Oh , so NOW Odyssey is a "masterpiece" all of a sudden? (+ question)

Man, on one hand I am thrilled that Odyssey is FINALLY getting its long overdue respect and adoration that it's always deserved, but on the other hand ,I'm pissed that myself and so many other fans had to endure hate and ridicule from AC "fans" and constantly had to defend Odyssey , and now all of a sudden, those same fans are jumping on the bandwagon and calling it the best game ever.

It's always been an amazing game. As close to perfect as an open world RPG can get. I'm 44 and been a hardcore gamer since the Atari days, lived through 8 console generations, and still consider Odyssey my favorite game of all time.

I have about 600 in the game, with 4 NG+ 100% play thrus, but I admit I've only ever started a game from level 1 ONCE in 2018 when it released.

But now I want to do that again, but don't remember a lot. Is there a soft cap to getting to level 99 or will I need a ng+ for that ? Anything I will NEED a ng+ play thru for? I ask because in my NG+ play thrus, I always clear all ? Marks on the map, max out gear even if I never use it etc