The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!
Let's discuss the Assassin's Creed series. What is your favorite game in the series? What do you like about it? What doesn't work for you? Feel free to share anything that comes up and react to other comments. Let's get the conversation going!
If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).
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I loved the original and the Ezio titles, found the American Revolution one ran a little too much on rails (here you ride with Paul Revere, and here’s an unskippable ghost-train ride of a sequence where you have to shoot some goons; meh), and found the Victorian London one a bit dull. I haven’t yet played Black Flag, but may do so next, given that people rate it, though am not excited by any more recent ones.
Unity is really good, contrary to its reputation (at least on PC). The parkour ~~flies~~ flows nicely and doesn't suffer from the grappling hook bypass of Syndicate, it's still the best-looking game in the series, there's a lot of attention to detail and the story doesn't overstay its welcome, even if it sometimes annoys with time jumps and the series habit of having to cram in historic events that you already mentioned. Yes, the map is overflowing with icons, but at that point in the series, that's to be expected.
Compared to Black Flag, parkour, combat, stealth (especially stealth), presentation, architecture and NPCs are vastly superior, but it's less whimsical and of course doesn't have those fun (if repetitive and far too easy, unless you go for the big ships right in the beginning) arcadey ship battles and boarding attacks. Black Flag is definitely better at hiding and spreading its collectibles out, making discovering them a bit more of an occasion instead of an (admittedly still highly addictive) checklist chore due to its larger and more varied game world as well as the novelty of being able to leave your ship at any time, even in the middle of the ocean or near a tiny sand bank to go out and explore.