I played the first Assassin's Creed when it came out - at the time it was amazing because it was something new. I played 2 & 3, but then went on a massive hiatus from them. I don't really remember them anymore if I'm being honest.
I think the key to finding one you enjoy is finding a "theme" that you enjoy. For example, I really enjoyed Valhalla but I'm also really into vikings. It's the only one I've played since 3.
Most of the recent iterations have gone more action-rpg: Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla...
(Egypt, Rome, Vikings respectively)
If you're into pirates or the idea of commanding a ship on the seas, Black Flag is supposed to be really good and there's a rumoured remake coming.
If you're not into the action rpg stuff - the Ezio Collection is a good feeler to see if it's for you.
I played a bit of the first one, never finished it. I think the truly capturing thing about AC was just how non-linear and open it was. I don't think prior to the first one, there were really any big open-exploration games with that kind of parkour vibe. Mirror's Edge might have come out around the same time, but that's a little different.
I tried to pick up and play a few of the later ones, but they unfortunately never held my interest for long. The stories didn't grab me enough, though the general concept of genetic memory is interesting.
I'd say start with either the very first one, or the most recent. You're either going to want to get in at the ground level and get into the whole thing, or skip what's probably non-critical fluff to what the franchise is now and just go for a new-generation version for better graphics, etc.
I disagree starting with the first one. The first one DEFINITELY shows its age. There is probably a summary online you can watch.
The Ezio collection and Black Flag are my favorites. The Connor one was forgettable (AC3). I think 4 was the game a pretty big plot pivot happened, that I didn't agree with. I started to not like the fact that they were releasing one a year.
I honestly don't know much about Unity or Syndicate. I've thought about jumping in again, but yeah, it's overwhelming. I think it's clear the series is their cash cow and they don't know what they are doing with the plot. I guess I'd jump in at Origins.
seconding everyone who says the ezio games are great. i haven't played them since high school/college but they'll be way easier to get through than some of the later entries which really lean into the "open-world game that takes 150 hours to fully experience" rdr2 type shit where every location you visit has a list of things to collect/do that puts a small green checkmark next to that location on the map. odyssey is the only AC game i have played since ACIII (i've heard good things about black flag but never played it, and i never played unity despite it being about the french revolution because ubisoft kept shooting themselves in the foot complaining about how hard it was to animate women) and i really enjoyed it but also kassandra was a one-of-a-kind protag and i'm automatically going to like any game where i get to go to lesbos. i haven't touched valhalla, i'm waiting for it to be less than twenty bucks for everything like i managed to get odyssey for. and also i'm putting it off because of the aforementioned 150-hour investment (you might say, "just don't spend 150 hours on it," and my counterpoint will be, "have you ever played a video game with checklists before? i cannot overpower them")
and also i'm putting it off because of the aforementioned 150-hour investment (you might say, "just don't spend 150 hours on it," and my counterpoint will be, "have you ever played a video game with checklists before? i cannot overpower them")
150 hours sounds like a big overestimation to me. It's definitely a big game and given I didn't get the expansion that came out recently* but I got the Platinum in about 85 hours.
yeah, i was counting my time 100%ing the two expansions as well (the first one sucked ass but the second one where you get to go to the underworld was pretty great). that said my 150 hours also probably has a couple dozen hours of just idle time so it might be closer to 130 or 120
Yearly productions that take 130 hrs to 100%? Yeah, fuck 100% of that. I'm happy sticking with the earlier entries in the franchise for now. I guess I'll start with AC1 and take it from there, keeping in mind that if I don't like it, to give the 2nd one a shot.
The Ezio collection is very weird to me. I don't like the idea of tying non-sequel games together in a collection for narrative purposes. I'd want to try the "in between" games too.
When does the "huge open world with checklists" shit go off the rails? Maybe I'll stop before that (who am I kidding? probably not)
The Ezio collection is very weird to me. I don't like the idea of tying non-sequel games together in a collection for narrative purposes. I'd want to try the "in between" games too.
oh, the ezio collection is three games that came out in sequence: ACII, AC Brotherhood, and AC Revelations. they all have the same protagonist and follow the same linear story (as long as you ignore all the present-day bullshit LOL)
The Ezio Trilogy holds up pretty well. Last year I started the year off by attempting to play through as many of these games as possibly until I burned out on them.
I made it up to Black Flag, which a large percentage of AssCreed fans consider their favorite, but that's where it started feeling very bloated to me, and the story was pretty disjointed.
I didn't dislike any of them. Have good feelings about something in each of them.
I also skipped the 1st one because I didn't want to hook up a 360 to play it, and I clearly recalled 100%ing that one when it was new.
When it comes to the modern Massive RPG Games, I very much enjoy them but it's a definitely Love/Hate thing with them and I doubt you'd love them based on other gaming conversations we've had.
Been thinking about firing Valhalla back up...
My rankings from last year (because I'm me):
1. Assassin's Creed 2
2. Assassin's Creed 3
3. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
4. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
5. Assassin's Creed: Rogue
6. Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
oh, the ezio collection is three games that came out in sequence: ACII, AC Brotherhood, and AC Revelations. they all have the same protagonist and follow the same linear story (as long as you ignore all the present-day bullshit LOL)
For some reason I got this impression of bloatedness specifically from Black Flag even though I played it for a grand total of 5 mins during a games expo. I was surprised to hear it was a fan fave.
I dunno how I missed this topic originally... I'm an Assassin's Creed fanboy...
First off, they aren't yearly anymore. They finally realized the games were stale and breaking. I'd say, even with them being a Ubisoft game with collectibles and stuff, they are closer to 80-90 hours IF YOU DO EVERYTHING. If you're playing through them with minor collecting and grinding, they are probably closer to 30-40 hour experiences.
I will echo that a great starting point is the Ezio collection. Brotherhood (AC2's sequel) is still one of the best games, if not the best, in the series. Outside that, 4 (Black Flag) is universally heralded as one of the better games too. Then personally, Origins, for me, but I LOVE Egyptian lore. AC1, is also hard to replay now. Also, keep in mind they stopped numbering the titles after AC4.
That said, all this, if you play them out of order, the present day story becomes a little convoluted. Ostensibly, AC1, AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations and AC3 follow a present day arc following Desmond. Which surfaces again in Valhalla.
The present day storyline then gets WEIRD until Origins. It's essentially broken up into three... timeframes. As you play a different person in the primary timeline. Desmond, as mentioned above, encompasses the first 5 games. Then an unnamed person covers AC4, Unity and Syndicate. Then Leyla from Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (and technically Mirage though she's not in it that I can recall).
My expectation is that AC Red (still a codename, it's not been named yet and is set in feudal Japan) will use Basim as the present day person, based on events.
Slight spoiler there.
If you don't mind disjointed story telling, then my preference to the games is as follows:
Ezio Collection (AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations)
AC4: Black Flag
Origins
Valhalla (Mirage is ESSENTIALLY a DLC for this game and enhances the story depicted there following a character introduced in Valhalla, but the game itself is mid)
Syndicate (personal preference because I love steampunk London more than revolutionary France)
Unity
Odyssey
Rogue
AC1
AC3
One other thing to add is, something about AC is the locations depicted. They are, at their heart, historical fictions. So you meet real people in these times, which is a selling point for a lot of these games for me. If you're interested in knowing when each take place, in case culturally that means something to you, this could help.
AC1 - Third Crusade Holy Lands
AC2, Brotherhood - Renaissance Italy
Revelations - Constantinople, mostly, though Italy is in part too
AC3 - American Revolution
AC4: Black Flag - Golden Age of Pirates
Rogue - French and Indian Wartime
Unity - Renaissance France
Syndicate - Victorian Era London
Origins - Ptolemaic Egypt
Odyssey - Peloponnesian Wartime Greece
Valhalla - Viking Expansion England/Norway/Ireland
Mirage - Islamic Golden Age Baghdad
Red (Codename) - Feudal Japan
One other thing to add is, something about AC is the locations depicted. They are, at their heart, historical fictions. So you meet real people in these times, which is a selling point for a lot of these games for me. If you're interested in knowing when each take place, in case culturally that means something to you, this could help.
AC1 - Third Crusade Holy Lands
AC2, Brotherhood - Renaissance Italy
Revelations - Constantinople, mostly, though Italy is in part too
AC3 - American Revolution
AC4: Black Flag - Golden Age of Pirates
Rogue - French and Indian Wartime
Unity - Renaissance France
Syndicate - Victorian Era London
Origins - Ptolemaic Egypt
Odyssey - Peloponnesian Wartime Greece
Valhalla - Viking Expansion England/Norway/Ireland
Mirage - Islamic Golden Age Baghdad
Red (Codename) - Feudal Japan
yeah as a history nerd myself it's fun to see how they implement all the different eras and locales. leonardo da vinci is constantly hitting on ezio. you get to assassinate cesare borgia. kassandra hangs out with socrates and pericles. it's fun even if they play a little fast and loose with the historical accuracy of it all
yeah as a history nerd myself it's fun to see how they implement all the different eras and locales. leonardo da vinci is constantly hitting on ezio. you get to assassinate cesare borgia. kassandra hangs out with socrates and pericles. it's fun even if they play a little fast and loose with the historical accuracy of it all
I dunno how I missed this topic originally... I'm an Assassin's Creed fanboy...
First off, they aren't yearly anymore. They finally realized the games were stale and breaking. I'd say, even with them being a Ubisoft game with collectibles and stuff, they are closer to 80-90 hours IF YOU DO EVERYTHING. If you're playing through them with minor collecting and grinding, they are probably closer to 30-40 hour experiences.
I will echo that a great starting point is the Ezio collection. Brotherhood (AC2's sequel) is still one of the best games, if not the best, in the series. Outside that, 4 (Black Flag) is universally heralded as one of the better games too. Then personally, Origins, for me, but I LOVE Egyptian lore. AC1, is also hard to replay now. Also, keep in mind they stopped numbering the titles after AC4.
That said, all this, if you play them out of order, the present day story becomes a little convoluted. Ostensibly, AC1, AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations and AC3 follow a present day arc following Desmond. Which surfaces again in Valhalla.
The present day storyline then gets WEIRD until Origins. It's essentially broken up into three... timeframes. As you play a different person in the primary timeline. Desmond, as mentioned above, encompasses the first 5 games. Then an unnamed person covers AC4, Unity and Syndicate. Then Leyla from Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (and technically Mirage though she's not in it that I can recall).
My expectation is that AC Red (still a codename, it's not been named yet and is set in feudal Japan) will use Basim as the present day person, based on events.
Slight spoiler there.
If you don't mind disjointed story telling, then my preference to the games is as follows:
Ezio Collection (AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations)
AC4: Black Flag
Origins
Valhalla (Mirage is ESSENTIALLY a DLC for this game and enhances the story depicted there following a character introduced in Valhalla, but the game itself is mid)
Syndicate (personal preference because I love steampunk London more than revolutionary France)
Unity
Odyssey
Rogue
AC1
AC3
I skipped it back when it was new and only played it for the first time last year and was pleasantly surprised by it (though I had the lowest of expectations due to word of mouth). Honestly I was shocked by how high I ended up ranking it. (We should do a more in-depth thread about this in the Rank Stuff forum)
The Homestead stuff specifically surprised me with how much I enjoyed it, but I've always been a huge sucker for city/castle/home building in my games (hence the Suikoden series being my all-time favorite).
I skipped it back when it was new and only played it for the first time last year and was pleasantly surprised by it (though I had the lowest of expectations due to word of mouth). Honestly I was shocked by how high I ended up ranking it. (We should do a more in-depth thread about this in the Rank Stuff forum)
The Homestead stuff specifically surprised me with how much I enjoyed it, but I've always been a huge sucker for city/castle/home building in my games (hence the Suikoden series being my all-time favorite).
I only played it when it was new. And I struggled to complete it. I really enjoyed it with Haythem as the PC. And the connection later to Black Flag was cool. But when it switched to Connor, it was hard to really like him... Probably the worst protagonist in the series, IMO. I never could go back to it after. And I'm someone who usually returns for the DLC (only one I didn't recently was the last DLC for Valhalla... money issues).
I also think the homestead stuff in 3 was SOOOOOO much worse than the Montereggioni stuff from Brotherhood, soI was left unhappy with the result of 3. I had so much hope for characters like Ben Franklin, George Washington, Paul Revere, but it just fell flat to me. And I really think Connor was why.
Wasn't a huge fan or Arno either, which is another reason why I prefer Syndicate with Jacob and Evie over Unity. Though the time hopping stuff in Unity was pretty fun.
Played the first three or four and then they got a bit repetitive so I went years without. In the last year I played Odyssey and Origins and they’re wonderful. Big step forwards for the series
