Quite possibly a near perfect game. Beautifully rendered, great rpg elements woven into it.

MASSIVE game world of ancient Egypt, beautifully done cities and countryside. Combat is adaptable according to what you open up on your skill tree, but there is an emphasis on archery given the occupation of the character.

No multiplayer. But I think Ubisoft did the damn thing with this one. They found the key. Don't flood the market anymore, take time to truly innovate with successive games. AC:Origins is really a great game and I know I've barely scratched the surface.
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cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

I told my girl to smack me if I start saying hotep things.

I don't love the flashback storytelling, though. The game starts off very disjointed and incoherent. It feels mad amateurish. Which is a shame because the writing and acting is decent.

They've done great things with streamlining movement and stealth. The game has some of the best open world architecture ever too. Lots of nooks and crannies to climb on and hide in.

The combat is just as gimmicky as ever. For years it's been Arkham-lite. Now it's Souls-lite. It's clunky. I'm going to avoid melee as much as I can and stick to bows and the hidden blade (whenever I get that...I'm four hours in and still no hidden blade, yo). I wish they would look at Mark of the Ninja and limit open combat options altogether and really encourage stealth, but that's not going to happen.

I appreciate the return of outside the Animus exploring. The dream of modern day Assassin's is still alive.

All in all this is a good AC game. So far, it's probably my 4th favorite in the series. Ahead of Black Flag, but behind Syndicate (Syndicate is underrated). I love AC games, though. I'm just not sure if it's going to turn anybody around on the series. I'd like for them to keep spreading out releases and letting the franchise breathe like this.

>No multiplayer. But I think Ubisoft did the damn thing with
>this one. They found the key. Don't flood the market anymore,
>take time to truly innovate with successive games. AC:Origins
>is really a great game and I know I've barely scratched the
>surface.

Like, don't go "Oh SHIT, we're back on top!" and start back with the annual releases. Similar to how I don't want these movie companies thinking that R-rated comic book movies are successful because they're R-rated/raunchy. Understand what people enjoy about these things, then take time to develop another one.

I've downloaded this, but haven't started. I traded some old games to get the season pass stuff.

and solely for the exploration/education/please-don't-make-me-actually-engage-with-these-washed-and/or-off-brand-game-mechanics mode

visually this game looks stunning and i keep reading how accurately it represents egypt. all i want to do is walk around and look at stuff and maybe get a popup about how cleopatra was probably macedonian

It starts off really rough.

The storytelling is choppy up front and the combat requires a lot of ability upgrades to feel good.

But after about ten hours the game settles into a groove and the moment to moment experience of playing it is sublime (if you dig open world third person action adventures).

It holds up next to BOTW and Horizon too, in terms of moving the genre forward. Lots of smart environmental interactivity and quality of life mechanics were introduced this time around. It's not better than those two games, but it's not outclassed by them either.

i really love ac games, but def felt the burnout. i think bf was the last game i played all the way through. good to hear this one is a return to form, if you will.

just not sure when i'll get a chance to play. currently overseas working and i haven't found time for any gaming in the last 18 months.

>It starts off really rough.
>
>The storytelling is choppy up front and the combat requires a
>lot of ability upgrades to feel good.
>
>But after about ten hours the game settles into a groove and
>the moment to moment experience of playing it is sublime (if
>you dig open world third person action adventures).
>
>It holds up next to BOTW and Horizon too, in terms of moving
>the genre forward. Lots of smart environmental interactivity
>and quality of life mechanics were introduced this time
>around. It's not better than those two games, but it's not
>outclassed by them either.

happening

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I still miss Desmond tho.

In my opinion, it's the weakest part of the game's mechanics.

The dodge and the parry don't turn the tables the way they should. I'll parry or do a well timed dodge and counter attack, but despite having the right timing I'll be just out of range to connect.

It feels sloppy.

This is why I stick to jumping in and out of the shadows with the hidden blade most of the time.

I'll parry or do a well timed dodge and counter
>attack, but despite having the right timing I'll be just out
>of range to connect.

I do it in the Marvel "Contest of Champions" app sometimes, too. I'll dash so far out the way, and the dude recovers and rocks my shit.

I like the fact that they changed the mechanics, and you just can't flow from one guy to the next. In AC 2, fighting 10 dudes at once could get boring.

There are no chains here necessarily, and not all types of attacks can be parried or blocked the same way. Especially when looking at the level of the enemy.

Plus you have to pay attention to your shield values. Some shields offer good protection against fire or projectiles, but give you little to no melee protection. Pay attention to your shield characteristics.

That and brush up on ya dodge button and lock on enemy skills. sometimes locking on an enemy and dodging behind them works way better than trying to time a parry against an enemy that doesn't have any parry-able attacks (base commanders, pikemen)
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cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

In the middle of a damn Phalaxys fight. Who cares about taking photos of the game?

i'm not asking to be sold on this game (impossible) but i am interested in people's opinions on inserting arpg loot into games/genres that previously did not have it. personally i think loot has no place in games like AC:O or nioh but people seem to be responding well to it

does the loot make the game better? does it affect the combat in a positive way? do you find yourself gravitating to numbers rather than weapons? do you think you'll eventually be able to brute force your way through encounters, relying on loot numbers, rather than engaging with the combat mechanics?

>does the loot make the game better?

nope.

>does it affect the combat in a positive way?

nope. i much prefer having really unique weapons you can upgrade and get attached to, instead of generic, disposable weapons with little subtleties separating them.

>do you find yourself gravitating to
>numbers rather than weapons?

yes and no. there are a couple things to consider beyond just the raw numbers. the first is the weapon type. i'll stick with a balanced sword a couple levels lower than some dual blades (which are quick but have no range and little power). status effects are another consideration. i might get a new sniper bow with higher numbers, but if my current is a legendary that sets people on fire i'll rock with it a little longer. so it depends.

>do you think you'll eventually
>be able to brute force your way through encounters, relying on
>loot numbers, rather than engaging with the combat mechanics?

not really. no matter how powerful your weapons are, fighting a half dozen dudes at or around your level is a quick way to die. the AI is pretty good at not just standing around and mixing you up. the lower level grunts will back off and shoot arrows at you while the brutes are in your face with moves you can't block. one on one you can just LeBron your way through anybody (except certain bosses), but most encounters aren't one on one unless you ninja it.

I don't usually mess with AC games - only played 1 & 2 and the first level of the one with the ships because it was free.

This world is huge and looks dope as hell on the screen. I can't get the parrying down either so I just bow and arrow and sneak up from behind people to murk people.

Which I don't say about many AC games, but if I just stuck to the main quest, I'd give this another go around.

Love the fact that it's not such an empty open world. Even after the completion of the main quest, I still have a ton of side quests and treasure hunts and "boss" fights I can do for the achievements.

One of the best in the series. Probably my second favorite behind Brotherhood.
______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"

If you haven't done all the ancient machine tombs yet, don't click this link, but it was pretty disappointing when they apparently included this guy's opinions to craft the backstory of the Egyptian world:


https://i.ytimg.com/vi/frRcD7rlvUA/hqdefault.jpg

______________________________________________________________________________

cscpov.blogspot.com

"There's a fine line between persistence and foolishness..."
-unknown

"To Each His Reach"