7 hours in, and I'm really enjoying myself.
Yep- framerate is shaky. Judder unavoidable. Blue chests refuse to open without this stupid app. 900p, no parity for the PS4, micro transactions- the list in nearly interminable.
And yet- I'm having a blast. Combat is actually difficult- more in a "don't go stupidly charging in or you'll get shot to pieces" kind of way. I find myself running away a lot. I wish there was a way to tell how crazy difficult some of the guards are about to be- I've gotten into skirmishes with level 5 guards that can kill my Arno in one hit. Which is pretty wild. I'm only on Sequence 3, but the narrative has been fun thus far- we need more romance!
And co-op- well... I've played about five missions online. In the beginning, randoms and I have these illustrious plans to approach it stealthily. And then someone gets spotted and all hell breaks loose, and there are enemy weapons floating in the air, or bodies glitching into side walls, or other players stuck in architecture. But when things works, they look so neat. With proper coordination, it could really be something.
The customization is something that I've always wanted more of as an AC fan. I love the switching of gear loudouts, independent combinations of armor that looks neat and weapons- I just wish it wasn't mired in all the microtransaction nonsense. Four currencies? Bah. And what's all this Initiates ish- it almost feels like Social Club (badges for completing the previous titles were a nice touch) but with more restrictions on which chests I can open. It's getting to the point where I see a blue one, and just avoid. Which is kind of sad.
But I'm having fun. As a hardcore AC fan, who has loved bits and pieces of each of these annual iterations, it feels good. There's a lot of annoying technical woes, and it's bloated with sleazy attempts to get you to buy little pieces of content, but there's a beautiful game here.
