Softonic broke the news this week that Bayek is coming back, not in a sequel, but on a table. The Assassin’s Creed Animus board game officially puts the Origins protagonist front and centre, which is the first meaningful Bayek content since 2017. That has pulled a lot of players back to Origins itself, and back to the same complaints that have followed it around for years.
We reinstalled Origins to see how it plays in 2026 and then loaded seven Assassin’s Creed Origins alternatives for PC that solve its worst tics. The picks below cover the direct AC follow-up, two genre-defining open-world RPGs, a swordplay pick, a cleaner sci-fi open world, a slower historical sim, and one cinematic outlier. All ship on Steam, most also on Epic or GOG, and none of them force you through the Ubisoft Connect handshake on every launch except Odyssey.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Length | Combat | Steam price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | The direct AC follow-up | 60 hours | Ability-based melee | $59.99 |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Story-led open-world RPG | 100 hours | Sword and signs | $39.99 |
| Elden Ring | Open world with a harder edge | 90 hours | Souls-style melee | $59.99 |
| Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut | Swordplay and open-world traversal | 40 hours | Stances and duels | $59.99 |
| Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered | Modern open-world RPG with cleaner UI | 30 hours | Bow-first with traps | $49.99 |
| Kingdom Come: Deliverance | Grounded historical RPG | 60 hours | Directional swordplay | $19.99 |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | Cinematic open-world set piece | 65 hours | Cover shooter with melee | $59.99 |
Why players still look past Origins
Origins was the reboot that turned Assassin’s Creed into an RPG, and most of what people love about it also drives the fatigue. The threads on r/assassinscreed still argue the same three points every few months.
- Map bloat. Ancient Egypt is beautiful and then it is a checklist. Question marks everywhere, dozens of hideouts that repeat the same layout, a Fayum region that feels twice as long as it needs to be.
- XP walls and level gating. Enemies scale to your level, so an area that was walkable at 32 can be a bullet sponge fight at 28. Side content becomes mandatory to keep pace.
- Ubisoft Connect friction. Even the Steam version launches the Ubisoft overlay, wants a second login, and pushes cross-promotion. Cloud saves have gone missing for enough people that it is a real complaint, not a fringe one.
- Fetch quests that read like filler. Bayek’s story beats are strong. The village errands between them are not.
- Combat that clicks but wears down. The hitboxes are good, the shield-break loop is satisfying for ten hours, and then you have done it four hundred times.
None of that is a reason to skip Origins. It is a reason to keep other picks in reserve for when the checklist wins.
The alternatives
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, best for the direct AC follow-up
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the next chapter in the RPG-era trilogy Origins started, set in Peloponnesian War Greece. Kassandra (or Alexios) gets dialogue choices, romance options, and a full skill tree with active abilities that make combat feel more like an action RPG than Origins ever did. Naval combat comes back from Black Flag, which is still the best AC ever did with a boat.
Where it falls short: the same map bloat as Origins with more zeros on it, plus the mercenary system that keeps hunting you while you try to explore. XP grind is worse because ability points matter more.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $59.99 base, often $14.99 on sale
- vs Origins: bigger map, better combat, same Ubisoft launcher
Download: Steam | Epic Games | Ubisoft Connect
Bottom line: pick this when you want more Origins with better combat and can tolerate the same launcher.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, best story-led open-world RPG
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the game every open-world RPG since 2015 has been measured against, and it earns it. Every side quest has a beginning, a middle, and a payoff, which is the exact thing Origins gets wrong. Combat is thinner than Origins but the writing carries it, especially the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions.
Where it falls short: movement is stiffer than modern AC. Roach controls poorly. The main storyline drags in the second act if you have not already read the books.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $39.99 for the Complete Edition (base plus both expansions), often $9.99 on sale
- vs Origins: better writing, weaker combat, no launcher friction on GOG
Download: Steam | GOG | Epic Games
Bottom line: pick this when you want Origins-scale exploration with quests that respect your time.
Elden Ring, best for open world with a harder edge
Elden Ring takes the Souls skeleton, drops it into a genuine open world, and lets you skip whatever is kicking your teeth in. The Lands Between reward exploration in the way Origins wants to but does not, because every ruin actually has something in it and the world map has no checklist. Torrent (the horse) is faster and more responsive than anything Ubisoft has shipped.
Where it falls short: no map markers by default takes some adjustment. Story is delivered through item descriptions, which is a feature or a wall depending on who you are. Some late bosses are punishing.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $59.99 base, $39.99 for the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, often $34.99 on sale
- vs Origins: bigger sense of discovery, harder combat, no bloat quests
Download: Steam
Bottom line: pick this when the open world exploration is what you actually wanted from Origins.
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, best for swordplay and open-world traversal
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut brings Sucker Punch’s samurai open world to PC with the Iki Island expansion included. The parry-heavy combat has more depth than Origins in about a third of the button count, and the wind-guided navigation is the cleanest open-world UX we have seen. Kurosawa mode in black and white is not a gimmick, it holds up for a full playthrough.
Where it falls short: side content is repetitive after 20 hours (fox dens, bamboo cuts, haiku spots). Story does not have Origins’ emotional weight until the second act.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $59.99 Director’s Cut, often $39.99 on sale
- vs Origins: cleaner UI, better combat, smaller map
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: pick this when you loved Origins’ scenery but wanted every combat encounter to matter.
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, best modern open-world RPG with cleaner UI
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is Guerrilla’s 2024 rebuild of the original, using the Forbidden West engine to redo lighting, character models, and animation. The bow-and-trap loop against robot dinosaurs is the most novel combat system in this list, and Aloy’s story runs on personal stakes rather than mythology drops. It clocks in at roughly half Origins’ length, which counts as a feature.
Where it falls short: melee is still the weak link. Human enemy AI is not on the same level as the machine encounters. The remaster does not touch level design, so a few late-game areas still feel dated.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $49.99 base, often $19.99 on sale
- vs Origins: smaller map, sharper combat variety, better save cloud
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: pick this when 60 hours of Origins felt like 30 too many.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance, best grounded historical RPG
Kingdom Come: Deliverance puts you in 15th century Bohemia as Henry, a blacksmith’s son with no combat skill and a real learning curve. There is no fast travel until you unlock it, no HUD compass, and no magical XP that turns you into a killing machine in three hours. Warhorse’s directional swordplay is genuinely different, and the sequel (KCD II) shipped last year to broad praise, which pulled a lot of new players to the original.
Where it falls short: save system is punishing without Schnapps. The opening five hours are slow on purpose and turn some players off. Bugs at launch have been mostly patched but a few still show up.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $19.99 for the Royal Edition (base plus all DLC), often $4.99 on sale
- vs Origins: grounded combat, no XP inflation, steeper learning curve
Download: Steam | GOG | Epic Games
Bottom line: pick this when Origins’ historical setting was the hook and the RPG-lite scaling was the turn-off.
Red Dead Redemption 2, best cinematic open-world set piece
Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar’s slowest and most detailed game, and probably the most cinematic open world ever shipped. Arthur Morgan’s arc is the single strongest piece of writing in this list. Horse care, weapon maintenance, and camp chores that would be filler in Origins land differently here because the world sells them.
Where it falls short: movement is deliberately slow and takes acclimation. Gunplay has a delay on inputs that some players never make peace with. Online mode is essentially abandoned.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $59.99, often $19.99 on sale
- vs Origins: better writing, denser world, slower pace
Download: Steam | Epic Games
Bottom line: pick this when Origins felt like a checklist and you wanted a world that pushes back.
How to choose
Pick Assassin’s Creed Odyssey when you want more of the same thing Origins is doing, with tighter combat and a bigger cast. Pick The Witcher 3 when the fetch quests broke you and you want a hundred hours of writing that pulls its weight. Pick Elden Ring when the map bloat was the problem and you want a world worth exploring on its own terms. Pick Ghost of Tsushima when the melee felt shallow and you want stances that reward reading the enemy. Pick Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered when you want a modern open-world RPG at half the length. Pick Kingdom Come: Deliverance when the XP walls were the issue and grounded combat sounds like the fix. Pick Red Dead Redemption 2 when you want the most detailed open world you can install.
Stay on Assassin’s Creed Origins if you have never seen Ptolemaic Egypt in a game and want to soak in the setting. The Discovery Tour mode is still a standout for that, and no other game on this list touches ancient Egypt at all.
FAQ
What game is most like Assassin’s Creed Origins?
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is the closest match, since it is the direct RPG-era follow-up on the same engine with the same combat systems. Outside the franchise, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered is the closest structural match, with a similar level system and bow-and-arrow-driven combat.
Is Assassin’s Creed Origins worth playing in 2026?
Yes, and the AC Animus board game reveal pulled a lot of players back. The base game holds up because the ancient Egypt setting has aged well, and the Hidden Ones and Curse of the Pharaohs DLCs are among the best in the series. Expect a checklist experience past the halfway mark.
What is the cheapest Assassin’s Creed Origins alternative on PC?
Kingdom Come: Deliverance Royal Edition drops to $4.99 on Steam sales, which is the cheapest full-length open-world RPG in this list. The Witcher 3 Complete Edition and Ghost of Tsushima also see sharp discounts during Steam summer and winter sales.
Do Assassin’s Creed Origins alternatives run well on Steam Deck?
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, and The Witcher 3 are all Steam Deck Verified. Elden Ring is Verified with a small caveat around online play. Origins itself is Playable but has known text-size issues.
Which Assassin’s Creed Origins alternative has the best combat?
Ghost of Tsushima has the tightest melee, with stances that meaningfully change how you fight each enemy type. Elden Ring is the deepest combat system if you have the patience for it. Odyssey has the closest feel to Origins itself and adds abilities on top.
Are there Assassin’s Creed Origins alternatives without a launcher?
Yes. The Witcher 3 on GOG runs fully offline with no launcher required. Elden Ring on Steam runs without extra software. Ghost of Tsushima on Steam does not require an Epic or PlayStation Network account for the base game, though PSN linking unlocks online features.
