Pre-Order Bonus Items Are Just An Annoying Distraction

thegamer.com:

I recently bought Assassin's Creed Odyssey in the PSN sale. It was $20 with all the DLC, which was a steal—especially combined with the recent 60fps upgrade. I'm having a great time in Greece, but I've also been reminded of just how much I hate 'bonus items' in video games. You know the kind: some stat-boosting magical hat you get for pre-ordering the game, or a full set of almost certainly hideous-looking armour exclusive to the digital edition. There are bigger problems in the world, but I can't stand this stuff.

I start a new game and step into the sandals of Kassandra, a mercenary struggling to make ends meet who hasn't left her adopted home, the island of Kephalonia, in years. Yet seconds into her odyssey across Greece, I look in my inventory and find piles of bullshit. Ornate armour, gold-plated weapons, outfits from previous Assassin's Creed games, and all manner of ostentatious finery she could sell and instantly retire. Yeah, I can ignore them, but I see them every time I go to change my gear and it's distracting.

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Later in the game, when I get access to a ship, I'm mercifully able to dump all this flashy, incongruous junk into the cargo hold. But until then I have to actively resist the temptation to use it. It's far superior to everything I loot on Kephalonia, but I refuse to equip any of it. It just feels wrong. It makes sense for Kassandra to be limited to basic gear at this point in the game—even just aesthetically. You can't have her griping about having no money when she's decked out in priceless, glittering Mycenaean armour.

This is just one example, but I'm sure you've encountered moments like this before—where you're in the early hours