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NightShift

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,056
Australia
Don't y'all usually dump on Ubi for not "taking risks" and putting out the same game.
I'd argue Watch Dogs 2 took more risks than Legion. Watch Dogs 2 had far more interesting level design by making enemy encounters feel more like puzzles while Legion just went back to being a boring ass action/stealth game like the first one. Plus I feel like the narrative had more to say than Legion's nonpolitical dystopia bullshit.

After playing Legion for a dozen or so hours, the whole NPC protagonist thing started to feel superficial. I may as well have been playing iconic hat man from the first game. The only meaningful difference it made was making the story worse and switching abilities annoying.

Proper sequels to WD2 would have made for far more interesting and unique games.
 

Laserbeam

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,473
Canada
I actually really liked the first two games.

There's something about the combat in the first game especially that felt so right to me.

I gave up on Legion rather quickly though. It felt incredibly unfocused and boring to me.
 

Ahti

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Nov 6, 2017
9,260
Sad if true. Watch Dogs 2 is legitimately one of the best open world games and the other two were pretty good. The franchise deserves at least another shot.
 

Azaan60

Member
Mar 18, 2020
1,397
So to clarify: you're saying Trials Fusion and Mario + Rabbids aren't good games?

Maybe I should've wrote my original post differently, "Watch Dogs 2 is the best game open world game Ubisoft have made in a decade". Trials and Mario + Rabbids were good games just not on the same level as Watch Dogs 2.

Watch Dogs 2 was Ubisoft firing on all cylinders and is the pinnacle of the "Ubisoft formula". It felt like it was made with genuine passion while most of their big AAA Open World games since have felt like they're just being pumped out to meet a yearly quota.
 

Fudus

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Sep 18, 2020
1,814
Watch dogs series had this odd effect on me where every subsequent trailer after the reveal trailer made the games seem LESS interesting.
 

John Harker

Knows things...
Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,378
Santa Destroy
Watch Dogs 2 deserved better than Watch Dogs Legion as a follow up.

The issue with WD2 is that it didn't do very well at launch. One was a big bit, massive at the time for new IP. It had some clear issues bubble up from the community. WD2 tried addressing some of those, mainly in narrative and tone and variety, but I suppose it was almost too jarring for the less vocal but more dedicated WD1 fans who pretty much wanted more superhero vigilante stuff, and rejected it.

It failed to take off… but over time really stood out and is now looked back on as fairly beloved. Unfortunately that arch took too long to be realized, and Legion was made and that one pleased … no one. Game had a total identity crises.

So what even is watch dogs now?
 

ZeoVGM

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
76,219
Providence, RI
Maybe I should've wrote my original post differently, "Watch Dogs 2 is the best game Ubisoft have made in a decade". Trials and Mario + Rabbids were good games just not on the same level as Watch Dogs 2.

Watch Dogs 2 was Ubisoft firing on all cylinders and is the pinnacle of the "Ubisoft formula". It felt like it was made with genuine passion while most of their big AAA Open World games since have felt like they're just being pumped out to meet a yearly quota.

Okay, that's a totally different take and one I don't necessarily disagree with. A lot of love and passion went into Watch Dogs 2 (though I'd say equal to Mario + Rabbids -- the devs put so much heart into that game).
 

ClivePwned

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,635
Australia
eh, Legion was the one I enjoyed the most , the only one I was able to finish without getting stuck relatively early on. If they never make another, then that won't be the worst franchise that Ubi has iced.
 
OP
OP
Angie

Angie

Best Avatar Thread Ever!
Member
Nov 20, 2017
39,750
Kingdom of Corona
I honestly really liked Watch Dogs 1.
My favorite in the serie. I did enjoy Watch Dogs 2 too.


Haven't played Legion. I keep almost buying it.
 

Mechaplum

Enlightened
Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,851
JP
Legion is a result of technician preponderance over design. Playing as any npc is novel but it's not one that's going to be fun in an action adventure.
 

Modest_Modsoul

Living the Dreams
Member
Oct 29, 2017
23,760
They might as well just do a new Yakuza clone instead.

latest
 

Vareon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,887
The news that they had "multiple Watch Dogs projects" is testament that they just can't let games be games. It has to be a franchise, a platform, a service. Any title has to carry that burden and underperformance is unacceptable. A truly Ubisoft way of thinking.
 

Edward

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
5,140
Legions entire design felt like it would have worked better as a in-between big expansion DLC for 2 while we waited on 3.

Never the less i enjoyed my time with Legion and i really dug the perma death mode.
 

ClayModel

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,929
Why didn't they just built upon what WD2 laid out. It's such an amazing open world and even the mp was fun playing sorta hide and seek with players. Man, RIP WD.
 

Oghuz

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,933
All they had to do was keep building on Watch Dogs 1.

Instead they regressed with each installment. Too bad.
 

Linus815

Member
Oct 29, 2017
19,894
It's annoying how they nailed the world design in WD2 but regressed so much mechanically compared to 1.
It's a fine idea to emphasize stealth more, but the stealth mechanics didn't improve whatsoever. The fact that you couldnt even move bodies is just wild to me.
 

notoracle

Member
Aug 24, 2023
59
I'm still disappointed with Ubisoft after what was Legions, and I have little confidence they would make anything like Watch Dogs 1 or 2 again.
I don't think Ubisoft has made anything as enjoyable as Watch Dogs 2, but I'm in the minority there. An ideal Watch Dogs 3 would have the tone of 1 but the mechanics and gameplay of 2 (obviously improved upon).
 

medyej

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,462
Always wish they went further with this series and fully committed to it's hacker stuff. It always felt held back by also trying to go for the GTA market. WD2 in particular should have forced non lethality, make you basically hack and stealth your way into every situation using the open world tools and it would have stood out far more than most people seeing it as just another GTA clone. And then in Legion they had the cool gimmick of recruiting all these characters didn't commit enough in making it really necessary to have different characters only able to do certain things, making it feel superfluous in the end.
 

SageShinigami

Member
Oct 27, 2017
30,497
Is that Kass rolling her eyes at all the unnecessary bloat in Odyssey? It's a great game, but it's also like 80 hrs.

Regardless, it's better than Watch Dogs 2. By leaps and bounds. And I think WD2 is a solid game.

The issue with WD2 is that it didn't do very well at launch. One was a big bit, massive at the time for new IP. It had some clear issues bubble up from the community. WD2 tried addressing some of those, mainly in narrative and tone and variety, but I suppose it was almost too jarring for the less vocal but more dedicated WD1 fans who pretty much wanted more superhero vigilante stuff, and rejected it.

It failed to take off… but over time really stood out and is now looked back on as fairly beloved. Unfortunately that arch took too long to be realized, and Legion was made and that one pleased … no one. Game had a total identity crises.

So what even is watch dogs now?

I do think that was the real problem. Do they go back down the path of WD2 or try to please the folks who loved WD1? I think you could try to split the difference but it'd take a tight rope. Still, I would prefer that to not having the franchise. While I poked fun at it a bit, there's nothing else like it if you don't care for GTA.
 

LV-0504

Member
Oct 6, 2022
2,829
That's a shame, I loved WD2 and Legion, the hacking mechanic is one of the most fun tools in an open world.
 

Mr Evil 37

Member
Mar 7, 2022
10,150
People are too harsh on the Watch Dogs series. They do a lot right, and I appreciate the ambition of Legion's concept even if they didn't quite nail it. It's a shame there won't be another seemingly.
 

Cort

Member
Nov 4, 2017
4,362
I don't have a whole lot of faith in this company anymore. Seemed like all of their IP's were healthy and output was generally so much better 2016-2019, compared to their post-covid output. Of course they were fighting Vivendi when cranking out those games, but alas.
 

Soj

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,733
Each game stripped out a bunch of the unique stuff from the previous entries.

Third game should've been a combination of the first two games strengths, instead we got Legion.

Such a waste.

Watch Dogs 2 is legitimately the only good game Ubisoft have made in the past decade.

If I was making a best games of the last 10 years list, it would be impossible for me to not put Starlink in the top 10.

They've also released other great stuff like the most recent Prince of Persia.
 

Zaied

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,580
Legion was a disappointing follow up to Watch Dogs 2. However, the DLC was solid, and sort of showed the type of game it could've been from the jump. Wrench, and even Aiden, were godsends as playable characters in comparison to the generic NPCs turned PCs that you control over the course of the story. Playing as Darcy in the Assassin's Creed crossover mission was also neat; probably the closest we'll ever get to that present day Assassin's Creed that many fans envisioned with Desmond a long time ago.
 

OléGunner

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,279
Airborne Aquarium
Watch Dogs 2 is goated. A sly contender for one of the underrated gems last gen.

I contributed to legion failing commercially as nothing about it looked inspired, never mind the play as any NPC mechanic which put me off.

Come to think of it, Ubi output over the last 5-7 years has been atrocious for my tastes. Usually I'm into WD, Far Cry, AssCreed but those have all been ran into the ground being bloated rinse and repeat games (Mirage was ok tho lol)
 

Yam's

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,072
Wish we could get a new one with the tone and hacking from the first one, and a map as fun as the second one.

The recruit anyone in Legion wasn't a bad idea. It was poorly executed however. It feels like every npc is dumber than the previous one, and all you really needed was a npc with the summon a flying drone perk. London was kinda ugly too, they usually nail open world settings and graphics, but not this time.
 

Hoggle

Member
Mar 25, 2021
6,116
Watch Dogs never really had an identity and the hacking elements could be incorporated into other more interesting titles. Not sorry to see it go.
 

PROh1bited

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
3,706
Lol, the third game "had potential ". You could've built off of 2, but no, a shitty follow up called Legion was released, sent the series backwards, and apparently killed the franchise.
 

Rustyspider13

Shinra Employee
Member
Nov 16, 2023
747
I know people here are down on iterative sequels, but I would've loved iterative sequels to WD2 and Fenyx Rising. Such a shame what happened to both these franchises.
 

TableManners

Member
Jan 9, 2024
199
Fucking idiots. All they had to do was make Watch Dogs 3 with the cast of WD2 and you're golden. But no, they make aimless trash like Legion and wonder why the franchise is dead.