This Was Going To Be About Black Flag But Just Turned Into All Things AC

        

         Hello! So I’ve finally broken down and bought a PS5, I had been holding out for a new model/design but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be coming anytime soon so “fuck it,” I thought. And what have I been playing on my brand new, fancy dancy, top of the line spaceship you ask? Why Assassin’s Creed 3 Remastered for the PS4 of course! I have also ordered Black Flag off of eBay which is what I really want to be playing but until it comes in I’ll be hanging out with Connor. I have a majority of the Assassin’s Creed franchise on PC but older ones are wonky on PC. In AC3 for example when I shoot a deer with an arrow it rubber bands and goes careening into the trees. It’s funny but not conducive.

            I play Black Flag here and there when I’m bored, it’s just a comfort game for me, you can just go on, sail around, and if something catches your eye you can go investigate it. I like these kinds of games, I’m not sure what you would classify them as, genre wise, but just open world like games with different things to do. Some games do this really well where as others not so much. Games like Crackdown, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Assassin’s Creed 4 are all things I like very much. It’s the in between parts that get me. It’s going from one mission to another where it’s like “okay I gotta go over here, oh look agility orb, LOTS of agility orbs, gottem, gottem, gottem, oh a foot race, well I’m going this way so sure!” It’s things like this that make laugh at games like Cyberpunk or Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom. You’re going to die in two weeks! Or, Link, save me!  “Yeah yeah yeah Princess, in a minute, but first I really gotta figure out how to do tricks while shield surfing.”

            I remember in the past thinking AC3’s naval combat was better than 4’s and while replaying it I still think that’s the case. I enjoy changing shot types using the d-pad and the broadside canons rather than which part of the ship I’m aiming with and what not. I love the chain shots and hearing the mast of enemy ships cracking, it’s so satisfying. The chain shot doesn’t work the same in Black Flag, I think they’re supposed to slow the other ships down but I’m not sure. In 3 when the masts of ships are broken they’re immobile but still deadly, they still have access to their canons where as in 4 once the ship is immobile it’s done and just waiting to be boarded. There’s a lot I don’t remember in the game though. Lots of Assassin’s Creeds… they’re not minigames, they’re like chores, the convoys and sending people in the brotherhood to go do a mission, which I still only have one fella by the way, not sure how I get more but they’re very tedious things. The convoy is a good way to get money though, in the past I remember just hunting a lot of bears and cougars to sell their pelts to upgrade my ship, that’s all I cared about. The people you get on your homestead can make some upgrades for you which is nice and theirs a lot more weapons then I remember. Again, I’m pretty sure I just ignored all that and just ran around with what I was given. And why is the Assassin Tomahawk the first one you get? It’s really cool like, it should be the last one, the one you try to upgrade to or something. At least let me upgrade it. I mean I know a lot of the fighting is counter/instakill but still, it’s a super sick design! It’s nice that when you whistle for a horse one just shows up. I just wish the horse pathed better, it’s very janky, well, even normal pathing is janky. Sometimes Connor just does really stupid shit or doesn’t quite go the direction I want him to. Also something I just found recently, they have all sorts of outfits from newer games in here, I think the latest I saw was from Odyssey like how weird right? I just found all the trinkets and did the last mission of that again and they have you go to Oak Island and I was like “hey I know of that.” It’s funny cause they even say to “dive into the money pit.” One reason I was so intrigued with AC3 when it first came out is because it’s set close-ish to where I grew up. Even when Connor’s mother was listing off tribes at the beginning of the game I was like “I recognize some of these names.”

            Now, Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag, I know I’ve bitched about this before but I’m pretty sure it was on Red vs Blue so it’s lost forever but I will condense it to the best of my abilities. In case you don’t realize, it’s only been 10 years since Black Flag came out, 10 years is a while but at the same time it seems like it was much longer ago. When Ubisoft showed it off at E3 the trailer shows Edward tailing a guy and before the guy turns around Edward would blend in with the crowd, a staple of the franchise, but he would actually blend in. Someone offered him a drink, Edward waves them off, the guy was about to turn around so he sits on a bench and flirts with a girl, the guy turns again and Edward grabs a mug next to some guys and acts like he was there the whole time. The game felt alive but what we got was more of the same, stand amongst a group of whores, awkwardly sit between two dudes on a bench, I was pretty disappointed to see those E3 interactions didn’t make it into the final game. Maybe if they ever Remaster Black Flag they’ll give it a complete overhaul and make it feel more alive. But as I said in the beginning of this I play Black Flag for more of the pirate stuff, it’s a good pirate game but maybe not a great Assassin’s game and that seems to be the trend. Assassin’s Creed isn’t about being an “assassin” as I define it. I’ve always approached these games like Splinter Cell or Dishonored but they just aren’t that. They just pick a cool setting and make a story about Templars which is fine, it’s my fault for thinking and treating the games as something they are not.

            I like the Precursor stuff in the games even though I don’t quite follow all of it but I wish there was more of it in the games. I remember bits in Origins where someone would have a piece of Eden or some lights and symbols would shoot out of a room and no one even bats an eye. It’s like, this is some weird shit people! Take notice! Make a scene! But no they’re just like “whatever, I see that shit every other day bitch.” I think it’s in the south desert there’s some quest or challenge about Anubis but there’s some Precursor (I keep typing Forerunner) building in the buried in the sands and these like undead or mummies or something spawning and it’s cool! I want more of that. The historical background is neat but I want to see more weird shit and how these people would react to it. The newer “RPG” Assassin’s Creed games are like a whole different beast. After playing a bunch of AC3 and 4 going to these new ones is a little crazy. It’s just crazy how different they are, not in a bad way or anything, they’re just different. Although who’s bright idea was it to put the attack buttons on the R1/R2 RB/RT buttons? Don’t like.

            All that being said about Black Flag and stuff, Ubisoft does have Skull & Bones coming out sometime and it looks like something I’d really enjoy but I don’t know if I want to give it a go. I just don’t think the player base is there for it. We’ll see I guess. I also had a funny moment in AC3 where I had just just JUST put on the Bayek outfit (because why would you not go back to old games and put outfits for the newer games into it?) and Haythem and Connor were going somewhere and Haythem was like "I'll be able to get in but you..." It was just perfectly timed. Anyway, I’m gonna go back trying to take down King Washington. What’s your opinion on everything? Do you like the older Assassin’s Creed games or prefer the newer RPG ones? Do you have any cool AC moments you’d like to share? Are you gonna play Skull & Bones so I’m not the only soul on the ocean? Let me know below and I’ll be back sometime, bye bye!

                    @AztecSauce