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March 28, 2024, 03:36:57 PM

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AC Origins is actually good.

Started by Hey, Punk!, May 21, 2020, 02:56:36 AM

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Hey, Punk!

I lost interest in the AC series by Revelations and heard it became like CoD or FIFA. Just another series selling a slightly different game every year, but one of my friends recommended me this and it's a very enjoyable bit of escapism.

The combat is much better than the rest of the series, they've got rid of that feature where you could just counter-kill until everyone's dead. The easier parkour may annoy some, but it makes the stealth sections more engaging. I recommend this, I got it for about £15

They seem to not be so tied down to the mythology now, this one is more about Bayek (who's a decent protagonist) and his story. Solid game that I'm spending way too much time with during Isolstion.

Hey, Punk!

It's set during Ptolemaic Egypt so there is a variety of gorgeous locations to explore, with both traditional Egyptian and Grecian Architecture.


Abnormal Palm

I totally agree. An unexpected pleasure.

And in more good news, AC Odyssey is an even further improvement. Well worth a punt.

bgmnts

Its all just filler, pointless filler.

Games need to get smaller again.

Abnormal Palm

Kinda like life. Do you think people ever got bored when human lifespan was like 34?


Mister Six

What's going on in the "future" sections of AC? I heard they'd turned the memory-jumping thing into a virtual reality game that tourists could use, or something. Is the Templars vs Assassins thing still going on? What was with the Garden of Eden stuff in AC2?

I would have stuck around Past Brotherhood if they hadn't pissed it up the wall in COD stylee. If I don't have to care about the arc shit, I might pick up one of the recent, better AC games, I reckon.

Still gonna miss Renaissance Italy though. :(

bgmnts

Quote from: Abnormal Palm on May 21, 2020, 10:24:36 PM
Kinda like life. Do you think people ever got bored when human lifespan was like 34?

When I play a game, I want it to remind me of how shit and boring life is.

Hey, Punk!

Quote from: bgmnts on May 21, 2020, 10:05:10 PM
Its all just filler, pointless filler.

Games need to get smaller again.

Nah, it good.

Hey, Punk!

Quote from: Mister Six on May 21, 2020, 11:02:00 PM
What's going on in the "future" sections of AC? I heard they'd turned the memory-jumping thing into a virtual reality game that tourists could use, or something. Is the Templars vs Assassins thing still going on? What was with the Garden of Eden stuff in AC2?

I would have stuck around Past Brotherhood if they hadn't pissed it up the wall in COD stylee. If I don't have to care about the arc shit, I might pick up one of the recent, better AC games, I reckon.

Still gonna miss Renaissance Italy though. :(

Severely reduced, barely any future stuff in this game. You can play this without knowing anything about the series.

Kelvin

Quote from: bgmnts on May 21, 2020, 10:05:10 PM
Its all just filler, pointless filler.

Games need to get smaller again.

Without exception (and definitely no hyperbole), every AAA single-player game made in the last 15 years would be better with at least 20% of its content cut. Many would be better with up to 40% cut.

There is not a single exception.

Mister Six


Timothy

Prey definitely would have been better without it's final act imo.

Mister Six


Zetetic

Quote from: Kelvin on May 22, 2020, 03:21:53 PM
Without exception (and definitely no hyperbole), every AAA single-player game made in the last 15 years would be better with at least 20% of its content cut. Many would be better with up to 40% cut.
It most cases it would have been better had they not been made at all.

Abnormal Palm

Love to see the Z-man getting in on the LDL burns.

I also totally agree with Kelvin, and I've wondered plenty of times why they do it. AC Odyssey, for example, is a game I've put probably fifty or sixty hours into, currently having go at the DLC and there is still a massive region I've never been to, and probably about 50% of the map I've only passed through quickly rather than explored. I don't begrudge that much content or whatever, it hasn't in the slightest hindered my enjoyment, but if it were smaller and more varied, or more detailed, it would undoubtedly be better.

On the other hand, I know for some of them games they want to sell crafting currency or XP booster packs or whatever. I think it's the same with the new TR games. Is it the same with HZD? Can't remember. I don't really understand why they make them so big and bloated, though. I just dunno.

Dewt

Interesting little Assassin's Creed story: https://twitter.com/charlesrandall/status/1264047502875078656

I don't like the game so I might be wrong but it sounds like the series was defined by something invented entirely in a five-day crunch session.

Thursday

Quote from: Abnormal Palm on May 23, 2020, 08:23:44 AM
Love to see the Z-man getting in on the LDL burns.

I also totally agree with Kelvin, and I've wondered plenty of times why they do it. AC Odyssey, for example, is a game I've put probably fifty or sixty hours into, currently having go at the DLC and there is still a massive region I've never been to, and probably about 50% of the map I've only passed through quickly rather than explored. I don't begrudge that much content or whatever, it hasn't in the slightest hindered my enjoyment, but if it were smaller and more varied, or more detailed, it would undoubtedly be better.

On the other hand, I know for some of them games they want to sell crafting currency or XP booster packs or whatever. I think it's the same with the new TR games. Is it the same with HZD? Can't remember. I don't really understand why they make them so big and bloated, though. I just dunno.

Thing is I agree, but every time I see one of those "This game doesn't respect my time!!!" articles And it's a long spiel about how they don't have time to play games because they work in a mill for 16 hours a day and have 50 kids, so they only have 20 minutes a week to play games. I just think "Fuck off, it's not for you" There's an audience who obviously does have the time and gets excited at the prospect of these near endless games.

Then again, you always see these stats about trophies where only a small percentage of people finish these games, so it definitely seems unnecessary.

Kelvin

Quote from: Abnormal Palm on May 23, 2020, 08:23:44 AM
Love to see the Z-man getting in on the LDL burns.

I also totally agree with Kelvin, and I've wondered plenty of times why they do it. AC Odyssey, for example, is a game I've put probably fifty or sixty hours into, currently having go at the DLC and there is still a massive region I've never been to, and probably about 50% of the map I've only passed through quickly rather than explored. I don't begrudge that much content or whatever, it hasn't in the slightest hindered my enjoyment, but if it were smaller and more varied, or more detailed, it would undoubtedly be better.

On the other hand, I know for some of them games they want to sell crafting currency or XP booster packs or whatever. I think it's the same with the new TR games. Is it the same with HZD? Can't remember. I don't really understand why they make them so big and bloated, though. I just dunno.

I think it's just because value is tied so closely to game length in the mind of the consumer. If you released the best game in the world, but it was only 5 hours long, a majority of people still wouldn't be willing to pay $60 / £50, and it no longer becomes viable for publishers to invest so much money into them. In turn, the games would be scaled back in a way people wouldn't want. Even games that take 20-30 hours frequently gets dismissed as too short and not worth the money. It's infuriating.

As a result, developers fill out the game with relatively easy to make, repetitive content (quests, backtracking, whole areas of the map)  that adds hours to the game time, but detracts from the overall, cumulative experience. The idea of having a short, high quality experience that you want to play over and over again in quick succession is basically dead in the AAA space now.

Thursday

Feels a bit like there's people who want single player games like Assassin's Creed to also be these MMO/Service game like experiences that you play forever (but without being multiplayer).

Sin Agog

Ubisoft games are both extremely cynical and vacuous and pretty useful.  Been really enjoying going on Kerouacian road trips across multiple state lines with randos in The Crew 2 recently.

Kelvin

The 3D Mario games are an interesting example, as the main routes through them are basically short, densely packed joys, with no filler, but to 100% them, you have to plough through endless dreck like Blue Coins, Challenge comets and recycled moons. At least replaying through the main story is a pleasure in those games, even if it's becoming less and less enjoyable to complete the additional content. Sadly, in most AAA games, even the main quest is filled with back tracking, recycled ideas and other forms of padding. 

Abnormal Palm

Lots of great points in here. And again, to be boring, it's another reason I love shmups so much. I probably got fifty hours out of one stage of Ikaruga across a few platforms. I could well have doubled that with Dodonpachi Daioujou and Mushihimesama Futari. I know that's a different kind of mental but fuck me if I didn't enjoy every single minute (even when I was smashing stuff). There's so much microscopic depth to the systems of those games that I have still only really scratched the surface compared to the world class players.

On the other hand, I do really enjoy the mindlessness of AAA open world mulch gaming in certain contexts. As I said the other day about comfort gaming, they really fulfil a specific role and create a little sense of exploration and not quite knowing what's round the next-door corner, and taking in the sum of the whole rather than concentrating on any particular element in detail. That does have its place for me.

Edit: And also great point about the 3D Mario games, Kelv. I have almost no affection for Odyssey, strangely enough, despite having an absolute blast for the first 250 moons and being blown away by the first few hours after that. I did end up with the 500 moon ending but that next phase basically ground down the enjoyment of the 'main game' until I felt almost nothing for it.

Hey, Punk!

Quote from: Thursday on May 23, 2020, 08:52:49 AM
Feels a bit like there's people who want single player games like Assassin's Creed to also be these MMO/Service game like experiences that you play forever (but without being multiplayer).

Origins never felt like that thankfully, there was always enough story and the gameplay isn't as awful as MMO gameplay. In Odyssey, I'm having to work out which quests to ignore, it leans more in that direction.

Hey, Punk!

Odyssey is so much worse than Origins. Not enjoying fighting damage sponge after damage sponge at all. Nothing more immersion breaking than a human being still moving after 50 slashes from a sword.

Origins may just be like another freak occurrence like Black Flag.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: Hey, Punk! on May 25, 2020, 03:02:22 AM
Odyssey is so much worse than Origins. Not enjoying fighting damage sponge after damage sponge at all. Nothing more immersion breaking than a human being still moving after 50 slashes from a sword.

Yes. I've seen people listing "difficult combat/enemies" as a positive in comparison with previous entries, but I hate it for exactly the reason you gave. For me one of the best things about AC was that you felt like ... well, an assassin. Your average community bobby would be no match. In Odyssey there are cunts who are practically nude who just won't die. Maybe it improves as you level up, but it seems like your level is always automatically matched by your opponents.

It's still sitting on my PS4 untouched since I lost a few hours of grinding to a corrupted save file. I have absolutely no desire to do any of that again. I may pick up Origins if I can find it for cheap, as the consensus seems to be that it's the better game overall (and has less of the shit that made Odyssey so tedious).

Hey, Punk!

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on May 25, 2020, 05:24:10 AM
I may pick up Origins if I can find it for cheap, as the consensus seems to be that it's the better game overall (and has less of the shit that made Odyssey so tedious).

It's the same engine as Odyssey, but without the annoying features like radiant quests or level scaling. The combat is challenging without resorting to damage sponges, I played on Normal and I could actually do stealth runs when the enemies matched my level.

Not being able to one hit kill everyone with stealth is one of the worst decisions I've ever seen, I have no idea what they were thinking. It's only a thing in Origins when you enter an area where their level is too high.

wooders1978

Regarding level being matched by opponents, I believe this is the case but can be switched off in the settings in odyssey

I really liked odyssey for the most part but it's too fucking big (phnarr) and I never got round to finishing as other games came along and I've just never gone back

Hey, Punk!

I'm starting to enjoy Odyssey now that I've put more points into the Warrior tree, and after paying attention to the engraving system. I occasionally switch between difficulty levels too.


madhair60

Quote from: Kelvin on May 22, 2020, 03:21:53 PM
Without exception (and definitely no hyperbole), every AAA single-player game made in the last 15 years would be better with at least 20% of its content cut. Many would be better with up to 40% cut.

There is not a single exception.

I think I agree with this without reservation, which feels weird

The Crumb

Quote from: Kelvin on May 22, 2020, 03:21:53 PM
Without exception (and definitely no hyperbole), every AAA single-player game made in the last 15 years would be better with at least 20% of its content cut. Many would be better with up to 40% cut.

There is not a single exception.

Deus Ex Mankind divided needed more content, the story just stops at what seems should be the midpoint of the game.