- Ubisoft has changed part
of Assassin's Creed Odyssey
after some fan outcry
over a controversial scene
in the game's downloadable expansion.
Just a head's up, that to
show you what happened,
we need to spoil Assassin's
Creed Odyssey's DLC.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey's second episode,
Shadow Heritage, for the DLC
Legacy of the First Blade,
introduced a mandatory
heterosexual relationship
between Kassandra or Alexios,
and the proto-assassin
Darius' kid, Natakas or Neema.
If you play as Kassandra, Natakas exists,
and you wind up in a
relationship with him.
If you're Alexios, then Neema
is in your character's life.
At the end of Shadow Heritage,
your character appears to
have a child with them.
This wouldn't be a big
deal for most games,
but prior to the release,
Odyssey's developers
made a point of saying
players would have agency in determining
who they wanted to have
romantic relationships with,
and would let them play as
gay, straight, or bisexual,
as they so chose.
Some fans felt betrayed, and
the developers apologized.
The game's latest patch
introduces minor changes
to the romantic ending.
First, what has not changed:
Alexios or Kassandra briefly
muse about settling down
and perhaps even starting a family,
and they spend a lot of
time with Neema or Natakas.
There are dialogue
choices that let players
try to keep the interactions
from being overly flirtatious,
but despite the choices laid out
during certain dialogue sequences,
it always ends with Alexios or Kassandra
settling down with Neema
or Natakas, respectively,
and having a child.
Here's what has changed.
One option now has a heart next to it,
suggesting that this is
clearly the romantic option.
If the player decides to
let Natakas or Neema leave,
they find a letter behind from them
that confesses their fondness
for Kassandra or Alexios.
A montage follows.
Prior to the patch, that montage ended
with Alexios or Kassandra lovingly leaning
on Neema or Natakas while
sitting on the roof.
That roof moment is still there if you ask
Neema or Natakas to stay with you
during a potential farewell a
few minutes earlier on a dock.
It has been replaced by a black screen
if you have not asked
them to stay with you.
The only other noticeable
change is the last interaction
between the main character
and their love interest.
Neema or Natakas ask Alexios or Kassandra
to promise them that this
is their new life and home.
Prior to the patch, the options
included a romantic choice,
and the presumably
non-romantic choice that reads,
"I chose this life to have a family."
Post-patch, the non-romantic
option now reads,
"I chose this life to
secure the bloodline."
The secondary option is now
more clearly utilitarian,
although no changes were
made to the actual dialogue
that comes after selecting it.
In addition to reaching that ending,
players got a trophy titled Growing Up,
that has now been changed
to Blood of Leonidas.
