The map size is a bit misleading. I’d add to that that when I finished the main story missions, there were still about 8 or so areas that I had never gone to. Of those, 3 of them really had like one location of interest in the whole expanse. I think the Black Desert has one thing to do, which is climb the mountain to get an achievement.
With that said, I found the varying areas of the desert to be really cool, and each with their own flavor. When you think about “desert” do you picture 32 different kinds of desert? You basically picture Siwa. But there are some truly cool places to visit.
I enjoyed my time with Origins. One thing I do wish is that the wardrobe was a bit more varied, or made any lick of difference. I spent most of my time in game dressed in a shower curtain. The different armor pieces are vanity only so totally skipable. Getting to look like a bad ass was literally the last thing I did in game, which was a bummer because I would have liked to tool around Egypt being a bad ass, and looking the part. It is a small complaint I guess, but after playing Horizons I really like how the different armor types have differing uses, and the final armor not only looks bad-ass, but also comes with bad-assery built into the stats. For a game with a loot grind, it seems like an oversight that your armor is not part of the grind. You are only level chasing loot in 5 inventory slots, and they are all weapons so maybe that was a design choice to limit said loot grind. The only real grind I felt overly grindy was thick leather skins. I believe Crocodiles and hippos should actually be extinct in our time, based on my Egyptian desire for thick leather.
On thing the I truly appreciated was that I only felt AC rage one or two times, and never really over the typical thing that drives me nuts in AC games: parkour shenanigans.
This may be a dumb question given that it’s AC and all, but - is there any risk involved in going out into the desert? Is heat or dehydration a factor? I find myself craving aspects of realism in the gameplay to match the realism they’re giving the environments and graphics but I don’t think that’s what they are going for.
Fun fact: although the various armors are cosmetic, different ones do have an impact on how guards treat you. Wear the default medjay or some bandit outfit, and you’ll get hassled by passing patrols when they see you. Wear something less conspicuous, and you’ll get more leeway as a passer-by.
Corrections:
“breathtaking for it[s] detail”
“Those Roman soldier[s] in Alexandria are like fighting cornstalks.”
“more smoke bombs and fire grenades tha[n] you’ll ever need”
Just starting out. Tell me there are Senu missions. Or DLC.
Senu builds a nest!
Senu’s eggs have been stolen!
Avenge the eating of your children!
Compete for air supremacy!
Rescue your dumb human perch from trouble.
I think this is the new direction the series needs.
