The Rise and Fall of Assassin's Creed

[Mr_Freaker]

Assassin's Creed is both popular and unpopular. With every release they lose some fans, but gain new fans. The hardcore fans play them all regardless of setting. AC Syndicate is the first console release (along with Liberation, but that's a port) that doesn't hype me.

 

I'm quite curious to the opinion of all type of AC gamers of what you think the series would need to appeal (more) to you or to a wider audience?

Think about setting, gameplay, characters, story, weapons, present day <-> past, ...

[Azaan60]

A better overarching story. It's painfully obvious they have no idea where to go with the modern day story and are trying to pad it out for as long as possible.

[HaSoOoN-MHD]

I like the direction they've been going since AC3, but Syndicate doesn't hype me up. Looks like a waste of potential of the setting.

 

I don't are about the modern day, never will and at this point might aswell scrap it. Improve on stealth, improve side mission quality and get rid of alot of the tedious collectibles and make the games more open ended in mission structure, outside of assassinations.

[Saltyie]

The writers claim to have the whole thing planned out, so my guess is either Ubisoft wants to drip feed it as best they can to push out more games, or they're lying. AC Unity boiled down to "Lol looks like we don't need to bother after all!". Something needs to happen in the modern day, and I don't want to play in Abstergo Entertainment either (one of the biggest missteps in the franchise).

The main problems I have with AC all revolve around their modern segments, the individual tales they tell aren't bad. Firstly, AC3 failing to tie any loose ends up, or explain what I've been witnessing for 5 games. What was the room at the end of AC1? What about the vision in ACR? Then, after releasing Minerva into the world, we get to play video games in every following entry. Abstergo Entertainment is just a stupid idea that I hope is retconned, and the assassins getting people to play videogames is also a stupid idea.

[CandiBunni]

I tried AC1 and 2, but found the both of them to be incredibly dull. I'm not a fan of the series, but I do think the modern day storyline is completely unnecessary. It was an interesting premise with the first game, using a machine to relive the memories of your ancestors, but it sounds like they have indeed made a mess of it since then. A lot of developers try to make their stories, and universes as a whole, more "in depth" or "complex", but a lot of the time they seem to just end up making the whole thing rather convoluted. Like Kingdom Hearts, for example.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Bubblegum

[PREDRAG-K]

My main problem with the series is the settings. Aside from AC3 and the ship sections of AC4, I honestly can't tell the difference between any of the games anymore. I feel like they've missed a big opportunity to have a wide variety of settings, and keep each game unique.

For example, if you were to show me a screenshot of AC3, I would instantly know it was AC3. If you were to show me a screenshot of Brotherhood, I wouldn't know if I was looking at AC2, Revelations, Unity, or whatever. It definitely doesn't help that they're putting out one every year. It just feels like a machine popping out yet another AC game, and they're all starting to blend together.

When they were first starting out, I was excited for the possibilities of playing as all these assassins in different eras. I was basically imaging Sly Cooper's ancestors, and how they were all different. They need to have a main AC game set in Egypt, or China, or Japan, or India, or Africa, or anywhere outside of Europe.

As for the story, I've given up on that completely. I don't know or care about what's happening in the modern era. The last thing I remember is our character working at a game company, that I assume was supposed to be Ubisoft. I remember thinking, "This is stupid" and pretty much stopped paying attention there. It just wasn't interesting enough for me to keep up, and definitely wasn't interesting enough to stretch into 8(?) games + all those side games.

Why couldn't it just be about a guy trying to learn about his ancestors? Going on adventures through tombs, and solving puzzles. Could've had the moderns section be all puzzle solving (like Tomb Raider puzzles). Then, after he solves it and finds something (like a journal maybe), you are put into that assassin's era and get to see the story play out. 70% AC gameplay, 30% puzzle/tomb raiding. It got unnecessarily complicated.

[Humonic]

I haven't played any since 2. 

I loved the first 2. 

The rest don't interest me at all. 

 

It's hard to care when it's clear Ubisoft don't give a shit about it, you can tell that by it's yearly release; they're not trying to create a epic saga that'll be remembered for decades. 

They're just looking to make money. 

[damon8r351]

Jettison all the dumbass extra shit like hunting and pirate ships. Then go back to the very first game in the series, Assassin's Creed, and figure out what it was in that game that made you want to make a sequel. The first two games right there were where the series was at its best. The series works the best when you're given a list of horrible people that dearly need stabbing, and have you figure out how to make that happen.

[madbuk]

I'm really far behind and on Assassin's Creed III, but I hear this is the start of the trainwreck. It's decent tbh, but at the same time I have no motivation to go back and finish it. Interested to see where they take the modern story - always my favourite sections - in AC IV.

[Redgrave]

I think the major problem is the repetitiveness. Gameplay wise there really isn't a lot of new things added. Or at least anything really game changing. When Brotherhood came around and they let you call in Assassin's to help you out in fights or you able to send them on missions it was really great, and I was glad they did it in AC3. I assume it was also in Revelations but I never played that one since everyone said it was basically filler. When AC3 brought in the ship fights, I wanted to see what more they could do with that. When Black Flag rolled around, I liked it until the story had to stop itself so I could go grind out gold and materials to upgrade my ship. If there's one of those things that makes me stop playing a game outright is when it presses on the brakes to make me grind.

 

The story was interesting because of the whole mystery and conspiracy feel to it. But that slowly lost its touch because everyone important was either a Templar or an Assassin. After a while there's just no mystery to it and it gets boring figuring out that every historical figure and their grandmother was either a Templar or Assassin. I want to say they could spice it up by adding a third faction that fights both the Templars and Assassins but it's a bit late to do that now, I think. The only thing that feels interesting still is the stuff involving the First Civilization, but that's not saying much.

 

I also feel like they took two steps back by having a silent protagonist after Desmond. The whole modern thing in Black Flag was boring because your character never said anything. Desmond wasn't exactly the best character, but he at least felt like a character.

[Parker]

My main problem with the Assassin's Creed series is that there is too damn many of them. I think the games would have a much bigger impact if they weren't released yearly, as someone who is still on the PS3 games it feels like I won't ever catch up. 

 

 

Parker

[Dragon-Archon]

The writers claim to have the whole thing planned out, so my guess is either Ubisoft wants to drip feed it as best they can to push out more games, or they're lying. AC Unity boiled down to "Lol looks like we don't need to bother after all!". Something needs to happen in the modern day, and I don't want to play in Abstergo Entertainment either (one of the biggest missteps in the franchise).

The main problems I have with AC all revolve around their modern segments, the individual tales they tell aren't bad. Firstly, AC3 failing to tie any loose ends up, or explain what I've been witnessing for 5 games. What was the room at the end of AC1? What about the vision in ACR? Then, after releasing Minerva into the world, we get to play video games in every following entry. Abstergo Entertainment is just a stupid idea that I hope is retconned, and the assassins getting people to play videogames is also a stupid idea.

At the end of AC1 Desmond awakened his Eagle Vision from experiencing Altaïr's memories. He uses that in his room and sees all kinds of marks that were left on the wall. Those marks contained hints and symbols that pointed to December 21st 2012 (the day the Earth would be hit by a catastrophy). Those marks were left by the previous captured person (subject 16). 16 was forced to experience all of his ancestors and claimed to have learned the truth about everything and hid it from the Templars. 16 learned that Lucy was a traitor and that he would never leave that building. Supposedly Juno spoke to him and told him to paint those symbols with his blood. 16 died of blood loss (not surprising). Before painting Desmonds room with his blood, 16 somehow miraculously evaded Abstergo security and put a program in the animus so he could meet Desmond (which happens in ACR when Desmond is in a coma).

 

That vision in ACR was Jupiter calling out to Desmond and providing the location of the temple where you start in AC3.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Dragon-Archon

[Saltyie]

 That vision in ACR was Jupiter calling out to Desmond and providing the location of the temple where you start in AC3.

Thanks for that, it can be interesting when it wants to be!

I thought the end of ACB's DLC showed the temple's location though.

[Dragon-Archon]

Thanks for that, it can be interesting when it wants to be!

I thought the end of ACB's DLC showed the temple's location though.

No problem .

 

I haven't played ACB's DLC so I don't know about that. Maybe it was put in ACR again for people who don't buy DLC.

[DrBloodmoney]

For me Assassins Creed games are like IceCube, Marilyn Manson and The Offspring Albums - ill buy every one, regardless of how many disappointments i get cause every now and then one will surprise me and transport me back to when they were always great

[LastPisTolman]

I remain a fan of the series, but I was heavily disappointed that ACIII wasn't the Desmond Assassin's Creed that we all at the time though it was going to be.

 

It seemed like they were deliberately stalling with ACII becoming a trilogy, but then threw it all away at the post and went into some bizarre, fourth wall breaking modern setting.

 

I don't know why it had to always be related to Desmond either, it had already been established that there were many subjects that preceeded him.

 

Having a prequel series starring 16 and how the gameplay evolved with his fall into insanity would have been interesting.  With Syndicate being set in Victorian England - it would have been perfect timing to be the conclusion to 16's story, weaving in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde type affair as a desynchronisation effect from his insanity.

 

Syndicate interests me a lot, its in a time period and setting that isn't touched much and the dissolution of a multiplayer partition is a massive plus.  Go back to when the series was great and establish some focus.

 

I don't understand why they haven't placed a game in Feudal Japan either, that seems to be the one people clamour for the most - unless they're keeping that as the ace in the hole to reveal when the sales start falling.

Edited June 1, 2015 by LastPisTolman

[Confon]

I was a very passionate fan of these games, as I have played and owned every entry of the franchise, even the spinoffs like Liberation and Bloodlines; and after a while you start to think "What's going on here?".... 

Syndicate is definitely the game that has less interest for me since I got started in the franchise, for real, I remember getting hyped up for Unity, reading about French Revolution and discussing with other fellow AC fans about how it could work, the French Revolution was my ideal setting for an AC, it was impossible for Ubisoft to make a bad game from it, and somehow they managed to do it. And don't make me wrong, I liked the game despite all of the problems it got, but I do recognize that the game wasn't finished and wasn't the game that promised my wallet was going to be happy. Ubisoft deserved the hate, and I expect that they learn from what they have done and how they can change for good.

 

The idea of parkouring freely in rooftops of a historic city is awesome, I don't know how they accomplished to make the games generic.

[coldkillaaaaaaaa]

A new Ac, cod and tony hawk game, haha....god save me ..haha

[Dead Weight]

the series went downhill for me after buying AC3 at launch. The game was just so wonky at the time, definitely not as much as Unity but I never played that so I can't really say. Also Connor was a very flat and uninteresting protagonist to me.

 

After AC3 I swore never to pay full price for an Assassin's Creed again.

[Z1MZUM]

The biggest mistake they made for the game and story imo was removing Desmond and the gang, sure they are painful but at least it gave the modern era some story.

[TriggerTortoise]

I'll still buy and play every AC title that comes out. I like the core gameplay, even as flawed as Ubisoft makes it. And the melding of the plots with history at least gets me interested in doing a bit of research.

 

But I feel Ubisoft needs a bigger kick in the pants, with some competition for AC. Either something that's so good that it leaves AC in its dust, or that lights a fire under the devs to make a real high-quality AC.

Edited June 1, 2015 by TriggerTortoise

[ShadowStar83x]

Get rid of the modern day story, get rid of the useless MP, and no stupid gimmicks. Syndicate's done two of three so far. So I'm hopeful.

[PerryToxteth]

My main problem with the series is the settings. Aside from AC3 and the ship sections of AC4, I honestly can't tell the difference between any of the games anymore. I feel like they've missed a big opportunity to have a wide variety of settings, and keep each game unique.

For example, if you were to show me a screenshot of AC3, I would instantly know it was AC3. If you were to show me a screenshot of Brotherhood, I wouldn't know if I was looking at AC2, Revelations, Unity, or whatever. It definitely doesn't help that they're putting out one every year. It just feels like a machine popping out yet another AC game, and they're all starting to blend together.

When they were first starting out, I was excited for

My main problem with the series is the settings. Aside from AC3 and the ship sections of AC4, I honestly can't tell the difference between any of the games anymore. I feel like they've missed a big opportunity to have a wide variety of settings, and keep each game unique.

For example, if you were to show me a screenshot of AC3, I would instantly know it was AC3. If you were to show me a screenshot of Brotherhood, I wouldn't know if I was looking at AC2, Revelations, Unity, or whatever. It definitely doesn't help that they're putting out one every year. It just feels like a machine popping out yet another AC game, and they're all starting to blend together.

When they were first starting out, I was excited for the possibilities of playing as all these assassins in different eras. I was basically imaging Sly Cooper's ancestors, and how they were all different. They need to have a main AC game set in Egypt, or China, or Japan, or India, or Africa, or anywhere outside of Europe.

As for the story, I've given up on that completely. I don't know or care about what's happening in the modern era. The last thing I remember is our character working at a game company, that I assume was supposed to be Ubisoft. I remember thinking, "This is stupid" and pretty much stopped paying attention there. It just wasn't interesting enough for me to keep up, and definitely wasn't interesting enough to stretch into 8(?) games + all those side games.

Why couldn't it just be about a guy trying to learn about his ancestors? Going on adventures through tombs, and solving puzzles. Could've had the moderns section be all puzzle solving (like Tomb Raider puzzles). Then, after he solves it and finds something (like a journal maybe), you are put into that assassin's era and get to see the story play out. 70% AC gameplay, 30% puzzle/tomb raiding. It got unnecessarily complicated.

If you can't tell the difference between Rome and Constantinople (lets give the Byzantines credit) I'm going to start a Kickstarter travel fund for you so you can see the world!

Honestly, The historic venues are what got me into this series. When I got to climb the Duomo in ACII, I was hooked. Where else do you get to cross the Rialto Bridge, scale the Pantheon and parachute off the Hagia Sophia???

Edited June 2, 2015 by PerryToxteth

[Razza]

Though I am still a huge fan of the series it really is sad and disappointing that ubisoft have got no idea what to do with the modern day story on this game after the ending of ACIII they just brushed the modern day story under the rug.

[Neputyunu]

As long they are not going too near to the present or in the future Im fine with AC.

When they start using machineguns, rocketlaunchers, tanks and stuff... then Im out.

 

Personally I would go more in the past. Dark Ages, Feudal Ages, Iron Age... dunno.

I bet Europe would have enough stories no game ever has used.

 

 

The present-story of AC is important for me, because this is the part that gives the game the meaning. And a mainstory. The story INSIDE the animus is secondary. Seriously. And Im a story-orientated player. One of the reasons why Im hating multiplayer.... It never has a story... and its boring. Its basicly timewasting.

Think about it... The first game eg... without the presentday-story it would make no sense. There is this apple.. and now? Why exactly should I look out for that?

... They lost the path somehow with

Desmond's death

but I guess somewhen they will know what they want to do with it.

You know, AC3 was a patchwork. Nearly every Ubi-studio worked on it. So maybe the other studios were like

You stupid retards! How can you kill Desmond? OMG what should we do now... ?

Personally I hoped we would learn a bit about the other subjects, before Desmond... but... yeah.... now we have Minerva and a creepy stalker guy... for what reason ever.

 

I still havnt played Unity yet, because I still have no PS4 yet... but, I know it has no presentday-story, so it has a low priority for me. And in theory... I would miss nothing from the story, because it takes no part of it. Right?

 

I dont know why people suddenly hate AC... but on the other side, I dont understand why people are hyping AC2. I bet its just the nostalgia. I replayed AC2 after I have had played AC4 and it was pretty boring for me then.... sorry.

 

I dont know if Syndicate will have a presentday-story, but I know it will not have multiplayer... thats a pluspoint.

But seriously, for me the presentstory is important. They should fix that asap imo.