Microtransactions In Assassin's Creed Odyssey Call Its Epic Length Into Serious Question

Assassin's Creed: OdysseyCredit: Ubisoft

There are two things to know about Assassin's Creed Odyssey: one, it's great. More on that in the coming days. Two: it's long. Our reviewer took about 55 hours to barrel through the main story, which is massive for a AAA game. That's not the worst thing in the world: more game is more game, which is what we're here for, after all. It's still a lot, however, and daunting to those with limited time. And it would be just another feature of this game if it weren't for one little thing that calls its whole structure into question. As is not uncommon these days, we're talking about microtransactions.

The thing is, it doesn't take 50-60 hours to finish the main quest simply because that's about how long it takes to finish every story mission. It takes that long because this is an RPG with a full-blown RPG levelling mechanic, and that means you need to be at or above a certain level in order to be able to reasonably complete the story missions. And so you go off and adventure in sidequests and other open world activities. They're well made and fun! And necessary. We can see this happening in so many other games it barely bears mentioning, but grinds of all kinds take on a different character in the modern era because of microtransactions, and that's what we've got going on in here in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

So let's say that you don't want to spend that long grinding your way up to the required level to finish the story. Let's say you'd prefer to move a little more quickly, and who could blame you? You're busy. Yep, there's a purchase for you. You can permanently boost the amount of money and experience you earn with a handy item in the game's premium shop. Cosmetic it is not:

Assassins creed OdysseyCredit: Ubisoft

On its surface, it doesn't actually pose a massive problem: you pay for time and convenience, an argument that other developers have used in the past. Beneath that, however, the trust that a player has in a game and its developers begins to unravel. Is this game long, you wonder, because it's supposed to be? Is this the length that the developers want me to spend with the game? Or is it long not in spite of the fact that its annoying but because of it? Are these levelling gates ways to encourage me to explore the world, or to explore the shop? I'm not sure of the answers to any of these questions, mind you, but the thing is: I'm asking them. And I wouldn't be asking them if it wasn't because of microtransactions.

A player needs to trust a developer on a very basic level in order to play a game. The game tells you that you need to assassinate this character, and you do because you trust that there is more content beyond that mission and the game will continue to progress in an enjoyable manner. You trust that the game will not end after five hours for no real reason. You trust that when the little white bar above the enemy's head goes down, he will die and you will both stop fighting him and earn some sort of reward. That's the basic relationship going on here: reasonable expectations fulfilled.

Microtransactions of this kind erode that trust. There's an enemy that's putting up a hell of a fight: should I spend hours and hours learning the ins and outs of this encounter until I can finally master and overcome it? If I trust the developer, I'll do that. But if there are microtransactions in this game, I can't be assured that I'm actually supposed to be able to beat this enemy, or even that it's reasonably possible. The trust is gone and all of a sudden it's not even fun to master the fight, knowing it may have just been there to push me to a store.

And that's the case with the microtransactions in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. It's an excellent game, and there's something nice about the way levelling gates force me to slow down and explore the world. Or at least there would be if I knew that's why they were there.

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2018/10/04/microtransactions-in-assassins-creed-odyssey-call-its-epic-length-into-serious-question/

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