Whether Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation brought you here or you’re just a lifelong fan of Greek mythology, there’s no denying the timeless pull of The Odyssey. After all, precious few works of literature can claim to be as resonate as the nearly 3,000-year-old text, which explores longing, endurance, hubris, fate, and the human condition with a level of depth that transcends time and culture. It’s also just one hell of a story, filled to the brim with memorable characters and set pieces, and all the horror and magic that makes Greek mythology so endlessly fascinating.
If watching Matt Damon navigate “the wine-dark sea” and his own guilt-laden mind left you eager to embark on an epic journey of your own, you’ve come to the right place. From massive open-world adventure games to mind-bending mysteries, here is a list of games you should play if you loved The Odyssey.
Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Okay yes, this is an extremely obvious one, but it’s obvious for a reason. Ubisoft’s fantastic recreation of Ancient Greece allows players to sail the Aegean sea, rub shoulders with the likes of Plato and Socrates, and take down mythological creatures all while crafting their own, well, odyssey. And hey, if you’re feeling flirty, you can also smooch a character named Odessa in the game, a self-proclaimed descendent of Odysseus found wandering around Ithaca. With the largest map and deepest RPG systems of any Assassin’s Creed game, Odyssey is a sprawling adventure that allows players to truly immerse themselves in divine politics and weave a Homerian epic of their very own.
Immortals Fenyx Rising
As with AC: Odyssey, Immortals Fenyx Rising is a Ubisoft title and a bit obvious, but it is also criminally slept on. Yes, it’s name could be better–and originally was!– but despite releasing alongside plenty of hard-hitting games back in 2020, Fenyx Rising remains one of the most unapologetically fun titles of that year. If you’re looking for an experience with the gameplay sensibilities of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild but the melodrama, comedy, and humanistic themes associated with Greek mythology, you’d be hard pressed to find a better game to pick up.
Titan Quest
If you want to feel like an epic hero, carving a path through ancient history and taking down mythical beasts left and right, you can’t go wrong with Titan Quest. Set during Greece’s Bronze Age, the action RPG tasks you with saving Greece, Egypt, and Asia from total destruction after the ruinous Titans escape from their divine prison. If your favorite part of The Odyssey is the sheer thrill of a grand, world-spanning adventure–or Odysseus’s many face-offs against mythological horrors–this classic hack-and-slash is well worth diving into.
