The newest AC certainly seems an interesting beast, trying a whole lot of new things. But outside of extensive RPG elements and improvements to story, it should be noted how much AC has done to represent it’s setting- Greece.
Reportedly not only did Ubisoft take a lot of time not only to shot Greek landscapes in an attempt to make the game feel right, but also they hired a lot of Greek actors for voice-acting to get that authentic feel to the game. Both voiced protagonists are voiced by Greek actors Melissanthi Mahut and Michael Antonakos.
Now of course, modern Greece being hugely multicultural, a whole lot of these people have very varied ancestry- Turkish, Hungarian, Egyptian etc. but then again 5 century BCE Greece wasn’t monocultural either. This is a step in the right direction, between Odyessey and Skull & Bones diving deep into the cultural space the games draw from, it’s a really nice bit of representation.
“We really felt like it was a nice opportunity for us to have a deep dive into the culture of Greece and obviously Ancient Greece. You can have a great actor who’s great at accents, and that’s fantastic, but you can also find great Greek actors and work with them too” said Lydia Andrew, the game’s director, which is a sentiment not nearly popular enough with large productions like this.
Of course, I’m slightly skeptical about the whole thing. We wouldn’t want another Hobbit situation here. You know what I’m talking about Warner Bros. One can hope these actors were actually paid fair wages comparable to those their colleagues would receive abroad, but sadly hope is all I can have in this regard.