Assassin's Creed Odyssey will get non-romantic option for controversial DLC (update)

Updated January 25, 2019: A Ubisoft spokesperson clarified that the team is only making changes to a cutscene, renaming a trophy, and editing some dialogues to better reflect the nature of the relationship for players selecting a non-romantic storyline. The dialogue option will be less romance-based for players choosing a non-romantic relationship. The cutscene being edited will take place before the child is born. The child will still be born to ensure your character's bloodline lives on.

Recently, Ubisoft released a few episodes of a post-launch story arc for Assassin's Creed Odyssey, called "Legacy of the First Blade." While everyone enjoyed the first episode, titled "Hunted," the second episode called "Shadow Heritage" wasn't so well received due to its controversial ending.

At the beginning of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, you're given the choice of playing as a male or female. You can also romance anyone in the game, so if you want to play as a gay character, it's possible. However, the latest episode of Legacy of the First Blade ended with you having a baby with another character. No matter what you did, you couldn't invoke a non-romantic ending.

Initially, it seemed like Ubisoft didn't want to change that plot point, and the company provided a lot of explanations about how you have a baby out of "necessity." This didn't sit well with a lot of gamers. It went against who they molded their characters as. Luckily, it seems as though Ubisoft listened to all the complaints and has decided to change the controversial cutscene to allow for a non-romantic option. It's unclear if you still have a baby. It also seems like the next episode, called "Bloodline," will have to be slightly reworked as a result of this.

A post on the Ubisoft Forums said the following:

After hearing player feedback and discussing within the development team we are making changes to a cutscene and some dialogue in Shadow Heritage to better reflect the nature of the relationship for players selecting a non-romantic storyline. These changes, along with renaming a trophy/achievement, are being made now and will be implemented in an upcoming patch. We've also been carefully looking at the next episode, Bloodline, to ensure the paths that players experience mirror the choices they make in game.

It's great to see that Ubisoft decided to reconsider its stance and provide gamers with more freedom. We'll keep you posted as soon as we know when the patch hits Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Given the scope of the changes, it might not be until February or beyond.

While Assassin's Creed Odyssey might not be as great as Assassin's Creed Origins, it's still a lot of fun and takes place in a massive open world. In our review, we said the game was "a great entry in the wider series, largely bug-free, with great visuals and tight combat. But many of the 'new' features Ubisoft included aren't as well executed as you might hope from an annual franchise."

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