Assassin's Creed Odyssey puts a heavy emphasis on player choice, and the first one you'll make is picking who you want to be. Set nearly four centuries before the events of Assassin's Creed Origins and the founding of the Assassin Brotherhood, Assassin's Creed Odyssey doesn't cast you as an Assassin – you're a mercenary (or "misthios"), unbound by any creed and free to forge your own destiny. More specifically, you can play as one of two mercenaries – Spartans Alexios and Kassandra – and the one you choose is locked into the role of protagonist throughout the game. No matter who you choose, the two are evenly matched, and will follow the same storyline and lead the same stalwart crew of adventurers on a seafaring quest for money, fame, justice, and revenge.
You're more than just an adventurous Spartan, however – you're a descendant of King Leonidas, and you'll carry the tip of his spear to prove it. You'll also have control over an eagle, Ikaros, who scouts from above and lets you tag targets. The broken Spear of Leonidas – wielded like a dagger in combat as a secondary blade, or during assassinations in place of the Hidden Blade – is actually a First Civilization artifact, one that grants your chosen mercenary seemingly superhuman abilities that you'll develop as you progress through the game.
How does this new level of choice fit in with the conceit that you're reliving genetic memories of the distant past? "The DNA is old and imprecise, so it offers you the choice to pursue two characters," says Creative Director Jonathan Dumont. There's also some fuzziness in the historical record, because "[Alexios and Kassandra] come from a lost book of Herodotus – the first historian – who wrote about a hero that could be one of these two characters," adds Dumont.
Any differences between an Alexios or Kassandra adventure are largely a result of your actions. Throughout the course of the game, you'll be confronted with choices big and small, with control over dialogue options, which side you fight for during conflicts, and which romantic partners you pursue, among other things. You can also outright refuse some quests if you don't want to take them on, which may lead to new ones later.
If you're attending E3, you can decide your mercenary's destiny in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey demo in South Hall, booth #1623. Assassin's Creed Odyssey will launch on October 5th for PS4, Xbox One, and PC; stay tuned for more updates.
