The third and final episode of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s first expansion, Legacy of the First Blade, delivers an enjoyable, somewhat formulaic, conclusion despite the sour taste left by Shadow Heritage’s ending. A patch, which sought to address the criticisms of this ending, made two very minor tweaks yet these have no effect on Bloodline, with Kassandra and Natakas’ relationship and parenthood remaining unchanged.
The opening mission’s dwell on Kassandra’s quiet family life with Natakas and their son Elipdios as she revels in their solitude and potters around Dyme. This calm is soon broken when Amorges and The Order catch up with you, taking your child and leaving devastation in their wake. Confronting Amorges to abolishing The Order once and for all and retrieving her child acts as Kassandra’s motivation throughout Bloodline.
However, settling down, parenthood and heterosexuality are all antithetical to my Kassandra, so this impetus felt wholly artificial. Thankfully, my investment in Darius and The Order kept me invested through Bloodline’s 3-4 hour story. Kassandra’s uncharacteristic concern as mutters worriedly to herself and calls out her child’s is consistently frustrating and distracting, and this forced narrative device dilutes the overall experience. The conclusion of Darius and The Order’s story is sufficiently satisfying although rather unsurprising and anticlimactic, not helped by an uninspired final boss fight.
Amorges is an enigmatic antagonist but much like The Tempest lacks any real substance. A brief encounter with one of his acolytes, Gergis the Magi, this episode’s most meaningful and insightful interaction. Your discussion with Gergis, which highlights the game’s well written dialogue, explores the necessity and greater function of your conflict, sparking introspection into your assumed role as the hero of this narrative. However, Kassandra’s parenthood is at odds with this role, feeling like a cheap and unnecessary way to further humanise her and incentive her journey. A closing cinematic does explain Elipdios’ inclusion, tying Odyssey and Origins together, but this is only further proof of his singular function as a plot device.
Bloodline’s familiar structure has you aiding allies and assassinating members of The Order around Messenia, bolstering your forces and weakening Amorges’ before the final confrontation. While predictable, the same solid gameplay keeps the fairly generic blend of missions engaging with a good mix of combat, stealth and naval battles. New ability “Fury of the Bloodline” proves relatively useless, inflicting very little damage and only serving only to fill your adrenaline meter. Equally, some flashy new gear like the Sword of Kings and the Golden Harbinger are ultimately superfluous, offering little incentive to change-up your tried and true weapon configuration.
Bloodline is a good conclusion considering the narrative missteps caused by Shadow Heritage’s ending. The stellar writing and compelling gameplay systems of the core game see this otherwise conventional final episode through to its conclusion. Overall, Legacy of the First Blade may not deliver on the promise set by its excellent first episode; Hunted, but there is enough quality content in both gameplay developments and lore-enriching storytelling for it to ultimately be a worthwhile expansion.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Legacy of the First Blade: Bloodline
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Overall - Very Good - 7.3/107.3/10
Summary
Bloodline’s story struggles to recover from Shadow Heritage’s ending but despite this, does a good job bringing Darius and Amorges to a satisfying conclusion. The core game’s same strong writing and gameplay mechanics keep this enjoyable yet formulaic final episode together, while new additions in the form of gear and the Fury of the Bloodline ability prove superfluous.
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Reviewed using PS4 Pro.
