don’t agree at all, it’s down to preferenceit looks 10x better default than with the filter removed though
that’s why these overdone graphic effects should always be a setting.
don’t agree at all, it’s down to preferenceit looks 10x better default than with the filter removed though
This, the lack of gear “score” and a 20h runtime are why this is the best AC since Syndicate.I like the pseudo open-ended nature of how to tackle the story in this, you're basically given a few investigations and it's up to you to tackle how to do them, and since there is no level caps, there are no artificial barriers to gate progress or guide you to one at a time.
Game looks great. So tempted.
My eyes... and i like CA but this is just too much and the game benefits nothing from it. Look at cyberpunk for good CA implementation for example. Hopefully by the time im gonna play this there will be an option to turn this off on console
Gave up. Game just isn't clicking for me. Feels like a massive over-adjustment backwards.
But glad others are enjoying.
This is the biggest reason as to my lack of interest in this particular release. I like the series as a whole(warts and all) but I just don't care for the Middle-Eastern setting at the moment, feel like I've been their or some variation of it at least a half dozen times and I'm just not particularly interested right now in checking it out.Honestly I'm struggling with this game. I get going back to your roots, but this feels a bit too much like "been here done that" especially with the setting. Would have preferred more Unity/Syndicate style than og AC. At least they didn't bring back those annoying beggars though.
Feels like it's short enough to power through if you've got a couple of hours, I'm at 6~ hours and the game says I'm already 60% complete.
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Anyway, I think it's incredibly easy to become super OP in this game with just a couple of key upgrades.
Throwing Knife -> Light Blade + Corrode Body = longer range + bodies disintegrate when killed via headshots.
Trickster -> Knife Recovery = you recover knives used to kill enemies.
You essentially have infinite knives which disintegrate bodies with the above.
For open combat, just spec to the Counter Roll skill and you can roll over heavy enemies and just kill them by attacking their butts within seconds instead of needing to juke around their attacks.
This is the biggest reason as to my lack of interest in this particular release. I like the series as a whole(warts and all) but I just don't care for the Middle-Eastern setting at the moment, feel like I've been their or some variation of it at least a half dozen times and I'm just not particularly interested right now in checking it out.
Good tips. I think part of it is the fact that this game is sandwiched in between so many good games. Enjoying Cyberpunk 2077......finally. Still have more Starfield to play when the update it a bit more. Spider-man 2 is almost here. I think this game would have been better off releasing in February. I might come back to it then.
Feels like a classic assassins creed game and I love it. We need short triple A games to make a comeback. Everything doesn’t need to be a massive 100hr rpg.
Alright fellas, I have completed the game. Wall of text time!
I've been playing AC since its inception and to this day it has a special place in my heart. Mirage is an intended homage to the original, and I can say 100% that they have managed to hit every note and transport me back to the AC1/AC2 days.
- Beautiful 9th century Baghdad setting where the city is the focus and the star. While there is a "wilderness" section, it's not where you spend a lot of time during your gameplay, unlike the RPGs where I felt like it was the exact opposite. For instance I really didn't think Alexandria in Origins or the useless Cyrene had any staying power. That is not the case here. It's an urban focused experience, where AC belongs.
- Very stealth and assassination focused gameplay. Combat is possible, but definitely not encouraged. It's idiotic to stay in combat for too long, and the game really drives that point home. You really get the feeling of being an assassin, a blade in the crowd that gets in and out. That is, or should, be the DNA of Assassin's Creed. Just as advertised.
- Huge emphasis on parkour. They have an awesome city layout in here where there are tons of paths that you can take, a lot of them seemingly intentional. Can't imagine the amount of work that went into this aspect. If you can do it right, you can have some parkour moments that feel cool.
- Linear design, no dialoge options or choose your gender BS. You have a set character that you follow from beginning to end, and certain upgrades, tools and outfits are locked behind main story progression. There's a sense of progressing together with Basim since it's only after you kill certain targets, that he ranks up and tools get unlocked. Kiiiinda like Altair did after losing his status.
- City feels more alive due to a good amount of NPCs, not quite Unity level but much better than the cities in the RPG games. You have a pickpocketing mechanic which doesn't sound too exciting on paper but in practice is actually fun. I pretty much did everytime you could.
- City is more reactive than ever. It's not some insane high end stuff, but it's hilarious that it took them 20 games or something to finally have characters go "HEY! IT'S THAT GUY FROM THE WANTED POSTERS!" or "mfer stole my purse!". You can even see them reporting to guards, and the guards will actively look for you. After a while when they can't find you, they'll go back to the NPC and apologize: "Sorry, there's no one like that here".
- The missions are mostly actually well designed, there are some great ones towards the end which take place in some of the most beautiful places, like the Bazaar or the Palace. That also applies to some of the contracts on your mission board which are side missions.
- The music is insane and really elevates the experience. I'm a huge fan of their composer choice for this one.
There's some more stuff but that's off the top of my head. You can tell that this game OOZES love and respect for the original games. I saw someone say that it's basically like putting AC1/AC2 in Valhalla's engine. That's pretty much how it is. I have no idea how they managed to pull this off considering the assets they had to work with. Of course, it's because of that that it doesn't manage to reach the highs of the earlier games. Parkour is still a little wonky, for instance. However, it doesn't detract from the experience all too much. If you love the earlier games, miss them, want to get transported back, this is literally made for you. It's genuinely fantastic in what it wants to be.
Oh, and I'd have to say that it's very gameplay focused. While the story is important and is obviously the main driver behind everything that happens, it's not great. There's some cool beats here and there I thought, but it's not the star. For those that already know Basim's story due to Valhalla it'll be okay enough, for those that don't, I can't imagine how lost and disappointed they'd be by the time the credits roll. Still, amazing experience that doesn't overstay it's welcome, I have finished it with around 28 hours clocked in, most people probably have a few hours less than me.
8/10.
It's good to get differing opinions so thanks for this.
Skillup raised some interesting issues with the game. How do you feel about it as I am curious from someone's perspective on playing the franchise from day 1.
(timestamp 5:37 - 8:09).
He's right. When it comes to the story, I didn't pay too much attention nor did I care too much about the characters, simply because the writing itself isn't great to begin with and because of the points Skillup already raises. The tech used is also not great, you've got janky looking "cutscenes" that just don't help in delivering memorable moments. I can count the amount of scenes that I found okay on one hand.
"I guess there was some revolution going on...and this character had ties to that one...ah who cares" was mostly my thought process. This was actually one of the main complaints for Valhalla. I have already seen some fans say that the only interesting parts are the beginning and ending, which is also how a lot of people in the fandom described Valhalla's story, me included. The fluff in the middle is just not interesting. I didn't care for Beshi, Ali or who the Head of the order was.
I only really cared/paid attention to Basim's own personal story, like how it will end up connecting to Valhalla and how he changes from beginning to end which got an "alright" out of me, considering what they had to work with. In the earlier games, I felt like I was way more connected to the historical stuff that was happening, like the Pazzi family in AC2. Not so much the case here.
In order for storytelling to improve in these games, they absolutely need to change this, as both Valhalla and Mirage show that it's not working, atleast not for Ubi.
I was heavily into Origins. I felt the pacing, story and environments in that one felt amazing. Particularly getting into Alexandria and into the bathouse to assassinate Eudoros.
it sucks, eh? i'd kinda forgotten about it, too. my newest irritation? when you use enkidu to do surveillance on a fortress, & an archer shoots at him, & you're then prevented from doing so until you kill that archer. not sure i remember this 'feature' being in any of the other games...I decided to buy the game because I was just in the mood for old school AC and one of the things that I'm always reminded of when I play AC games that I hate is the amount of time you spend having to run away from guards when you're spotted. It's just so damn tedious. It's like you can't get a moment to breathe and take the game and setting in.
This is how I feel.This game is so freaking good. It'll be the first AC I'll platinum since AC2.
I'm about 3 hours in and no "present day" so far.For those who’ve played a good deal of this: is there a present day aspect of this game like other AC games? Or did they cut that out of this one? I haven’t played long enough to encounter yet.
The reason I'm interested is because the end of Valhalla has some major Basim reveals, and I was hoping we would get more on that from this game since this game takes place way before that.I'm about 3 hours in and no "present day" so far.
Which I'm glad.
I never was a fan and sighed everytime the game switched to present day.
You're not cool Desmond I go through you to get to the good stuff
But that's just me.
Parkour remains a pain sometimes and still can't top Unity (From what I can remember).
Those "optional" objectives also need to go.
-Take no damage
-Don't touch water
-Juggle 5 oranges while running after your target.
But I'm having fun so far
In some reviews they mention Valhalla references to Basim although not sure if it expands on that.The reason I'm interested is because the end of Valhalla has some major Basim reveals, and I was hoping we would get more on that from this game since this game takes place way before that.
If it doesn't it kinda feels like a waste.
IMO this is too vague to really be a spoiler but I'll mark it anyway:The reason I'm interested is because the end of Valhalla has some major Basim reveals, and I was hoping we would get more on that from this game since this game takes place way before that.
If it doesn't it kinda feels like a waste.
Interesting, I'll have to consider finishing it. I had to stop playing it was driving me nuts. It was enjoyable at parts, but it brought back all the stuff that I absolutely loathe about AC games as well, but this time around it was a lot harder to get through for me. The tediousness of some of the game structure are stuff I could tolerate 5-10 years ago, but not anymore. I'll have to play it in spurts.IMO this is too vague to really be a spoiler but I'll mark it anyway:
Basically Mirage's ending is one big "Valhalla Basim" connection. It was pretty out of left field. I didn't care for Basim in Valhalla and that was one reason I was never that hyped for Mirage, but the eventual direct connection the writers made, well, I thought it was pretty cool.
For those who’ve played a good deal of this: is there a present day aspect of this game like other AC games? Or did they cut that out of this one? I haven’t played long enough to encounter yet.
It's good to get differing opinions so thanks for this.
Skillup raised some interesting issues with the game. How do you feel about it as I am curious from someone's perspective on playing the franchise from day 1.
(timestamp 5:37 - 8:09).
platform? doesnt look this good on PCFinished the story, 13~ hours. Decent, nothing more or less. The ending, as you'd expect, tries to tie into Valhalla since this is a prequel but it's so ehhh ...
Some parting screens.
platform? doesnt look this good on PC
Skill up hates ac he claims everything looks same it's not really every district feels different, he literal ubisoft hater don't listen to that clown
For those who’ve played a good deal of this: is there a present day aspect of this game like other AC games? Or did they cut that out of this one? I haven’t played long enough to encounter yet.