Rating: 9.5/10

Let me start with initial impressions. Installed. Clicked Play. Showed CD issue and I was like WTF. Ubisoft scams are real!? Thanks to discussion thread, I was able to figure out and launch game from .exe as fix! Smooth sail? No, The High Seas provide much smoother experience than Ubisoft does.

Micro Transactions? Yes.
But very non intrusive. You get some free credits to begin with (I got 1200 helix). You can buy weapons and cosmetics for Player and Mount. Except Abyssal Steed (Flaming Horse), I didn't find anything better or overpowered than what you get for free in game. I was able to grab that Horse, Gladiator Pack, and Time Saver pack (marks important location in map) after extensive research during their in-game sale, without spending anything extra. I understand why everyone, including me, hates microtransaction but if its implemented in such a way that won't limit you and make the actual game more affordable for masses, I think its alright. Plus you get many fantastic cosmetics from their trash launcher free right from beginning. I found them much better than the micro transaction skins lol.

I started with few Discovery Tours before campaign. I recommend you do "Alexandria" tour at least to understand historical context of game. Takes less than few hours and sets mood for the main game.

This is AC Origins. The beginning. As a classic AC veteran, few moments felt emotional. Game is true to its nature despite being RPG. It's an excellent game.
I was unsure and not confident with AC being RPG would suit me but it damn was. I am so glad I was so wrong here. RPG makes so much sense in Ancient era. Combat is not free flow dance like classic AC games. But it's still surprisingly fun! 4 different types of bow, 7 different types of sword! All with their separate move sets. For example - Light Bow (think like SMG lol), Predator Bow (sniper), Hunter Bow (assault), Warrior Bow (shotgun XD). Then you got heavy combat melee weapons, fast blades, dual swords, balanced ones, long reach melee weapons and all. On top of this, you have weapon perks and hero upgrades. Lots of them! Like Fire/poison/health on hit! Damage multiplier. Adrenaline recharge (for hero ability). Plus leveling system and you constantly get new weapons every time. You enjoy sadistic loud screams as your fire sword ignites enemy with every hit? You can. Totally insanely. Love it.

And don't get confused, there is good stealth too. You just need to make sure enemy levels are not above yours. Snipe out whole base in night and infiltrate. You play as you like.. easy or hard way. The more side quests you do, the stronger you get vs enemies. Left click and Dodge is all you need to finish the game lol. I'm not into this Shield thing. Map is vast, and Ubisoft open world charm is still there with 183 quests!! (3 were hidden, ask Gemini)

Except few noticeable bugs, Ancient Egypt is really graphically stunning world by Ubisoft. Insane game length. DLCs really well made. Couldn't ask more, Gold Edition - total VFM ✔

I wanna preface by saying that it's my fault for giving money to Ubischeiße®.

For Context, I've played every AC game until Black Flag.
Anyway, I decided to review this after finishing the Deluxe Edition, including the 2 expansions.

The game follows a boilerplate Ubischeiße® revenge story, where the protagonist loses his son in the first 5 minutes of the game. Then as you progress, the game keeps moving the goal posts: "Actually that guy you just killed wasn't the one who murdered your son", "Oh no, actually it was this guy", "Nope it was that other guy".

Gameplay is uninspiring, the combat feels mediocre, the enemies are bullet sponges, and they're always yelling "HEY NOW!" when they detect you. The stealth is meh. Oh, and they still have some damn tailing missions, after all these years, kudos, Ubischeiße®. And then there's the GRIND, this game is so grindy, it's not even remotely funny, you'll spend hours grinding for basic resources to craft armour and tools.

In typical Ubischeiße® fashion, the game prioritises quantity over quality, where they fill the map to the brim with useless BS, such as sync points and other useless items, that is in addition to what feels like a million side quests which are basically all the same; someone got abducted by the big bad guards, you have to infiltrate a fortress, snipe the guards with your bow, extract the prisoner, and carry them to a safe place, where they magically gain the ability to walk again...

The protagonist is so naive, and his relationship with his wife is so toxic, especially since she's basically a bootlicker for authority, authority that keeps betraying her, while the protagonist keeps following her in hopes of repairing their f'd up marriage.

The game is also full of historical inaccuracies, including Ubischeiße®'s choice to depict All Hellenistic Egyptians as one ethnicity that wasn't actually representative of Egyptians in that era, which is questionable, if not malicious.

The game also includes sections of "modern day" or whatever Ubischeiße® calls these days, with an uninspiring protagonist(?) who gets involved with Abstergo. You'd think Ubischeiße®' would cut the BS and stop including these sections after how they ended AC3, but then again they never were the brightest candles in the box.
In any case Abstergo sends soldiers from their Egyptian branch, only for these soldiers to speak Arabic in Gulf dialect, way to go Ubischeiße® with your zero attention to details.

The "origins" aspect is an afterthought, a 10 minutes cutscene in the final half hour of the game, that doesn't really address how the assassins came to be.


The hidden ones is such an epic failure and a waste of money, still doesn't address the origins of the assassins, the story is boring and broken, there's one character that tells you that something you intend to do is bad, only for her to cheer you up and praise you after doing the thing she reprimanded you for 10 minutes earlier.

The curse of the Pharaohs is alright, it tries at least, and the idea of visiting the afterlife regions is creative, of course the execution is still lacklustre, but it showing promise.

hot take: this is the best assassin's creed has to offer after the ezio trilogy and black flag. hands ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ down. the side content is absolutely superb and the side missions of every location tells a story taking place in the many cities or townships this journey takes us. i am in absolute awe of this game. though, it made me deeply upset to see love has to die for the greater cause of ridding the planet of the order but i understand it now. i'm so happy to have finished this game on the last day of 2025—this year was an emotional rollercoaster ride for me and this game reflected that, too. i hope khemu is happy in the field of reeds. i will be returning for the dlcs.