Ubisoft has released a fascinating new video detailing its approach to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s open world. In the video above, you’ll hear from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Director Scott Phillips about how the team iterated its design philosophy based on player feedback and player behavior to make this the best Assassin’s Creed to-date.
One thing that Phillips knew he needed to change was the way that map markers and quest indicators are displayed. Data showed that many players spent a depressing amount of time staring at mini-maps and tracking little dots on the screen, instead of taking in the world around them. With “Exploration Mode,” over 50% of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey players have discarded those distracting crutches and are now more fully immersed in the game world and hunting for environmental clues to lead them to their next objective.
The team at Ubisoft also wanted to make sure that the company was respecting players’ time more than ever. This care manifested in multiple ways. Synchronization points are now spread out a bit in order to encourage more organic exploration, and not just map-reveal chasing. Fast-traveling between sync points also let players explore far and wide without worrying about doubling back.
Looting was also tweaked to speed things up considerably. After dispatching a large group of enemies, why should a player have to walk up to every single corpse and tap a button to loot items? When surrounded by a group of dead enemies, a single button press will now loot everything in the area, and that’s a very welcome change indeed.
What did you think of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey? Are these changes things that you actually picked up on, or are you realizing for the first time why you enjoy exploring that world so thoroughly? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to check out our Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review.
