I miss the original style of Assassin’s Creed

[MrConbon210]

So I'm currently working my way through Assassin's Creed Odyssey and loving it but felt like something was off and downloaded Unity to see why it seemed like something was missing.

The oringal style of Assassin's Creed games had a much larger emphasis on parkour and assassinations that the new style significantly lacks for me. The thrill of running on rooftops and climbing down famous architecture is missing when most of the time in Odyssey you're traveling by horse through open country.

The missions also lack the importance of Assassination's in the new style. Unity gave you almost a Hitman like freedom to go about assassinating your enemy with much of the game building up to these important missions. In Odyssey I never get that same feeling of being an actual assassin. The story doesn't help in Odyssey that it is before the assassin order even began.

I'd like to see an Assassin's Creed game scale back to one giant city instead of tiny villages spread across a huge terrain. I think the series could benefit from going back to more traditional roots instead of a more like an open word akin to The Witcher 3.

This is probably an unpopular opinion but I just feel like part of the identity of Assassin's Creed is lost.

Edit: was also reminded of all the stealth elements they removed. Stuff like bribing people to hide with and having to blend in with the crowd was a huge aspect that was removed.

 

[Cocolina]

have you played all of the pre-Origins AssCreeds?

 

[Kylo Rey]

I disagree.
Syndicat fatigue me.

I loved Origins and Odyssey is the Best game since BOTW for me. The Goty 2018

So glad assassin s creed evolved

 

[elenarie]

Maybe things will change if / when they move away from the time period. Paris is just a wonderfully designed city, much more interesting than anything in Origins and Odyssey. The architecture and density of Paris allows the gameplay you want, whereas the cities of the older civilizations don't (at least how they're done in the two newer games).

 

[MrConbon210]

have you played all of the pre-Origins AssCreeds?

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Yep. Played through every single one every year.

 

[Adam802]

Yeah AC has completely lost its identity unfortunately. Shame what happened to this series.

 

[Baccus]

It's the same damn thing with worse combat, prettier animations and an extremely self-serious Good vs Evil cliché storyline.

 

[KillLaCam]

Yeah I really miss parkour being a big thing.

I also dislike that you can't actually sneak up and assassinate any important people. You always have to fight them instead.

But Unity and Syndicate are really the only ones that let you plan assassinations like you mentioned. I wish that would come back


The combat is much better in the new ones though

 

[MrConbon210]

I disagree.
Syndicat fatigue me.

I loved Origins and Odyssey is the Best game since BOTW for me. The Goty 2018

So glad assassin s creed evolved

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Syndicate was bad in my opinion due to the grappling hook. It completely removed all the parkour elements when you can just press a single button to get all the way to the top of a building.

 

[Kylo Rey]

Yeah AC has completely lost its identity unfortunately. Shame what happened to this series.

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I guess i have bad taste then. (and i played every AC games)

 

[Alienous]

Watch Dogs has absorbed some of that. I hope Watch Dogs 3 goes further in that direction - I'd like to be sneaking into facilities, downloading information, and trying out outrun/distract/fight security guards instead of getting into shootouts.

 

[Deleted member 3208]

Maybe things will change if / when they move away from the time period. Paris is just a wonderfully designed city, much more interesting than anything in Origins and Odyssey. The architecture and density of Paris allows the gameplay you want, whereas the cities of the older civilizations don't (at least how they're done in the two newer games).

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Ubisoft should set the next game in Japan. Ninja's Creed.

 

[Qwark]

Yep. Played through every single one every year.

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Holy cow, every year? Not judging or anything, I'm just genuinely interested. How do you find the time?

Edit: Wait, I might be misinterpreting your post.

 

[Kylo Rey]

Yeah I really miss parkour being a big thing.

I also dislike that you can't actually sneak up and assassinate any important people. You always have to fight them instead.

h

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False in Odyssey. Just devlop assassinat ions skills.

 

[Chivalry]

I miss the skill-based parkour. You can't even do a proper wall jump now, which is a bummer. Mindlessly holding one button to parkour just makes it as boring as walking.

 

[Kylo Rey]

Holy cow, every year? Not judging or anything, I'm just genuinely interested. How do you find the time?

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I did too. Not complicated, it s around 50 60h games in pre-Origins

 

[Stiler]

My biggest disappointment in the AC series with the newer games is the utter lack of polish or "upgrades" for stealth, they need to completely revamp the stealth mechanics like they did for the combat.

We should have a lot more tools at our disposal for carrying out stealth, not just your simple "Hide in tall grass" that they literally make like 90% of the game about these days if you want to go the stealth route.

We should be able to wear disguises to get into places, we should be able to use the environment to help complete the mission (not just the obvious animals in cages either), but things on par with the Hitman games were you have a target and then have a ton of variety and ways to complete the mission how you want with many numerous paths and things to do that.

 

[MrConbon210]

Holy cow, every year? Not judging or anything, I'm just genuinely interested. How do you find the time?

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I'm 20 so I was 9 when the first game came out (jeez I was little) and would get each game for Christmas every year and would binge them over winter break.

 

[Baccus]

No other game series is doing what Ac is going now, recreating entire countries and offering the /feel/ of an epic tale in a way only The Witcher and San Andreas before it could deliver. You had, what, 12 games in the prior style? let us savor this new take before they reboot again.

 

[carlsojo]

I miss the parkour and the middle-ages/crusader aesthetic.

 

[Zaied]

Origins and Odyssey still give you a lot of freedom for assassinations.

 

[Qwark]

I'm 20 so I was 9 when the first game came out (jeez I was little) and would get each game for Christmas every year.

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I interpreted it as you replay every game every year. But you're just saying you play the new one every year? That seems more manageable and makes a lot more sense.

 

[MrConbon210]

My biggest disappointment in the AC series with the newer games is the utter lack of polish or "upgrades" for stealth, they need to completely revamp the stealth mechanics like they did for the combat.

We should have a lot more tools at our disposal for carrying out stealth, not just your simple "Hide in tall grass" that they literally make like 90% of the game about these days if you want to go the stealth route.

We should be able to wear disguises to get into places, we should be able to use the environment to help complete the mission (not just the obvious animals in cages either), but things on par with the Hitman games were you have a target and then have a ton of variety and ways to complete the mission how you want with many numerous paths and things to do that.

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Completely forgot about blending into the crowds I'll add that to the OP

 

[Whitemex]

Unity is my favorite for this reason

 

[ZangBa]

I like that Odyssey gives me a choice and repercussions for them when I decide fuck stealth, I'm slaughtering everyone now, without outright just failing the mission. I loathed the absolutely boring eavesdropping and tailing missions that were like a shitstain on an otherwise decent game in the last AC game I played, Black Flag.

Don't get me wrong, I love playing stealthy when it comes to Hitman, Metal Gear Solid, or other RPGs that give me a choice like Deus Ex or Fallout, but I've always struggled to enjoy stealth in AC games, it just isn't good.

 

[MrConbon210]

I interpreted it as you replay every game every year. But you're just saying you play the new one every year? That seems more manageable and makes a lot more sense.

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Oh yeah. The latter. I could see how you think I replayed the whole series every year.

 

[Kylo Rey]

In Odyssey if you devlop any skills in the Assassination class you can kil almost everybody in one shot.

I mean i do this gameplay since 30h with Kassandra. Every fort, military point etc... no detection, everybody dead.
Stop spreading false stuff. The old sneaky gameplay was low in Origins but in Odyssey it came back

 

[CopperPuppy]

We got a lot of games in that style so I feel change was warranted.

I respect your preference though, OP. I'm sure they'll incorporate more traditional elements when the series switches up styles again.

 

[Canucked]

I miss the feeling of being in the shadows and alleys of a city. I tried to stealth as much of Odyssey as possible but because it's not a city, it seems like option for steal was find the nearest bush. No bush no stealth.

 

[BAD]

Assassinations are awful in Odyssey. You basically can't do sneak assassinations because it just starts a fight.

 

[MrConbon210]

In Odyssey if you devlop any skills in the Assassination class you can kil almost everybody in one shot.

I mean i do this gameplay since 30h with Kassandra. Every fort, military point etc... no detection, everybody dead.
Stop spreading false stuff. The old sneaky gameplay was low in Origins but in Odyssey it came back

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Not the the scale of the old games where you would see a target but have to strategically hide in crowds and such to blend in with your surroundings. It added an almost puzzle element of having to sneak to crowd to crowd making sure nobody spots you. Now it's just tall grass or rooftops.

 

[NDWest14]

I'm absolutely in love with Odyssey. I liked Origins but I think it was because Bayek was such a f***ing badass.

I think what we want/aspire for is a balance of both. The new games are a stark change from the old, but does everything better.

You're actually able to plan assassinations in the new games, where the old ones it was always a crap shoot. That said, you can plan all you want but the nerfed hidden blade/spear does leave a bit to be desired. I'm like 40 hours in and there is potential to upgrade the stealth more to allow for more power but it takes a long time to want to get that.

Honestly though IMO, we're better off now than we were. If they could ditch the whole present day, pieces of eden crap and just make a better story it'd be even better.

 

[Yasai]

I agree. AC used to have nice dungeons (often within historic monuments) too with at times intriguing parcours sections.
The caves/dungeons/tombs in Origins and Odyssey are a bad joke and repetitive af

 

[Deleted member 135]

I 120% agree, Assassin's Creed III Remastered is the last gasp of that style. I think it and Rogue had the perfect balance of wilderness and cities.

If I could control Ubisoft I'd have them spin off these RPG games into a new series (but still set in the Assassin's Creed/Watch Dogs Universe) and "restart" Assassin's Creed by making one game every three years set at least 75% in a large 1:1 (or closer than the pre-Unity games at least) scale city. It would focus on assassinations, discourage open combat, have no skill tree or RPG mechanics, and it would have a hefty modern day story with actual modern day assassin gameplay.

 

[Kylo Rey]

Not the the scale of the old games where you would see a target but have to strategically hide in crowds and such to blend in with your surroundings. It added an almost puzzle element of having to sneak to crowd to crowd making sure nobody spots you. Now it's just tall grass or rooftops.

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No you can still hide behind doors or locked door, or do a kill when you are under a guard, to grab him and make him fall etc..
No bench or surrounding, i agree, but there is still many options.

The game encourage you to do this because there is an "infinite" combo of killing spree assassination that give you any time more and more XP.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

I've only really played all the way through AC I and II, as well as some of Brotherhood and Black Flag. I've just assumed they were churning these out one after another all along the same lines, just expanding in scope or whatever.

I had absolutely no idea they basically aren't Assassin's Creed games anymore. Bizarre.

 

[sredgrin]

It's only been a few years. They'll eventually split the seires like they are attempting to (poorly) do with Black Flag. I'd bet next gen we get a traditional one early in the gen.

 

[GoaThief]

I'm one of those horrible people that think the original Assassin's Creed was one of the best in the series, only beaten by AC4: Black Flag which tops the lot. AC2 in third and the rest pretty much in descending chronological order (albeit with AC3 as the worst).

I think there's several factors at play including similar to the OP, perhaps I'll return to the series in the next couple of years but I've had my fill for now.

 

[Kylo Rey]

I've only really played all the way through AC I and II, as well as some of Brotherhood and Black Flag. I've just assumed they were churning these out one after another all along the same lines, just expanding in scope or whatever.

I had absolutely no idea they basically aren't Assassin's Creed games anymore. Bizarre.

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They are still AC games come on...
Just not bench or crowd stuff way to assassinate (hope we get them back in next!).

 

[MrConbon210]

I've only really played all the way through AC I and II, as well as some of Brotherhood and Black Flag. I've just assumed they were churning these out one after another all along the same lines, just expanding in scope or whatever.

I had absolutely no idea they basically aren't Assassin's Creed games anymore. Bizarre.

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It's now a lot more similar to the Witcher 3. You go from region to region to get side quests, go on treasure hunts, hunt etc.

The new games are really good. They just aren't really Assassin's Creed.

 

[jonjonaug]

False in Odyssey. Just devlop assassinat ions skills.

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This takes too long, I shouldn't have to grind out skills/weapons/levels or buy microtransactions to actually assaasinate people reliably in a game about being an assassin.

 

[Komali]

Yeah AC has completely lost its identity unfortunately. Shame what happened to this series.

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This.

I tried to get into Odyssey and it just feels generic.

 

[Kylo Rey]

You can kill by grapping a guard from a low point
Aerial assassination
Assassination "normal"
Using poison or fire to distract
There is even that insane poweer that teleport you to kill someone using Leonidas spear...

Stuff are missing (smoke grenade, bench etc...) But it's still assassinations moves to do without being noticed.

 

[BurnKnuckle21]

I agree completely. I loved Origins. Haven't played Odyssey but even after Origins I found myself missing the old style. It felt unique. I wonder if there was a happy medium between the styles that they missed out on. Perhaps they went too far in one direction and lost some of the series roots and identity.

 

[VoltySquirrel]

I'm inclined to agree. I think Origins and Odyssey are great games, but they lack a certain je ne sais quoi. I don't really think turning AC into a standard action rpg has been an on the whole good thing. AC was already headed in that direction, but you could still draw a line from the first game to it. It's much harder with the newer games.

Also the climbing parkour stuff is just not fun anymore. But that was also true by Syndicate, since the grapple hook trivialized it. I still think back fondly on the slowly expanded climbing options on AC2 and Brotherhood. So good...

 

[Kylo Rey]

This takes too long, I shouldn't have to grind out skills/weapons/levels or buy microtransactions to actually assaasinate people reliably in a game about being an assassin.

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Except Kassandra isn't and i find this satisfying to become better and better...and it only take what... 5-6 levels?

 

[Kylo Rey]

Ok i think judging by the reactions even after playing every AC games that....i have bad taste.

Sorry.

 

[Kinthey]

Origins and Odyssey still give you a lot of freedom for assassinations.

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I actually wouldn't mind a little less freedom. A couple of more scripted missions mixed into the standard ones would imo add some good variety

 

[tatwo]

I want Assassin's Creed Hitman game. More social stealth like in the original trilogy. Disguises would work great in AC too.

 

[MrConbon210]

Except Kassandra isn't and i find this satisfying to become better and better...and it only take what... 5-6 levels?

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And that's why the new games feel no longer like Assassin's Creed. The main charecter isnt an assassin. She is a mercenary. Odyssey is a great game but it's not a great Assassin's Creed.