Topic: Assassin's Creed Series

[Crimson]

And Ghost did it much better than Ubisoft ever could. Highly recommend if you've not already played it, Crimson.

Oh, I would if I could! Was watching videos of it way before it dropped, in awe.

However, I'm at Xbox so...

[AndyMuller]

Assassins Creed Infinity, then? Looks like the new game will be a live service in multiple settings.

[dalarr]

Assassins Creed Infinity, then? Looks like the new game will be a live service in multiple settings.

Yep. Will be the final nail in the coffin for me. I enjoyed Valhalla but have zero interest in a mediocre cash grab live service.

[Zeb]

How does Valhalla compare across to Odyssey? Been having moments of fun with Odyssey, it is beautifully done if not particularly challenging, but the game keeps yanking me out of the Greek world with its 'aliens' and little portions with the 'archaeologists'. Is Valhalla a bit more coherent and a bit more focused on the game world? Although better of £100 for the game plus season pass suggests waiting on a sale even if it's a huge improvement.

[JerseyKloppite]

Saw that Origins was on sale for a £10 on PS Store. Quite tempted for that price.

[dalarr]

How does Valhalla compare across to Odyssey?

Valhalla is so much better in my opinion. Graphics are smooth and the story is well done. What I enjoyed the most was the map, the side quests and the world itself. Viking Age England is beautiful and diverse. The map is big, but not as big and confusing as Oddyssey. You don’t have to worry about improving your gear every single time you level up. The leveling of both character and gear is so much better. The only thing I missed was the mercenaries. They are replaced by Zealots and there are too few of them.

If you enjoyed Oddysey you will enjoy Valhalla. I’m a casual gamer and it was one of the games I enjoyed the most last year.

[Darren G]

How does Valhalla compare across to Odyssey? Been having moments of fun with Odyssey, it is beautifully done if not particularly challenging, but the game keeps yanking me out of the Greek world with its 'aliens' and little portions with the 'archaeologists'. Is Valhalla a bit more coherent and a bit more focused on the game world? Although better of £100 for the game plus season pass suggests waiting on a sale even if it's a huge improvement.

There's still some supernatural crap but it's far, far less than in Odyssey and the 'archaeologists stuff' is minimal.  You are very rarely dragged out of the game world by it.  The writing also feels far more mature and coherent than Odyssey and the characters are far better too in my opinion.  The World itself is great, with plenty to do, but it's not as outright beautiful as Odyssey in my opinion.  The story is - as Dalarr says - pretty well done and by Assassin's Creed game standards is right up there. 

Graphically, there is far more lod switching and pop-in than in Odyssey, with the trade-off for that being that the game runs smoother.  It still looks fantastic at times.  I'd suggest that if you're on PC that you use a re-shade though as the default colour palette is bloody awful. 

Combat is deffo better.  It's more gory and although using the exact same system as in Odyssey is just far more satisfying in general.  It's not really any more challenging than Odyssey though.  One thing in particular that I also liked in terms of the combat was the option to turn on 'guaranteed assassinations'.  I hated the fact that in Odyssey the stupid leveling system made some enemies somehow impervious to a knife through the fucking neck.  So stupid. 

So yeah, overall I'd echo what Dalarr has said in that it's a much better game than Odyssey.

[Zeb]

Ta. Enough to convince me it's worth picking up for half-price on Epic right now (40% off plus the £10 voucher they give for subscribing to their e-mail). LOD being worse is a bit sad though. Odyssey has those beautiful moments when you're looking out over a city or whatever. Glad they've reduced the aliens stuff, like being trapped in a game world with Rat Scabies only without enough drink and drugs to make it bearable.

[ToneLa]

How does Valhalla compare across to Odyssey? Been having moments of fun with Odyssey, it is beautifully done if not particularly challenging, but the game keeps yanking me out of the Greek world with its 'aliens' and little portions with the 'archaeologists'. Is Valhalla a bit more coherent and a bit more focused on the game world? Although better of £100 for the game plus season pass suggests waiting on a sale even if it's a huge improvement.

Trudging around muddy England and getting annoyed at the whacko geography might annoy some (like me). Can look glorious. Combat is sort of two handed now, it's still the same game as Odyssey. Less annoying in some ways. For me, the setting just can't compare one bit.

And walking through the English countryside to stumble across a VR puzzle for that present-day bint to do some light platforming is absolutely infuriating.

It's good. Fun overall. I just dislike the palette, the look, and the historical tourism element is a bit tarnished if you know your rivers.

Vikings themselves are painted a bit too positively. I liked the feel of Odyssey more where you're a mercenary doing her business all over the shop, whereas Valhalla you're an invading force painted more or less as objectively right in your culture of invasion.

Small niggles, but then it's a huge game.

Least I haven't died to a chicken

[JerseyKloppite]

Trudging around muddy England and getting annoyed at the whacko geography might annoy some (like me). Can look glorious. Combat is sort of two handed now, it's still the same game as Odyssey. Less annoying in some ways. For me, the setting just can't compare one bit.

And walking through the English countryside to stumble across a VR puzzle for that present-day bint to do some light platforming is absolutely infuriating.

It's good. Fun overall. I just dislike the palette, the look, and the historical tourism element is a bit tarnished if you know your rivers.

Vikings themselves are painted a bit too positively. I liked the feel of Odyssey more where you're a mercenary doing her business all over the shop, whereas Valhalla you're an invading force painted more or less as objectively right in your culture of invasion.

Small niggles, but then it's a huge game.

Least I haven't died to a chicken

I know what you mean about the setting. I preferred the world of Odyssey a lot more. Using rivers to navigate in Valhalla felt like a bit of a pain and I could never be bothered to do any raids unless it was part of a mission. I thought the only city that felt vaguely linked to reality was Jorvik, the rest could have been anywhere.

Still a great game!

Bought Origins in the PS Store sale in the end, will fire that up soon.

[IgorBobbins]

I’m quite early on in Valhalla and can’t believe how unpolished it is compared to Origins (didn’t play Odyssey). The character movement is terrible - he never goes where I want him to go, there’s loads of bugs and pop in and screen tearing.  And the sound is atrocious - like it was recorded in a tin bath.  Origins wasn’t perfect, but it looked absolutely gorgeous and everything was polished. Not sure what happened with Valhalla (COVID affected production?)

Well I’ve paid for it now, so will see if it improves. First impressions aren’t good, though 

[Zeb]

Yeah, as Darren G said, the pop in is pretty noticeable for me too. Running past poles as the flags on them spawn in kind of thing. Apart from that, I've not really noticed anything particularly janky though (PC) apart from a few cosmetic things. I'm only just finished with the prologue part but prefer it a great deal more than Origins although not as much as Odyssey. Keep getting the feeling that either I'm missing important quests or the writing in Valhalla is really, really bad for throwing in random off screen events and expecting you to nod along with it.

Spoiler

Like Harold's men turning up claiming I'd killed their mates, didn't happen, so is that me missing a quest (not sure how - have explored near entire starting map) or just bad writing introducing something like that outside the player's control of the character?

[close]

But the combat feels fine to me, and I quite like how they keep pushing into straight RPG mechanics.

[Darren G]

Not too sure what you're referring to in the spoiler Zeb as it's too far back for me to recall. Almost of the stuff prior to arriving in England is trivial and unimportant to the story on the whole though. I actually nearly binned the game off before arriving in England. Not sure on your take now, but it appears to be similar ro mine at that point in that just felt really disjointed and a pretty bad start to the game.

[rafathegaffa83]

Been playing Valhalla for a year now about 2-3 hrs a week. Still really love it, but I'm nowhere near finished and have about ten areas to complete. Did the Ireland DLC except for the last stage. I'd love for them to use the trading system in that game in future editions.

And walking through the English countryside to stumble across a VR puzzle for that present-day bint to do some light platforming is absolutely infuriating.

I understand the modern day aspects are part of the series, but I'd prefer to see them binned. The tech glitch puzzles are annoying and take too long. At least you can cheat with 99% of the equally annoying flying paper.

[Fabulous_aurelio]

Assasins Creed News!

So theres is a new game confirmed for next year called Mirage. It follows Basims adventures in Baghdad.

I think its format will be less open world and more like the older titles. Could be really good if done like the earlier games in the series.

https://www.ubisoft.com/en-gb/game/assassins-creed/mirage

They have also teased that the next open world game will be in Japan. They didn't give much more away than that.

Its currently titled 'Codename Red' and will be the next mainline game.

Only risks with that is Japan has only recently been done by Ghosts of Tsushima. Let's hope they create an incredible world to explore, which I'm sure they will after the successes of Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla.

I've very excited, especially as I missed out on GoT as I'm an Xbox player.

https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-creed-is-finally-going-to-japan/

[Hedley Lamarr]

I'm glad it's not going to be some 200 hour slog. I enjoyed both Odyssey and Valhalla initially, but my patience ran thin and I binned both off.  I did read it's likely to be 15-20 hours long which is perfect.

[Zlen]

Only one I played since the very first two AC titles is Odyssey. They might as well have named it 'Fetch Quest - The Game'. There is so much repetitive content it's actually mind boggling how they could be bothered to create so much crap. I did get my kicks in stealth clearing fortresses, but I don't see myself ever finishing everything. Not sure what could improve the game, it's stuck in some weird limbo of wanting to be an RPG but not really.

[Fabulous_aurelio]

I get that about Odyssey. The quests to me were particularly fun, thought the setting and beautiful map kept me playing.

I really enjoyed the side quests in Orgins and then the world events in Valhalla. I'm really excited for another one open world AC, but understand that some people aren't.

[Zlen]

It's a shame because world is nicely crafted, huge and rich for exploration.
They are simply overloading it with trying to be everything for everyone.

[Rosario]

Looking forward to Mirage and taking the game back to its roots instead of the grinding slog that Valhalla was. Was the first AC game I’ve not managed to finish and doubt I ever will, just became tedious going all over the map doing the exact same thing over and over again.

[RedKenWah]

Personally I loved the AC Valhalla, AC Odyssey and AC Origins direction and especially the introduction of a secret cult to hunt down and eliminate to reveal a secret bad power house who controls it all. Also generally loved the longevity of those but each to their own.

For me Valhalla is worth finishing and it’s certainly one whereby you’re rewarded the more you explore.

However looking forward to the next one and certainly looking forward to the next open world one based in Japan.

Only thing that I’m gutted somewhat about is the modern day story which personally I feel they are missing a trick somewhat and their intent to take that away from future games and instead incorporate that into Assassins Creed Infinity, which is their launcher hub type thing that will continue that story.

[Garrus]

Looking forward to Mirage. As much as I've tried I haven't really gotten much out of Origins as the sheer size was overwhelming. I liked the little I played of it but it's just such a big deviation from the previous games in terms of size and mechanics. Hopefully I'll give it a go again sometime in the future.

[JerseyKloppite]

Personally I loved the AC Valhalla, AC Odyssey and AC Origins direction and especially the introduction of a secret cult to hunt down and eliminate to reveal a secret bad power house who controls it all. Also generally loved the longevity of those but each to their own.

Agree with this, I enjoyed all three!

First AC game I played was Unity and I really enjoyed it. Thought the world of Paris was dense and really beautifully presented and the story/game was fun. I was surprised to read later on that the reviews weren't great at all.

I tried Syndicate with really high hopes because of how much I enjoyed Unity, and thought it would be fun to play a game set in London. But it totally underwhelmed me and I gave up less than 10% of the way in. Don't really know why, the setting seemed dull and grimy and the constant crappy cockney accents really grated.

Didn't pick up another one until I got Odyssey heavily discounted and it was ace, the map is stunning and was a real joy to explore. Seafaring element was well managed too, never felt that the quests got TOO repetitive, though I was frustrated at how little impact you could have generally on the world around you (ie you could change power in a region but there was no real benefit or point in doing so).

Then played Valhalla, thought it was a bit stodgy in places but the story was great and the game was fun. And just finished Origins (also v cheap on sale) and was surprised to enjoy it more than Odyssey. Really varied map, never felt like a slog.

Having a short game is a good idea so keen to see what that's like. The next big one in Japan is exciting but as mentioned above, it'll be hard to compete with GoT which was brilliant. Do feel that there might be some lesser mined civilizations ripe for Assassins Creed. Something in South/Central America with the Aztecs, Incans or Mayans would be brilliant. Or something in south or southeast Asia.

[Fabulous_aurelio]

As mentioned a million times by myself, I'm with the above posters, I really love the series and don't really find it a slog.

When people have said it's too much, or trying too hard to be a bit of everything, I don't understand that really. I'd genuinely be interested to what makes it fall flat for some people?

[Garrus]

As mentioned a million times by myself, I'm with the above posters, I really love the series and don't really find it a slog.

When people have said it's too much, or trying too hard to be a bit of everything, I don't understand that really. I'd genuinely be interested to what makes it fall flat for some people?

I'd say the evolution from a fairly linear action adventure game to a massive open world RPG takes getting used to.

You didn't have to bother too much about different levels of weapons etc in games like AC II and Brotherhood. Don't get me wrong, I liked the little I played of Origins but open world RPG fatigue is probably a factor and seeing the sheer size of the map and the levels required for some missions was a bit of a turn off.

Time is a factor too. I'd have loved this type of game 10 years ago but when you've only got 3 or 4 hours a week to sink into a game, it's a bit of a downer.

[Riquende]

Today I finally completed Odyssey - started it early in the pandemic, then put it down for a while. Came back and struggled through the First Blade DLC, but then I really enjoyed the Underworld/Atlantis stuff. Close to 300 hours overall exploring every location, unlocking every engraving, all that stuff. The only thing I have feasibly left to do in the game is find two more mercenaries and kill them to become number one... but I've finished every quest now and only made it to level 89, I think the last two mercenaries are in the high 90s and they don't come looking for me when I have a "wanted level". I have no idea if there's anything I could to carry on levelling up or if I'd just have to be lucky to bump into them somewhere in the game world.

Oh, I guess I could finally decide on some armour sets and weapons, and level them up/engrave them - I kept my resources to do that and suddently ran out of game!

This and Black Flag are the only AC games I've played so I don't really get the whole Abstergo stuff that's going on the modern day. I think I probably will play Valhalla at some point in the future but I've got a couple of other huge games to knock on the head first - Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 first up.