Finished last night. A lot of the early thoughts I had actually stay the same.
Non-spoilery stuff:
-At the risk of sounding press-releasey, yeah, the biggest star of the game is the setting and the city. This game is just beautiful, all the little things I found are amazing. I stopped multiple times to listen to musical performances. This game easily has the best use of historical character interactions out of any of the games in the series.
-I know folks said this about boats too, but I have no idea how they can make AC games without the grappling hook now. It's a thing that was needed three games ago. It's the best addition to gameplay other than, well, boats.
-Ending wasn't fulfilling, but far better than I expected. Assassin's Creed gonna Assassin's Creed.
-Kidnapping would had been so much more enjoyable if they explained it better, and maybe didn't make the awareness circle look exactly like the hidden aura when you're in a crowd. It was maybe sequence 5 before I figured this out.
-Jacob and Evie are the best protagonists in AC since Ezio, and would have been horrible if it was only one of either of them. AC needs more characters like this to play off each other.
-It would have been nice if all my rooks were not three different people as I killed a rival gang of the equally diverse beard guy, big guy, and woman. Yes, yes, The Animus Did It, but still. A bit of laziness in an otherwise gorgeous game.
Spoilery stuff:
-Starrick is a great villain, but the lack of interaction from him weakens the impact of his motives. It's a shame that his scenes with Evie are at the very end of the game. The lack of Starrick having any actual interaction with the twins until the very end removes the aura of Starrick being an actual menace for me. Instead, I feel like I'm reminded he exists in the occasional cutscene. I didn't feel any threat from him or like there was a cat-and-mouse thing or anything like that; the game was just you doing stuff and him being angry about it from his desk like Dr. Claw. He needed far more screen time. And his vindictiveness was easily overshadowed by Maxwell Roth.
-Every AC game seems to have at least one "well this is ultimately useless" tool, and in this one it actually seems to be... the Rooks themselves. I could never use them in half the side missions because they'd just run in and tip off scouts or guards. By midgame I didn't really need them, especially when setting up multi-kills was far more fun. I liked the aesthetic of having more and more show up over the run of the game but in the end they got in the way.
-This is super-nitpicky, but I found it weird that the game specifically focuses on Evie and Henry developing a relationship, and then the WWI sequence notes that Lydia is... Jacob's granddaughter. Why not just... I dunno. Just strange to me.
-The precursor outfit is awful. I'm mad that it's the ultimate outfit for Evie because it looks silly and the glitching pattern actually made it hard (like, actual eyestrain wise) to look at and I had to switch her to something else.
-I get that it's a cliffhanger but if they kill off Rebecca I'm going to be really pissed. I assumed Shaun was untouchable because he's effectively the "voice" of the modern day database stuff, but all the introspection into her and Shaun's friendship in this game has me really concerned they're fridging her to advance the modern day storyline.
I think at the end of it, I still rank Brotherhood as the best AC game, because I don't have the "okay I just finished this... I want to start a new game and pay it all over again right now" feeling with Syndicate that I did for the former. But Syndicate is either second by a hair and maybe even tied. The biggest thing about Syndicate is that it's just a correction of everything wrong with Unity. The more I played Syndicate the more I found myself being angry at how many mistakes were made in Unity. Syndicate is just a good game.
Re One part of your spoiler
I see why they made her Jacob's granddaughter. Only way she could be a Frye. Otherwise she'd have been a Green or some other random name. Doesn't mean she doesnt have a bunch of cousins all over the world doing Assassin stuff during the war.
Aren't the recent Sherlock Holmes games basically the Dreadful Crimes stuff, just minus a hookshot and murdering?
Yes but more involved
You have to actually go find stuff in your archives or test samples of things, in addition to interviews and clue-finding, and then actively draw the logic paths for your deductions
Aren't the recent Sherlock Holmes games basically the Dreadful Crimes stuff, just minus a hookshot and murdering?
Yes but more involved
You have to actually go find stuff in your archives or test samples of things, in addition to interviews and clue-finding, and then actively draw the logic paths for your deductions
I finally started playing this in earnest, having finally given up on Disgaea 5's ridiculous post-post-game grind, and I love it despite my earlier misgivings. It's definitely not flawless but it's a lot of fun, thoroughly, and a vast improvement on Unity.
My issues with the game are basically twofold:
I still feel the engine needs a lot of work. Tight interiors are a mess, like the child liberation missions. I mean, they look fine, but leaping around indoors is like trying to play handball with a ball that's had glue sprayed on it.
My other issue is, yet again, some of these asinine optional objectives that just weren't well thought out. It's not a huge deal but the game is a bit glitchy and it can screw up your ability to accomplish an objective.
But overall this is definitely one of the best. I'm not sure I like it more than Brotherhood/Rogue yet but it's better than most of the series.
Finished last night. A lot of the early thoughts I had actually stay the same.
Non-spoilery stuff:
-At the risk of sounding press-releasey, yeah, the biggest star of the game is the setting and the city. This game is just beautiful, all the little things I found are amazing. I stopped multiple times to listen to musical performances. This game easily has the best use of historical character interactions out of any of the games in the series.
-I know folks said this about boats too, but I have no idea how they can make AC games without the grappling hook now. It's a thing that was needed three games ago. It's the best addition to gameplay other than, well, boats.
-Ending wasn't fulfilling, but far better than I expected. Assassin's Creed gonna Assassin's Creed.
-Kidnapping would had been so much more enjoyable if they explained it better, and maybe didn't make the awareness circle look exactly like the hidden aura when you're in a crowd. It was maybe sequence 5 before I figured this out.
-Jacob and Evie are the best protagonists in AC since Ezio, and would have been horrible if it was only one of either of them. AC needs more characters like this to play off each other.
-It would have been nice if all my rooks were not three different people as I killed a rival gang of the equally diverse beard guy, big guy, and woman. Yes, yes, The Animus Did It, but still. A bit of laziness in an otherwise gorgeous game.
Spoilery stuff:
-Starrick is a great villain, but the lack of interaction from him weakens the impact of his motives. It's a shame that his scenes with Evie are at the very end of the game. The lack of Starrick having any actual interaction with the twins until the very end removes the aura of Starrick being an actual menace for me. Instead, I feel like I'm reminded he exists in the occasional cutscene. I didn't feel any threat from him or like there was a cat-and-mouse thing or anything like that; the game was just you doing stuff and him being angry about it from his desk like Dr. Claw. He needed far more screen time. And his vindictiveness was easily overshadowed by Maxwell Roth.
-Every AC game seems to have at least one "well this is ultimately useless" tool, and in this one it actually seems to be... the Rooks themselves. I could never use them in half the side missions because they'd just run in and tip off scouts or guards. By midgame I didn't really need them, especially when setting up multi-kills was far more fun. I liked the aesthetic of having more and more show up over the run of the game but in the end they got in the way.
-This is super-nitpicky, but I found it weird that the game specifically focuses on Evie and Henry developing a relationship, and then the WWI sequence notes that Lydia is... Jacob's granddaughter. Why not just... I dunno. Just strange to me.
-The precursor outfit is awful. I'm mad that it's the ultimate outfit for Evie because it looks silly and the glitching pattern actually made it hard (like, actual eyestrain wise) to look at and I had to switch her to something else.
-I get that it's a cliffhanger but if they kill off Rebecca I'm going to be really pissed. I assumed Shaun was untouchable because he's effectively the "voice" of the modern day database stuff, but all the introspection into her and Shaun's friendship in this game has me really concerned they're fridging her to advance the modern day storyline.
I think at the end of it, I still rank Brotherhood as the best AC game, because I don't have the "okay I just finished this... I want to start a new game and pay it all over again right now" feeling with Syndicate that I did for the former. But Syndicate is either second by a hair and maybe even tied. The biggest thing about Syndicate is that it's just a correction of everything wrong with Unity. The more I played Syndicate the more I found myself being angry at how many mistakes were made in Unity. Syndicate is just a good game.
Kidnapping and crowd stealth have the same circle because they mean the same thing. Enemies won't see you until they step inside that circle. The thing I had trouble with a few times was the initial kidnap action. It is impossible to tell how big a circle it is going to be.
the sleep darts were the best compromise I feel, you can take a guy out temporarily but you need to get there in time to finish the job
+2
Options
knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
I want to find whoever decided Jacob needed a bunch of stealthy/no-kill optional objectives in sequence 8 and kick them in the genitals.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
+1
Options
Librarian's ghostLibrarian, Ghostbuster, and TimSporkRegistered Userregular
The one where you need to steal a solider uniform
I went for a guard on the opposite side of the barracks. He walks underneath a carriageway where no off duty soliders go so i knocked him out. I then proceeded to one by one knock out the other off duty soldiers between him and the main gate right nearby. It was like six total. Used knives once or twice on tne ground nearby them to make them turn to investigate.
knitdanIn ur baseKillin ur guysRegistered Userregular
On the (kidnap 3 people) mission I got the first kidnap victim out of her lair without being seen and then as soon as I got above ground I got spotted by those dorky French foreign legion looking cops so I spent the rest of the mission on a murder spree.
“I was quick when I came in here, I’m twice as quick now”
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I've never been able to kidnap someone under smoke bomb influence.
I was surprised I could! Now I'm wishing I'd saved the clip.
I think you can only kidnap if you're not detected. So if you smoke bomb before you're seen it'll work, but if you do it as a response to detection, it doesn't work.
Quick question: I'm trying to do the Secretions of London quests on my own. Do the little poems actually have any meaning here? I feel like there are fewer landmarks with information per district than in Unity.
All the ones I've found so far I've either stumbled upon accidentally, or I recognized/was able to track it down via the photo.
And yes I misspelled Secrets on purpose because I'm in a funny mood.
Quick question: I'm trying to do the Secretions of London quests on my own. Do the little poems actually have any meaning here? I feel like there are fewer landmarks with information per district than in Unity.
All the ones I've found so far I've either stumbled upon accidentally, or I recognized/was able to track it down via the photo.
And yes I misspelled Secrets on purpose because I'm in a funny mood.
If the poems have anything to do with where to find them, I was never able to figure it out. I just looked around on the map for landmarks, or I knew where they were from wandering around.
Though I had to GameFAQs one of them. The one in The Strand (I think?) with Hebington Tea. Could not find that one for the life of me.
Quick question: I'm trying to do the Secretions of London quests on my own. Do the little poems actually have any meaning here? I feel like there are fewer landmarks with information per district than in Unity.
All the ones I've found so far I've either stumbled upon accidentally, or I recognized/was able to track it down via the photo.
And yes I misspelled Secrets on purpose because I'm in a funny mood.
If the poems have anything to do with where to find them, I was never able to figure it out. I just looked around on the map for landmarks, or I knew where they were from wandering around.
Though I had to GameFAQs one of them. The one in The Strand (I think?) with Hebington Tea. Could not find that one for the life of me.
Thanks, that's what I figured. I mean, I just don't see much correlation between the poem and the location.
I refuse to look at hints for the Secrets of London quest but some of the areas are driving me crazy. The Strand is particularly frustrating, yes, @SyphonBlue
What I've played so far I really like. There have been a few times when I've missed the optional objectives on the Templar Hunts or whatever, and I wish those were easier to restart, but otherwise it's good so far.
There was an early Dickens mission where the mission content felt a bit like something I might have seen in unity, but the fact that the intro and conclusion of the quest were voice acted just made it feel REAL.
DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Just started the game and yeah I'm liking it.
Its very traditional in that there is no big gameplay gimmick as there was in Black Flag. Which means that there isn't much in the way of new shit but as the actual assassin stuff is the best its been in a while.
That said the jankiness of the engine is still very apparent.
Hmm.
No technical problems with the game on PC yet (though I'm not yet through the 'this is how you access the map' tutorial missions), but each time I try to run it, it complains that there's no disc in the drive.
I did get a disc copy (because downloading 40 gigs can get stuffed), but I can just click continue and start the game, so I'm not sure why it's whining at me if it doesn't even need the disk.
Is that happening for everyone?
Posts
Re One part of your spoiler
Yes but more involved
You have to actually go find stuff in your archives or test samples of things, in addition to interviews and clue-finding, and then actively draw the logic paths for your deductions
Yes
But I want the hookshot and the murdering in there too
I also want the inevitable "You've been put on the case and it's someone you assassinated" thing
I like the Sherlock Holmes games.
Would you settle for 1940's Los Angeles?
Because L.A. Noire is basically that
My issues with the game are basically twofold:
I still feel the engine needs a lot of work. Tight interiors are a mess, like the child liberation missions. I mean, they look fine, but leaping around indoors is like trying to play handball with a ball that's had glue sprayed on it.
My other issue is, yet again, some of these asinine optional objectives that just weren't well thought out. It's not a huge deal but the game is a bit glitchy and it can screw up your ability to accomplish an objective.
But overall this is definitely one of the best. I'm not sure I like it more than Brotherhood/Rogue yet but it's better than most of the series.
Kidnapping and crowd stealth have the same circle because they mean the same thing. Enemies won't see you until they step inside that circle. The thing I had trouble with a few times was the initial kidnap action. It is impossible to tell how big a circle it is going to be.
Because I basically head in there with a bag full of throwing knives and slowly kill every enemy in the area
Then I can grab the target, knock them out and throw them into the carriage on my own time
The one to get the guard uniform was bad. Why do I have to throw the guard in a carriage who caaaares
Because uh, yikes
Evie + throwing knives = easy mode
I've had missions where I literally just walked in a straight line through a restricted area and pressed triangle a bunch and had no problems
the sleep darts were the best compromise I feel, you can take a guy out temporarily but you need to get there in time to finish the job
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
Then I walked him across the street, knocked him out, stole his uniform, and threw him in a carriage without incident
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I was surprised I could! Now I'm wishing I'd saved the clip.
-Indiana Solo, runner of blades
I think you can only kidnap if you're not detected. So if you smoke bomb before you're seen it'll work, but if you do it as a response to detection, it doesn't work.
All the ones I've found so far I've either stumbled upon accidentally, or I recognized/was able to track it down via the photo.
And yes I misspelled Secrets on purpose because I'm in a funny mood.
If the poems have anything to do with where to find them, I was never able to figure it out. I just looked around on the map for landmarks, or I knew where they were from wandering around.
Though I had to GameFAQs one of them. The one in The Strand (I think?) with Hebington Tea. Could not find that one for the life of me.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
Thanks, that's what I figured. I mean, I just don't see much correlation between the poem and the location.
Well that is going to no longer be the case by the end of this week
And the port is excellent
D3 Steam #TeamTangent STO
It's today
The PC port is out today, and is in fact already up on Steam
I had a few minor gripes about it, but nothing that ever really soured me on anything.
I think my biggest complaint would be
It felt like the game was building her up to be a significant unpredictable danger to the twins and then Evie just took her out like it was nothing.
Though her death conversation was pretty great.
Steam ID - VeldrinD | SS Post | Wishlist
There was an early Dickens mission where the mission content felt a bit like something I might have seen in unity, but the fact that the intro and conclusion of the quest were voice acted just made it feel REAL.
Its very traditional in that there is no big gameplay gimmick as there was in Black Flag. Which means that there isn't much in the way of new shit but as the actual assassin stuff is the best its been in a while.
That said the jankiness of the engine is still very apparent.
No technical problems with the game on PC yet (though I'm not yet through the 'this is how you access the map' tutorial missions), but each time I try to run it, it complains that there's no disc in the drive.
I did get a disc copy (because downloading 40 gigs can get stuffed), but I can just click continue and start the game, so I'm not sure why it's whining at me if it doesn't even need the disk.
Is that happening for everyone?
He shows 0 romantic or sexual interest in anyone which is quite rare for a young male protagonist
He is definitely not asexual.
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126
PSN/Steam/NNID: SyphonBlue | BNet: SyphonBlue#1126