I haven't played Origins since mid-2020 and decided to give it a go, since most classic AC fans tend to say it's the best of the RPG trilogy (and I'd like to consider myself a classic AC fan as well).

I played on hard difficulty, and while I could bring up issues with the combat, I'd more like to focus on the story and the mission structure. I'm also typing this on mobile so there will probably be mistakes scattered about.

The start of the game definitely felt like an Assassin's Creed origin story: you had your informant (Hepzefa) giving you some information on your target (Medunamun), with some early quests to get you acquainted with the land (the one where you help the blacksmith get their tools back is the most diagetic example). In a perfect world, Bayek and his crew would have used this formula with some regularity, and the actual origin story would be centered around forming the tenets and philosophy of the Creed.

This mostly continues as you move to Alexandria, with Aya and her own informant Apollodoros also giving you information on your targets. Getting to actually use a hidden blade is nice as well, but not necessarily integral to the experience.

Once you become a member of Cleopatra's crew, the quality dips a little as you get four targets and the RPG grind really begins. It was present earlier, but it felt a little more natural since Bayek was familiar with these lands (Siwa and Yamu specifically). Having to grind 2-3 levels to reach the recommended threshold for the next quest can be annoying, especially when playing on hard difficulty turns even basic bandits into killing machines (I was getting 3-shot in forts sometimes).

The quality of targets is also very mixed at this point. The Hyena is probably the best target in the game, I'll give her that; she fit the grey area of villains we saw many times in AC1 (she was objectively evil, but her goals were almost justifiable). The Scarab was alright as well, save for the torturing of his in-law. But the other two were just evil, and it felt the most chore-like grinding to them, especially in Krokodilopolis and the arena.

When Julius Caesar was brought in, things drastically got worse. From a puzzle-like exploration of Alexander the Great's tomb (which was fine), to the battle sequences that had two back-to-back boss fights, and in all the chaos we finally got to see who was at the top of the order. Not only was the reveal lame as a consequence of being a part of a long action sequence, it was also a complete nobody. Flavius and his ilk only became relevant less than an hour ago, making them sit at the top of the order feels really lame.

As a final note, the RPG grind was the worst at this point. I remember being level 32-33 when I left Siwa again, and almost every quest in the region was level 35. Seeing as I was at the recommended level for all previous content, I can safely assume I wasn't underleveled, and this was just a decision to pad out the time you spend in this last irrelevant region taking down the most irrelevant targets.

So yeah, AC Origins started quite nicely, but the ending was a train wreck. In high school, I was told that a strong opening paragraph would save an essay, even if the conclusion was weak; the same cannot be said for this game.