Which Assassins Creed?

[Kaamos_Llama]

As a bit of background: I've not played an Assassins Creed game since the first one on PS3. In short I played it around half way and got bored with what I perceived as the copy paste nature of the quests in the world and the story didn't grab me. I decided then the franchise wasn't for me and moved on. I have before and since enjoyed some other 3d open world games, such as Oblivion, Skyrim, and Shadow of Mordor in the past. It seems like its the Ubisoft ones I haven't liked so I'm a little cautious about diving back in.

I've heard some good things about Syndicate, Origins and then Oddyssey, and as they are all on sale from the Epic store for cheap I'm considering trying again.

Which one would you say is the better game and why?

Thanks!

 

[Hveðrungr]

My creed is that the best assassin games are Dishonored 1&2.

Spoiler: Major Dishonored Spoilers (and also Christian blasphemy)

We believe in one Dishonored,
Corvo, the Almighty,
master of void and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lady, Emily Kaldwin,
the only Daughter of the Empress,
covertly begotten of Corvo,
Empress from Empress, Light from Light,
true Empress from true Empress,
begotten, not made, of one Being with Corvo.
Through her all things are ruled.

For us choffers and for our salvation
she came down from Dunwall Tower:
by the power of the Outsider
she became incarnate from Jessamine Kaldwin,
and was made woman.

For our sake she was overthrown under Delilah Kaldwin;
she suffered imprisonment and was banished.
On the tenth mission she rose again
in accordance with the walkthroughs;
she ascended into Dunwall Tower
and Corvo is seated at her right hand.
She has come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and her empire will have no end.

We believe in the Outsider, the Pharmakos, the giver of the Mark,
which he gives to Corvo and his daughter.
With Corvo and his daughter he is dishonoured and persecuted.
He has spoken through the Shrines.

We believe in one holy catholic Abbey of the Everyman.
We acknowledge seven strictures for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the burning of the dead,
and the emptiness of the void to come.

Blow off.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I enjoyed both Dishonored games just fine, to be honest I'm attracted to the newer Assassins Creed games by the prospect of them being more action orientated rather than stealth based.

 

[Frindis]

@Kaamos_Llama I would recommend Odessey of those you mentioned, but while saying that I have not played the other ones (with the exception of Black Flag which is also a very good game, especially the ship combat) What I like the most about Odessey so far is that the game is absolute eye candy, both environmental and how your character looks in different types of armor. The story so far has been interesting and some of the side quests have been solid. Combat both on land and water are solid, even if the A.I is at times quite bad (which they often are in these types of games) Exploration is also quite fun in the game, especially if you turn off most of the hud/navigational assistance.

The special skills your character can do feels impacting in combat and you do feel like a kick-ass warrior. Just wait until you can do the spartan kick, it's pretty cool. There is a lot of history in Odyseey and you can even do an educational tour of ancient greedy to learn more. Not done it myself yet, but I am looking forward to that.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Hveðrungr I just checked out under the spoiler. Did you write that ? Its good. Personally I enjoy a good bit of blasphemy.

@Frindis Thanks for the input, I forgot I played a bit of Black Flag as I got it free with a graphics card a few years ago. I remember it was O.K but I wasnt that taken by it and fell off after 10 or so hours IIRC. Does Oddyssey play similarly?

 

[Frindis]

@Kaamos_Llama But I while since I played Black Flag and I also did stop playing it after some hours. I loved the ship combat, so I am actually not sure why I stopped. Most likely another game. I guess it is similar in some aspect, at least the combat on ships, but on foot, I would say they are quite different as in Odessey you make your own skillset with ultimate moves making you into a kick-ass warrior.

 

[Hveðrungr]

@Hveðrungr I just checked out under the spoiler. Did you write that ? Its good. Personally I enjoy a good bit of blasphemy.

Yep, just made it up on the spot lol.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Frindis Nice, I sort of remember the ship combat in Black Flag being fun enough, but if there's also a more interesting combat system and a beautiful world I'll give it a try for 10 Euros. Thanks

 

[Inspireless Llama]

Am I correct by saying that Origins and Oddyssey seem fairly simular but that one takes place in Egypt and the other one in Greece (with their mythologies)?.

I've only played Origins so far, but if I am stating it correct, between those 2 it rather depends on if you prefer to go for the ancient Egypt or the ancient Greece. I really enjoyed Origins, I think after I finish Dishonored 2 (I happen to be playing that one now, I may start on Odyssey.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Extra points to @Inspireless Llama for being the first to spell 'Odyssey' correctly.

I have no preference for either setting as such, either can be good as long as the game is fun. If I find I like Odyssey enough I'll probably get Origins at some point too.

 

[Mknott]

Odyssey is fantastic. It's a genuinely stacked game with a gorgeous world and great experiences.

I really enjoyed Origins as well and the Egyptian setting was cool in a lot of ways with how it introduced cultural rules and religious rites that I only half knew about from popular culture.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I bought Odyssey, and I'm liking it so far. Only done a couple of hours up to level 5, not really got a handle on how the upgrade system and engraving works yet but thats a good sign. Combat is fun so far, I like the flow of parry, dodge and shooting arrows. It overall feels like an RPG more than I remember the series feeling, which I like.

It also looks great overall although performance seems to stutter a bit more than I'm used to recent games doing. I'm assuming its very CPU dependent because changing graphical settings doesnt seem to make much difference to minimum frame rate in the benchmark.

 

[McStabStab]

Nice. I've also just gotten into Odyssey and am level 14. I was kind of not impressed with the starting area, but once I got a ship and the world opened up the game became quickly addicting. There's a LOT to do!

Also, I love Origins and would recommend that as well. It really had an incredible setting - but I'm kind of an Ancient Egypt nut though.

 

[Frindis]

@Kaamos_Llama & @McStabStab 16hours played so far and at lvl 11. What type of build are you guys going for? I am currently using poison bow/melee build with a focus on poison buildup/Assasin damage. Currently rocking the 'Bare-Chested' and Oiled legendary armor which gives +500% dmg while covered in black oil.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@McStabStab @Frindis
I haven't actually played any more since Wednesday. I've got quite a lot of gaming time to myself this weekend and next week, so I've just finally finished off Wolfenstein 2. I've also been playing Xcom Chimera squad and getting into Thomas Was Alone.

Maybe its because I haven't played a modern game in the series but I've quite liked the starting island so far. I put it in (I think its called) explorer mode as I thought that would tone down the HUD and map markers. That's one of the things I've disliked about open world games in the past. It seems like an artificial check list that way and I dont find fun in that. I enjoy it more if I generally head towards interesting looking things and towards main quest and major side quests and see what happens across organically. The map screen does seems to be fairly busy already though so let's see how it goes.

So far I feel like I'll put more points into warrior and assassin with maybe the odd one into hunter. Not sure if that's the best way, or if its possible to just max everything out anyway by the end.

 

[Frindis]

@Kaamos_Llama Good point about minimizing the hud. I find it absolutely annoying when the screen is full of navigational points.

 

[McStabStab]

@Kaamos_Llama & @McStabStab 16hours played so far and at lvl 11. What type of build are you guys going for? I am currently using poison bow/melee build with a focus on poison buildup/Assasin damage. Currently rocking the 'Bare-Chested' and Oiled legendary armor which gives +500% dmg while covered in black oil.

I’m not sure if I’m following any specific build. I’ve put points into hunter ranged shots, increased assassin damage, and my spartan kick. The kick is my best friend in all combat (especially on elevated surfaces).

 

[Rivereyes]

It really depends on what historical period, city and setting is your favorite. The last AC game that took it's plotline seriously was Revelations. Having said that, I've enjoyed each and every one, mostly for the incredible opportunity to return to some of my favorite cities around the world and experience them in their prime.

To get the most of an AC game, you need to suspend disbelief, go in mainly for the gorgeous sights and sense of infiltrating a different time and place.

Having said that, AC: Odyssey completely blew me away with it's sheer beauty and took it's place alongside The Wild Hunt as a life-defining gaming experience.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Rivereyes its definitely a beautiful game and I wasn't expecting an amazing story, just a decent one to give me some direction in the open world.

I've just gotten a ship and left Kefalonia, the seas in ancient Greece were pretty busy! I'm hoping that I can get to where I want to without constantly having to have ship battles. Seems like everyone wants to ram me at the moment and after a couple of battles it feels a bit one note, unless I'm doing it wrong? I kind of just want to get back to an island and do some Spartan kicking.

I also found it weird how I was trying to stealth up and assassinate the Cyclops and a cut scene literally warped me straight in front of him and forced me to fight him and five of his mates at once .

 

[Frindis]

@Kaamos_Llama If you use the Ships 'fast speed* you should be able to avoid most of the combat. I am also quite the low lvl so I feel the ship combat is a bit meh so far. That said, I reckon when you get enough ship recruitment and better defense, it will be more fun.

 

[Rivereyes]

*laughing* Yes, the writing is pure Aristophanes as opposed to Euripides. Heavily skewed towards the ridiculous and phallic as opposed to 'serious' dramatic beats. It attempts them with all the naive and clumsy charm of a teenager trying his hand at an epic novel and I somehow loved it all the more for it.

Ship combat is a drag until you've scared up enough resources for a few upgrades. Also, remember, you can scope out enemy ships. Only engage if they are at your level and at most, a level higher. Curiously enough, even though the game lets you hack and slash with reckless abandon and still win most of every fight, ship combat requires you to employ every single trick in the book in order to get ahead. Ramming, defending, playing enemy ships against one another and boarding as often as possible (if memory serves, there is some upgrade that replenishes some of your ship's health after a successful boarding) all help, but if you stick with it, you'll develop your personal style.

I mostly dreaded large scale naval battles for the first half of the game as well. With upgrades and OP lieutenants on board, they even out and even become fun challenges later on in the game.

And I couldn't agree more on the topic of assassinations. They are sadly lacking in Odyssey and most devolve into brainless slaughters. Looking forward to the return of 'social stealth' in Valhalla. Hidden blade strikes should always be one-shot kills, balance be damned!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Frindis @Rivereyes Its still early days yet, but I feel like all I need to do is circle the other ship and fire arrows, I took out a small fleet by just ramming two smaller ones and circle strafing the two larger ones and trading arrows, even though they had flame arrows. Then ship health just magically recharges. Only had about 3 battles though so I guess I'll find out. Good that it can be avoided if I want. The sea shanties are pretty cool though.

I was hoping that by putting the difficulty up a notch to hard, I would be able to avoid just blindly button mashing my way through all the combat as I find that boring after a while. Its starting to get a bit easier at level 7 already. It would be a shame if it really went that way because I was enjoying parrying and dodging.

There's also something hilarious about hiding in a bush outside a gate and whistling and making a ridiculous pile of bodies in a tiny shrubbery while the guards just sort of wander about clueless.

 

[Rivereyes]

@Kaamos_Llama Word. The fact that you can murder and hide entire garrisons in a single shrubbery has got to be one of the most endearing things about AC and I never ever want it to change. It's part of the power fantasy after all

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

@Rivereyes, I think for me the power fantasy is linked to actually becoming good at the game and progressing, rather then feeling like I can roll over everything without thinking.

It is fun though. Lets see if its 200 hours of fun over a few games for me or only 20 or so. Definitely worth the price of admission that I paid either way

 

[Hosvab]

Assasin Creed odisey