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Assassin's Creed II - The |OT|

Socreges

Banned
Am I the only one who feels utterly compelled to always chase after the Bourgian Courier? There's something about seeing a random character running around the screen who doesn't appear on the map that always grabs my attention. Even if I don't need the money, I normally end up stopping whatever I'm doing and committing to hunting him down.

Johnny Utah said:
I liked this game, and it had a cool story. However i don't wanna spend another game in this setting.

And the series really needs to start focusing more on the word in the title "Assassin", because i didn't feel like an assassin in AC2 as much as i felt like a comic book hero.
And I'd like them to force us to be more creative with how we assassinate people. There are a lot of tools. Make us use them.
 

Interstellar

Neo Member
The Battle of Forli's coming next week. 320 MS Points/$3.99 on PSN.

So what does the DLC add?
Same setting, No new enviroments to explore, 6 memory sequences. Any gameplay additions?
Or could this have been in the game to begin with?
 

Ridley327

Member
I have a strong suspicion that the Borgia messengers served as the basis for doing something with multiplayer. The idea of a CTF mode based entirely on agility would be quite exciting.
 

sladeums

Member
Sheppard said:
So. After using msxbox website to the feathers I am still missing 6 freaking got damn feathers in the game. Does anyone know of feathers that are frequently missed?

dunno what's on the msxbox site, but this site worked really well for me:
http://www.mlwgames.com/assassinscreed2/

just check the DNA Menu on the pause screen to see which specific cities/districts you've missed and it shouldn't take too long to track em down
 

Dogenzaka

Banned
edgefusion said:
I would hardly call them crucial, interesting maybe but not crucial. They even say in the game they decided to skip them because they're not relevant.

Well, not crucial, but I think it would have helped keep the story a bit more held together. There's a lot of stuff in the game that's not relevant, like for example Ezio's brother Petruccio, heck, his entire family after you reach the Villa. But the point this time was to include variety and choices. Just to make the game interesting.

I don't really care. The plot pacing was totally screwed up when one moment
Yay! I'm an Assassin! And everyone else is too! We're like brothers. Wonder what adventures Machiavelli and Caterina can take me o--
*10 year memory sequence time gap*
FETCHQUEST
Time to kill the Pope.

It's still upsetting that they find it irrelevant enough to include in the game, but relevant enough to charge us for.
 

Bluecondor

Member
Dogenzaka said:
I enjoyed the game at first, but the DLC AC2 is releasing really pissed me off and I don't really want anything to do with this game anymore :p

They deliberately cut out 2 crucial memory sequences of the retail game, and advertised time with Machiavelli and Caterina Sforza, to turn it into DLC they want us to pay for to have the complete game.

While the game was fun, I found the pacing to be absolutely ridiculous once you hit Venice. Suddenly, Da Vinci doesn't begin to matter anymore (nor the only invention he made that really altered the gameplay, the flying machine, which was only used ONCE) another decade passes without you even getting to do anything, and then you're warped to the end boss.

They better do much better with the plot and pacing in AC3.

I guess you could look at it that way, but AC2 - even without these two memory sequences, was a +100 hour game. With how much I have played that game, I am never going to regret spending that $60.

Like any game, there are things that the developers cut out at the end (remember "Darkel" in GTA3). I think it is great that Ubi is going to offer more polished versions of some missions that otherwise would have never seen the light of day - and for $4 a pop for 6 new missions.

I don't know about you, but if R* ever released the Darkel missions from GTA3 as downloadable content, I would be there on day one.
 

Ridley327

Member
They're going to be less than $10 combined, which I don't think anyone can really complain about. I can imagine it was an easy decision to drop them from the main game if it was going to mean that it was going to miss its November release, which has already been indicated as being the case. I think the only meaningful uproar is the possibility of Rome being held back for Assassin's Creed II-2, which would be more of a painful wait than anything to rage about.
 

Dogenzaka

Banned
Bluecondor said:
I guess you could look at it that way, but AC2 - even without these two memory sequences, was a +100 hour game. With how much I have played that game, I am never going to regret spending that $60.

Like any game, there are things that the developers cut out at the end (remember "Darkel" in GTA3). I think it is great that Ubi is going to offer more polished versions of some missions that otherwise would have never seen the light of day - and for $4 a pop for 6 new missions.

I don't know about you, but if R* ever released the Darkel missions from GTA3 as downloadable content, I would be there on day one.

Wow I certainly didn't spend 100 hours on AC2 :lol I didn't even bother with the feathers though considering they were
useless
.

Please don't get me started on Rome. Lol.
 

surly

Banned
How did you get 100+ hours out of this game, Bluecondor? I bought the Black Edition with the extra missions and it took me about 30 hours to complete the game with 100% sync and all missions complete, all feathers and treasures found and all achievements unlocked. There's literally nothing left for me to do. I didn't rush through it either. I loved the game too - it was GOTY for me, even over Uncharted 2 - but I just can't see how you put in 70+ more hours than me!
 

Bluecondor

Member
surly said:
How did you get 100+ hours out of this game, Bluecondor? I bought the Black Edition with the extra missions and it took me about 30 hours to complete the game with 100% sync and all missions complete, all feathers and treasures found and all achievements unlocked. There's literally nothing left for me to do. I didn't rush through it either. I loved the game too - it was GOTY for me, even over Uncharted 2 - but I just can't see how you put in 70+ more hours than me!

I don't know - maybe I just suck at the game - but I have been playing it pretty regularly since the day it was released. I played through all of the missions, got all of the viewpoints, all of the glyphs, completely built up the villa, got all of the armor and all of the weapons. I have 53 of the feathers, and have found most of the treasures.

I didn't do any of the side missions, extra assassinations or tombs - figuring I will go back and get them. So far, I cleared the side missions and assassinations in Tuscany and in Forli. I still have a bunch of things to finish in Venice and Florence (not to mention the extra palace from Gamestop and whatever is available on Uplay)

I played it a lot over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, and then alternated with the Saboteur (also going to be 100 hours+ for me). I play anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time, almost always at night. Since it first came out around Thanksgiving, I know I have played it 30+ times, so it is either 100 hours or really close to that.

Let's see - I played it last night. I finished 5 small side missions in Forli (a couple of which took me multiple attempts to get through) and found the last two glyphs in Venice. That took me two hours.

I don't know - maybe I just enjoy the setting or something. It is a similar things with the Saboteur. Going around Nazi occupied Paris is just very immersive. If AC2 had been set in modern times with Abstergo, etc., it would have been a quick play through for me....
 

Dogenzaka

Banned
Bluecondor said:
I don't know - maybe I just suck at the game - but I have been playing it pretty regularly since the day it was released. I played through all of the missions, got all of the viewpoints, all of the glyphs, completely built up the villa, got all of the armor and all of the weapons. I have 53 of the feathers, and have found most of the treasures.

I didn't do any of the side missions, extra assassinations or tombs - figuring I will go back and get them. So far, I cleared the side missions and assassinations in Tuscany and in Forli. I still have a bunch of things to finish in Venice and Florence (not to mention the extra palace from Gamestop and whatever is available on Uplay)

I played it a lot over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, and then alternated with the Saboteur (also going to be 100 hours+ for me). I play anywhere from 2-4 hours at a time, almost always at night. Since it first came out around Thanksgiving, I know I have played it 30+ times, so it is either 100 hours or really close to that.

Let's see - I played it last night. I finished 5 small side missions in Forli (a couple of which took me multiple attempts to get through) and found the last two glyphs in Venice. That took me two hours.

I don't know - maybe I just enjoy the setting or something. It is a similar things with the Saboteur. Going around Nazi occupied Paris is just very immersive. If AC2 had been set in modern times with Abstergo, etc., it would have been a quick play through for me....

Wow. Props to you, I suppose.

I was kind of discouraged from playing it after beating it because I had the PS3 version and the screentearing/framerate dips were driving me CRAZY.
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
Okay I still cannot grip my head around combat, even after 10 hours into the game.

When exactly are you supposed to counter attack? As the guy is swinging his sword, or before it? A lot of times I just mash Square and R1 and sometimes he'll counter, and sometimes he won't. And when I have the hidden blade equipped, he'll just draw and redraw it over and over again... I don't get that either.

... also how come everytime you complete a story DNA sequence - I go back into the main city and now all of a sudden there are Eagle viewpoints that are "new" or something. Like I could've sworn that I've already gotten the same viewpoints multiple times and it registers as a new viewpoint - I think. That's kind of frustrating to me.
 

bumpkin

Member
Adam Prime said:
Okay I still cannot grip my head around combat, even after 10 hours into the game.

When exactly are you supposed to counter attack? As the guy is swinging his sword, or before it? A lot of times I just mash Square and R1 and sometimes he'll counter, and sometimes he won't. And when I have the hidden blade equipped, he'll just draw and redraw it over and over again... I don't get that either.

... also how come everytime you complete a story DNA sequence - I go back into the main city and now all of a sudden there are Eagle viewpoints that are "new" or something. Like I could've sworn that I've already gotten the same viewpoints multiple times and it registers as a new viewpoint - I think. That's kind of frustrating to me.
What worked for me is when you're holding a weapon, press the counter button when they start to swing their weapon. If you are using your bare hands, press it when they're about to hit you to disarm them. If you press and hold the attack button immediately after the disarm, you'll counter-kill.
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
good grief this game can really piss me off. I hate the controls sometimes while free running, especially when youre trying to chase targets. Ezio will just lock on to every damn thing and person instead of the thing you want. And combat is just still pissing me the hell off... sometimes I can counter kill and sometimes I can't. I was getting my ass beat down by this dude with a spear... so then I turned away to run and hit Square as a hit and I freaking counter-killed him, WTF. Whenever I was actually trying to do that I couldn't do it.

I dunno, when this game works and controls like it should it's AWESOME. But when it's f'ing around and not doing what you want - damn it is frustrating and makes me want to quit. I wonder if I just suck ass at the game or its like this for everyone.
 

vg260

Member
I enjoyed the game, but after finishing, I felt like I had enough. The DLC kinda sounds like more of the same to me. I'll save my money and put it towards a sequel.
 

fernoca

Member
I do hope that the DLC makes me spend the money I have in-game.. :lol

Over 200k and already have everything..and got the limited edition/preorder areas..and both gave me more money. :lol
 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Adam Prime said:
good grief this game can really piss me off. I hate the controls sometimes while free running, especially when youre trying to chase targets. Ezio will just lock on to every damn thing and person instead of the thing you want.
I find the camera is more of an issue when chasing someone. If you actually lock on to them it'll stay on them, but then you can't move the camera to look down to make sure you're landing on the right thing, which is already hard since holding the free run button keeps you from the camera stick. But without being locked on to them, you can easily lose sight of them. Still, I usually do just forget locking on to them and run in their general direction till I can hit Assassinate and dive on them.

And combat is just still pissing me the hell off... sometimes I can counter kill and sometimes I can't. I was getting my ass beat down by this dude with a spear... so then I turned away to run and hit Square as a hit and I freaking counter-killed him, WTF. Whenever I was actually trying to do that I couldn't do it.
All the weapons have different timings on how to counter them, and those timings differ based on what weapon you're using. This is never fully explained in tutorial form, so it's kind of a bitch. I think they should have gone with something similar to Issen attacks in Onimusha games.

As for spear guys, it's best to go unarmed and go for a disarm counter kill, or just grab them and throw them on the ground then stab them while they're down.

fernoca said:
Over 200k and already have everything..and got the limited edition/preorder areas..and both gave me more money. :lol
This guy always makes me laugh.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1148-Assassins-Creed-2
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
okay another question, how much of a bitch is it going to be to have to go and collect all the feathers? I see there are a lot of video guides and stuff online, but does the game ever tell you how many you have/missing in certain areas? Or am I just going to have to search for every feather that's on those guide maps and see if I have it or not?
 
For those crying how Ubisoft 'deliberately' removing content from the game to make us pay extra for it, please, cut that shit out.

When you make a game, things get cut for various reasons; mostly its time related. You got all the ingredients, but you don't have time to put it all together, so you put the ressources that were wokring on it on other things, the things that are nearly finished, to actually make them better. There's a lot of games where stuff is left on the cutting room floor and sometimes, these decisions are taken mid-production and for this DLC maybe they decided to finish the work that was started, now that they had the time since the game was shipped. It's not unheard of.

As for ACII, the entire DLC content will be downloadable, it's not a key that weighs 4k, but an entire chapter, with another one coming soon after it. For 60$, you got 20-30 hours of gameplay and the game felt complete. The 'missing chapters' that were talked about in the game could've been a nice like joke and left alone. But for 4$, read again, 4$, you get a brand new chapter that's surely gonna be as good as the ones in the original game, so please, go cry somewhere else.
 

fernoca

Member
Adam Prime said:
okay another question, how much of a bitch is it going to be to have to go and collect all the feathers? I see there are a lot of video guides and stuff online, but does the game ever tell you how many you have/missing in certain areas? Or am I just going to have to search for every feather that's on those guide maps and see if I have it or not?
Well, on the DNA sequence the game tells you the amount you have per city/district...but... it doesn't tell you which or where it is. So if it says 9/10..you have to look for that one feather all over the area.
 

GcRayden

Member
bumpkin said:
What worked for me is when you're holding a weapon, press the counter button when they start to swing their weapon. If you are using your bare hands, press it when they're about to hit you to disarm them. If you press and hold the attack button immediately after the disarm, you'll counter-kill.

I've always had trouble with the counter system in both AC games. I'm really good at timing stuff, but it was just something about AC's combat system that made it hard.

I don't know about you guys, but I thought that AC2 was a little cluttered with all of the different moves that they gave you. The hardest part of AC2 for me was remembering what I had to push :lol
 

McBradders

NeoGAF: my new HOME
Just fired this up last night... it immediately brought back all the memories of the awesome time I had with the first.

Sogood.gif

And Ezio is likeable too, which is really adding to the experience.
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
GcRayden said:
I've always had trouble with the counter system in both AC games. I'm really good at timing stuff, but it was just something about AC's combat system that made it hard.

I don't know about you guys, but I thought that AC2 was a little cluttered with all of the different moves that they gave you. The hardest part of AC2 for me was remembering what I had to push :lol

oh yeah no shit. I am constantly wondering if I should be holding R1 when I push that button, or not holding R1... I think I end up just holding R1 pretty much the entire game. But yeah - 10 hours into the game and I still get confused which buttons to press. I think I still want to react like I'm playing Uncharted 2 and press X to jump to the next ledge, but in this game that makes me jump OFF the ledge! I dunno if I'm just an idiot or what :lol
 
Nostalgic Nightmare said:
Now if I could only stop saying "Salute Claudia" about 20 times a day I'd be set.

Did you know that you don't have to do that? There's a chest sitting behind Claudia that you can access directly. You technically never have to speak to Claudia again after your first conversation with her.
 

Wesker

Member
"Battle for Forlì" will be played as a separate sequence or it will be integrated in the main DNA sequence?

A player will be able to play the new missions after Sequence 11 if he starts a new game?
 

OchreHand

Member
Welp, i've been avoiding this thread so I can finally finish. Damn, what a journey! My town is about 98% complete -- I just need to find 20+ feathers and 1 glyph and I'm done.

Definitely a great game but there are some technical issue that bother me. First, why is the water so poisonous to guards? Anytime I was in a group battle, I just chucked 'em all in there and I was on my merry way.

Also, throwing knives are way overpowered. I powered through some of the 'tough guys' pretty easily just using them.

Other than that, I thought the scenery was breathtaking. In fact, most of the enjoyment I had in this game was strolling through the cities and admiring the architecture and artwork. Makes me wish I could see the cities in person.
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Adam Prime said:
oh yeah no shit. I am constantly wondering if I should be holding R1 when I push that button, or not holding R1... I think I end up just holding R1 pretty much the entire game. But yeah - 10 hours into the game and I still get confused which buttons to press. I think I still want to react like I'm playing Uncharted 2 and press X to jump to the next ledge, but in this game that makes me jump OFF the ledge! I dunno if I'm just an idiot or what :lol
I'm with ya, man.

I keep wanting to accuse the controls and control schemes of being 'sloppy', but I've always got this deep-down feeling that I just dont know what I'm doing quite yet.
 
SketchTheArtist said:
For 60$, you got 20-30 hours of gameplay and the game felt complete. The 'missing chapters' that were talked about in the game could've been a nice like joke and left alone. But for 4$, read again, 4$, you get a brand new chapter that's surely gonna be as good as the ones in the original game, so please, go cry somewhere else.

Except that it wasn't complete...
 

falastini

Member
Just finished recently... It was a fun ride. Ubisoft really improved on almost every aspect of the first game. The ending was a little cheesy, but I knew that the game was headed toward that kind of outcome... I loved when they break the 4th wall though.

I was a little sour at first that they left Altair and that time period, but Enzio was a much more interesting protagonist.

Also, what was the relavence of
Altair getting it on with anonymous chick
?
 
Feorax said:
Finished this up yesterday. Loved it, loads better than the first.

A word of advice to anyone playing through now though, make sure you attempt to get at least some of the collectibles as you go through. I didn't as I was just hammering though the story, and I ended up regretting it.

I had like the bare minimum number of codex pages, and when it told me I had to go back and get them all, I just thought "fuck this..." and left the game for about a month. It didnt take me as long as I thought it would to finish in the end, but it really shits on the flow of the story to have it grind to a halt just as the tale reaches its climax.

seriously don't understand people that did this. Why weren't you collecting these the whole time? It helps increase your health, and fleshes out the story. Plus the fucking codex wall tells you
"you must collect all of these to unlock your final memories"
. What were you all expecting?
 

TTG

Member
falastini said:
Also, what was the relavence of
Altair getting it on with anonymous chick
?

I didn't get that either. I think there was a PSP game or something that was suppose to explain that and the codex pages go a long way to explaining what happened to him after AC1, but still.
 

Nemesis_

Member
falastini said:
Also, what was the relavence of
Altair getting it on with anonymous chick
?

I suppose to establish some continuity between Bloodlines (PSP Game) and Assassin's Creed II instead by building upon the relationship built in Bloodlines.

Also to make us realise that Altair would've had to reproduced to create someone further down the lineage I suppose.
 

kylej

Banned
Finished this a few minutes. Easily my 2009 GOTY. Loved the blend of surrealism and old Italy. Combine the interesting story with a game that basically revolves around my love of Tomb Raider-esque climbing and environmental puzzles and you hit all my buttons. It's just so cinematic and sure of itself that I have to respect Ubisoft's vision. Every city is aesthetically flawless and the dialogue felt natural. I'm blown away by the whole experience.
 
Adam Prime said:
good grief this game can really piss me off. I hate the controls sometimes while free running, especially when youre trying to chase targets. Ezio will just lock on to every damn thing and person instead of the thing you want.

I dunno, when this game works and controls like it should it's AWESOME. But when it's f'ing around and not doing what you want - damn it is frustrating and makes me want to quit. I wonder if I just suck ass at the game or its like this for everyone.

I'm experiencing the same thing. In areas that require precision and when you're racing against a clock, the controls simply fall apart. He jumps when he shouldn't, in the wrong direction, climbs up ledges when I don't want him to, hangs there like a silly ass when he should be climbing up, misses rails, and falls to his death, refuses to tackle, the list is ENDLESS. And it frustrates the hell out of me. Why can't he just be more like the Prince?!

I find myself intentionally avoiding the roof tops for this reason. Going around a building takes about the same amount of time as climbing over it.

Why do I have to hold TWO buttons to jump? AAARGH!

In any case, when you just want him to run in a straight line, it's great.
 

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
I'm glad this thread got bumped since I beat it today for the first time. I really disliked the first game but gave this one a chance since everyone kept saying it was much better.

I loved it.
 

Kittonwy

Banned
Started playing it last night, pretty decent, I can't say I'm in love with it though, the controls simply just doesn't gel with me after a few hours, feels pretty clunky.
 

Kittonwy

Banned
radiantdreamer said:
I'm experiencing the same thing. In areas that require precision and when you're racing against a clock, the controls simply fall apart. He jumps when he shouldn't, in the wrong direction, climbs up ledges when I don't want him to, hangs there like a silly ass when he should be climbing up, misses rails, and falls to his death, refuses to tackle, the list is ENDLESS. And it frustrates the hell out of me. Why can't he just be more like the Prince?!

I find myself intentionally avoiding the roof tops for this reason. Going around a building takes about the same amount of time as climbing over it.

Why do I have to hold TWO buttons to jump? AAARGH!

In any case, when you just want him to run in a straight line, it's great.

The thing that I dislike is sometimes Ezio would push off a wall and send himself down from a high spot.
 
I, too, have issues with the controls. Mainly when stopped dead facing a wall and I need to jump to the side. With every game I play (but this), all I simply have to do is time the direction I want to go with the jump. Not here. Instead even though I'm holding to the left or right, I still do a half-assed run up the wall. It pisses me off that i have to actually rotate the character first and most times while holding R1 just to get him to position himself correctly. Other than that, Loved the game. I have it platinumed* and can't wait for the DLC.

*= trophy glitch. Of all trophies it decides to fuck me over on, it's a story mission trophy
Bleeding Effect: exit the animus for training then re-enter
.
 
Zeitgeister said:
Except that it wasn't complete...

Read the rest of my post. The reasons these weren't in the final game may have been due to various reasons such as time-constraints. Not everything that's produced for a game makes it in the final product because they don't have the time or the money for it.

Check for example, the God of War 2 Making Of. The level of Atlantis got cut but was fairly advanced visually, but due to Time and Money constraints, it got cut.

For 4$, having them finish whole sections of the game that got cut is a pretty sweet deal. If you think about it, if they would've taken out those voice clips that talked about the missing memories, you would'nt even have noticed and would've probably been satisfied with what the game offered like the rest of us. Hence, why I say that the final game felt like a complete experience.
 
SketchTheArtist said:
For those crying how Ubisoft 'deliberately' removing content from the game to make us pay extra for it, please, cut that shit out.

When you make a game, things get cut for various reasons; mostly its time related. You got all the ingredients, but you don't have time to put it all together, so you put the ressources that were wokring on it on other things, the things that are nearly finished, to actually make them better. There's a lot of games where stuff is left on the cutting room floor and sometimes, these decisions are taken mid-production and for this DLC maybe they decided to finish the work that was started, now that they had the time since the game was shipped. It's not unheard of.

QFT
 
Kittonwy said:
Started playing it last night, pretty decent, I can't say I'm in love with it though, the controls simply just doesn't gel with me after a few hours, feels pretty clunky.

It does take a while to get used to the controls. The first few hours were frustrating, but you do eventually get a better handle on it.

Eventually, you'll find yourself constantly holding the right trigger. :p

All in all, even though you'll get used to the controls, you'll still find it unintuitive, especially when you want to pull off more complex move strings, as you literally have to stop, turn, re-orient camera, then run, jump, grab, re-orient camera. Otherwise, you'll end up running up the wall, and jumping off of it to your death. It's not nearly as smooth as Prince of Persia.

Combat can also be somewhat unintuitive. Sometimes, you'll find yourself holding the R1, but are still constantly getting hit, because you didn't hit L1 to target an enemy first. Or if you suddenly make a run for it by accident, and fall out of combat, only to get hit in the back, etc etc.

The different timing for counters is also a pain in the butt. And why sometimes you counter but it fails, is beyond me too.
 
SketchTheArtist said:
For 4$, having them finish whole sections of the game that got cut is a pretty sweet deal. If you think about it, if they would've taken out those voice clips that talked about the missing memories, you would'nt even have noticed and would've probably been satisfied with what the game offered like the rest of us.
It's still pretty noticeable with the inclusion of Caterina S'Forza and Machiavelli who have no actual role in the main game.

Though there's no proof that this content was already finished and taken out to sell later, I highly doubt Ubisoft hired all of the voice actors all over again just for this content.
 

John

Member
Is anyone else on PS3 having massive framerate, screen tearing, and freezing problems? This is barely playable.
 
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