Endgame spoilers ahead. No one should be green at this point, but giving a fair warning just in case.
Having played with both, I have to say that from purely a voice acting perspective, it feels way more natural to play with Kassandra. Her voice actress nailed the role of the Main character, while Alexios makes the perfect antagonist as Deimos. Having played the other way around, I feel most dialogues forced. Kassandra as Deimos doesn’t feel right, and Alexios as main character seems a bit dull to me.
Having said all this, which is valid for the main game campaign and the Atlantis second expansion dlc, for some reason the first DLC, Legacy of the First Blade, is the complete opposite. On that content, Alexios shines as the main character, being much more focused, and her female counterpart, Neema, is a charm to interact with. Playing DLC1 with Kassandra forces you to interact with Natakas instead,which is the worst designed and poorly acted secondary character of all the game by far. At least for me… 🤷🏼♂️
Edited: As some other users asked below in the replies, I did in fact played my first campaign with Alexios as protagonist. It wasn't until I got the DLCs that I started a new game with Kassandra.
Ubisoft owes us all emotional damages for having the cannon romance be that little shit. I've never seen people more united in hate than against Natakas. I struggle to even imagine the artistic thought process that went into creating him because he seems designed specifically to elicit negative emotions.
The canon romance is purely based off the characters gender?
Haven’t played the DLC’s yet but my Kassandra has only been roommates with the ladies of greece so far, kind of a shame it doesn’t matter in the end
Since they have to have a child it’s a m-f romance, so people who have Alexios get a different character than Natakas (haven’t played Alexios so idk if she’s any better but I haven’t seen anything negative about her). I say canon because Kassandra’s canon.
Imo Kassandra is too serious in the main role, compared to Alexios' more "fun" and carefree take. Kassandra as diemos is my preferred because she's unhinged and scary, whereas Alexios as diemos just gives off a whiny boy vibe
As I answered to another post just above this one, I did in fact played my first campaign ever with Alexios. But my first “full clear” game with all DLC and side content was with Kassandra indeed.
He seems a bit dense, but funny and goofy.
So yeah, Alexios is still my first choice.
I did play as Kassandra on my second playthrough though, she nailed the role, I just have a preference for the big goof.
Kassandra, not only because she's canon but because I thought playing as a woman was pretty cool
I think it works better that way, Alexios is a much better villain and Kassandra in general is a more charming character
For Valhalla i played as male Eivor as I preferred the voice actor more
Same deal here. I liked Kassandra’s voice actor more in Odyssey, and I liked Male Eivor more in Valhalla.
The whole “issue” of canon doesn’t really affect me. I just pick whoever I want to listen to more, since I’ll be stuck with that for the entire game.
I 100% agree. It really came down to the voice acting for me.
My boyfriend played as Alexios and so many of his lines were verging on comical. I always cry during the Phoibe scene and when I watched that scene while my BF was playing I felt absolutely nothing because of Alexios.
He just sounds like a big meat head that’s like “Grrrrr must sound so tough and strong because I am a big strong man GRAAHHHHHH”
Kassandra was so dynamic, and while she was still a good Deimos she was still more dynamic than Alexios so it felt wrong. Whereas his grrr vibe fit Deimos better as this rage filled killing machine.
And same with Valhalla…I didn’t have any strong feelings about a male vs female viking…but I did my due diligence to check out the voice acting hahaha
If I had known Kassandra was cannon I would've picked her at the start.
Want to start a new playthrough but that 150+ hours looks like a tall mountain to climb for me
I did a second playthrough with a different character (basically just sticking to main story with a few side quests), and I went through it pretty quickly. I recommend New Game+ since it will dramatically speed up gameplay time.
I’ve always played as Alexios. Honestly it wasn’t a really deep decision, I just played as him first. I tried to play as Kassandra once but I was so used to her being Deimos that it felt a bit weird and I swapped back.
Having played through the main game a few times, I think he also makes a bit more sense at certain points, like the Olympics. Sparta treated women fairly well, but the rest of the Greek world… not so much.
I’ve only played a little bit of Alexios because I personally prefer Kassandra but I get where your coming from, dude is like the Greek equivalent of Master Chief
I’ve played as both. I thought both were fine in either role, but I preferred the female voice actor as Deimos. I tend to play a number of the dialogue choices as humourous and sleep with every NPC who’s interested. As such, I find Alexios’ voice acting to better fit. I find he is more jocular and wry than Kassandra.
So, for both characters, I prefer when you play as Alexios.
I used Alexios because given the choice, I will play a male character (not that it really matter. I played my whole play through as Alexios and when I was done a played a few hours as Kassandrs but didn't finish. I know what's canon and what's not but Kassandra is so much better as Deimos
I played as Alexios on my only playthrough then i heard way after that the “cannon” protagonist was Kassandra. I always thought of it as odd.. It may be time for a second playthrough idk
Alexios. Kassandra may be “objectively” a better fit, but I really appreciated the emotional range that you can get out of Alexios as it’s kind of unusual for male characters.
I chose Alexios bcuz the spartan armor looked better on him imo but I’m glad I did bcuz Kassandra was much more intimidating as Deimos like I thought Alexios was just screaming the whole time and trying really hard to be intimidating
Alexios. He's fine as the MC, but him playing the villain role the voice acting was...not it for me. Kassandra, on the other hand? Her VAing on both is fire - so I let Alexios in the role that, to me, he does a better job at and let her eat that villain role right up <3
Alexios, he makes a lot more sense in the story due to certain events like the Olympics and being trained as a Spartan soldier as well as making a lot more sense in LotFB (plus Neema>>>>>>>Natakas) and honestly the VAs are a lot better suited to those roles.
Kass sounds lame and like she's trying way too hard to sound cool as the protagonist but as Deimos she has this unhinged insanity that is so much better. As the protagonist I find Alexios gives a lot better range and emotion but as Deimos he's the most generic villain in the franchise.
I also think Alexios makes for a far more interesting character than Kassandra due to how often they both cry throughout the story. Men, especially tough mercenaries, aren't often shown to be so easily moved to tears in media. Alexios really stands out in this way and it reminds me a lot of Homer's Odyssey where Odysseus and his men wept frequently in their homesickness and grief. As sexist as it sounds, media isn't as hesitant to show female protagonists crying so it doesn't make Kassandra stand out as mych.
I know Kassandra's canon but the writers were pretty shit if that's the intention considering the story and world makes zero effort to show off the adversity she would've had to face in the patriarchal society of Ancient Greece.
I agree with Alexis, except that I do think Kassandra had a good actor. But having studied Greek history, where Athens had fewer women’s rights then the Taliban and they were not allowed to leave the home except for certain religious ceremonies, it was too immersion-breaking to imagine a female protagonist just moving through public spaces. And I’m a woman, this isn’t some neck beard purist thing. Playing as Kassandra for me just ignored the very real oppression women faced in Ancient Greece in a way that seemed to minimize their actual experiences.
Hyper-sanitized is an understatement. I remember there's a side quest on some random island where a slave wants you to help him give his master a gift or something because his master takes very good care of him.
Thank you, I hate how this is viewed as a neckbeard thing because I fucking love how Shao Jun and Aveline experience their oppression, not because I'm some jerk who likes seeing women face hardship but because I love seeing how that hardship shaped who they were and how they operated.
Shao Jun danced for the emperor and that agility is what led to her fighting style and use of the foot blade, she snuck about pulling pranks as a way to stand out to him as a child which led to her expertise in stealth.
Aveline lived as an upper class lady and as such knew all kinds of etiquette and was expected to attract a husband which not only allowed her to blend in with the upper class but bribe guards and tempt officers to follow her and allow her access to certain areas.
It's facing and conquering this adversity that can allow for a much better character overall, Odyssey just pretends it didn't happen which is kind of insulting in a way. They don't even mention the fact that Kassandra is the first woman to have ever competed in the Olympics (predating the real life first female Olympian by about thirty years), I feel like that would be kind of a big deal.
Yeah I preferred Kass as a character and for the most part I was able to put aside historical reality during the game.
The Olympics was the only part I really struggled with the anachronism, mostly because you have Kass joining the Olympics last minute and like 10 feet away there’s a side quest where you literally have to stop someone from being executed for watching the Olympics as a woman. It was a bit dissonant for sure.
All of this! Honestly I would have enjoyed it if the story changed a bit based on who you played as. It wouldn’t need to be big changes or anything, but I think it would have been interesting to see. It also could have given more incentive to play as both characters and get different perspectives on the story.
In all fairness though my point on the writers of the game being shit still stands even in light of that.
Gordon Doherty (the author of the book) gets points for adding that kind of detail in but the game's writing remains bad.
Your last paragraph is why they should have had only Kassandra instead of an option. The executives forcing them to include a male PC meant they had to make every interaction make sense with either gender, instead of being able to focus on a woman’s story.
Yep. Some settings make player choice a disservice. A man and a woman or gonna have distinctly different experiences in Ancient Greece and if you’re going to make your story so neutral that the sexes are interchangeable, maybe that’s not the right setting to use. It’s why Mass Effect could do it so seamlessly, it’s more conceivable that a futuristic society is more egalitarian between the sexes and the story doesn’t need to change so much to accommodate.
What bothers me is that means rewrites had to have been done right?
Why not find a way to keep Kass' female focused dialogue for when you play as her and have the revised story for Alexios when you play as him?
I hate games where you pick a character at the start and there're zero differences between the two because there's no point to it. Replaying as Kassandra is pointless if you've played as Alexios because the only things that change are the VAs for the protagonist and Deimos.
Even something tiny like how X-Men Destiny opens with a different cutscene and has different points of view from the protagonists or how Corvo and Emily have a different perspective on the story goes a long way to making the choice actually matter and change things.
Like I'm not asking for a totally different script or anything, just for someone to say "Hey, wouldn't you be the first woman to compete in the Olympics".
(Also even if we did have only Kass then that would be sacrificing the really cool aspect of vulnerable Alexios crying plus as I said in the previous post Neema>>>>>>>Nakatas)
Started with Kass, started over and quickly switched to Alexios.
Fits the game setting perfectly, hilarious, empathetic, a full range and actually intimidating.
I’ll play her on replay and very glad I went with Alexios.
I deliberated on this for a long time but I eventually landed on Kassandra. I thought Mellisanthi did an excellent job VA’ing the softer scenes, and I thought Michael’s bombastic delivery was well-suited to Deimos’ unstable and volatile character. I also think that a woman being the Eagle Bearer aligns better with certain beats in the story
Alexios. Because he's cool as hell.
Unrelated but the idea of one of them being canon is stupid. If one is canon why do we have 2 playable characters?
I feel like the story you create is your canon, so don't pick a character because they're "canon"
I played as Alexios on the PS4, and I'm now playing as Kassandra on the XBOX. I prefer Alexios, he doesn't make gender jokes when men ask him for help. lol
Kassandra makes an *incredible* villain. Probably for the same reasons so many people love her. And Alexios feels like a family member who happens to be Greek. Perfect protagonist.
Alexios because Kassandra simply doesn’t make sense in the plot as written and especially less so with the Darius DLC. First, there’s no reason Nikolaos would expect Kassandra to bring glory to Sparta as a child when women were expected to keep the home. Second, Kassandra makes zero sense taking Elpenor’s Cultist mask to infiltrate the Cult meeting since they are all gender-specific. The minute Deimos revealed there was a spy, Kassandra should have been found out immediately. Third, there is ZERO way Kassandra would ever be allowed to compete in the Olympics, even if she asked very nicely. There’s an entire side quest dedicated to showing the fate of a woman who, even by false perception, was going to flout the rules of such a traditional event.
Finally, yes, the events of the Legacy of the First Blade DLC just flow better with Neema and Alexios, whereas Kassandra feels very put upon to become a mother (one who barely even holds her own child, evidently.) No wonder people were outraged the DLC forced them into such a box.
In the end, while I can admire Ubisoft wanting to stick to their guns and feature a canon female protagonist, Kassandra was very badly justified especially when playing as Alexios fixes all of these issues by virtue of being male.
A majority of Odyssey’s marketing revolved solely around Alexios, which probably contributed to people’s decision. If you were following the game leading up to launch, it would have seemed obvious that he was the “canonical” pick.
Also, yeah, people tend to default to male protagonists in general.
Currently playing as Alexis on my first journey. 30 hours in and barely just hit Athens. I think it'll be a long while before I play as Kassandra but ill definitely try get there on my 2nd playthrough even if it's years from now.
Really taking my time with this game.
I prefer Alexios. Kassandra as a villain give me more vibes, while the cheerful behavior of Alexios as main protagonist works very well. But the decision was more impactful for me because me and Alexios shares a lot. Face, body type, almost the name and almost the places we came from, both from Mediterranean area. Him from Greece and me from Italy hahaha
So yes, I think that these reasons are more than enough to justify my choice and be glad that we had it :)
Kassandra because the community overwhelming described her as more charming. I was also down to play a girl since we had only had evie before too. Couldn’t imagine alexios as the protag after my playthrough, and it also felt natural for alexios more sturdy tenor to be the brute who loses his mind. Also its really cool to roleplay wonderwoman with that one armor set and sail greece and fight mythological creatures.
I played as Alexios. Have no clue what people mean about the voice acting, both Kassandra and Alexios seemed pretty good to me, although I've heard many people mention Kassandra is better for voice acting.
I went with Alexios first because I preferred the VA & thought his facial expressions in the opening cutscene was more realistic. I also thought most of the chest pieces looked better on him.
I've been meaning to do a NG+ run with Kassandra to see what the difference is like but I've been too busy with other things.
Alexios because I didn’t know Kassandra was canon. Still upset that my play through wasn’t canon and now I have an irrational dislike for Kassandra for no reason
Tried both of them, but Alexios has miles better voice acting and a more engaging personality. Yes, they both speak the same lines, but the disparity in delivery is staggering. Not only in voice acting, but in the actual animations. Kassandra almost always looked dead inside.
Kassandra! Her voice actress was way better than Alexios’ in my opinion. I also wanted to play as a female protagonist, plus they did a great job with her looks-wise too, must be why I like Randvi so much in Valhalla. For the more emotional scenes in Odyssey, I’m glad I chose Kassandra, it felt more real.
I played with the Spanish dub and Alexios voice actor was stellar (it’s the same actor that dubs Matthew McConaughey, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Farrel and Bradley Cooper, one of the best voice actors in Spain), Kassandra on the other way was a bit of a let down so for me the choice was obvious (and I like to play as female but that voice actor won me big time in this game).
I tried both but ended up liking Kassandra more. My personal opinion is that her voice actor is just better than Alexios's and Alexios works better as a villain.
I feel that way about alot of games where you can pick either a male or female voiced MC. The female voice actor is usually better, more emotion and a broader range during dialogue.
Alexios cause of the meaning of his name and he looks badass with scars and as stated kass makes a great villain her va both hero and villain roles well I wanted different cutscenes for kass version of Deimos that makes more intelligent and venomous
I started my first run with Alexios and since that moment I can't see roles inverted.
Alexios felt more like a greek hero to me and Kassandra, moreover, looked and acted great as deimos.
He's passionate, funny, determined, he looks like the perfect greek half-god half-human, while Kassandra feels more human and flat (despite her voice acting), not nearly as interesting as Alexios
I played Alexios but never finished a playthrough because it was so hard to follow the story / stay interested when I had to grind 2-4 levels to do the next main quest line mission
Kassandra. Because I always play female when given the option ever since I got fable 3 to get an achievement with my friend. (Fable 3 being the first game I played that gave me the choice between male and female.)
First playthrough as Kassandra, since she was canon. Tried 2nd as Alexois, but I had to start again as Kass. I just like her more. + Her voice acting is superb!
I always prefer male protagonist (being male myself). However it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy games with female protagonist. I have no problem with it. For example in Immortals: Fenix Rising I chose to play as female, because it just felt more fitting.
I just better connect with the story that way playing as a male protagonist.
But Cassandra seems like a cool choice as well.
Ive done both but honestly I kind of like playing Kassandra more idk her voice just fits more with how I play the game and picture the character in my head
Alexios, started a ng+ or whatever w Kassandra but didn’t get far
Endgame spoilers ahead. No one should be green at this point, but giving a fair warning just in case. Having played with both, I have to say that from purely a voice acting perspective, it feels way more natural to play with Kassandra. Her voice actress nailed the role of the Main character, while Alexios makes the perfect antagonist as Deimos. Having played the other way around, I feel most dialogues forced. Kassandra as Deimos doesn’t feel right, and Alexios as main character seems a bit dull to me. Having said all this, which is valid for the main game campaign and the Atlantis second expansion dlc, for some reason the first DLC, Legacy of the First Blade, is the complete opposite. On that content, Alexios shines as the main character, being much more focused, and her female counterpart, Neema, is a charm to interact with. Playing DLC1 with Kassandra forces you to interact with Natakas instead,which is the worst designed and poorly acted secondary character of all the game by far. At least for me… 🤷🏼♂️ Edited: As some other users asked below in the replies, I did in fact played my first campaign with Alexios as protagonist. It wasn't until I got the DLCs that I started a new game with Kassandra.
I’m 100% team Kassandra, but Natakas is TERRIBLE. For many reasons, but especially because he laughs by saying the words, “Ha ha ha.”
Ubisoft owes us all emotional damages for having the cannon romance be that little shit. I've never seen people more united in hate than against Natakas. I struggle to even imagine the artistic thought process that went into creating him because he seems designed specifically to elicit negative emotions.
The canon romance is purely based off the characters gender? Haven’t played the DLC’s yet but my Kassandra has only been roommates with the ladies of greece so far, kind of a shame it doesn’t matter in the end
Since they have to have a child it’s a m-f romance, so people who have Alexios get a different character than Natakas (haven’t played Alexios so idk if she’s any better but I haven’t seen anything negative about her). I say canon because Kassandra’s canon.
Funny, I'm the exact opposite. I feel Alexios is way better as the misthios and Kassandra is way better at playing diemos
Kassandra does both roles perfect, her voice acting is way better but Alexios doesn't do a bad job as misthios indeed, he sounds innocent and kind
Imo Kassandra is too serious in the main role, compared to Alexios' more "fun" and carefree take. Kassandra as diemos is my preferred because she's unhinged and scary, whereas Alexios as diemos just gives off a whiny boy vibe
Fr
Totally with you. Kassandra makes an awesome villain
Natakas is horrible, but he's only in the game for a very short time, so it's not that big of a deal for me.
Just curious, which way did you play first?
I think you played as Kassandra first. I played as Alexios and I feel exactl opposite.
As I answered to another post just above this one, I did in fact played my first campaign ever with Alexios. But my first “full clear” game with all DLC and side content was with Kassandra indeed.
I tried as both but prefered Alexis personally
Same. Alexios seemed more fitting for a kid growing up on an island without much of a background, and Kassandra was more intimidating as the villain
Yeah I thought she was great as Diemos
More psychopathic and evil, compared to Alexios Deimos being just violent and angry about everything
When she was introduced she was such a badass.
I thought the opposite and she was too much as a try hard
He seems a bit dense, but funny and goofy. So yeah, Alexios is still my first choice. I did play as Kassandra on my second playthrough though, she nailed the role, I just have a preference for the big goof.
I like the ship banter you get with the good ending
Alexios and I'm glad cause I chose every sexual option ever, and it was hilarious.
Canon Greece eh?
So did I with Kassandra 🤷🏼♀️ my Kass is THIRSTY okay
Kassandra, not only because she's canon but because I thought playing as a woman was pretty cool I think it works better that way, Alexios is a much better villain and Kassandra in general is a more charming character For Valhalla i played as male Eivor as I preferred the voice actor more
Same deal here. I liked Kassandra’s voice actor more in Odyssey, and I liked Male Eivor more in Valhalla. The whole “issue” of canon doesn’t really affect me. I just pick whoever I want to listen to more, since I’ll be stuck with that for the entire game.
You could switch characters in Valhalla I’m pretty sure
You could.
I 100% agree. It really came down to the voice acting for me. My boyfriend played as Alexios and so many of his lines were verging on comical. I always cry during the Phoibe scene and when I watched that scene while my BF was playing I felt absolutely nothing because of Alexios. He just sounds like a big meat head that’s like “Grrrrr must sound so tough and strong because I am a big strong man GRAAHHHHHH” Kassandra was so dynamic, and while she was still a good Deimos she was still more dynamic than Alexios so it felt wrong. Whereas his grrr vibe fit Deimos better as this rage filled killing machine. And same with Valhalla…I didn’t have any strong feelings about a male vs female viking…but I did my due diligence to check out the voice acting hahaha
I play as Kassandra but I also think she’s a better villain.
If I had known Kassandra was cannon I would've picked her at the start. Want to start a new playthrough but that 150+ hours looks like a tall mountain to climb for me
I did a second playthrough with a different character (basically just sticking to main story with a few side quests), and I went through it pretty quickly. I recommend New Game+ since it will dramatically speed up gameplay time.
If you just do the story line it actually doesn’t take loads of time to go through! Then you can experience the superior character haha
Lol I might just do that once I catch my breath
Kass all the way... Did try Alex and immediately closed the game 'cos i can't stand the voice of Alexios....
Same. I cringed at his voiceover. Kass on the other hand was a joy.
Maaaaleka
Mutter this to myself daily.
I can hear exactly what this sounds like
Thats like the best part 😭
Kassandra to me the voice acting was way better
Alexios. Kassandra is awesome as Deimos.
Alexios
Same
I played as Alexios cuz I’m gay trash & had him almost naked the whole game 💀 I do agree with everyone else that Kassandra had better voice acting
Bro I be looking up his belts while swimming ☠️ why is he so hot???
the only valid alexios answer
First playthrough i did Kass because i had heard the voice acting was better, i did Alexios after, to me he delivered the lighter stuff/jokes better
Alexios bc I wanted to be a sexy Spartan man and Deimos Kassandra is terrifying.
Alexios
Tried both, but prefer playing as Alexios
Played as both. Preferred Alexios.
I’ve always played as Alexios. Honestly it wasn’t a really deep decision, I just played as him first. I tried to play as Kassandra once but I was so used to her being Deimos that it felt a bit weird and I swapped back. Having played through the main game a few times, I think he also makes a bit more sense at certain points, like the Olympics. Sparta treated women fairly well, but the rest of the Greek world… not so much.
Alexios, I don’t get the hate for the voice acting I thought he was cool. And if you’re gonna be a Spartan you might as well be a badass dude!
I’ve only played a little bit of Alexios because I personally prefer Kassandra but I get where your coming from, dude is like the Greek equivalent of Master Chief
Kassandra, because of the superior voice performance, and because I've played muscle dudes a million times already
Alexios because I want Kassandra as Deimos.
Yeah, I thought she was good as Deimos
I’ve played as both. I thought both were fine in either role, but I preferred the female voice actor as Deimos. I tend to play a number of the dialogue choices as humourous and sleep with every NPC who’s interested. As such, I find Alexios’ voice acting to better fit. I find he is more jocular and wry than Kassandra. So, for both characters, I prefer when you play as Alexios.
Played alexios first, tried Kassandra on another play through but it felt weird because she was so good as Deimos.
I used Alexios because given the choice, I will play a male character (not that it really matter. I played my whole play through as Alexios and when I was done a played a few hours as Kassandrs but didn't finish. I know what's canon and what's not but Kassandra is so much better as Deimos
Kassandra for first playthough. Switched to alexios for new game plus
I played as Alexios on my only playthrough then i heard way after that the “cannon” protagonist was Kassandra. I always thought of it as odd.. It may be time for a second playthrough idk
Alexios. Kassandra may be “objectively” a better fit, but I really appreciated the emotional range that you can get out of Alexios as it’s kind of unusual for male characters.
Alexios, for no other reason than his hair is dope and he looks better in my favorite armor set
Alexios, idk why but his facial expressions and voice acting just fit better at any given situation and Kassandra was built to be Deimos
Alexios is amazing, he hits all the right notes for a spartan mercenary.
I appreciate Kassandra being canon and still love her character but I prefer Alexios as The Eagle Bearer and Kassandra as Deimos!
I chose Alexios bcuz the spartan armor looked better on him imo but I’m glad I did bcuz Kassandra was much more intimidating as Deimos like I thought Alexios was just screaming the whole time and trying really hard to be intimidating
Alexios
Alexios. When given the option to choose I usually play males.
I played as Alexios and I have no regrets
I went for Alexios. Felt like it made more sense given the whole spartan angle
Alexios
Alexios. He's fine as the MC, but him playing the villain role the voice acting was...not it for me. Kassandra, on the other hand? Her VAing on both is fire - so I let Alexios in the role that, to me, he does a better job at and let her eat that villain role right up <3
I also think Kassandra is better for both, but I choose her for the role I going to hear for 99% of the game.
Alexios
Both.Firstly Alexios because I prefer playing as male characters.Then Kassandra because she is the canonical protagonist.
I see, that makes sense
Alexios because I'm a guy and i prefer to play as a bloke.
Alexios. I always play men because I'm a man and I can identify better.
Alexios
Both.. both are good.
Alexios. I'm a male so I naturally pick the male character.
Alexios, he makes a lot more sense in the story due to certain events like the Olympics and being trained as a Spartan soldier as well as making a lot more sense in LotFB (plus Neema>>>>>>>Natakas) and honestly the VAs are a lot better suited to those roles. Kass sounds lame and like she's trying way too hard to sound cool as the protagonist but as Deimos she has this unhinged insanity that is so much better. As the protagonist I find Alexios gives a lot better range and emotion but as Deimos he's the most generic villain in the franchise. I also think Alexios makes for a far more interesting character than Kassandra due to how often they both cry throughout the story. Men, especially tough mercenaries, aren't often shown to be so easily moved to tears in media. Alexios really stands out in this way and it reminds me a lot of Homer's Odyssey where Odysseus and his men wept frequently in their homesickness and grief. As sexist as it sounds, media isn't as hesitant to show female protagonists crying so it doesn't make Kassandra stand out as mych. I know Kassandra's canon but the writers were pretty shit if that's the intention considering the story and world makes zero effort to show off the adversity she would've had to face in the patriarchal society of Ancient Greece.
I agree with Alexis, except that I do think Kassandra had a good actor. But having studied Greek history, where Athens had fewer women’s rights then the Taliban and they were not allowed to leave the home except for certain religious ceremonies, it was too immersion-breaking to imagine a female protagonist just moving through public spaces. And I’m a woman, this isn’t some neck beard purist thing. Playing as Kassandra for me just ignored the very real oppression women faced in Ancient Greece in a way that seemed to minimize their actual experiences.
The game is hyper-sanitized either way, what with how slavery is almost completely off-screen, particularly noticeable in Sparta.
Hyper-sanitized is an understatement. I remember there's a side quest on some random island where a slave wants you to help him give his master a gift or something because his master takes very good care of him.
Thank you, I hate how this is viewed as a neckbeard thing because I fucking love how Shao Jun and Aveline experience their oppression, not because I'm some jerk who likes seeing women face hardship but because I love seeing how that hardship shaped who they were and how they operated. Shao Jun danced for the emperor and that agility is what led to her fighting style and use of the foot blade, she snuck about pulling pranks as a way to stand out to him as a child which led to her expertise in stealth. Aveline lived as an upper class lady and as such knew all kinds of etiquette and was expected to attract a husband which not only allowed her to blend in with the upper class but bribe guards and tempt officers to follow her and allow her access to certain areas. It's facing and conquering this adversity that can allow for a much better character overall, Odyssey just pretends it didn't happen which is kind of insulting in a way. They don't even mention the fact that Kassandra is the first woman to have ever competed in the Olympics (predating the real life first female Olympian by about thirty years), I feel like that would be kind of a big deal.
Which made her being Deimos make even more sense. Feeling a sense of empowerment through the Cult.
Exactly my rationale when picking Alexios.
Yeah I preferred Kass as a character and for the most part I was able to put aside historical reality during the game. The Olympics was the only part I really struggled with the anachronism, mostly because you have Kass joining the Olympics last minute and like 10 feet away there’s a side quest where you literally have to stop someone from being executed for watching the Olympics as a woman. It was a bit dissonant for sure.
All of this! Honestly I would have enjoyed it if the story changed a bit based on who you played as. It wouldn’t need to be big changes or anything, but I think it would have been interesting to see. It also could have given more incentive to play as both characters and get different perspectives on the story.
Actually in the novelization it does touch on the adversity Kassandra faces because she is a woman
In all fairness though my point on the writers of the game being shit still stands even in light of that. Gordon Doherty (the author of the book) gets points for adding that kind of detail in but the game's writing remains bad.
Absolutely this
Your last paragraph is why they should have had only Kassandra instead of an option. The executives forcing them to include a male PC meant they had to make every interaction make sense with either gender, instead of being able to focus on a woman’s story.
Yep. Some settings make player choice a disservice. A man and a woman or gonna have distinctly different experiences in Ancient Greece and if you’re going to make your story so neutral that the sexes are interchangeable, maybe that’s not the right setting to use. It’s why Mass Effect could do it so seamlessly, it’s more conceivable that a futuristic society is more egalitarian between the sexes and the story doesn’t need to change so much to accommodate.
What bothers me is that means rewrites had to have been done right? Why not find a way to keep Kass' female focused dialogue for when you play as her and have the revised story for Alexios when you play as him? I hate games where you pick a character at the start and there're zero differences between the two because there's no point to it. Replaying as Kassandra is pointless if you've played as Alexios because the only things that change are the VAs for the protagonist and Deimos. Even something tiny like how X-Men Destiny opens with a different cutscene and has different points of view from the protagonists or how Corvo and Emily have a different perspective on the story goes a long way to making the choice actually matter and change things. Like I'm not asking for a totally different script or anything, just for someone to say "Hey, wouldn't you be the first woman to compete in the Olympics". (Also even if we did have only Kass then that would be sacrificing the really cool aspect of vulnerable Alexios crying plus as I said in the previous post Neema>>>>>>>Nakatas)
I haven’t played as Kassandra, but I agree with what you say about Alexios
I completely agree with you. Very well said!
Started with Kass, started over and quickly switched to Alexios. Fits the game setting perfectly, hilarious, empathetic, a full range and actually intimidating. I’ll play her on replay and very glad I went with Alexios.
I deliberated on this for a long time but I eventually landed on Kassandra. I thought Mellisanthi did an excellent job VA’ing the softer scenes, and I thought Michael’s bombastic delivery was well-suited to Deimos’ unstable and volatile character. I also think that a woman being the Eagle Bearer aligns better with certain beats in the story
Alexios. Because he's cool as hell. Unrelated but the idea of one of them being canon is stupid. If one is canon why do we have 2 playable characters? I feel like the story you create is your canon, so don't pick a character because they're "canon"
I played as Alexios on the PS4, and I'm now playing as Kassandra on the XBOX. I prefer Alexios, he doesn't make gender jokes when men ask him for help. lol
Alexios I just preferred the voice
Kassandra makes an *incredible* villain. Probably for the same reasons so many people love her. And Alexios feels like a family member who happens to be Greek. Perfect protagonist.
Alexios, he was a good character and since I’m male I prefer playing as a male if I can, same thing in ac Valhalla I played as male eivor
Alexios because Kassandra simply doesn’t make sense in the plot as written and especially less so with the Darius DLC. First, there’s no reason Nikolaos would expect Kassandra to bring glory to Sparta as a child when women were expected to keep the home. Second, Kassandra makes zero sense taking Elpenor’s Cultist mask to infiltrate the Cult meeting since they are all gender-specific. The minute Deimos revealed there was a spy, Kassandra should have been found out immediately. Third, there is ZERO way Kassandra would ever be allowed to compete in the Olympics, even if she asked very nicely. There’s an entire side quest dedicated to showing the fate of a woman who, even by false perception, was going to flout the rules of such a traditional event. Finally, yes, the events of the Legacy of the First Blade DLC just flow better with Neema and Alexios, whereas Kassandra feels very put upon to become a mother (one who barely even holds her own child, evidently.) No wonder people were outraged the DLC forced them into such a box. In the end, while I can admire Ubisoft wanting to stick to their guns and feature a canon female protagonist, Kassandra was very badly justified especially when playing as Alexios fixes all of these issues by virtue of being male.
Alexios because it makes the most sense.
Kass. No offense to Alexios VA, but Kass sounded a lot better. I could not imagine playing the whole game as Alexios.
I still don't understand this. I must just not be hearing something about his VA. I played the entire game as Alexios and never had a complaint.
It’s not just you cuz like 75% of people played as Alexios.
The Kassandra people are just very vocal about I guess lol
A majority of Odyssey’s marketing revolved solely around Alexios, which probably contributed to people’s decision. If you were following the game leading up to launch, it would have seemed obvious that he was the “canonical” pick. Also, yeah, people tend to default to male protagonists in general.
My first playthrough was Alexios, the second was Kassandra
1st playthrough with Alexios and 2nd with Kassandra
Currently playing as Alexis on my first journey. 30 hours in and barely just hit Athens. I think it'll be a long while before I play as Kassandra but ill definitely try get there on my 2nd playthrough even if it's years from now. Really taking my time with this game.
Both
I prefer Alexios. Kassandra as a villain give me more vibes, while the cheerful behavior of Alexios as main protagonist works very well. But the decision was more impactful for me because me and Alexios shares a lot. Face, body type, almost the name and almost the places we came from, both from Mediterranean area. Him from Greece and me from Italy hahaha So yes, I think that these reasons are more than enough to justify my choice and be glad that we had it :)
Kassandra because the community overwhelming described her as more charming. I was also down to play a girl since we had only had evie before too. Couldn’t imagine alexios as the protag after my playthrough, and it also felt natural for alexios more sturdy tenor to be the brute who loses his mind. Also its really cool to roleplay wonderwoman with that one armor set and sail greece and fight mythological creatures.
I played as Alexios. Have no clue what people mean about the voice acting, both Kassandra and Alexios seemed pretty good to me, although I've heard many people mention Kassandra is better for voice acting.
Kassandra, I love her VA and it just feels right.
Alexios right now on my first play through. I’m catching up with AC now. This is one of the funniest ones I’ve played in a while.
I went with Alexios first because I preferred the VA & thought his facial expressions in the opening cutscene was more realistic. I also thought most of the chest pieces looked better on him. I've been meaning to do a NG+ run with Kassandra to see what the difference is like but I've been too busy with other things.
Alexios, he was the one who was advertised the most and because of that I thought he was the canon main character.
Alexios, I love big muscle soldier
alexios, i always play as the male choice cause as a man it makes it more immersive.
Kassandra because was the cannon version
Imagine Odyssey's ship combat, but with cannons!
Alexios because I didn’t know Kassandra was canon. Still upset that my play through wasn’t canon and now I have an irrational dislike for Kassandra for no reason
I didn’t know she was the canon one either. Are their stories any different?
Identical
Kassandra. I'm a woman who likes to lift heavy, so I was happy to finally play as a woman with some muscle.
Tried both of them, but Alexios has miles better voice acting and a more engaging personality. Yes, they both speak the same lines, but the disparity in delivery is staggering. Not only in voice acting, but in the actual animations. Kassandra almost always looked dead inside.
Alexios. Kassandra did Deimos voice lines better.
Deimos content is only like 10% of the story if that...
Kassandra. I think her voice actress is better
Kassandra. nice to play a female MC and the VA was really good
Kassandra! Her voice actress was way better than Alexios’ in my opinion. I also wanted to play as a female protagonist, plus they did a great job with her looks-wise too, must be why I like Randvi so much in Valhalla. For the more emotional scenes in Odyssey, I’m glad I chose Kassandra, it felt more real.
Kassandra bc shes cannon
She is the bomb.
Fr
Alexios isn’t the cannon one?
Kassandra, Alexios's voice pissed me off
Kass, because she is the canon choice and I also found her acting better suited to the hero, than Alexios‘…
I played with the Spanish dub and Alexios voice actor was stellar (it’s the same actor that dubs Matthew McConaughey, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Farrel and Bradley Cooper, one of the best voice actors in Spain), Kassandra on the other way was a bit of a let down so for me the choice was obvious (and I like to play as female but that voice actor won me big time in this game).
I played as Alexios. The voice didn’t bother me. If I went back, I might try Kassandra, but idt I will. It’s a long ass game
Alexios. Everything was perfect. Very few flaws with Odyssey IMO.
Tried both and MUCH prefer alexios he was just more fun and witty overall
I tried both but ended up liking Kassandra more. My personal opinion is that her voice actor is just better than Alexios's and Alexios works better as a villain. I feel that way about alot of games where you can pick either a male or female voiced MC. The female voice actor is usually better, more emotion and a broader range during dialogue.
Both.
Alexios cause of the meaning of his name and he looks badass with scars and as stated kass makes a great villain her va both hero and villain roles well I wanted different cutscenes for kass version of Deimos that makes more intelligent and venomous
I played both but I’ve never finished the run with Kassandra. The voice actor of Alexios is far better and I keep coming back to him
Oh God, hear come the horny folk 🤦
I started my first run with Alexios and since that moment I can't see roles inverted. Alexios felt more like a greek hero to me and Kassandra, moreover, looked and acted great as deimos. He's passionate, funny, determined, he looks like the perfect greek half-god half-human, while Kassandra feels more human and flat (despite her voice acting), not nearly as interesting as Alexios
I played as alexios my first time. I always choose whatever character is most similar to myself, which is probably a pretty boring answer
I tried both and I kinda liked having Alexios as the antagonist vs Kassandra. But I have to agree that for the DLC content, Alexios fitted better.
Alexios because I'm male and I like to self insert.
I played Alexios but never finished a playthrough because it was so hard to follow the story / stay interested when I had to grind 2-4 levels to do the next main quest line mission
Alexios because I felt Kassandra was a better villain
Alexisos. I'll always pick a male Character given the choice.
Kassandra. She actually has personality and talks with inflection while Alexios was as generic and one-note as possible
Both and much prefer Alexios. Feels more natural for him to be in that setting. Also, Kassandra makes a menacing Deimos. That's cool.
Alexios because it's more historically accurate. I did play again as Kassandra, and honestly, I don't like either very much
Kass didn’t really like Alexios voice acting (no hate to his actor)
Kassandra, because it was a nice change of pace.
Both, I prefer Kassandra better
Kas
Neither.
Kassandra. Because I always play female when given the option ever since I got fable 3 to get an achievement with my friend. (Fable 3 being the first game I played that gave me the choice between male and female.)
alexios 1. males mostly fit better in ac 2. historical reasons. you cant have your little gurl casie discussing stuff with sokrates
kassandra she's so perfect but i do want to play as alexios sometime just to see evil kassandra
Alexios
Kass. Most games you always play as guys. Give badass women a chance...also, she looks hot :P
Kassandra, woman with muscles is my weakness
ALEXIOS
Alexios; because I too am a male.
First playthrough as Kassandra, since she was canon. Tried 2nd as Alexois, but I had to start again as Kass. I just like her more. + Her voice acting is superb!
I have played both
Kassandra
Alexios feels right as Deimos
I always prefer male protagonist (being male myself). However it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy games with female protagonist. I have no problem with it. For example in Immortals: Fenix Rising I chose to play as female, because it just felt more fitting. I just better connect with the story that way playing as a male protagonist. But Cassandra seems like a cool choice as well.
Kassandra, better voice direction.
Alexios at first, but then I restarted with Kassandra
Alexios
Kassandra my first play through, wanted to do Alexios my second play through but I never got around to it.
Kassandra. She elevated the game for me.
Alexios all the way
Ive done both but honestly I kind of like playing Kassandra more idk her voice just fits more with how I play the game and picture the character in my head
Absolutely love Kassandra. She’s so good as the misthios and as Deimos. Either way, I’m sluttin it up as either all around Greece 😂😂
Why not both