Not at first it should be noted. Bayek is a simple but effective protagonist and his story is decently set up. More surprisingly, the themes of parenthood and children are frequently reinforced in a lot of the game's side missions. His motivation is relateable and straightforward and while perhaps a little too cheery for a man whose son was killed before his eyes, he's certainly human and likeable enough for us to become invested in his story.
Unfortunately the writers of Origins were not so invested and a little way into act two we find the plot's focus wavering. The backdrop of Egyptian, Greek and Roman political tension serves for the game's necessary conflicts and opposing territories that require stealth and espionage.
As the plot branches out however, we find ourselves increasingly entangled in the political affairs of others, to the point where Bayek himself expresses frustration at dutifully helping citizens but craving vengeance against his son's masked murderer.
A character and therefore the writers being aware of such an issue muddies the waters of their actual intentions for the plot. Nevertheless being aware of a story problem doesn't negate it and when this tangent is not only continued but exacerbated well into the third act, the initial plot has wandered off into the desert, taking our emotional investment with it.
At the climax of the story you could be forgiven for not knowing who the main character is. The series continues its ever less subtle and smooth "celebrity cameos" with historical figures Cleopatra and Julius Caesar taking over the spotlight. In addition however Bayek's wife Aya also receives increasing focus.
It at first appeared that the game switched to playing as Aya for its naval sections as she pursued potential culprits overseas. Unfortunately this then gave way to standard gameplay sections and not only that but pivotal moments in the story that we should have been experiencing through Bayek.
This baffling and easily avoided pitfall strikes me as the trepidation of the dual protagonist set up in Origins' following game AC: Odyssey. Why there needed to be any fear around this hardly revolutionary concept is beyond me but its half-arsed and non-committal implementation in Origins weighs it down like an anchor.
Being Bayak's wife and mother of their murdered child, Aya has the same motivations as our protagonist and is just as capable, having already scratched off two names in the suspect hitlist when you first meet her. A dual protagonist story could have easily worked here and yet the cognitive dissonance at play is that Aya's gameplay is an afterthought but her presence in the story only grows as time goes on.
The aforementioned political maneuvering becomes the story's and Aya's main focus. While not impossible to have made this interesting we're still playing as Bayek for the majority of the time, even if we're reluctantly pursuing Aya's goals.
Perhaps it was the writer's intention that we empathise with Bayek's frustration at the distractions and impediments blocking his path to revenge but this goes on for two thirds of the entire game. When the masked murderer is finally revealed as Ceasar's right hand man with no prior connection to Bayek or Aya, nor substantial interaction with either of them, it's not a bombshell or even a relief but a unexpected reminder of a plot that was all but forgotten up until this point.
So rather than a fitting elaborate infiltration of a fortress to sleuth your way to the final target, you just have a face to face, annoyingly elongated sword fight with the guy. He teleports around with the infamous "Apple of Eden" artifact which whilst not a relic in this time setting is certainly a fossil from an age back when this series appeared to have any idea where its overall plot was going.
Bayek gets his revenge on the man and the central quest seems complete. The story however, continues with Aya chasing down another of Caesar's subordinates and eventually the roman dictator himself. Not because they had a hand in the murder of her child but just because they're pricks and the game can't create an impressive finale of its own so it has to score more history channel points re-enacting the death of Caesar.
What follows are the actual origins of the titular cult of Assassins and its centred around a jaded Bayek and Aya miserably ending their relationship for not entirely clear reasons. Bayek seemed willing to keep trying but Aya is apparently now more invested in all the political movements of the region...At least someone is I suppose.
Bayek denounces his title, his marriage and his fatherhood before leaving Aya to look at the series logo created in the sand. Our broken husk of a main character is then superceded by footage of Aya's creed of assassins parkouring about and slitting throats.
I certainly didn't expect an order of assassins to be built on a fluffy foundation of bunnies and birthday cakes but after the meandering sidetracked plot finally reaches this conclusion i can't help but again empathise with an exhausted Bayek. What was the point in it all? When did it stop being about good, pure eye for an eye revenge murder and get embroiled in crowns, thrones, betrayals and politics? Did this game's plot unknowingly mirror the over-complication and desaturation of the series' progression as a whole?
All I know is finishing AC: Origins was a chore and without a memorable or satisfying story to look back on, looking forward just shows a tedious list of side quests, unnoticeable incremental upgrade bars and a beautiful but shallow world map to fill out. Origins is by no means a train wreck but weirdly I almost wish it was, just so there'd be more of an impact.
