I'm now 27 hours in and it's just not anywhere near as good as ACO. They've changed too much to fit the 'raids' theme, making it impossible to clear areas without a crew along with you. Because of that, stealth has no rewards at all. You never get a sense of accomplishment because there's no definitive end on completion of an area. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if they're re-spawning enemies constantly. It's also set up for riots with the enemies moving about much more and more sporadically, some in twos and threes, and they're alerted much more easily. It feels like a multiplayer game but with AI instead.
On top of that there's a sense of emptiness to the game. What was once small 'tasks' in ACO are now side missions in ACV. What was once side missions in ACO are now main missions in ACV. Some of the side missions in ACO are FAR more in depth than anything I've come across so far in this game. Collecting materials is more irritating, climbing and parkour is more irritating, the skills tree is insanely bad with little to no sense in it, leaving your choice to chance because sections only open up after you've hit certain icons. I tried to choose the Assassin path but so far I'm getting everything thrown in with only the occasional assassins choice. The armour sets and upgrades are also uninspired. You have to do so much to get the materials to upgrade them that just thinking about starting a new set is off putting, leaving you ignoring the others and concentrating only on one. At least that's what I've decided upon.
So far the story is pretty dull too. This is the worse AC game I've ever played. I played ACO 5 times (twice with the DLC), but I'll only play this once, if I ever get to finish it.