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Post by Element Zero on Aug 23, 2018 12:28:51 GMT
I played Creed 2. I liked it enough that I preordered Creed 3. I stopped playing after an hour or two. Don't know why. Never touched or gave Creed a second thought after that. Last year I saw the previews for Creed Origins. It caught my interest. Not for the game, though it did look good, but the voice of the female character, Aya, who is voiced by the awesome AWR, my avatar. Haven't got the game. Still waiting for the price to drop low enough for me to get it. With Odyssey, I like what I've seen so far. The two biggest features that standout is the spartan kick and Naval combat. I watched the fight between Kass and Medusa. Not bad. For now, I'm up in the air about preordering the game or waiting until after its been released. I don't like Aya, but not because of her writing or acting. Both were good. I just don't like the person she becomes over the course of the story. She's very believable, just not incredibly likeable. It's sometimes humorous to hear AWR's voice coming out of a face that so closely resembles Indira Varma. I'm still skeptical about 400 BCE naval gameplay. I get that they've made the vessel ridiculously fast and maneuverable; made the crew and upgrading systems fairly robust; etc... I can't help suspect, though, that it just won't feel right without cannon, mortars, swivel guns and Edward Kenway yelling orders from the quarterdeck. They caught lightning in a bottle with AC4's gameplay, and I think they should just quit trying to replicate it in less fitting settings. "The Age of Sail" / "The Golden Age of Piracy" was the perfect backdrop for that gameplay. I'm almost certain to play this, but I'm not sure if it will be around release or later. It's coming 3 weeks ahead of RDR2, but only a month behind Spider-Man. That's a crowded two months for me, a guy who doesn't play a ton of different games.
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Post by dazk on Aug 23, 2018 23:24:24 GMT
I don't necessarily see Kassandra having different animations a bad thing. Like you said here, men and woman move differently from each other, and I actually find it refreshing that Ubisoft acknowledge this by having Kassandra's animation reflect her physique instead of the obvious approach of having them both with the SAME animations. I'm personally going to play as Kassandra mainly because for some reason, I find her facial animations work a lot better than Alexios and her voice actor just sounds better for the character. I like the RP stuff because I think it gives the games a bit more of a challenge and an excuse to make the worlds more packed with stuff to do. I especially like the addition of dialogue choices, my favorite RPG mechanic ever. The fantasy stuff I think is carrying it a little far and I really hope Ubisoft doesn't stick with swords and shield settings in future games, otherwise it will become pretty repetitive. I don't think we're playing as a founder of the Order since Kassandra's personality and backstory doesn't fit the Order's need for stability and order (she's a mercenary who can choose to be rebellious if the player decides that.) Then again, we'll see how the story goes. What I do know is that Ubisoft needs to stop with the vengeance stories after Odyssey. I don't doubt that it will be a quality game. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the new direction, and I fear they might be trying to stuff too many different features into Odyssey. Hopefully, we all enjoy it and get to excitedly anticipate/discuss whatever expansions are eventually added. Yeah I think one of the things that appealed to me re the earlier AC games was the shear simplicity of the games, its one reason I like the Crysis games. I am just not interested in multi-faceted skill trees and MEA is exactly as complicated as I want it. I am also hopeless when it comes to having to worry about multiple keys etc. in combat and that really frustrated me in Origins. So I agree not only from a narrative perspective is it getting too bloated but the game mechanics have also moved away from simplistic easily accessible to all controls, to something that as an older person is getting beyond my capabilities.
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Post by dazk on Aug 23, 2018 23:30:03 GMT
I played Creed 2. I liked it enough that I preordered Creed 3. I stopped playing after an hour or two. Don't know why. Never touched or gave Creed a second thought after that. Last year I saw the previews for Creed Origins. It caught my interest. Not for the game, though it did look good, but the voice of the female character, Aya, who is voiced by the awesome AWR, my avatar. Haven't got the game. Still waiting for the price to drop low enough for me to get it. With Odyssey, I like what I've seen so far. The two biggest features that standout is the spartan kick and Naval combat. I watched the fight between Kass and Medusa. Not bad. For now, I'm up in the air about preordering the game or waiting until after its been released. What turned you off re AC3, it was the first AC game I played and I really enjoyed it. I actually liked getting an insight into Native American history and the exploration of the wilderness was great and beautiful. That actually led me to play all the others and AC:BF is one of my all time favourite games but since Syndicate I am starting to lose interest in the AC games as they are becoming increasingly more complex in terms of combat and in detriment to the focus on the overall Templar/Assassin story arch. If not for the wonderful environs and good protagonist I would not have completed Origins, well technically haven't as I haven't been able to make myself play the DLC. However I am really looking forward to Odyssey I just hope combat wise its not a step too far for me and that I hope I don't have to go into Reaper mode and harvest a squillion animals to craft armour.
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Post by dazk on Aug 23, 2018 23:34:30 GMT
I played Creed 2. I liked it enough that I preordered Creed 3. I stopped playing after an hour or two. Don't know why. Never touched or gave Creed a second thought after that. Last year I saw the previews for Creed Origins. It caught my interest. Not for the game, though it did look good, but the voice of the female character, Aya, who is voiced by the awesome AWR, my avatar. Haven't got the game. Still waiting for the price to drop low enough for me to get it. With Odyssey, I like what I've seen so far. The two biggest features that standout is the spartan kick and Naval combat. I watched the fight between Kass and Medusa. Not bad. For now, I'm up in the air about preordering the game or waiting until after its been released. I'm still skeptical about 400 BCE naval gameplay. I get that they've made the vessel ridiculously fast and maneuverable; made the crew and upgrading systems fairly robust; etc... I can't help suspect, though, that it just won't feel right without cannon, mortars, swivel guns and Edward Kenway yelling orders from the quarterdeck. They caught lightning in a bottle with AC4's gameplay, and I think they should just quit trying to replicate it in less fitting settings. "The Age of Sail" / "The Golden Age of Piracy" was the perfect backdrop for that gameplay. I'm almost certain to play this, but I'm not sure if it will be around release or later. It's coming 3 weeks ahead of RDR2, but only a month behind Spider-Man. That's a crowded two months for me, a guy who doesn't play a ton of different games. Yeah I didn't enjoy the naval stuff at all in Origins and I love your statement above about "catching lightning in a bottle" I am actually going to be away for two weeks not long after Odyssey releases so I think I will hold off till I get back and then I can hit you up Element Zero for combat tips etc
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 24, 2018 11:38:17 GMT
I played Creed 2. I liked it enough that I preordered Creed 3. I stopped playing after an hour or two. Don't know why. Never touched or gave Creed a second thought after that. Last year I saw the previews for Creed Origins. It caught my interest. Not for the game, though it did look good, but the voice of the female character, Aya, who is voiced by the awesome AWR, my avatar. Haven't got the game. Still waiting for the price to drop low enough for me to get it. With Odyssey, I like what I've seen so far. The two biggest features that standout is the spartan kick and Naval combat. I watched the fight between Kass and Medusa. Not bad. For now, I'm up in the air about preordering the game or waiting until after its been released. What turned you off re AC3, it was the first AC game I played and I really enjoyed it. I actually liked getting an insight into Native American history and the exploration of the wilderness was great and beautiful. That actually led me to play all the others and AC:BF is one of my all time favourite games but since Syndicate I am starting to lose interest in the AC games as they are becoming increasingly more complex in terms of combat and in detriment to the focus on the overall Templar/Assassin story arch. If not for the wonderful environs and good protagonist I would not have completed Origins, well technically haven't as I haven't been able to make myself play the DLC. However I am really looking forward to Odyssey I just hope combat wise its not a step too far for me and that I hope I don't have to go into Reaper mode and harvest a squillion animals to craft armour. I enjoyed AC3. It had good cities and that beautiful frontier. I liked Connor and old Achilles. (Young Achillles was an asshat.) The Steadfast was kind of cheesy, but also fun and rewarding. The Templars of the Colonial Rite were awesome, and were the true heroes of the game. If not for their "stupidity for the sake of plot", they might've let Connor in on their history and plans, thereby gaining an ally instead of a foe. The backstory between Juno and the Kanien'kehá:ka was a clever, well executed idea. That leads me to my gripes with the game. AC was well written. AC2 and Brotherhood were excellent. Revelations was very good, excepting a few stupid mechanical choices (tower defense and excessive notoriety/infamy). In comparison, AC3 had almost childishly simplistic writing, at times. It often felt like I was playing a Forrest Gump game, as Connor seemingly blundered into every major event of the American Revolution. At the same time, the events were often portrayed in a ridiculously shallow manner. Then there's Connor himself. What's up with his stilted speech? I bet this turned people off as much as any other single issue. He was bilingual as a child, and spoke English with a swift, fluent delivery. Then, as an adult, he... starts... speaking... slowly. It's as if he is struggling to speak English. It was really cool to hear the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) language in game. It was not cool to suffer through Connor's speech impediment. That weird mode of speech, and his oft rash behavior, soured people on his character. AC4 had really good writing, characters and plot. I never understand why people say that it would've been "the same" or "just as good" without the Assassin/Templar story. Maybe those people would've been content to play an endless game of piracy. I, though, really enjoyed Edward's obsession with the Observatory; his special relationship with Mary Reed; his hunt for the Templar keys; and his thumbing his nose at both the Order and the Brotherhood at turns. The introduction of Sages was a cool idea, (Black Bart Roberts was awesome), though it sadly got tossed aside and finished in the comics alongside Juno. For me, AC4 was a great AC game that happened to feature great pirate gameplay, rather than the reverse. I like Origins. (I'm replaying it at present, and have progressed to the point of Roman involvement and having three targets left alive.) The AC teams sort of lost their way after Brotherhood, with the departure of their most talented, focused writers. It's been hit and miss ever since, with Ashraf Ismael seeming to be the guy who can deliver good, coherent games. (AC4BF and ACO.) One of my biggest concerns for Odyssey is that it isn't Ashraf at the helm, but rather the Syndicate team. Syndicate was a well written game (great plot, good characters) that was ruined by the shoe-horning of vehicles/wide streets into the game, and the resulting idiotic zipline device. While I don't see anything quite that ridiculous in Odyssey, I do see the potential for the game to be brimming with over the top mechanics and features. I'm running on no sleep. I'm pretty sure the above is a meandering mess of thoughts. Maybe I'll clean it up after getting some rest. 😉
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Post by dazk on Aug 25, 2018 1:31:58 GMT
What turned you off re AC3, it was the first AC game I played and I really enjoyed it. I actually liked getting an insight into Native American history and the exploration of the wilderness was great and beautiful. That actually led me to play all the others and AC:BF is one of my all time favourite games but since Syndicate I am starting to lose interest in the AC games as they are becoming increasingly more complex in terms of combat and in detriment to the focus on the overall Templar/Assassin story arch. If not for the wonderful environs and good protagonist I would not have completed Origins, well technically haven't as I haven't been able to make myself play the DLC. However I am really looking forward to Odyssey I just hope combat wise its not a step too far for me and that I hope I don't have to go into Reaper mode and harvest a squillion animals to craft armour. AC3 had almost childishly simplistic writing, at times. It often felt like I was playing a Forrest Gump game, as Connor seemingly blundered into every major event of the American Revolution. At the same time, the events were often portrayed in a ridiculously shallow manner. Then there's Connor himself. What's up with his stilted speech? I bet this turned people off as much as any other single issue. He was bilingual as a child, and spoke English with a swift, fluent delivery. Then, as an adult, he... starts... speaking... slowly. It's as if he is struggling to speak English. It was really cool to hear the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) language in game. It was not cool to suffer through Connor's speech impediment. That weird mode of speech, and his oft rash behavior, soured people on his character. I agree to a degree, I think they did try and "make" the game fit the history too much and that led to forcing too many situations into the story. I never found the writing childish though I can understand that the feel of the game often lent itself to what you are talking about. In regards to Connor I can honestly say having played it 3 times that is not an impression I ever walked away with. I always took his stilted adult speak to an inner frustration and anger at the world and the same with his rash behaviour. He needed to have a relationship with Dobby to release the tension. One thing I really did like about the game was there were quite a few light hearted and funny moments, in particular the quests where you had to chase down the myths like big foot and the headless horseman etc.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 25, 2018 4:51:31 GMT
Replying to dazk, I do like those hunting activities. The Bigfoot and Headless Horseman tasks were funny little additions. I like AC3, I just think it’s one of the weaker games. The fact that it came on the heels of the series’ highpiont (the Ezio Trilogy) did it no favors. They also chose to kill Desmond, which I think was a bad miscalculation; and they made things take a weird turn with the Juno storyline (which they also later abandoned). They’ve had a terrible issue of inconsistency and lack of continuity since those early talents left the IP. It really does feel like they were happy to do just enough to keep making money, but weren’t committed to delivering a consistently quality experience. (I saw were since I think Origins marked a renewed effort.) Expectations were high following Ezio’s arc, and AC3 probably got hammered more than it really deserved. It’s a pretty good game with some fun innovations; but it also had the bad luck of being sandwiched between Ezio and Black Flag— games that are generally viewed as much better games. I just watched the latest Ubi vid regarding Odyssey. Greece is going to look stunning. I hope I enjoy the super-hero gameplay, the characters and the story. The setting is cool, even if I’m a bit fatigued on Greek visuals following Ptolemaic Egypt. They’ll need to give me compelling story motivations to undertake any pro-Sparta activities. Unless this is way more an RPG than I expect, allowing me to play a “bad guy”, I can’t imagine choosing Sparta over Athens. I know that sounds overly simplistic (because it is), but I’m definitely not in a position to dive into 2400 yo politics on my smart phone. Therefore, I keep it simple.
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Post by dazk on Aug 25, 2018 5:28:55 GMT
Replying to dazk , I do like those hunting activities. The Bigfoot and Headless Horseman tasks were funny little additions. I like AC3, I just think it’s one of the weaker games. The fact that it came on the heels of the series’ highpiont (the Ezio Trilogy) did it no favors. They also chose to kill Desmond, which I think was a bad miscalculation; and they made things take a weird turn with the Juno storyline (which they also later abandoned). They’ve had a terrible issue of inconsistency and lack of continuity since those early talents left the IP. It really does feel like they were happy to do just enough to keep making money, but weren’t committed to delivering a consistently quality experience. (I saw were since I think Origins marked a renewed effort.) Expectations were high following Ezio’s arc, and AC3 probably got hammered more than it really deserved. It’s a pretty good game with some fun innovations; but it also had the bad luck of being sandwiched between Ezio and Black Flag— games that are generally viewed as much better games. I just watched the latest Ubi vid regarding Odyssey. Greece is going to look stunning. I hope I enjoy the super-hero gameplay, the characters and the story. The setting is cool, even if I’m a bit fatigued on Greek visuals following Ptolemaic Egypt. They’ll need to give me compelling story motivations to undertake any pro-Sparta activities. Unless this is way more an RPG than I expect, allowing me to play a “bad guy”, I can’t imagine choosing Sparta over Athens. I know that sounds overly simplistic (because it is), but I’m definitely not in a position to dive into 2400 yo politics on my smart phone. Therefore, I keep it simple. Are you getting the stupid column of letters etc. when trying to quote? I was trying to quote in the What did you do today in DA thread as I am playing DA2 atm and I just continuously couldn't. Yeah I agree AC3 was one of the weaker games, I enjoyed it more than I did Syndicate though. I couldn't warm to the Twins and industrial London was probably a bit too realistic, plus all those replicated gang NPC's were immersion breaking. I am looking forward to Odyssey to, but am not familiar with the history in any detail at all, so choosing a side in that sense for me will be meaningless.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 25, 2018 5:51:40 GMT
dazk, the site works very poorly for me lately. It’s nearly impossible to participate via a mobile phone since I want my posts to be properly edited, formatted, etc... I hate not being able to easily read and edit my thoughts before hitting “post”. It’s not much better on my tablet in desktop view. I get all kinds of errors, including the one you mention. It’s easier to just tag than to quote, at this point. All past civilizations look bad when viewed from our current viewpoint. Sparta, though, was particularly rough in some ways. It did have a few redeeming qualities, though. They certainly aren’t the “bad guys”. Athens just better exemplifies what I imagine an early “Assassin” or champion of freedom (for some) might want to support. I’d imagine Aleksios/Kassandra could have a harsh personal view of Sparta, given their rejection, but not necessarily. The collective isn’t responsible for the acts of an individual. The Peloponnessian War is a really significant era. It was a decisive point in steering the future of western civilization. It could be a great era for an AC game, if we aren’t too distracted by “Sparta Kicks”, oversized magic weapons, gorgon fights and those awful looking free-for-all-battles.
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Post by dazk on Aug 26, 2018 0:17:36 GMT
The Peloponnessian War is a really significant era. It was a decisive point in steering the future of western civilization. It could be a great era for an AC game, if we aren’t too distracted by “Sparta Kicks”, oversized magic weapons, gorgon fights and those awful looking free-for-all-battles. And please no Final Fantasy Ostrich mounts etc...… I hate to admit it but The Spartan kick I am actually looking forward to. In AC games I have always liked the throw the guy over the cliff options, of which there are usually quite a few!!!! Sending a guy a further 100 metres just adds value.
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Post by slimgrin727 on Aug 26, 2018 13:20:40 GMT
Finally finished Curse of the Pharaohs at level 55, over 9000 kills and well over 100 hours in the game. On an aesthetic level the expansion is stunning. It also has some cool boss fights with the dead pharaohs which highlight how damn good Ubisoft is at animation. But the gameplay loop is exactly the same and I did way too much side content which burnt me out on the expansion. I hope Odyssey can remedy this to some degree with more involved quest lines. Story was unremarkable imo, but it doesn't help that I spread the playthrough over several months and really lost track of what was going on. But at the end, a little sad it's all over. Odyssey's map: That's a lot of water.
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Post by Andrew Waples on Aug 26, 2018 13:45:58 GMT
Finally finished Curse of the Pharaohs at level 55, over 9000 kills and well over 100 hours in the game. On an aesthetic level the expansion is stunning. It also has some cool boss fights with the dead pharaohs which highlight how damn good Ubisoft is at animation. But the gameplay loop is exactly the same and I did way too much side content which burnt me out on the expansion. I hope Odyssey can remedy this to some degree with more involved quest lines. Story was unremarkable imo, but it doesn't help that I spread the playthrough over several months and really lost track of what was going on. But at the end, a little sad it's all over. Odyssey's map: That's a lot of water. My body is not ready.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 26, 2018 21:29:28 GMT
Finally finished Curse of the Pharaohs at level 55, over 9000 kills and well over 100 hours in the game. On an aesthetic level the expansion is stunning. It also has some cool boss fights with the dead pharaohs which highlight how damn good Ubisoft is at animation. But the gameplay loop is exactly the same and I did way too much side content which burnt me out on the expansion. I hope Odyssey can remedy this to some degree with more involved quest lines. Story was unremarkable imo, but it doesn't help that I spread the playthrough over several months and really lost track of what was going on. But at the end, a little sad it's all over. Odyssey's map: That's a lot of water. I felt much the same. My gameplay was more condensed, so I didn’t suffer that “What was I doing?” effect, but I did get burnout. I like ACO, and am presently replaying it. I was looking forward to replaying CotP, but probably won’t get to it. I will be unable to play for a while in just a few days. There’s no way I’ll reach and complete CotP before then. Once I am able to play again, I’ll have Spider-Man awaiting me. While playing CotP, and now viewing Odyssey vids, I can’t help but feel that they should just create a new fantasy IP. I feel like that’s partly what Origins was with its magic weapons and fantasy DLC. They maybe started out with the intent to do another pseudo-historical game, but it got sidetracked. It was clear that the designers and artists were more inspired by the mythology than the reality. Origins did well, so clearly Odyssey needs to follow the exact same path. I have always played AC for the historical tourism and parkour. I don’t mind improved combat mechanics, but it’s not a big selling point for me. All of these new features are done better elsewhere. I’m concerned that they’re ditching, or at least scaling back, the things that make me want to play AC. At the same time, they’re adding a bunch of stuff that just stretches verisimilitude way too far. I was on board with the Isu, Assassins vs Templars, etc... Magic weapons, undead mounts and now a Super-Hero protagonist in Odyssey are just too much.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 28, 2018 2:19:46 GMT
I played some Origins CotP, today. I finished the main storyline in my NG+ and got the lame outfit reward. I decided to just skip THO, since it’s really not very good. I hate the terrain and find the story content extremely uninteresting. CotP, though, is nice. Thebes has a totally different vibe than Memphis, which is a testament to Ubi’s world-building. Its environs are fun to explore. I completed a number of sidequests and the adventure into Aaru. Now, having spoken with Isidora, I’m well into the investigation of the second pharaoh. It’s been a while since I’ve played it the first time, so I’m hoping I get to finish this DLC before being temporarily away from gaming. I’m about to theorize about some SPOILERS, so avoid them if you don’t want to see it. As I said, I’ve only completed CotP once, so my memory of just what we learn is hazy. I’m now trying to decide/anticipate which of the following is true. Are the realms of the afterlife are completely artificial simulations? Or are they the “uploaded minds” of real people existing in simulated worlds? Are they people existing outside of time, since the game gets really weird about the nature of time and reality?
The residents of these afterlife realms seem very much like real people. I’ll be paying close attention this time to try to arrive at a conclusion. Clearly, the realms are projections, but that doesn’t mean that the minds therein weren’t once living people.
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Post by dazk on Aug 29, 2018 0:34:20 GMT
I played some Origins CotP, today. I finished the main storyline in my NG+ and got the lame outfit reward. I decided to just skip THO, since it’s really not very good. I hate the terrain and find the story content extremely uninteresting. CotP, though, is nice. Thebes has a totally different vibe than Memphis, which is a testament to Ubi’s world-building. Its environs are fun to explore. I completed a number of sidequests and the adventure into Aaru. Now, having spoken with Isidora, I’m well into the investigation of the second pharaoh. It’s been a while since I’ve played it the first time, so I’m hoping I get to finish this DLC before being temporarily away from gaming. I’m about to theorize about some SPOILERS, so avoid them if you don’t want to see it. As I said, I’ve only completed CotP once, so my memory of just what we learn is hazy. I’m now trying to decide/anticipate which of the following is true. Are the realms of the afterlife are completely artificial simulations? Or are they the “uploaded minds” of real people existing in simulated worlds? Are they people existing outside of time, since the game gets really weird about the nature of time and reality?
The residents of these afterlife realms seem very much like real people. I’ll be paying close attention this time to try to arrive at a conclusion. Clearly, the realms are projections, but that doesn’t mean that the minds therein weren’t once living people. You have me even more intrigued about CoTP now with your spoiler speculation but it is $30 buck here so it isn't on my radar for now.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 29, 2018 4:00:05 GMT
dazk, that price is ridiculous. It’s fun, but $30 is enough to buy an entire game. That’s way too much for any Ubisoft DLC. I finished CotP today. It was just as good the second time. It was probably better, since I didn’t waste time roaming aimlessly. I stayed on task and let the story lead me around the map. I guess I’d better put my further thoughts in an sblock. The afterlife realms definitely aren’t digital constructs loaded with ancient minds. A few side quests feature contemporary NPCs in the afterlife. This means it's most likely Isu tech building constructs around Bayek’s own knowledge and memories. Bayek seems to mostly understand that.
It would’ve been interesting had those been ancient minds preserved. Still, it doesn’t rule out some weird time manipulation, I guess; but that seems unlikely. Whatever the story, it’s fun to visit those places. Maybe Odyssey will shed some light on the actual nature of some of these crazy experiences. We already know that mythological creatures will be Isu constructs. Which came first? Did the constructs fuel the myths? Did the myths give form to the constructs? Anyway, I’m pleased that I was able to finish CotP. If I had time, I’d go back and complete THO, also. Sadly, I’m not going to get to it. Next time I play Origins I’ll make sure to complete it. It deserves a second run. I may like it more the second time. I think Ubisoft should just create a new IP. I see guys on the (terrible) AC forums asking in which mythological setting the next game should take place. That’s completely over the edge, to me. This is not a game about mythology, and it shouldn’t become such. If they really wanted to deep dive into this stuff, I still feel like Old Kingdom Egypt would’ve been better. Overlords ruling with the power of Isu technology, and a protagonist armed with a piece of his own: that was my idea for an Egyptian game. Oh, well. Origins is a good game, so no complaints. Edit: Final tangential thought: I hate the way the game pronounced Akhenaten. Ak-HEN-a-ten? I’ve always heard it pronounced AKH-en-AT-en. Given who/what “Aten” is, it feels like the latter makes more sense. Guess we’ll never know. He’s a nearly forgotten pharaoh from a forgotten time.
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 29, 2018 14:27:17 GMT
Well, I couldn’t sleep very well, so I got up very early and played “The Hidden Ones”. The terrain was less annoying than I remembered. Sticking to the story and doing less aimless roaming helps with that. It was solid. I now recall in better detail both the things I like and the weak points of the DLC. My original opinion stands: It’s an okay expansion. It’s worth playing, but nothing exceptional.
I ended my NG+ with two quests incomplete. I didn’t do the optional Aya naval mission; and I skipped that ridiculous globe-trotting quest that intros THO.
Bayek is Level 55, of course. Master Warrior sits at 65, and Master Hunter at 63. I one-shotted the final boss of THO with an overpower attack (sword). If I use this save again in the future, I’ll likely just put everything into Master Seeker (is that what it’s called?). I only have the one original point in that skill. It used to increase fire damage done to Bayek, not just by Bayek. I also barely use tools. I guess it will be good to have more effective fire bombs. :/
I never bought a single Heka chest before NG+. I bought a lot of them in NG+, and have acquired a good portion of the “Store” content. The one outfit I really wanted (Treaures of the Pharaoh, or some such, Tutankhamun outfit) sadly never appeared. I have a lot of cool weapons and mounts, though; including some weapons I’d never even seen in multiple prior PTs.
I’m sure I’ll come back to Origins at some point. I imagine I’ll already have played Odyssey, and a bunch of other games, long before that happens.
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Post by Sifr on Aug 30, 2018 0:52:29 GMT
Probably the strangest request for an Assassin's Creed game I can think of is something set in the Medieval Period. I know there was the first Assassin's Creed which took place in the Crusades, but I'm thinking proper Dark Age Europe. Actually, have it be in Sherwood Forest, making our character the unintentional inspiration for Robin Hood. It's weird how well this would fit into Assassin's Creed, revealing that "Robin Hood and his Merry Men" are the misremembered folklore versions of a Brotherhood of Assassins who operated in the English Midlands in the late 12th Century, while Guy of Gisborne, the Sherriff of Nottigham and Prince John were all members of the Templars.
In the mythos, Robin often portrayed as a former Crusader and loyal to Richard the Lionheart. What if the AC version of "Robin Hood" was actually one of the nameless, faceless guards present when Altair met Richard and duelled with Robert de Sable in the first game? I am currently playing through Assassin's Creed Origins and am currently having a blast with it's more RPG based gameplay and open world. It makes me realize how far the Assassin's Creed games have gone, but it does beg the question, is it even worth playing the older stuff now? Even though the graphics are ten years old, the Ezio trilogy still looks great and I'm having blast playing through it at the moment.
If you haven't played II, Brotherhood and Revelations yet, I would highly recommend you do.
My one concern is that Kassandra gets to have her own animations, and doesn’t share Alexios’ manimations. I honestly forgot to watch for it in the latest video. (The player was so terrible, that the ineptitude was all I could see! Jorraptor released some much better footage of his own time with the gorgon/Medusa fight.) No matter how buff and badass, woman typically move differently than men. We have anatomical differences that dictate this. It’s immediately noticeable when we see this general truth “violated”, for lack of a better word. If Kassandra's model uses the same rig as Alexios, that will bug me, especially as she's meant to be the canon protagonist.
Seriously, why do we even need Alexios at all, does Ubisoft think that male gamers won't play a game with a female protagonist and must have some male option? Is that the real reason we were lumbered with Jacob in Syndicate, even though Evie was obviously the better character and should have been the sole protagonist? I enjoyed AC3. It had good cities and that beautiful frontier. I liked Connor and old Achilles. (Young Achillles was an asshat.) The Steadfast was kind of cheesy, but also fun and rewarding. The Templars of the Colonial Rite were awesome, and were the true heroes of the game. If not for their "stupidity for the sake of plot", they might've let Connor in on their history and plans, thereby gaining an ally instead of a foe. The backstory between Juno and the Kanien'kehá:ka was a clever, well executed idea. That leads me to my gripes with the game. AC was well written. AC2 and Brotherhood were excellent. Revelations was very good, excepting a few stupid mechanical choices (tower defense and excessive notoriety/infamy). In comparison, AC3 had almost childishly simplistic writing, at times. It often felt like I was playing a Forrest Gump game, as Connor seemingly blundered into every major event of the American Revolution. At the same time, the events were often portrayed in a ridiculously shallow manner. Like Connor's reaction to the plot twist that;
Washington was the one who ordered his village burned, not Charles Lee. Rather than want to kill Washington for causing the death of his tribe and his mother, he continues to want to murder Charles Lee because... he's a dick? And he's gotten used to hating him? I get that they can't kill off major historical characters years before they actually died, but can they come up with a reason beyond plot-induced stupidity? In both AC2 and AC3, the reason for sparing certain characters that were responsible for our protagonist's tragedies are never entirely satisfying, if they are even explained at all.
At least in Brotherhood, the consequences of Ezio's mercy came back to bite him and was acknowledged as a mistake. The Peloponnessian War is a really significant era. It was a decisive point in steering the future of western civilization. It could be a great era for an AC game, if we aren’t too distracted by “Sparta Kicks”, oversized magic weapons, gorgon fights and those awful looking free-for-all-battles. I wouldn't have minded a game set during the Bronze Age collapse (starting around 1200 BC), as a potential explanation for what caused numerous civilisations in that region to collapse around this time, along with the identity of the Sea People, as these are questions that still elude real-world historians.
(No doubt Proto-Templars experimenting with using one or more Pieces of Eden in conjunction, only for it to massively backfire. Something so bad that even millennia later, would explain why the Templars are so wary about using more than one piece at a time, unless they know what it does)
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Post by themikefest on Aug 30, 2018 1:43:18 GMT
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Post by Element Zero on Aug 30, 2018 4:53:01 GMT
Sifr , absolutely agreed regarding Connor of AC3. That game is full of head-scratchers. In regard to any game set in that nebulous 2000-1200 BCE era, I think they could be awesome, immensely entertaining, and something fresh and new. Staying in Egypt, they could've let us see Smenkhkare's role in action, rather than making it ancient lore. They could've let us see Akhenaten's, Nefertiti's and/or Tutankhamun's roles, rather than making them ancient lore. As I mentioned before, I always envisioned a pyramid-builder/Old Kingdom type of game, and was disappointed when I first learned that Bayek would be from millennia later in history. The obvious issue is what we've both mentioned: historians have far more questions than answers about a great many things from those centuries. No one can really say who the Sea People were, as you mention. Only the barest of details are really known about universally recognized names like Ramesses or Tutankhamun. The more ancient the setting, the more educated guesses replace historical "facts". I wouldn't mind this, to be honest, since I'm playing to enjoy the game and the setting, rather than to be educated. I do my own reading if I want to gain more reliable knowledge. This "issue", though, rings a bit hollow following Origins. They chose to alter details of Ptolemaic Egypt in order to make it more colorful, exciting and inclusive. It was noticeable, but not off-putting, and they were honest about it. They also chose to chase the non-historical, mythological threads pretty far afield with Origins. They seemed far more taken with Egypt's mythology than with its reality. Odyssey looks like it could be a similar thing, with mythological monster battles and the like. They do at least seem to be tying them to PoE this time, but still... It's a bit silly. If they can make a game in which Bayek wears crazy outfits, rides impossible steeds, and enters the realms of the dead, they can produce a game with speculative history from these more ancient times. Ditto for our new "Spartan Kicking" (ugh), super-hero protagonist in Odyssey. Completely original, entirely speculative stories set in truly ancient timeframes are still more immersive for me, assuming a certain style of presentation, than a Spartan mysthios kicking grown men 50m. I'd gladly take entirely fictional, yet plausibly told stories over ridiculously fantastical versions of actual people and events. The difference in tone is the key for me. Oh, well. I think they've chosen their path for now, and likely won't change unless reacting to poor sales of one future game or another.
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Post by themikefest on Sept 3, 2018 22:13:35 GMT
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N7Pathfinder
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Post by N7Pathfinder on Sept 4, 2018 3:08:26 GMT
I don't really have a problem with the more fantasy elements in Origins and Odyssey, primarily because they took place in eras where magic, gods, and mythical realms were held with high respect as if they were real. The inclusion of Field of Reeds and fighting that giant snake was the result of a hallucinogenic mixture anyway. Honestly, in a world where pre-cursor artifacts can control minds and other crazy stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if these Pieces of Eden ended up playing a part in inspiring Greek myths in Odyssey.
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