An optional mode in Assassin's Creed Odyssey makes the daunting journey of Ubisoft's latest open-world adventure markedly more accessible for folks like me who can't sink 15 hours into a game before it really gets good. It allows the player to quickly experience the game's novel and inventive upgrades, while doing away with the grind that even the most enthusiastic critics have cited as an irritating blight.
Unfortunately, Odyssey's creators have burdened the mode with a price tag — and the stigma that comes with it.
Named "Permanent XP Boost," the option is purchasable through Odyssey's in-game digital storefront. It's found under the Time Savers tab — a winking label that, read cynically, all but concedes that the vanilla game doesn't value your time as best it could.
For 1,000 Helix Credits ($9.99), the Permanent XP Boost gives the player 50 percent extra experience points for the remainder of the campaign. Accumulated XP raises the hero's level and, with each level, they receive ability points that can be spent to unlock not just the best combat moves that Odyssey has to offer, but a number of quality-of-life settings that make for a more enjoyable experience.
For example, the series is known for stealthy assassinations (it's called Assassin's Creed!). But in Odyssey, you can't insta-assassinate a character if they're too far above your level. Say your character is level 8 and the enemy is level 11. You can barely scratch them; your dagger lands with the impact of a soggy toothpick.
Permanent XP Boost changes that. Not only does your level rise faster, you also unlock dramatically more powerful assassination moves earlier in the campaign. Which is to say, using the $10 option makes Alexios or Kassandra more likely to be the same level as their target, and gives your character stronger moves to deal a lethal blow rather than a torpid poke. You're paying for Ubisoft to make you feel like the hero you should be in this sort of game.
This gets at a frustrating point: Odyssey feels more like an Assassin's Creed game with this option purchased than it does without. The mode doesn't just make Odyssey more accessible; it makes it altogether more enjoyable.
Permanent XP Boost isn't only meant for busy teenagers and overworked adults; it's the right option for anybody who wants to avoid Odyssey's nastiest flaw: the need to grind through repetitive fights in order to accumulate XP that unlocks the best stuff the game has to offer, or even just to see the ending. I wish every oversized video game had a similar option.
But charging players more to enjoy the game at their own pace is shameful and backward. As games strive to retain players for hundreds of hours in order to increase in-app purchases and decrease trade-ins, it's disappointing that those of us who want to experience a game at a reasonable pace have to foot the bill. It's not that paying the $10 fee makes Odyssey a bit quicker; it's that the game's pace suddenly feels respectful, exhilarating and right once you do. The choice isn't between standard and faster — it's between worse and better.
Ubisoft could make the mode free with a patch, or tweak the base game to be more generous with its XP and upgrades, but it has a financial incentive not to do so. Until the publisher makes a change, the best way to play Assassin's Creed Odyssey costs extra. And paying the toll only encourages the publisher to continue hawking Time Savers rather than respect every player's time.
More: https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/4/17936292/assassins-creed-odyssey-xp-boost-price
