At first glance, it appears that an iconic component of the Assassin's Creed franchise is missing in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, as the hidden blade hasn't played a prominent role in any of the gameplay or trailers that have been seen thus far at E3 2018. Considering it takes place 400 years before Assassin's Creed Origins, it would make sense for the game not to feature a hidden blade, but that doesn't exactly seem to be the case.

As seen below, there are three skill trees in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, namely Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin. Each skill-tree has a weapon-related ability, with the Hunter containing a bow skill and the Warrior containing the Spartan kick and what appears to be a shield. Notably, though, the Assassin skill tree does not contain a hidden blade, as its weapon symbol is that of the Spear of Leonidas.

For many, this could cause some concern because it certainly appears that Odyssey does not feature the hidden blade; however, upon closer inspection, it actually appears that the Spear of Leonidas is essentially a proto-hidden blade.

ac odyssey has three skill trees

In the official announcement, it was revealed the protagonist was a descendant of the Spartan legend Leonidas and receives the broken Spear of Leonidas as a family heirloom. Then, in Assassin's Creed Origins, when Bayek receives the hidden blade from Aya, she reveals an important connection between Odyssey and Origins: the weapon she hands him was used to take down the Persian tyrant Xerxes. Thus, the spearhead of the aforementioned weapon becomes Bayek's hidden blade.

This would mean that Assassin's Creed Odyssey does, in a way, feature a hidden blade, just not the way fans have come to expect. Notably, however, this is mostly speculation and should be taken with a minor grain of salt, though it would be hard to imagine what else this could mean. But it doesn't seem like this is the only spin on the age-old formula that Odyssey is taking, as it has also been revealed the game will contain dialogue choices and romance options. While many fans may be worried about the franchise returning to an annual release schedule, these innovations may very well prevent the rut the franchise found itself in before.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey releases October 5, 2018, for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.