- Arbitrary access to the real world story arc and a fleshed out Animus user that provides a narrative hook for the player.
- The bleeding effect is back. Useless, but still there. It was probably missing in AC:Unity because they couldn't work it in.
- The original artifacts and no sages or blood drops or lightning swords or teleportation camel saddles (ok I made the last one up, but why not after the AC:Unity sword)
- Eagle sense is a LITERAL EAGLE circling above you, how cool and fresh is that?
- No camelcr*p eagle sense gimmicks like "smell-sense" from AC:Unity
- Completely figurative assassination cut-scenes and farcryesque, hallucinogenic dream sequences that feel more like a visual poem / eagle-sense-fever-dream than an FX-happy intern's post processing assignment.
- Heatstrokes
- "OMG is the Sphinx really that small?"
- Everything from the AC logo to the finger cutting practice get an origin story, which is a nice touch. Also the point of the title of the game. Obviously.
- Animus glitches are Egyptian Gods' personifications.
- No "income system with a lazy backstory because Ezio was a landlord" (I'm still looking at you Unity)
- Brutus

It's as if... It's as if Ubisoft was listening to the reviews. AC:Origins fixes everything I hated with a passion in AC:Unity.
BUT

- New game plus is a joke (you can practically jump right to the second play-through by turning the auto-level enemies on and playing at hard difficulty.)

- UI is confused about its relationship with Layla. Is it her Animus interface or is it the actual game's interface? Animus hacking and new game plus do not belong to the same narrative level. OR IS LAYLA'S STORY ANOTHER LAYER OF A SIMULATION? (cue in the Inception Bwah)

- Really, really on the nose dialogue along the lines of "we are assassins and our creed will live on... *wink wink*". Only thing missing in certain scenes is Bayek staring right into the camera like Jim Halpert from the Office, along with a snap zoom.

- I guess it was designed to be this fateful saga in the AC universe that sets everything in motion, but I think it was too spread-out in general and too on the nose when it was emphasized.

Well I'm knitpicking.

Story-wise it's still not anywhere near the Desmond story arc, but it's a way more dignified continuation than churning out new things like the sages or whatever the f*ck that stupid sword was in AC:U out of thin air to replace the currently expired elements. It doesn't frustrate like AC:U because AC:O is either taking elements from the previous games by making it obvious (like the artifacts), or trying something new like the Eagle-eagle-sense.

It's self contained. The characters are appealing. It's a specific, personal and fresh little story. Starts violently and ends with a powerful historic scene.

Fair enough Ubisoft, you won me back.

[h1]Pros[/h1] - Arbitrary access to the real world story arc and a fleshed out Animus user that provides a narrative hook for the player. - The bleeding effect is back. Useless, but still there. It was probably missing in AC:Unity because they couldn't work it in. - The original artifacts and no sages or blood drops or lightning swords or teleportation camel saddles (ok I made the last one up, but why not after the AC:Unity sword) - Eagle sense is a LITERAL EAGLE circling above you, how cool and fresh is that? - No camelcr*p eagle sense gimmicks like "smell-sense" from AC:Unity - Completely figurative assassination cut-scenes and farcryesque, hallucinogenic dream sequences that feel more like a visual poem / eagle-sense-fever-dream than an FX-happy intern's post processing assignment. - Heatstrokes - "OMG is the Sphinx really that small?" - Everything from the AC logo to the finger cutting practice get an origin story, which is a nice touch. Also the point of the title of the game. Obviously. - Animus glitches are Egyptian Gods' personifications. - No "income system with a lazy backstory because Ezio was a landlord" (I'm still looking at you Unity) - Brutus It's as if... It's as if Ubisoft was listening to the reviews. AC:Origins fixes everything I hated with a passion in AC:Unity. [b]BUT[/b] [h1]Cons[/h1] - New game plus is a joke (you can practically jump right to the second play-through by turning the auto-level enemies on and playing at hard difficulty.) - UI is confused about its relationship with Layla. Is it her Animus interface or is it the actual game's interface? Animus hacking and new game plus do not belong to the same narrative level. OR IS LAYLA'S STORY ANOTHER LAYER OF A SIMULATION? [b](cue in the Inception Bwah)[/b] - Really, really on the nose dialogue along the lines of "we are assassins and our creed will live on... [i]*wink wink*[/i]". Only thing missing in certain scenes is Bayek staring right into the camera like Jim Halpert from the Office, along with a snap zoom. - I guess it was designed to be this fateful saga in the AC universe that sets everything in motion, but I think it was too spread-out in general and too on the nose when it was emphasized. Well I'm knitpicking. Story-wise it's still not anywhere near the Desmond story arc, but it's a way more dignified continuation than churning out new things like the sages or whatever the f*ck that stupid sword was in AC:U out of thin air to replace the currently expired elements. It doesn't frustrate like AC:U because AC:O is either taking elements from the previous games by making it obvious (like the artifacts), or trying something new like the [i]Eagle[/i]-eagle-sense. It's self contained. The characters are appealing. It's a specific, personal and fresh little story. Starts violently and ends with a powerful historic scene. Fair enough Ubisoft, you won me back.