Other than the initial "dashing" nature of Arno, I'm not getting an Ezio or Edward vibe from him. He's not a great character either, but he seems to be his own person.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
So I got Freedom Cry for Christmas, and once I remembered out how the gameplay actually worked (I played IV last year), I had a great time so far. Some problematic elements, but there wasn't any way around those, really. Once Unity comes down in price, I think it will be worth it to get. It sounds like the technical stuff is mostly fixed, and the city stuff is what I always liked about AC.
I really enjoy the harder combat this time around; I've used more smoke bombs during the renovation missions than I have in the entirety of the previous games.
Other than the initial "dashing" nature of Arno, I'm not getting an Ezio or Edward vibe from him. He's not a great character either, but he seems to be his own person.
He's Ezio's backstory with Edwards attitude and
oh no I must become an Assassin to atone
thing as well as Edward's
drinking problem.
He's the most bland concoction of the series two best protagonists possible in a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of better games. This sums up Unity as a whole, sadly, given you can't go twenty feet without falling over social media tie ins, microtransactions, or Uplay.
MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited January 2015
Tailing missions are alright in moderation, it was eavesdrop and tailing missions that were abused heavily in AC4.
I particularly liked a couple of the tailing missions, l liked one of the ship ones that required really good knowledge of how it handles in tight quarters (For example, I didn't bump into every shoreline, or any shoreline, and felt pretty good about myself) but not 90% of the game.
However on the other side of the coin there was one really enraging ship one that had a fail state that you could see coming for at least a minute and not really do anything about because of how slowly the ships moved. You had to think five minutes ahead and know how the ships were going to move.
It's like it was taunting you.
Now the ones where you had to do all the speed of tailing and eavesdropping. They blew. I basically cheated and broke the AI with trial and error to pass them. I barely registered what was said in those missions.
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
In terms of being a game about assassinating people, I think Unity is the best in the series. The assassinations aren't scripted affairs, they are "here's a huge area, find and kill your target." There are still the scripted "opportunities" which you can take or leave, and there are still plenty of bugs. But it's no longer about hitting your marks and following the waypoints to "correctly" assassinate the target like it has been since AC2. And that freedom, that sense of figuring things out yourself is really fun. I felt like I was casing each area, trying to find entry points, weak spots in the patrols, considering the best moments to use my finite tools. It really drew me into the fantasy the game is supposed to be about.
The game has its problems, but all I want to do now that I've finished it is re-play all the assassination missions, and I've never wanted to do that with a previous game in the series.
As for micro transactions, I never saw them. I assume you can buy that third type of currency? Never saw anything at all about social media, either. And Uplay is there, but it never asked anything of me. The companion app was pretty useless, though if you're a completionist you'll have to use it. Well, if you're a completionist at all, this game is your nemesis.
I do think it's shitty that the game reveals all the gear in the game right away and then tells you that it's locked behind DLC (that we will never get, btw) or online challenges. I would just be happier if I couldn't look at gear from later in the game until I have the ability to buy or earn it. Uncovering new stuff in games is fun, but AC seems to aggressively disagree with that.
I don't recall any tailing missions at all. Where were they?
Other than the initial "dashing" nature of Arno, I'm not getting an Ezio or Edward vibe from him. He's not a great character either, but he seems to be his own person.
He's Ezio's backstory with Edwards attitude and
oh no I must become an Assassin to atone
thing as well as Edward's
drinking problem.
He's the most bland concoction of the series two best protagonists possible in a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of better games. This sums up Unity as a whole, sadly, given you can't go twenty feet without falling over social media tie ins, microtransactions, or Uplay.
Ezio's backstory and Edward's traits aren't exactly unique to them, though. In fact, Ezio's backstory is a pretty damn common trope. And unlike Ezio,
Arno actually takes his goddamn revenge instead of wussing out at the last minute
which plays to a better character and resolution than AC2 had.
Notwithstanding that your argument could be used against Rogue as well, for taking Black Flag and basically throwing a few other little things into it (like the Rope darts and, apparently bombs? Haven't gotten there yet myself, but I see 'grenade' in a few places). It's just throwing the 'best' things in the same pot and barely stirring it. Rogue's saving grace seems to be the way they go with the story itself, because Shay isn't exactly the most thrilling character so far.
I mean, I get that you don't like Unity and it's for good reasons because it's got a shitload of problems. But Arno is pretty much his own character, he just suffers from Ubisoft-pattern blandness. (Though I did kind of like him)
I feel like Ubisoft are trying to add a little more complexity to the Templar vs Assassin conflict, rather than just having the Assassins be the obvious Good Guys.
I haven't played Rogue yet, but if you're playing as an Assassin-turned-Templar, I assume there's justification for this.
In Unity, the rest of the Assassins are all pretty much opposed to Arno, partly for good reason, but so focused on their own perspective that they won't even listen to him when he's trying to warn them of something (I just got past the Arno's-kicked-out bit), or so set on fighting the enemy that they'll kill their own to get back to it.
On the other side, we're getting a fair number of Templars who're more sympathetic than the ones we've seen in the past.
That might be part of the reason they're dialling back on the modern-day stuff, as it might feel a little too good-vs-evil.
I can see a possible end to it (as if they'd ever wrap up their cash cow franchise) being with the two factions finally coming to some kind of peace, probably in the face of a new threat (Three games later, and I'm still waiting for Juno to make her presence felt for more than five seconds).
In terms of being a game about assassinating people, I think Unity is the best in the series. The assassinations aren't scripted affairs, they are "here's a huge area, find and kill your target." There are still the scripted "opportunities" which you can take or leave, and there are still plenty of bugs. But it's no longer about hitting your marks and following the waypoints to "correctly" assassinate the target like it has been since AC2. And that freedom, that sense of figuring things out yourself is really fun. I felt like I was casing each area, trying to find entry points, weak spots in the patrols, considering the best moments to use my finite tools. It really drew me into the fantasy the game is supposed to be about.
Yeah I really liked this, and I hope Victory takes that and improves it.
By "improve", I mean get rid of the fucking waypoint icons that tell me exactly where to go for the secondary objectives. Let me actually case the joint and find that shit for myself.
They could lose the icon on the map, but having something to indicate important points isn't a bad thing. Just highlight them in eagle vision, or something.
I'd like it if they went over their UI and just started looking at some of the more annoying issues. Every time I'm searching a murder scene, I examine a clue, go to examine the next clue, and get the clue description covered by the notification that the previous clue is in the database.
They could lose the icon on the map, but having something to indicate important points isn't a bad thing. Just highlight them in eagle vision, or something.
I'd like it if they went over their UI and just started looking at some of the more annoying issues. Every time I'm searching a murder scene, I examine a clue, go to examine the next clue, and get the clue description covered by the notification that the previous clue is in the database.
This and the fucking abysmal way the map is for multiple clue areas is exactly why I gave up on finishing the murders. That was such a cool thing absolutely ruined by design.
Huh, I thought all the DLC was canceled. Free is nice though!
Another thing I think Unity did well is avoiding the giant string of tutorial missions that have plagued the first quarter of every AC since 2. It was jarring to just be able to upgrade to dual hidden blades without being guided through it and having a story reason for it, but I was also happy to just be able to get it and move on, with an optional tutorial. If only double assassinations worked more reliably. And it's strange that the outfit doesn't have him wear a second blade gauntlet. Still, the lack of a big tutorial thing is a nice change.
Huh, I thought all the DLC was canceled. Free is nice though!
Another thing I think Unity did well is avoiding the giant string of tutorial missions that have plagued the first quarter of every AC since 2. It was jarring to just be able to upgrade to dual hidden blades without being guided through it and having a story reason for it, but I was also happy to just be able to get it and move on, with an optional tutorial. If only double assassinations worked more reliably. And it's strange that the outfit doesn't have him wear a second blade gauntlet. Still, the lack of a big tutorial thing is a nice change.
I haven't done an air assassination yet, so I'm not sure how it works for that, but the regular doubles still only use one blade. The animation is usually doing like a quick punch or headlock on one guy, stab the second, then stab the stunned guy.
There's an utterly bizarre mechanic where Arno can only kill his targets with the hidden blade. You can shoot, stab, explode people all you like, but you can only kill with the blade.
Other than the initial "dashing" nature of Arno, I'm not getting an Ezio or Edward vibe from him. He's not a great character either, but he seems to be his own person.
He's Ezio's backstory with Edwards attitude and
oh no I must become an Assassin to atone
thing as well as Edward's
drinking problem.
He's the most bland concoction of the series two best protagonists possible in a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of better games. This sums up Unity as a whole, sadly, given you can't go twenty feet without falling over social media tie ins, microtransactions, or Uplay.
Ezio's backstory and Edward's traits aren't exactly unique to them, though. In fact, Ezio's backstory is a pretty damn common trope. And unlike Ezio,
Arno actually takes his goddamn revenge instead of wussing out at the last minute
which plays to a better character and resolution than AC2 had.
Notwithstanding that your argument could be used against Rogue as well, for taking Black Flag and basically throwing a few other little things into it (like the Rope darts and, apparently bombs? Haven't gotten there yet myself, but I see 'grenade' in a few places). It's just throwing the 'best' things in the same pot and barely stirring it. Rogue's saving grace seems to be the way they go with the story itself, because Shay isn't exactly the most thrilling character so far.
I mean, I get that you don't like Unity and it's for good reasons because it's got a shitload of problems. But Arno is pretty much his own character, he just suffers from Ubisoft-pattern blandness. (Though I did kind of like him)
Except Shay's arc is unique so far in the series.
Assassin to lone wolf to Templar, with him actually growing more moral as he goes. The story is likewise very interesting for showing how incredibly dangerous the Assassin's fucking with PoE's is, a point missed by every game except Liberation.
And then there's Arno's weird memory scan thing. I mean, the Animus conversations I always figured were sort of recordings of what went down, with all the guards and what not dead or distracted or just a moment too late. But Arno has this weird ablity to see the memories of the people he's killed, and it's not an animus thing, it's mentioned in-story several times.
And who the hell was that Assassin lady? That's sure not Rebecca.
So no double air assassinations?
That's brave of them.
You can still do a double air assassination, he just doesn't use a second blade to pull it off.
It is strange though. Haven't we had two blades since AC2?
I half-expected blades on my ankles by this point.
Pretty sure that one Chinese Assassin had a foot hidden blade.
And yeah, Arno's doubles are just vicious... grabbing one dude and twisting his neck while doing a quick stab with the blade on the other is the one I see the most.
As for the DLC, they said that due to the whole game be buggy thing and general shit-storm that happened, everyone gets the first DLC free while the Season pass holders get their free game.
Nocren on
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-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
My favorite single assassination is where he just runs up to someone and thumps the blade into the guys chest.
Nothing fancy, just a blade to the sternum with some elbow grease behind it.
I feel like if you focus purely on the main campaign missions Unity is one of the strongest "assassin" games yet. As much as I loved 4, if you asked me to recount what the story was, I literally would not be able to, not even remotely, despite spending more time in it than Unity. Unity was very clear and simple, I really appreciated its story, it wasnt great but it was clear and focussed and I knew what was going on. By the end I felt like it had told a story, even if it wasnt the story I wanted it to tell (I wanted more focus on the revolution, which is a problem with ALL assassins creed games, in that they eschew the interesting setting in favour of stupid assassins v templars and abstergo bs).
A problem not just with Unity but with all modern games though is that as games get more spectacular looking, the AI looks worse and worse. The AI in Watch Dogs and unity was just awful, and not that it was any worse than in most games, its just being so "in" and "immersed" in a game like this really highlights how stupid the enemy behaviour is. Ignoring bodies, running around corners to be killed over and over, etc. I feel like games need to focus back on AI behaviour and variety as a selling point.
Also smoke grenades should have been used as a way to escape, or maybe kill one or two guys, before they fizz out or enemies start slashing wildly and you have to flee. But the way it ends up is there is just no reason not to spam them. Which is a shame because with a tighter stealth system and better AI, Unity's open assassination missions would have been the best the series has ever seen.
Looks like unlocking legendary gear via Club Competition is getting a change
We believe we’ve found a way to resolve this issue for the current and future Club Competitions. We won’t reveal the precise method, however, so as not to create further vulnerabilities.
We won’t be able to apply these procedures retroactively, so the results of the two prior Club Competitions will remain; however, we’re planning to launch the alternate acquisition methods for Club Competition-locked Legendary Gear on Monday, January 12 and that should render any remaining concerns moot.
Apologies for any confusion or worry… we’ll continue to monitor this situation as we proceed with future Club Competitions.
Happy hunting Assassins!
Now all that's left is to take the companion app behind the barn and put it out of its misery and then hopefully never integrate these kinds of hot messes into future games.
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FreiA French Prometheus UnboundDeadwoodRegistered Userregular
We will be unlocking them in order of the club competition reward. So today we will be unlocking the reward for the first club competition, the Legendary Sans-Culottes Coat.
EDIT: We haven't posted this yet as we're confirming with the production team when it has been unlocked. But I will be posting when it is live.
Win a piece in a Club Competition or wait 4 weeks later to have it unlocked to buy.
My hats off to anyone who still plans to play this game for another 21 weeks.
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MongerI got the ham stink.Dallas, TXRegistered Userregular
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PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
He's Ezio's backstory with Edwards attitude and
He's the most bland concoction of the series two best protagonists possible in a cynical attempt to cash in on the success of better games. This sums up Unity as a whole, sadly, given you can't go twenty feet without falling over social media tie ins, microtransactions, or Uplay.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
But there are tailing missions and they're even worse now that eagle vision goes away after a few seconds.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I particularly liked a couple of the tailing missions, l liked one of the ship ones that required really good knowledge of how it handles in tight quarters (For example, I didn't bump into every shoreline, or any shoreline, and felt pretty good about myself) but not 90% of the game.
However on the other side of the coin there was one really enraging ship one that had a fail state that you could see coming for at least a minute and not really do anything about because of how slowly the ships moved. You had to think five minutes ahead and know how the ships were going to move.
It's like it was taunting you.
Now the ones where you had to do all the speed of tailing and eavesdropping. They blew. I basically cheated and broke the AI with trial and error to pass them. I barely registered what was said in those missions.
The game has its problems, but all I want to do now that I've finished it is re-play all the assassination missions, and I've never wanted to do that with a previous game in the series.
As for micro transactions, I never saw them. I assume you can buy that third type of currency? Never saw anything at all about social media, either. And Uplay is there, but it never asked anything of me. The companion app was pretty useless, though if you're a completionist you'll have to use it. Well, if you're a completionist at all, this game is your nemesis.
I do think it's shitty that the game reveals all the gear in the game right away and then tells you that it's locked behind DLC (that we will never get, btw) or online challenges. I would just be happier if I couldn't look at gear from later in the game until I have the ability to buy or earn it. Uncovering new stuff in games is fun, but AC seems to aggressively disagree with that.
I don't recall any tailing missions at all. Where were they?
The companion app had a micro transaction angle as well, purchasing more assassin slots and junk.
Ezio's backstory and Edward's traits aren't exactly unique to them, though. In fact, Ezio's backstory is a pretty damn common trope. And unlike Ezio,
Notwithstanding that your argument could be used against Rogue as well, for taking Black Flag and basically throwing a few other little things into it (like the Rope darts and, apparently bombs? Haven't gotten there yet myself, but I see 'grenade' in a few places). It's just throwing the 'best' things in the same pot and barely stirring it. Rogue's saving grace seems to be the way they go with the story itself, because Shay isn't exactly the most thrilling character so far.
I mean, I get that you don't like Unity and it's for good reasons because it's got a shitload of problems. But Arno is pretty much his own character, he just suffers from Ubisoft-pattern blandness. (Though I did kind of like him)
In Unity, the rest of the Assassins are all pretty much opposed to Arno, partly for good reason, but so focused on their own perspective that they won't even listen to him when he's trying to warn them of something (I just got past the Arno's-kicked-out bit), or so set on fighting the enemy that they'll kill their own to get back to it.
On the other side, we're getting a fair number of Templars who're more sympathetic than the ones we've seen in the past.
That might be part of the reason they're dialling back on the modern-day stuff, as it might feel a little too good-vs-evil.
Yeah I really liked this, and I hope Victory takes that and improves it.
By "improve", I mean get rid of the fucking waypoint icons that tell me exactly where to go for the secondary objectives. Let me actually case the joint and find that shit for myself.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
I'd like it if they went over their UI and just started looking at some of the more annoying issues. Every time I'm searching a murder scene, I examine a clue, go to examine the next clue, and get the clue description covered by the notification that the previous clue is in the database.
This and the fucking abysmal way the map is for multiple clue areas is exactly why I gave up on finishing the murders. That was such a cool thing absolutely ruined by design.
Another thing I think Unity did well is avoiding the giant string of tutorial missions that have plagued the first quarter of every AC since 2. It was jarring to just be able to upgrade to dual hidden blades without being guided through it and having a story reason for it, but I was also happy to just be able to get it and move on, with an optional tutorial. If only double assassinations worked more reliably. And it's strange that the outfit doesn't have him wear a second blade gauntlet. Still, the lack of a big tutorial thing is a nice change.
I haven't done an air assassination yet, so I'm not sure how it works for that, but the regular doubles still only use one blade. The animation is usually doing like a quick punch or headlock on one guy, stab the second, then stab the stunned guy.
Depending on where you approach from and whether you're in high or low profile, he'll do some pretty sick animations.
The upgrade is that he suddenly learns how to kill 2 people quickly using his one blade.
That's brave of them.
Edit: or maybe not, I dunno.
You can still do a double air assassination, he just doesn't use a second blade to pull it off.
It is strange though. Haven't we had two blades since AC2?
I half-expected blades on my ankles by this point.
Pull off a quintuple assassination by doing a porcupine in a group of enemies.
Have awkward cutscenes after the blades accidentally go off when you hug someone.
Bayonetta would be the best assassin.
It's really weird.
Except Shay's arc is unique so far in the series.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
And who the hell was that Assassin lady? That's sure not Rebecca.
Shitty Tumblr:lighthouse1138.tumblr.com
Pretty sure that one Chinese Assassin had a foot hidden blade.
And yeah, Arno's doubles are just vicious... grabbing one dude and twisting his neck while doing a quick stab with the blade on the other is the one I see the most.
As for the DLC, they said that due to the whole game be buggy thing and general shit-storm that happened, everyone gets the first DLC free while the Season pass holders get their free game.
Nothing fancy, just a blade to the sternum with some elbow grease behind it.
A problem not just with Unity but with all modern games though is that as games get more spectacular looking, the AI looks worse and worse. The AI in Watch Dogs and unity was just awful, and not that it was any worse than in most games, its just being so "in" and "immersed" in a game like this really highlights how stupid the enemy behaviour is. Ignoring bodies, running around corners to be killed over and over, etc. I feel like games need to focus back on AI behaviour and variety as a selling point.
Also smoke grenades should have been used as a way to escape, or maybe kill one or two guys, before they fizz out or enemies start slashing wildly and you have to flee. But the way it ends up is there is just no reason not to spam them. Which is a shame because with a tighter stealth system and better AI, Unity's open assassination missions would have been the best the series has ever seen.
Also I loved Elise
That's only if you're not a monster and actually catch the QTE though
And now you know why Da Vinci wasn't in Revelations.
Now all that's left is to take the companion app behind the barn and put it out of its misery and then hopefully never integrate these kinds of hot messes into future games.
Win a piece in a Club Competition or wait 4 weeks later to have it unlocked to buy.
My hats off to anyone who still plans to play this game for another 21 weeks.
Because I sure can't play it now.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.