Let’s be fair, Assassin’s Creed has ALWAYS been this.
They have been fighting for alien artifacts since the first game.
I don’t really mind AC’s contemporary direction, but it also might be fair to say that the fantasy weirdness was quite a bit more restrained before Origins
1 Like
They have been fighting for alien artifacts since the first game.
I’m perfectly fine with that. Alien artifacts are obvious foreign science-fantasy elements introduced into the historical fiction. It is confined exclusively to the story and a weird modern-day conspiracy narrative on purpose, so as to not spill out into the historical world.
I think that’s quite different than what is being done here, maybe even more so than in other AC games (especially before Origins and Odyssey).
But yes, of course it’s true that AC always had these types of problems. It’s just that now, I think, it becomes more and more apparent that the developers just don’t want anything to do with history anymore (even with weird alien artifacts mixed in). That’s perfectly fine and the issue lies obviously not with them, but with the people that say there have to be more and more AC games produced (probably for brand recognition). So any cool ideas developers might have, have to be squeezed into the AC setting. And not for the better.
1 Like
I don’t really see that, because besides the flair of supernatural stuff and the Hidden Ones in the background, the main plot is still about the sacking of England by the Vikings and their near conquering of all four kingdoms. That part is still very embedded in history.
Though, I am curious to see how they handle the Viking losing that fight against Alfred…
I’m one of the people who thought the direction in Origins, weirdness and all, was EXACTLY what AC needed to stay interesting. I’ve been trying to dip back into games like Unity and Syndicate, and they aren’t grabbing me like Origins and Odyssey do. It’s too clunky, the traversal is just more of the save walk n’ stab, and they keep doing the LOOK KIDS, IT’S KARL MARX kinds of historical figure drops.
1 Like
Honestly wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Eivor dies heroically against the British/Templars. The sub-title would be fitting, then.
I’m actually wondering if maybe the twist in this game is that you die as Eivor, and then you play as a descendant years later during William’s campaign or something. It’d certainly explain the Vinland stuff.
1 Like
I don’t really see that, because besides the flair of supernatural stuff and the Hidden Ones in the background, the main plot is still about the sacking of England by the Vikings and their near conquering of all four kingdoms. That part is still very embedded in history.
But I believe all of this stuff has been more and more deliberately infused with the world itself. It makes it more interesting, more fantastical and fun to explore and fight in. Like Witcher 3, Skyrim etc.
It is now the main story that lacks spice. Who cares about Cleopatra and Caesar? Why should I give a s*it about the Peloponnesian War or the Viking invasion of England and King Aflred or whatever? Lame af. In contrast, I have a beautiful, fantastical world to explore, full of weird, mythical creatures, ‘magical’ cults, cool pseudo-medieval villages, landscapes, weapons and awesome abilities. Now if only the main story could match this in creativity and execution.
I’m one of the people who thought the direction in Origins, weirdness and all, was EXACTLY what AC needed to stay interesting. I’ve been trying to dip back into games like Unity and Syndicate, and they aren’t grabbing me like Origins and Odyssey do. It’s too clunky, the traversal is just more of the save walk n’ stab, and they keep doing the LOOK KIDS, IT’S KARL MARX kinds of historical figure drops.
Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I have a love/hate relationship with AC going back to AC 1. I mainly fell in love with the potential of AC, a potential none of the games have even come close to realizing (Black Flag is my favorite AC for a reason, but it’s still far from it). And that starts with very basic storytelling, which has been rather lackluster throughout the series, to the gameplay which never really knew what it wanted to be in relation to its story after the first two games of experimentation.
What I feared while playing Origins and especially Odyssey, but what I’ve made my peace with since, is that this original potential for unique historical fiction I wanted these games to fulfill, will now become more and more impossible.
Now, what I’m frustrated with are the shackles of AC. To release all of this fantastical creative potential into a fantasy world the developers created from scratch. Not being bound by, no matter how purposefully distorted, historical events. But to create a Viking invasion of England that has nothing to do with history, without Vikings, without the kingdoms and characters. Where a f*cking late-medieval rampart of Paris in the 9th century just doesn’t matter because it’s not Paris and it’s not the 9th century. It’s not even Earth. It is AC itself which has become a hindrance to the new direction of AC.
This is why, I just want to see “Assassin’s Creed” R.I.P.
2 Likes
Heh, we come to this series for different things. I love all the political intrigue that the more recent games have played with. The historical figures have actually felt like cogs in the plot rather than one off guest appearances like Karl Marx.
Playing as Aya at the Climax of Origins was fucking great. I’ve been waiting for a AC game to let me kill Caesar.
1 Like
Kinda relevant; one of my favorite things about Black Flag is Edward’s complete disinterest in any Assassin bullshit until, like, the third act of the story
4 Likes
I love Black Flag, but I never finished the story. I did as much of the piratey side content as I could until I was bored.
Origins’ plot carried me all the way to the end. It’s honestly one of the better tales in the series. Odyssey got too big for me, but I still really enjoyed it.
3 Likes
I just find Black Flag to be the most competently written and best paced AC to date, from a basic storytelling perspective (low bar, but still). And I think the late integration of the Assassins, even though the Templars were introduced from the beginning, is a part of that.
Also Edward Kenway, contrary to shallow critics trying to spin him as an attempt to recapture the dashing charisma of Ezio after the reaction to Connor, is actually an entertaining character. A puckish rogue with understandable motives for his self-serving behavior is so much better than how Ezio never really had much depth to him.
3 Likes
Matt Ryan (most frequently seen/heard as John Constantine) plays him, in case anyone was wondering where all the charisma comes from
2 Likes
Thank you, I was actually going to next ask what that voice actor was up to.
I’d be interested to see the perspective of someone who has never played any of these games, to play Assassins Creed and then jump straight to Odyssey or Valhalla. The series is a real Ship of Theseus and we’re all just the frogs boiling in it.
1 Like
Honestly, Origins is one of the best places to jump in now. And it’s only one game old.
At this point, the AC games are just a vague sci-fi wrapper around whatever vaguely historical open world games Ubisoft decides to make. And as much as I was into the more high concept stuff of the original game, I’ve made my peace with it - Origins and Odyssey were both very fun open world romps. They gave me an engaging checklist to work through, they were a fun enough power fantasy, and had some enjoyable plots and characters.
I originally was not planning on getting this anytime soon and just waiting for a price cut or Game Pass release, but my spouse, who doesn’t play a lot of games, loved Odyssey, watched the deep dive trailer from last week, and then promptly demanded that we pre-order it, so this is going to be how we both spend much of November. I can think of worse ways to spend what is likely going to be a pretty shitty month.
1 Like
I was absolutely cackling when I realized what was happening for that last mission in Origins. Like, it felt very cliche, but I did not care. If you’re gonna make these historical fantasy games, go all the way with it, and they really went for it with that sequence.
1 Like
I’ll never forgive how they did my boy dirty. They turned him into a pacifist lib! I’m surprised he didn’t turn to the camera and say “I am with her” as Evie flew away.
2 Likes
My main problem with the older titles was how they tried to weave an entire lifetime of a character into about 10-15 hours of gameplay as it never really conveyed the growth of a character that well but I liked how Edward stayed a shithead til nearly the end of the game where it finally took the death of people really close to him for him to start acting out of something other than his self-interest. Also the credits roll where you steer the ship is really nice.
