Assassin's Creed

I think they had some spinoffs.

The mobile phone games. I forgot.

To be fair, the Assassins are still revolutionaries. The Multiplayer sidequests are the really confusing parts as they're the Assassin games everyone expected where you kill evil nobles and rescue revolutionaries.

(Also, strangely, help Napoleon woo Josephine)

It's just Robespierre—one of the top ten men most likely to be an Assassin in real life—is a Templar.

edited 4th Dec '17 10:10:48 AM by CharlesPhipps

See, that really confuses me. If anything, *Napoleon* would more likely to be a Templar, and Robespierre an Assassin who went all Well-Intentioned Extremist (or, more accurately and ironically, Knight Templar)

Canonically, Napoleon fucked with both the Assassins and Templars using the Apple of Eden—which he stole from Louis.

The AC games have forgotten there used to be a lot of independent powers who rose with Pieces of Eden.

But I 100% agree as even if he wasn't an Assassin, Robespierre was historically a guy who actually BELIEVED in secret organizations of counter-revolutionary rich people who controlled the masses with religion/finance/nobility. It was the source of a lot of his paranoia and part of what contributed to The Purge.

edited 4th Dec '17 10:11:05 AM by CharlesPhipps

I think one of the things I don't like about Assassin's Creed as a series is how it kind of reduces history to a conspiracy theory and loses some of the complexity of how people undermine each other, or how random figures can somehow grab and cling on to power, or really any of the little bits that make history really interesting. It just sort of boils everything down to two giant conspiracies slugging it out and really they should have just have a final modern day one to cap it all off with.

Assassin's Creed: Unity does look beautiful.

If it had far less glitches and a better story, it would be a fine game.

edited 4th Dec '17 10:55:20 AM by fredhot16

Ever since its announcement I felt Unity should have been precisely about the Assassin-Templar conflict being sidetracked by a third party.

My idea was actually that the game would be about the Templars siding with the aristocracy and the Assassins with the revolutionaries, but as the game proceeds the Revolutionaries would spiral out of the Assasssin's control and break up with them, leading Robespierre and the Reign of Terror and the spell turning against the spellcaster as the Revolution turns on the Assassin Order.

This would lead to the Assassins having to join forces with the Templars as they both end up on the wrong end of a guillotine.

Honestly, I could see the Assassins supporting the Revolution, but only until the Jacobins highjack it and start murdering everyone who disagrees with them.

I was just about to ask if Unity and Syndicate (I'm mostly sold on Origins) were worth a run for a fan who more or less enjoyed every previous console installment. Looks like I have half an answer already.

Oh, AC games are always beautiful, no one is complaining about that as far as I know.

Its a shame Origins does not feel quite as busy as it should, even in a busy city like Alexandria. But that may have something to do with framerates.

Eh, I give AC a pass on the conspiracy thing. It's not a history lesson but a game about playing a bunch of hooded murderers. It's only annoying when they warp the characters involved in history to something less interesting than in reality. I wouldn't play most of the games without the conspiracy elements.

Which is a shame but true.

My take on what Unity should have been is the citizens and normal people getting caught in the middle of the Assassins and Templar's war and, fed up, just start killing everyone. It could serve as a nice deconstruction of the whole 'Secret War' trope, push the Assassins and Templars out of their usual operations/comfort zone and potential to focus on individuals just trying to survive an event rather than an organization, and it would illustrate the really Gray-Gray morality that fits the time period where EVERYONE had a target on their head. Have it be more chaotic where NO ONE is in control.

At the very least, a lot of the conventions of the series would br thrown out the window and we could explore a more complex time. Imagine maybe an Assassin trying to survive the revolution by trying to lead the masses to his former brothers in hopes of escaping the Guillotine, only to be assassinated by our protagonist. Or maybe the Assassin-Templar Alliance could still be made between individuals like Arno-Elise was, but have it framed as an 'Enemy Mine' and 'We need eachother to survive' situation. That could be REALLY compelling. It could also borrow some elements from Rogue if we wanted to show the people willing to attack each other in the streets.

Weirdly, Assassins Creed: Brahmin is exactly that as it's about a normal guy getting caught up in the war and his loved one's killed. There's a great moment where the Assassins leave him to die after finding out he's NOT the descendant of a famous Assassin but just a guy. They were previously going to recruit him.

Which really takes the piss out of everything they claim to be about.

Oh, here's my review of AC: Origins if anyone cares.

http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2017/12/assassins-creed-origins-review.html

Overall, I liked it but wasn't blown away.

edited 5th Dec '17 6:12:21 AM by CharlesPhipps

Sekmeth is the newest trial. She's got some new moves compared to the first two, but she's otherwise easy.

Also Ubisoft teased a Chocobo Mount as part of a "Surprise Quest" coming this month.

That's pretty hilarious. Raiding bandit camps on a giant chicken!

Well, ONE of us is going to have to change.

I'm altering my opinion about Unity again, my hatred of it is entirely dependent on whether or not I'm doing those godawful co-op missions.

Ubisoft sent out one of those company surveys that leaks details about future games via "what would you like to see in the next game" multiple choice questions. This one was for Assassin's Creed, so one of these setting is probably the next game:

-Ancient Rome (I'd say this one is the most likely since they've got all those art assets from the end of Origins)

-Hannibal's invasion of Rome (listed separately)

-Feudal Japan (a fan favorite request so this also seems likely)

-The Imperial Dynasties of Medieval China (Shao Jun in a main series game perhaps?)

-Medieval England in the days of King Arthur (They specifically mentioned it being about King Arthur, so... interesting idea at the very least)

-Mongolia during the reign of Genghis Khan

-The Spanish Inquisition (a tie-in to the movie)

-Ancient Greece during the war between Sparta and Athens

-The Russian Revolution during WWI

-Joan of Arc in the Hundred Years' War

-Conquests of Alexander the Great

-The Age of Vikings

-The invasion of the Conquistadors in pre-colonial South and Central America

I'm surprised to see how many out there suggestions there are, and that it includes settings pre-Assassin's Creed Origins.

I'd say the most likely are in order of likelihood: Ancient Rome, Feudal Japan, The Spanish Inquisition (since they made sure to point out it was from the movie), or Medieval England (since it being about King Arthur seemed a little too specific).

https://www.reddit.com/r/assassinscreed/comments/7jdo1o/was_asked_to_fill_in_a_survey_by_ubisoft_these/

edited 12th Dec '17 3:59:33 PM by IHOP

Oddly, they did the Russian Revolution in Chronicles.

Four out of thirteen of those suggestions have already been done though it was done in Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy or Assassin's Creed: Chronicles.

It's curious that the Age of Vikings is on this list as I had made the suggestion of a story set in that time period on this thread some time ago.

A game set in the era of King Arthur sounds interesting, if only to get people to learn about the actual history behind King Arthur.

edited 12th Dec '17 4:08:04 PM by fredhot16

Spin-offs like Chronicles don't count.

These are for real games.

Patch dropped today

Nightmare Difficulty. A map filter for unidentified location, and the ability to re-add Bayek's beard or hair (separately)

Considering how flimsy and debatable the whole King Arthur historicity is, that might not be much.

"Era of King Arthur" is itself so questionable. So... Roman occupation of Britain? Early Middle Ages? When are we picking.

Not that I am not fine with Asscreed embracing the more folklore or made up parts of history. That said "The real history behind king Arthur" is a theme media have done to death, and never well. So, I am wary.

edited 12th Dec '17 4:27:16 PM by Ghilz

Well, as a medievalist and Anglicist, I can of course only vote for Vikings or King Arthur, really.

Thinking a bit longer, I'd be curious about Mongols. Because the steppes don't lead themselves to climbing high things. I'd suppose it'd be during the Mongol conquest of China or Yuan Dynasty, which lets one add China for more architecture.

Also, several of these Predate Origins

Should we get Assassin's Creed Double Origin?

edited 12th Dec '17 4:36:45 PM by Ghilz

Here's the full patch list from the Ubisoft website:

Patch Highlights

• Added a new “Nightmare” difficulty mode
• Added an NPC scaling option, “Enemy Auto-Level”, that makes enemies’ level scale up to player’s level
• Please note: Enemy levels will only scale up to player level, they will not scale down

• Added a new “Horde Mode” to the Arena
• [PC] Added support for HDR display

System

• Improved general game stability
• Adjusted the balance of the economy by reducing the price of Lion Claw and Leopard Fur
• Capped the number of Trinkets and Animal Goods to 999
• Fixed rare occurrence of world paused state due to a terrain node priority change
• [PC] Fixed stuttering on NVIDIA graphic cards when playing in borderless mode
• [PC] Improved Performance Tools functionality

Graphics & Audio

• Improved texture streaming selection to allow for more high-resolution texture
• Increased the distance at which we display the higher quality fake geometry of Alexandria
• Improved the view distance of the Siwa temple
• Improved the level of details of the Hemon Mastaba location
• Improved the quality of the Photo Mode picture taken while playing with HDR enabled
• Fixed loading grid setups for tall palm tree fields to improve their view distance
• Fixed far shadow popping transition issue when updated during the time of day cycle
• Fixed shadow culling issue in the great library of Alexandria during sunrise and sunset
• Fixed a visual issue on bows when switching them while out of combat
• Fixed a visual issue with quivers
• Fixed an issue which prevented music from playing again in the quest “Aya: Blade of the Goddess”
• Fixed missing voice-over during various cinematics
• Fixed a sound issue when using Overpower on certain NP Cs
• Fixed various repeating voice and sound effects
• Fixed an issue that could cause multiple music tracks to overlap
• Fixed multiple out of place audio lines in the Arena
• [Xbox One X] Increased the texture memory budget to allow for more usage of higher resolution texture
• [Xbox One X] Increased the terrain memory budget to reduce terrain popping when the camera rotates
• [Xbox One] Fixed some trees not using high-resolution texture
• [PC] Fixed white squares appearing in windowed mode on 4K monitor
• [PC] Fixed an issue with the Reset graphic option

World

• Fixed several areas in the world where the player could encounter collision issues
• Fixed various issues with the level of details of world objects, NP Cs, and vehicles

Gameplay

• Improved NP Cs reactions
• Fixed the health regeneration that could stop working after gaining health from Health on Hit/Kill weapon attributes
• Fixed the unlock of the Old Habit achievement/trophy for player who have met the conditions
• Fixed various issues preventing the “Game Progression” statistic to reach 100%
• Fixed the "No Limits" Ubisoft Club Classic Challenge from not unlocking
• Fixed an issue with the Ubisoft Club Classic Challenges that were not showing as unlocked even if they had been completed
• Fixed an issue that could cause the controller to vibrate indefinitely in the score screen of the Hippodrome
• Fixed an issue where the playable character could lose its inventory when fast traveling from the Bathhouse
• Fixed an issue where Senu could pass through the world
• Fixed an issue that allowed thrown torches to inflict poison or bleed effect
• Fixed some loading issues while using Senu
• Fixed various issues with the spawning of NP Cs
• Fixed various issues causing the player character to remain stuck
• Fixed various navigation and animation issues with the playable character

Quest

• Improved the navigation of the Rebels during the quest “A Rebel Alliance”
• Improved various cinematic transitions
• Fixed an issue where the playable character could remain stuck or fall through the world during the quest “The Battle of the Nile”
• Fixed an issue where the playable character could lose its equipped weapons during the quest “The False Oracle”
• Fixed an issue preventing the playable character from dealing damage to crocodiles during the quest “Blood in the Water”
• Fixed an issue preventing the quest objective marker to be displayed during the quest “Family Reunion”
• Fixed an issue that could cause the player to lose the prisoner during the quest “His Secret Service”
• Fixed an issue that could cause a gladiator to remain stuck with the playable character during the quest “The Crocodile Jaws”
• Fixed an issue causing Daily Quests from disappearing from the Quest Log
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the “Control Nuisance” Daily Quest from giving its reward"
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the dialogue scene from playing during the quest “Blood in the water”
• Fixed an issue that could prevent Hallucinations from ending during Taimhotep's Song
• Fixed an issue that could make the quest “Children of the Streets” impossible to complete
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the key for Eudoros’ chest to appear in the inventory in the quest “End of The Snake”
• Fixed an issue that could cause Cleopatra to die at the end of the quest “Way of the Gabiniani”
• Fixed an issue forcing Bayek to receive a spear instead of a bow during the chariot fight of the “The Battle of the Nile” quest
• Fixed an issue that could cause Aya to spawn as Bayek

Activities

• Increased the number of Drachmas rewarded by Hippodrome tournaments
• Tweaked controls sensitivity in Hippodrome
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the introduction cinematic of Seleucid from playing
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the use of bows in the Arena

User Interface

• Added Hood, Hair, and Beard customization options in the Gear menu
• Added an “Uncompleted Locations” filter to the World Map
• Added a “friends-only” pictures filter to the World Map
• Added the option to hide the Compass and the Enemy Proximity Feedback on the HUD
• Improved on-screen feedback with Friend Challenges in Arena
• Increased display time of the on-screen feedback when the playable character gets hit by an arrow
• Changed input button for the Compare Equipped action
• Fixed various icon issues in the World Map
• Fixed an issue with the Trial of the God reward being displayed incorrectly in the Quest Log
• Fixed an issue with the quest objective of Trial of the Gods appearing below the world
• [PC] Fixed the display of Photo Mode pictures captured on multi-monitor configuration
• [PC] Enabled Eye Tracking by default
• [PC] Added “Quit to Desktop” option to the pause menu