I don't really miss Desmond. He was forgetable. Basically a blank slate with just enough 'dickbag' dialogue to give him a whiff of personality. I do miss having an interesting abstergo storyline though.

 

The real issue I had with AC4 was the whole Abstergo BS. Rips you right out of your own narrative. But then I enjoyed it as a pirate exploration game than being yet another AC with underdeveloped stealth/battle.

 

I hear that complaint all the time in regards to AC, wanting the present day Abstergo stuff back. It drives me crazy.

They should scrap the Animus all together. I've wanted them to focus on the timelines they were setting the games in for ages already, without the restraints and contrivances of having to tether it to some 'grander' story that'll ultimately be uninteresting.

What I actually want is for them to get better writers, and to tell us amazing stories about the secret war between assassins and templars from history.

I'd rather the overarching connection between the games be the themes.

Here's a story about this conflict that took place in Victorian England.

Here's another where Assassins got power hungry and you play as a Templar teaming up with a disillusioned Assassin to take them out during the Warring States era.

Shit, this way you'll not even be constrained by the 'present day' narrative and could probably go forward in time.

That sounds awesome.

Honestly? Take out Present day narrative, remove Uplay shite and...

Spoiler

change the ending, ugh

and I'd have adored Unity.

 

What the fuck is it with the Assassin hate lately? Everyone's on the Templar's side for some reason, even fucking Ubisoft. I don't get it.

 

Maybe because it's less about Assassins now and more about personal shit. I get that they want to inject more complexity into the characters' motivations beyond just "grr, Templahzzz grrrrr" - hell, AC2 started out as a classic revenge story - but at the core, it's Assassins vs Templars, control vs free will, subjugation vs liberty. It's about something greater than any one man or woman.

Let's break it down:

AC: you don't get more "for the cause" than the original.

AC2: Ezio went on a revenge spree, but it was secret Assassin training. He's initiated and stakes get bigger, it's not just about him anymore.

Brotherhood: literally Assassins vs Templars, Rome Edition.

Revelations: definitely a more personal story, it's a man's journey to understanding which is not a bad hook, but Templars are pushed into the background.

AC3: Connor goes to Achilles cuz a little birdie told him to. There's a coating of the ancient conflinct, but really, it's just an angry young dude hunting down people for revenge. Unlike Ezio, he doesn't stop to see that some things are bigger than that.

AC4: a fun pirate romp in the Carribean, but Templars and Assassins are barely there. Christ, the whole setup is that Abstergo is trying to make a pirate video game with subtext propaganda. Not like the factions are completely absent, but it doesn't feel like the game wants us to care about them at all.

Unity: yet another revenge quest. Arno pretty much uses his Assassin training to do his own thing and you know he just wants to punch the old fucks in the face one by one because they have the gall to give him orders seeing as he pledged to some cause or other.

Rogue: a different kind of revenge, though this is arguably one of the more interesting stories in the AC universe because it shows us both factions from a different angle. Ultimately, Shay declares himself for the cause and it's actually quite engaging. The result is that what looks like a Black Flag expansion with literally no extra features ends up being the better game than the widely marketed next-gen that was supposed to be more open, more awesome and better looking than all the previous games.

We've yet to see what Syndicate will bring, but if it aims for something like Brotherhood (wrenching the city from Templar control), then it could end up being the best AC in years, unless they launch a buggy mess, which, given Ubi's history is all but guaranteed, so maybe we should just accept that it's gonna happen and look at what else the game will have to offer.

 

I could try (well, info on MGSV's plot has been really tight-lipped, but I can try to explain things leading up to it in basic terms), if you told me what other games in the series you've played.

As for Assassin's Creed, I'm in the camp saying the whole modern story thing was unnecessary in the first place.

 

It's not about taking the Templar side, but every story being about douchy Templars and mostly saintly Assassins gets stale.

Keep the control vs liberty angle but make it less black and white imo.

There is a lot of ridiculous hate for the series in general, but I still play all of them. I also like them and I like how you see them take on criticism with each game.

No multiplayer in Syndicate is intetesting (dunno if it's good. Their multiplayer actually makes sense and is fun), but I'm curious what they do with the uplay stuff.

Btw, I'm playing as the chick (Evie? I think?) She seems the more stealthy. She has a sword cane too

As for MGS5, I hear it's a console Peacewalker. You might not dig MGS5 if you didn't like it. I've heard that they've scaled back a lot with cutscenes and story though, but they could just be keeping it under wraps.

 

A lone soldier from an elite group of mercenaries travels to a remote location where he is tasked with bringing down the shadow organization _________ and it's supernaturally/technologically enhanced soldiers. It's safe to assume that there will also be a Metal Gear or six somewhere in there. Also monologues, probably about some philosophy or other that condemns war while simultaneously justifying the terrible things that they're doing.

AKA the plot of every Metal Gear Solid game since ever.

 

I really enjoyed his missions, you could see his training etc; come full circle particularly when he invaded Abstergo even if he got lucky as fuck when the Bleeding Effect messed up

Spoiler

Daniel Cross

It's partly me wondering how the Assassin's work in the modern day setting, how does the Order manage to keep itself relatively hidden given the level off access of information in today's society. The other half is what the hell is Juno even doing these days and how are they trying to stop her? It's as if that plot doesn't exist now.

 

The likelihood of me buying a WiiU just dropped to zero.

 

All I wanted was a 2D Metroid.....

 

Ekhem.

Translation: I liked it. We're on the same side. Just to clear things up.

Risen, I imagine a modern Assassin would be somewhat similar to the dude from Watch Dogs. Different, obviously, because an Assassin would be more parkour and less OmniPhone, but it's probably a good general image.

 

I remember liking the idea of Rogue, but didn't want to play it on PS3...

 

It's been out on PC for like 3 months.

 

It was really enjoyable, in my Top 5

Which is partly the problem with AC, the fact it's been running for 7(?) years and has 8 games in the series already. They need to slow it down, that's my opinion at any rate, of course I buy every game regardless so I'm hardly able to criticise their strategy.

 

Getting trophies is a big draw of these games (all open world games) for me. Otherwise I'd have played it. I'd have bet my left nut that Rogie would come to ps4 when it first came out, lucky I didn't

Also, they're committed to annualizing, that's why I say ignore the overarching, present-day plot. Make each a standalone title visiting different locations and timelines, each with their own unique, interestinh story and lovable characters.

I'd still play them every year, but those burning out can skip one with no consequence.

 

I think Ubi should let AC rest for four years and focus on other stuff. Fix Uplay, that For Honor thing that looked pretty badass, even Trackmania. In the meantime, make a giant open-world adventure in an interesting setting (maybe Cold War?), make sure the launch build is bug and glitch free as much as possible, polish it up without having to rush, then come out with it in 2019 and sweep all the GOTY awards. Also profit because after a break even people who are getting fed up with the series right now will descend on the game like locusts.

 

Played up to MGS4. Just fallen out of love with the series. I tried to wiki it. I was under the impression Big Boss became a bit of a freedom fighter after MGS3 so I was just curious if he's government sanctioned or went off on his own...

 

Are you serious? The only games that even approached this were Brotherhood and Revelations. On the rest of them, it's usually the Assassins that get the shaft and are represented as massive douchebags, while the Templars are all really misunderstood.

It's what's been driving me nuts.

 

Like the slaver Templars in Black Flag? Or the war profiteers in Unity? All misunderstood, right?

To be fair to Unity though, they definitely took massive steps in the right direction, at least in delivering what I want from those games.

Been slowly following the Dark Souls 3 details coming out btw. It's annoying that the game isn't hands on, and I don't know if they kept the quick-stepping from Bloodborne (I don't like rolling), but by the sounds of the demo, I'm interested.

Miyazaki basically said while showing off the short bow that 'it's like Legolas'.

Yes. YesX1000