Petting Animals / Taming Cats
Assassin’s Creed Origins is the biggest open-world the series has ever seen. It’s utterly massive, twice as big as Assassin’s Creed Black Flag, but with a landscape that is almost entirely land and packed full of things to discover. As you would expect, in between immersing yourself in the narrative of its gripping main campaign and engaging side quests, there’s a whole bunch of cool side activities to enjoy. Here we’re taking a look at some of these fun distractions that really flesh out the world of Origins and make its setting feel like a dynamic, living breathing place full of emergent gameplay.
You’ve no doubt seen this adorable interaction in gameplay presentations already, but for those that haven’t, here’s the thing: you can pet little kitties and have them follow you about. Yep, that’s right. And just like real life cats, these feline companions have a mind all of their own, sometimes choosing to come and greet you with affection, whilst other times totally ignoring your best efforts to show them some love.
Cats were, of course, a huge part of Egyptian culture – as was zoolatry on the whole – and they’re scattered all across the open-world of Assassin’s Creed Origins. You’ll find most of them in the urban areas such as Memphis, so make sure you stop by and take the time to pet them.
Aerial Shots with Senu
Bayek’s trusty eagle companion, Senu, forms an important new scouting-and-tagging mechanic in Assassin’s Creed Origins. By flying Senu high above enemy outposts, Bayek is able to tag their location to keep track of them while stealthing around. It’s a cool system that we’ve seen employed in Ubisoft games like Far Cry, and it has since been adopted by several other big franchises, such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Metal Gear Solid. But while those games are all undoubtedly gorgeous, none of them quite match the grand spectacle of Assassin’s Creed Origins’ Ancient Egyptian setting.
The glistening desert sands, the towering pyramids of Giza, and the awe-inspiring Sphynx statues — Origins is a beautiful environment worth savoring. For that very reason, don’t limit yourself to using Senu merely as a combat tool. Send Senu up into the air over the landscape’s most impressive vistas and get trigger happy taking pretty screenshots of this breathtaking spectacle.
Instigate Battles Between Animals (and People)
Petting kitties is a relaxing distraction, certainly, but if you’re in the mood to use your Seer skills to a more sinister end, we’d suggest a great deal of entertainment is to be had instigating fights between animals. Ever wondered who would win out of a crocodile and a lion? Origins has you covered with its animal taming mechanic, allowing players to sleep dart an animal, tame it, and then lead it into battle. Some hilarious experimentation can be had pitting various creatures against each other. Fun fact: don’t mess with Hippos.
Even more entertaining still is using your taming abilities to buddy up with crocodiles and hippos, sending them into battle against unsuspecting enemy guards. Watch from afar as even high-level armored enemies struggle to deal with angry crocs snapping at their heels.
Underwater Combat
Perhaps one of the most intense and frightening experiences you can have in Assassin’s Creed Origins is taking on aquatic life in underwater combat. Swimming generally feels really great in Origins, and battling crocodiles in the murky waters of the Nile is an exciting, albeit terrifying, distraction that you should definitely experience. A battle with one slippery customer can quickly become a frantic slug versus multiple creatures from all angles in exhilarating sequences. Not for the faint-hearted!
Go Star Gazing
Even fairly early into your adventure with Bayek, if you have taken the time to roam some of the desert plains around Memphis then you might have noticed the mysterious stone circles on the ground. These circles are linked to memories that Bayek has of his son and form a side quest that leads to a long-hidden Egyptian secret.
We won’t spoil anything for you, but quite apart from the quest itself being an absolute joy to play, there’s some relaxing star-gazing to be had along the way. Wander the peaceful, silent, and very dark desert nights and take the time to gaze up at the gorgeous starlit sky to take in its beauty. Origins easily has one of the most beautiful nighttime skies we’ve ever seen in a video game, so make sure you go out and enjoy it.
Assassination Contracts
As you would expect in an action role-playing game, progression through combat forms a key part of the gameplay loop in Assassin’s Creed Origins. Unlike games in the series gone by, each time you engage in combat with an enemy you’ll be rewarded with XP, which then count towards your level and ultimately the skills that can be unlocked via ability points. But you aren’t limited to grinding combat encounters against low-level thugs, or for that matter, high-level thugs that simply have more health and attack strength than their weaker cohorts.
Instead, you can go hunting for roaming bosses via assassination contracts. These bosses are high-level, powerful enemies that are varied both in appearance and abilities. There’s also a cool backstory for each contract, too, adding interesting lore that often relates to the game’s main story or various side quests. Contracts make for a nice change of pace in between the more narrative-driven section of the game and can be tackled in whatever order you choose.
