I’ve recently been playing Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, having gotten it for free from the streaming demo thing, and I’ve found it to be hugely immersive. I find the huge vistas (from the synchronization points, for example) over a decently-shaped, if drastically scaled down, ancient Greece absolutely wonderful. What really did it for me was going to Athens and seeing the Parthenon, the long walls (even if they’re too short), and on and on, and all in color! It’s one thing to read that ancient statues and temples were brightly painted, and try to imagine it, but another to actually scale the Acropolis and be face to face with it.
AC:O is not exactly a game that relies on strong characterization, but visiting the Pythia, (briefly) conversing with (the appropriately annoying) Socrates, running missions for Demosthenes (the other one), and so on, is really delightful. Granted, it’s all at a classics 101 level, but it’s a game about stabbing people when they’re not looking, so what do you expect. (Having Herodotus on your ship is a bit much, but I’ll take it.)
It inspired my to pick up my copy of Herodotus again (I was about 2/3 through), and even get a Thucydides from the library. That counts for something!
The main disclaimer is that this is the first AAA game I’ve played since Skyrim, so maybe I’ve just been missing out on good graphics for a while.