from my mind all the present day babble and just kept the amazing story of the past. To put it plainly, for me Lyla's segments don't even exist. Every time that I have to go through them in a playthrough, I quick-pass the dialogues and skip the cutscenes pushing those buttons in rage. I wish there was a way to have the terrifying Medusa turn Lyla into stone once and for all, like she does with poor Bryce in one of the most emotional questlines of the game. Or even better: bring Bryce back to life and petrify Lyla instead. Bryce is adorable and it is so sad to see her die like this. On the other hand, it won't make any difference at all if Lyla suddenly becomes a rock. She may even get a bit more interesting.

That said, Bryce's appearance is rather short but it is among the most memorable ones. The end of her tragic story affects Alexios very much, as he can be seen silently mourning for her death. She is one of those characters with whom he could have gotten along really well; it is not random that later on during a short quest he refers to her as his friend, even though she is already gone and he didn't have the chance to get to know her better. But he obviously felt compassion for her and her lost love, and her story touched him deeply. Despite his tough line of work, which often requires from him to be merciless, he has this pure, charming personality which makes him instantly likeable and this is why he is able to form strong and lasting friendships, like with Brasidas; or Barnabas, the captain of the ship he commands, and Herodotos, the famed historian.

The devil is in the details, though; having a good character as a base doesn't mean that your hero will lack natural human weaknesses or even traits that are not so positive. The choices system allows you to determine those distinct characteristics that will highlight your hero's goodness or a little evilness that they may hide within. So my Alexios is mostly kind, brave and good-hearted, but he is also manipulative, vindictive and intimidating. He is a loyal friend and supports his buddies unconditionally, but hates persistent people, flattery and whimpering. Growing up on his own made him a bit heartless at times, and he even chooses friendship over family on a certain given occasion. Even so, I didn't expect to get a bad ending, and it was a bit shocking when I watched it kicking in. This made my Alexios even more angry and he became marginally ruthless, not being afraid to speak the truth even if it would hurt others, or threaten people (and ghosts) to protect his loved ones. He is of course a gay icon because I never miss the chance for fan service and eye candy when its offered so generously; he is occasionally horny, has a thing for handsome guys, flirts with them and seduces them on any given occasion, and he comes as close to finding true love as possible (because generally the game has a tendency to condemn your love affairs to doom). My version of his love story with Thaletas on the Silver Islands is one of the most romantic and sweet I have ever watched on screen. 

The choices and consequences system works pretty well overall, although a few inconsistencies may appear. But unless it's something game-breaking, it doesn't really matter much. What matters is that the writers have payed attention to detail concerning the possible decisions and outcomes, and many times seemingly obvious choices may not lead to a desired conclusion. The most critical choices, that have to do with the outcome of the main story, run throughout the progression of the plot, so you have to be very cautious about what you say to certain people and how you react, because you may trigger very unpleasant situations. Sometimes you may need to resort to extreme means to achieve your goal. For instance, if you want to ensure that Thaletas will keep you in his heart as the love of his life, with the promise to meet again someday when the war is over, you have to be cruel enough and make Kyra, your competition, fall to her death and then lie to him about it. It is not pleasant, because Kyra is one of the strongest and most interesting female characters in the game but, like Alexios says to Bryce, "love might be the end of us all; but it's a price worth paying". Well in this case someone else pays the price and meets her end. My Alexios was so evil that he slyly befriended her from the start and she was so naive that she thought he was flirting with her, while in reality he was preparing the ground for her elimination. Then he did everything to make her look bad while everyone thought that he was the epitomy of honesty and innocence. Poor Kyra shouldn't have messed with a warhorse like Alexios. When she is out of the picture, Alexios will sail Thaletas to Sparta on his ship (not shown, but mentioned) so chances are the two of them can be together at some point in the future. And if the tragic news of Kyra's death do reach him at some point, a long time will have passed, so there is no way he can accuse Alexios of anything, so they will be free to enjoy their love without obstacles. As you see, even as a good hero you can be quite Machiavellian. Evil Kassandra would have been so proud of her brother.

Similarly, you have to be careful with how you treat Brasidas, because he is a man who counts loyalty and trust very much, which means that if you make him a promise that you won't keep, he will hold it against you. As this may happen more than once, you shouldn't take it lightly. The best you can do is listen to him carefully always from the moment that you meet him, do what he says and keep your promises to him, and he will be your soulmate to eternity (literally). Otherwise he may pull a Daniel Diaz, minus the tornado. It is interesting that when prompted to choose between his plan and that of Myrrine on a specific occasion, you may be tricked to follow the mother's plan so as to show your support to her, but Brasidas will not like it (Myrrine, on the other hand, will never get angry at you for not following her plan); not only he will be disappointed in you for not listening to him (and as it turns out, his plan is not only the wisest but also the most favorable for you), but the next time you meet him he will be heartbreakingly unhappy (to the point where I paused the game and desperately checked to see if I had a savegame before that misfortune happened, and finding none, I swore I would always obey him in my subsequent playthroughs, which I did) and, to add insult to injury, as if this isn't a stab in your heart already, when you reunite with him in the Underworld, he will be cold and bitter towards you at the start, and you will have to win him all over again. In fact dealing with Brasidas is more complicated even than attempting to bring your brainwashed evil sibling back to reason.

I confess that the more I play the game the more I am convinced that the writers of the story maybe wanted to make Brasidas one more romance option for the lead character, but decided against it for historical reasons. They did it with Alkibiades, but then Alkibiades was notorious for his promiscuous lifestyle. Regardless, Brasidas has such an uncanny chemistry with Alexios (and from what I've seen, same goes with Kassandra to a degree) that most of the times when they are together, it makes you feel it's the only thing missing. At some critical point in the Elysium episode of Fate of Atlantis, Persephone, in an attempt to weaken the power of the rebels around her, tries to convince Alexios to kill Leonidas, whom he had previously recruited for Adonis's cause. She sentimentally blackmails him, promising that if he does kill Leonidas, in return she will bring any of his departed beloved (sic) back to life. Your choices then are any of your family members that may have died in the main story, which is expected; Phoibe, a little girl who was your friend in Kephallonia, also expected, since she was like a kid sister for the main hero, therefore family as well; and Brasidas, which is quite strange: of course he was your dear friend, but Persephone seems to imply that Alexios considers him family, or maybe something more? Of course Persephone will never keep her promise, but the phraseology used in the respective dialogues has some interesting semiology. Even if you choose Brasidas, Persephone keeps referring to your "beloved dead", as if she knows something that we don't. I guess she does, indeed, because she's a goddess after all; and a rather smart one, for that matter. I plead guilty of always choosing Brasidas, even if I have the chance to pick a family member. I did so the first time and I keep doing it, although I know he won't be revived. But he and Alexios look so happy whenever they see each other, exchanging such smitten looks of admiration and adoration, that even the thought of the two of them reuniting is worth the while. At least it helps make up for the lack of the romance part. Interestingly enough, Thaletas looks like a young Brasidas, and maybe this isn't exactly random.

Another fascinating aspect of the game is how it brings together ancient greek legends and connects them with each other, as well as with historical data. The myths of the Medusa, the Cyclops, the Minotaur and the Sphinx awaken gradually during their respective quests which, in turn, cross paths with the myth of Atlantis. After sealing Atlantis, Alexios confesses to Herodotos that this mythical place actually exists. Herodotos is fascinated, but Alexios warns him to never mention the discovery of Atlantis to anyone, much to the historian's dismay. Which is some sort of easter egg, as we know from the stories of the real-life Herodotos, who did include Atlantis in his narrations.

But the presence of myths never ceases to be. During a secondary questline tasked by Daphne, a huntress who belongs to a cult protected by the goddess Artemis and lives on a solitary mountain top in Phokis, Alexios has to hunt down and kill several legendary beasts, some of which come straight from the mythic circle of Herakles. It is an optional mission, but notably one of the most difficult and challenging, as some of those creatures are extremely tough to kill. Following the steps of the legendary hero, Alexios must travel across Greece to locate the beasts and fight with them so as to bring their pelts back to Daphne, at the same time paying tribute to Herakles and his Labours.