Assassin's Creed: Origins

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Assassin's Creed: Origins

Postby Riku Rose » Thu Oct 26, 2017 4:44 pm

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I've not played the series since Black Flag and have Rogue sitting on the side for when I feel like getting back into the series. I have to say though I'm not quite sure about the look of this game as a few things are rubbing me the wrong way. I don't like using the falcon as a drone, the way the character slides around while fighting and the way you can guide the arrow when it's fired, feels more like Batman then Assassin's Creed. I always felt like this series was a bit like Uncharted and Indiana Jones where it was grounded (to a point) and had fantasy elements but they were mostly restricted to the end of each game and a small dose. I've even seen the character fighting some snake that's 30 feet tall in a trailer. Just seems to be going a bit far for me.
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Re: Assassin's Creed: Origins

Postby O Rei do Frango Assado » Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:34 am

I've also not played any game of the series since Black Flag, which turned out to be my favourite AC, but Rogue seemed like too much of a carbon copy of it (minus the cool pirate of the West Indies stuff, which was the best part of Black Flag) and both Unity and Syndicate never appealed to me. Besides, I've grown tired of the formula (though that can't be blamed solely on AC. There's just been way too many open-world games these last few years and, even when they're good, there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing").

As for Origins, when it was first revealed, I dismissed it at once. Seemed just like more of the same, except in a boring desert with mud huts. However, the more videos I watched, the more the game grew on me. As it turns out, the world looks amazing and it's not just desert and mud huts, but it's actually a massive, diverse world, set in Greek-influenced Egypt (when the pyramids were already ancient even then), with cities such as Alexandria, Memphis, people like Julius Caesar and the Romans, Cleopatra and whatnot, which, in my opinion, makes for a much more compelling backdrop than pre-ptolomeic Egypt.
I like how, from the videos I've seen, the world isn't just massive and beautiful, but there also seems to be a nice, smooth and credible transition, from desert, to swamps, to villages on the Nile Delta, to the big cities, just like in real life. That's something I really liked in The Witcher 3. It can really be seen as we approach Novigrad.

As for the combat, I agree that the way the character strafes looks funny (i.e. unrealistic), but, at the same time, it feels like a breath of fresh air to finally have a combat system where the main character isn't rolling all over the damn place, all the damn time, which also isn't realistic at all, but seems something that pretty much every action game does, as if that's how people actually fight, so of course it's there (though I do understand that rolling is there for gameplay reasons, not for being realistic).
Having said that, I'm still not sure about the combat. That's one of those things that you really have to play the game to know. Judging from the videos, though, it looks like it may be a little too "loose", so to speak, but, even if it's not the best combat system around, it definitely looks like a huge improvement over the combat in previous entries, so I can only commend the devs for finally going back to the drawing board on that aspect.

Also like the fact that we can climb way more stuff now (namely, cliffs and rock faces in general, which, in previous games, would act as the game world's limit).

As for the controllable arrow, that's one of those gamey things, but, apparently, you can't do that will all the bows. You can only do it with the "sniper bow" and, even then, that's an ability you have to acquire, I believe. The game has different kinds of bows and firing styles (e.g. a "shotgun" bow, which consists of firing several arrows at once, a "rapid fire" bow, which consists of Bayek placing something like three arrows between his fingers and firing them off in rapid succession, moving them up the fingers. That's an actual real-life technique, it turns out.)

I also like how they changed the game's structure from a GTA, Far Cry-like system of going to a place, getting a mission, leave the free-roaming, doing the mission, and going back to to the free-roaming. It has adopted, from what I've read, a quest structure similar to The Witcher 3's, which, in my opinion, is much better.
Unfortunately, I very much doubt that both the story and the characters will be anywhere near as good as The Witcher 3's and I suspect that will be the game's weakest point.
Never cared about the whole "Assassins vs Templars, First Civilization, Piece of Eden, Abstergo, Animus" bullshit. It was never interesting in the first place, and trying to make a whole series of games around it is a terrible idea. Plus, it gives the writers less creative freedom.
AC2 and Black Flag actually had fairly decent stories, right until the point where they stopped being about Italian Renaissance politics and pirate stuff, and began focusing on all the creed shit, the templars and pieces of eden and
boss fights against Pope Alexander VI, in a spaceship-thingy underneath the Vatican...

I really wish they just ditched the whole modern-day sequences altogether and focused on simply making cool stories set in different time periods in different parts of the world. People play AC for the "historical tourism" aspect. Why make us play as a guy who plays as another guy?

Going back to Origins' positives, apparently, there are way less pointless collectibles and bloat, which is always welcome. Plus, I'm loving the wildlife. Again, it just seems like an incredible world to immerse myself into.

As for the giant snake thing, I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that that's actually a dream sequence, or an hallucination or something like that. Speaking of which, the main character starts to hallucinate when walking around the desert areas for long, which is pretty cool. Plus, sandstorms, which look incredible. Plus, we can ride a camel.

I like it how we can have a whole bunch of different really cool-looking (and very varied) outfits and how they don't affect the stats (equipment does), so we will never be forced to stopped wearing our favourite outfit, just because its stats are too low.
Plus, we can also change Bayek's appearance when it comes to hairstyle and beard and, of course, going around with the hood up or down.

I'm liking how it has more RPG elements and how that also means that we can develop Bayek to our liking.

I do find the use of the eagle to scout areas to tag enemies and such, while not realistic either, to be much better than the game's classic "eagle vision", which felt like putting on some high-tech goggles, like Snake's solid eye from MGS4. Plus, the eagle itself looks cool and it allows for some peaceful flying-around and great bird's-eye views of the game's beautiful world.

I'm really intrigued by the upcoming (in a free DLC) mode, which, if I'm not mistaken, they're calling "Discovery Tour", which puts us in the game's world (apparently, controlling any in-game model (or maybe just the named characters?)), with all the "conflicts" turned off, where you go to a spot and get a "mission", which is actually a guided tour (prepared by real-life Egyptologists and historians), to check out some places and activities in the game's world. As a History buff, I find it very exciting that they're giving such an extra focus on the historical and educational aspect made possible with these games.

Also, Origins was made by the same guys who made Black Flag and those guys are alright in my book.

So, yeah, this game went from not being on my radar at all, to almost a sure purchase by now.
Having said that, there's no way I'm buying it now. Why spend more money on an inferior (bugs, worse performance, less features and small improvements) and incomplete version of the game, when I can just wait less than a year and buy the game fully patched, with all the DLC and expansions included, for 30 euros or so, in the inevitable "Complete Edition" (or whatever they may end up calling it)? Besides, I already have way too much stuff to play right now.
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Re: Assassin's Creed: Origins

Postby sutoji » Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:59 pm

I recently got Black Flag and Rogue off a sale, I just cant get into them though. This series really doesnt get interesting its just a load or parkour with uninteresting open worlds. Origins is the same as theres a lot of open space with nothing. Best thing about Origins however is the change of combat
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