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Some Thoughts On Assassin's Creed: Unity

    • 743 posts
    April 5, 2017 1:01 PM EDT

    With Assassin's Creed finally releasing this year, I thought it would be a decent time to bring up a discussion on a particular game of the franchise. As an avid fan of the series, I would like to offer some of my thoughts on Unity (congratulations if you care to read these random ramblings :P). If you're any sort of fan of the series, you likely remember Unity's disastrous launch and the whole fiasco that transpired with Ubisoft. It understandably pissed off many people and made them quit the game early on. This really led to the game's demise, and a large number of fans regard it as the worst game of the entire series. After replaying the game a few times, I must say that that is a pretty unfair claim at this point. 

     

     

     

    While co-op is still broken, (at least for me) single player at this point is quite polished. I picked up this game around Christmas and it wasn't anything above average buggy. With Unity releasing on November 11th, I would say that it was patched up relatively quick in my personal experience. As I said earlier, I believe that most casual AC players disregarded it a week or two after trying it out, and never looked back, which in turn resulted in the terrible reputation Unity scored. Another complaint is the story's apparent generic and boring story. I find this critique consistently used by two different types of people: The casuals that want to bash in skulls, look cool, and not be required to use their brain at all, and the vets that want their beloved Ezio back. In my opinion, (as every other point here :p) the story did a fantastic job of exposing who the Templars really were (almost as good as Rogue) and how the Assassins could very well have ended the Templars were it not for their politician as a leader. Bellec's betrayal is one of my fondest AC memories because it made me reevaluate my take on the Brotherhood's deal of peace with the Templars, and it also forced me to realize that the protagonist isn't always right in this game. 

     

     

     

    Speaking of which, I come to my final point in this obscure rambling; and that is the hate of Arno. Perhaps it is unfair of me to say "hate" but the more forgetfulness of him. This idea is rather short sighted when you actually take the time to complete the story with an open mind. Brash and carefree in the beginning of the game, Arno was reminiscent of Ezio to a certain degree. But after the events of being framed for his father's death, we see a more guilt-ridden side of him that he attempts to mask with a sarcastic sense of humor. His vice of drinking when depressed is perhaps an homage to Edward, but I felt it (quite strangely) fit Arno even better than Edward, because of his obsession to cover up his distraughtness from everyone else. Arno's no-bullshit attitude is what made him different. Personally, I find him the most relatable assassin of the entire series. I believe that he is far overlooked and really deserves another game (which obviously won't happen, but would be awesome).

    Anyways, that concludes my dubious ramblings. If you've read this far, I appreciate the time, but also fear that you're as obsessive over AC as I can be (which hopefully isn't the case!). If you have any input, please do so!


    This post was edited by Rogue at April 5, 2017 1:02 PM EDT
    • 284 posts
    April 5, 2017 3:35 PM EDT

    I'm with you with this one, RogueSilver. I think that Unity is a great game and that Arno is a good character. You can't always have the same main guy as Ezio. I personally liked the stoic Connor and the "nah, I'm a pirate" Edward. Arno is also a great and iconic Assassin. He saw that even the Assassins can sometimes be wrong and decided to hunt the Templars alone.

    • 743 posts
    April 5, 2017 4:15 PM EDT

    D3LTAFOX said:

    I'm with you with this one, RogueSilver. I think that Unity is a great game and that Arno is a good character. You can't always have the same main guy as Ezio. I personally liked the stoic Connor and the "nah, I'm a pirate" Edward. Arno is also a great and iconic Assassin. He saw that even the Assassins can sometimes be wrong and decided to hunt the Templars alone.

    Thank you, D3lta. I believe the reason that the franchise is in its character rut now is due to the fans being so damned picky with their protagonists. If he's not Ezio, he's generic. 

    • 284 posts
    April 5, 2017 5:01 PM EDT

    RogueSilver said:

    D3LTAFOX said:

    I'm with you with this one, RogueSilver. I think that Unity is a great game and that Arno is a good character. You can't always have the same main guy as Ezio. I personally liked the stoic Connor and the "nah, I'm a pirate" Edward. Arno is also a great and iconic Assassin. He saw that even the Assassins can sometimes be wrong and decided to hunt the Templars alone.

    Thank you, D3lta. I believe the reason that the franchise is in its character rut now is due to the fans being so damned picky with their protagonists. If he's not Ezio, he's generic. 

    Some people don't realize that if you always have a character like Ezio then that character will become generic and boring.

    • 585 posts
    April 6, 2017 6:06 AM EDT

    Haven't played it personally, but I think I can comment on the different protagonists thing.

    Ezio for me was 'meh'. Granted I only played Brotherhood when he was the main character so I don't have the same nostalgia, but he seemed fairly cliche and too... easy. He's friends with basically every powerful geezer in the game, of course he was gonna kick arse.

    Connor I was ok with, he started the rags to riches protagonists (for me at least) and felt legitimate, although the premise didn't really speak to me (or maybe I'm just annoyed that you had to kill my kinsmen :P).

    Edward was a awesome, and to date Black Flag is my favourite AC game. He felt bad but with a silver lining, which is how assassins should appear to me - they kill people to solve their problems, so no matter how just their cause is it's still questionnable.

    The twins in Syndicate were alright, but also felt like they fell into cliche a bit - boisterous bloke who really shouldn't be an assassin but somehow manages it, and calm and collected woman who, while not exactly interesting, is the only suitable protagonist really. Still, it was set in England, so I can't complain that much! (although it was in the south, so not all great :P).

    • 743 posts
    April 6, 2017 9:14 AM EDT

    Zonnonn said:

    Haven't played it personally, but I think I can comment on the different protagonists thing.

    Ezio for me was 'meh'. Granted I only played Brotherhood when he was the main character so I don't have the same nostalgia, but he seemed fairly cliche and too... easy. He's friends with basically every powerful geezer in the game, of course he was gonna kick arse.

    Connor I was ok with, he started the rags to riches protagonists (for me at least) and felt legitimate, although the premise didn't really speak to me (or maybe I'm just annoyed that you had to kill my kinsmen :P).

    Edward was a awesome, and to date Black Flag is my favourite AC game. He felt bad but with a silver lining, which is how assassins should appear to me - they kill people to solve their problems, so no matter how just their cause is it's still questionnable.

    The twins in Syndicate were alright, but also felt like they fell into cliche a bit - boisterous bloke who really shouldn't be an assassin but somehow manages it, and calm and collected woman who, while not exactly interesting, is the only suitable protagonist really. Still, it was set in England, so I can't complain that much! (although it was in the south, so not all great :P).

    AC2 was my first game, so it definitely biased me to like Ezio a lot. In defense of his badassery, you had to work your ass off in AC2 to get those contacts. ACB was more of a sequel than anything else. Connor was a totally different character from Ezio, so naturally everyone hated him (hell, even I did at the time). But looking back, he had a unique story of rags to riches, like you said. I agree with you wholeheartedly on Edward, certainly my second favorite in the entire franchise. 

    I hate to say it, but I felt Syndicate rather stale. The protagonists weren't very interesting (nor unique) and that's coming from someone that plays AC mostly for the story and characters. Anyways, try out Unity when you get the chance!

    • 743 posts
    April 7, 2017 10:50 AM EDT

    Zonnonn said:

    Haven't played it personally, but I think I can comment on the different protagonists thing.

    Ezio for me was 'meh'. Granted I only played Brotherhood when he was the main character so I don't have the same nostalgia, but he seemed fairly cliche and too... easy. He's friends with basically every powerful geezer in the game, of course he was gonna kick arse.

    Connor I was ok with, he started the rags to riches protagonists (for me at least) and felt legitimate, although the premise didn't really speak to me (or maybe I'm just annoyed that you had to kill my kinsmen :P).

    Edward was a awesome, and to date Black Flag is my favourite AC game. He felt bad but with a silver lining, which is how assassins should appear to me - they kill people to solve their problems, so no matter how just their cause is it's still questionnable.

    The twins in Syndicate were alright, but also felt like they fell into cliche a bit - boisterous bloke who really shouldn't be an assassin but somehow manages it, and calm and collected woman who, while not exactly interesting, is the only suitable protagonist really. Still, it was set in England, so I can't complain that much! (although it was in the south, so not all great :P).

    Also, I like how a brit doesn't like London as a location, lmao!

    • 585 posts
    April 8, 2017 2:30 AM EDT

    RogueSilver said:

    Zonnonn said:

    Haven't played it personally, but I think I can comment on the different protagonists thing.

    Ezio for me was 'meh'. Granted I only played Brotherhood when he was the main character so I don't have the same nostalgia, but he seemed fairly cliche and too... easy. He's friends with basically every powerful geezer in the game, of course he was gonna kick arse.

    Connor I was ok with, he started the rags to riches protagonists (for me at least) and felt legitimate, although the premise didn't really speak to me (or maybe I'm just annoyed that you had to kill my kinsmen :P).

    Edward was a awesome, and to date Black Flag is my favourite AC game. He felt bad but with a silver lining, which is how assassins should appear to me - they kill people to solve their problems, so no matter how just their cause is it's still questionnable.

    The twins in Syndicate were alright, but also felt like they fell into cliche a bit - boisterous bloke who really shouldn't be an assassin but somehow manages it, and calm and collected woman who, while not exactly interesting, is the only suitable protagonist really. Still, it was set in England, so I can't complain that much! (although it was in the south, so not all great :P).

    Also, I like how a brit doesn't like London as a location, lmao!

    Well it's common sense that a northern city would be better, grittier, more badass and with no cockney accents (I can't describe how annoying they were after  few hours in Syndicate).

    • 1441 posts
    April 9, 2017 5:18 PM EDT

    I cannot wait for the new one, which if gameplay is to believed, is set in Ancient Eygpt, so sweet

    • 743 posts
    April 9, 2017 5:26 PM EDT
    Gonna have to disagree, Chris. I'm not keen on running around in a desert. Not my type of setting. If it happens, it'll likely be the first of the series I skip out on.
    • 22 posts
    April 9, 2017 11:03 PM EDT

    Chris said:

    I cannot wait for the new one, which if gameplay is to believed, is set in Ancient Eygpt, so sweet

    *GASP* Are they finally making that Prince of Persia game like they were supposed to?