The game lives up to its promise as a total revamp for the gameplay and structuring, totally eliminating the sequences system along with the optional objectives, completion percentages and collectibles, replacing those with a quest-based system which grants players total freedom to approach quests as they prefer, some quests only appear after finishing others or reaching specific areas, and others are on the map from the start and each quest can be approached in a stealthy manner or a one-man-army approach, of course different factors influence that decisions which I’ll touch upon ahead in this review.

The game also great encourages exploration more than ever, and this time through missions that take you all-over the world. All quests require players to search for them. The world is divided to various regions, each is fogged until you reach it, and they get unfogged as a whole without the need for viewpoints and by then, the map will start showing you question and exclamations marks. The question marks could be anything from tombs to temples to camps, settlements and predators’ lairs. As for exclamation marks, they refer to main and side quests which can only be activated from the game menu once you reach and interact with them, by then, you’re free to track the mission at any point from the game menu. In addition, markers for shops will appear within cities and settlements.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is a lot more exploration-driven than its predecessors and contrary to previous games, viewpoints only help expanding Senu’s perception which is another good upgrade that encourages players to explore the world and allowing players to effortlessly find new missions and activities as they traverse the vastness of Egypt, without the need for the chore-y and compulsory feel of having to synchronize a viewpoint, while still keeping that part just as fun due to the beauty of the structures which motivate players to climb and reach said viewpoint.

The game introduces a smart leveling system which greatly influences the way players approach quests, both main and side ones. Each time you highlight a quests on the map, it tells you the recommended level you’re required to reach to experience it. You can still play any mission at any time, but if you take a mission when you’re overly three levels below the recommended level, enemies will be lethal with as little as one or two melee or ranged attacks against Bayek. Like I mentioned before, you’re free to approach missions stealthily or in a one-man-army invasion, and that depends on your level, skill and gadgets. With a wide array of weapons and a plethora of exploratory and combat missions that help players level up before approaching missions of a higher level, and your choice of weapons also affects the damage you inflict on enemies, even those of a much higher level. I managed to conquered a camp and where enemies tower my level by 5 levels and still managed to beat it with a mix of stealth and ranged combat and distractions, so it’s not impossible to approach higher level missions, but it’ll be much more difficult as even air Assassinations which are now called “Leap Attack” won’t be lethal when you’re of a lower level than your target. Enemies also come in different classes, there are archers who are easier to kill as they seldom carry shields, there’s the higher class who are more melee combat oriented who are more difficult when approaching them face to face as their shields will deflect most of your attacks unless you use a shield-breaking attack, and then there are the big brutes who usually carry massive weapons like maces, and while many of them don’t carry shields (some carry massive ones) yet the damage they inflict per attack is much greater than others. Though one downside is that the same set of enemies is leveled differently and they do quite similar attacks which makes it feel a bit too “gamey” rather than a realistic evolution of enemy types from one area to another which justifies their difference in capability, strength and skill.

Quests, both primary and secondary are divided into multiple segments which Bayek is tasked to do consecutively, once one is finish, players can still choose to un-track it and follow another quest elsewhere and return to it later. Some quest tasks can only be performed at a specific part of the day, for example, finding at merchant in a market for a specific investigation might only be possible during the day in their working hours, while following a specific character to a certain destination is only possible after their working hours, which is later at night. Players can either choose to follow different quests until night falls or use the Dusk and Dawn feature to fast-forward to dusk or dawn and continue the same quest.

The ability to un-track and re-track can also be helpful when your level is lower than expected. If for example, you’re following a main quest and at some point, you encounter enemies that are too high for your level or the next quest within a main quest is of a much higher level than the Bayek’s, you can choose to leave, play some side quests to level up and then return when you’re ready.

The nature of quests vary from classic assassinations to assisting characters find certain items, reach certain points, save them from certain foes (and most of the time, there are multiple steps and sub-tasks that are required to be performed to finish said quest, as noted before) and sometimes quests aren’t given by others but merely activities that Bayek decides to do as he comes across, such as exploring the tunnels beneath the pyramids, finding ancient tablets, assisting rebels in their attacks, interacting with enigmatic stone circles where Bayek reflects upon his past and along the way uncover hidden secrets or finding papyrus papers within temples and unearthing valuable treasures within tombs, sunken temples, ships and caves. In addition, naval combat is back just as good as it was in Black Flag, though in a much more restricted and short span, but it’s a wonderful addition and makes for an enjoyable experience especially when the specific naval missions kick in unpredictably.