Support NeoGAF

[SimonM7]

Although it's a little disheartening that the notion of a sole female protagonist is still ludicrous enough that she needs to be paired with a dude, this is certainly a step in the right direction. Sure, you could stick female characters in spinoffs and handheld games with a fraction of the budget of a big annual release, because who cares - but this is kkkinda half a commitment to doing it proper.

Baby steps, but the sense of progress they indicate is certainly not lost on me.

 

[Agent_4Seven]

This is a Ubisoft game, so the female character probably dies at some point.

 

[SketchTheArtist]

''Why can't we have a female main character!?''

''Here's one, you can actually play both male and female.''

''You guys are doing it just because we screamed bloody murder for it. I don't want it anymore.''

 

[ab.aeterno]

Sounds like pandering to the backlash they themselves instigated. While I'm all for diversity, I'm not fond of forcing certain profiles for the sake of because a bunch of angry consumers demand for it.

Someone should have let Microsoft know this in 2013 so they could have ignored the consumer oitcry and plowed ahead with their original vision. Instead they pandered to backlash, ugh. How come they had to compromise their artistic vision?

''Why can't we have a female main character!?''

''Here's one, you can actually play both male and female.''

''You guys are doing it just because we screamed bloody murder for it. I don't want it anymore.''

Yes, because the people saying the second thing are totally the same people who said the first.

The kind of people who whine that this is just pandering to outrage and backlash are probably not too concerned about representation to begin with. So I'm not sure what point you think you're making here.

 

[Jhn]

''Why can't we have a female main character!?''

''Here's one, you can actually play both male and female.''

''You guys are doing it just because we screamed bloody murder for it. I don't want it anymore.''

These comments are not from the same people.

 

[Tigress]

Someone not wanting to play as a particular gender is an "idiot sexist"? What a terrible spin and a garbage statement.

Or just very closed minded. I mean I have to play as the opposite gender most the time. I still enjoy it for the story. Yes, it would be nice to have more female characters to play though.

But, since it is so important to you I wonder then do you sympathize with females who want to have more female characters to play since you can understand why they wouldn't want to play the opposite gender (since you don't and it is a turn off to you)? Or do you feel they need to get over it?

 

[Cave Johnson]

How else could diversity be effected, though?

Ubisoft's recent implementation seems to be the result of a reactionary one rather than a predefined design. Not that I'm suggesting otherwise but you can't help but the pushback on their stupid "animation" excuse really lends credence to this theory.

 

[KimonoNoNo]

Hate to be a cynical fuck but it does feel like the female character was only introduced to appease people after that debacle.

Oh well...still going to tune in for the reveal tonight.

Who cares. Assassin's Creed is about as close to packaged goods as you come. Whatever artistic vision the original games had has long been discarded for the need for an annual cash cow.

If they can garner some of their long lost reputation and get some positive press for a change, bully for them.

 

[jschreier]

Sometimes little respect for devs who worked for years on this (i don't care about PR department) would be nice.

Look, this isn't something we take lightly. Stephen and I have long conversations every time we get a scoop and have to decide what to report, how much to report, and when to report it. Our #1 priority is serving readers, but that doesn't always mean posting every little detail of every game we hear about -- we have to decide whether there's news value each time, and I will say this: though I lean towards a "report everything!" mentality, there are things I've heard but am not super interested in reporting because there's no news value in revealing them without more context.

"There's a new AC game coming fall 2015 and it's set in Victorian London" has a lot of news value, because we believe that our readers deserve to know what's coming next. "That AC game has a female protagonist" also has a lot of news value, especially in the wake of last year's controversy over Ubisoft and female character animations. We're reporters; it's our job to actively report this stuff, not sit around and wait until Ubisoft's PR team is ready to talk about it.

That said... if, say, I heard a few scattershot details about some new IP that Ubisoft's developing and will show at E3, there isn't much news value in just reporting those details, and in fact I imagine it'd serve our readers more for them to find out about the IP with proper context (and visuals!) at an E3 presser. So in that case, we might not be super-interested in spoiling a surprise just for the sake of spoiling a surprise. Make sense?

 

[Steel]

A good step. But they got rid of mutliplayer altogether? Damn.

So they ruined reveal for second time just for clicks. Disgusting.

Reporting, how does it work? Oh, but I suppose you prefer articles about how an xbox one game gets stuck to a roof.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

It looks like another Assassins Creed in the best and worst way possible.

It's a new setting, a new assassin, a new story, a new era, new tools, but the gameplay is the same.

Once again we see the staples, eagle vision on roof tops. Assasinate dude. bystanders doesn't give a fuck besides mucking "what the devil is wrong wit him?"
The copy pasted character models all over the place. Victorian gang leader lady was 5-10 characters, and I saw tons of New Orleans bald buff butcher guy.

These are the sorts of things (AI, crowds) that still remain untouched, and that is a shame because that is what takes you out of it.


It's getting boring to assassinate somebody and have it not mean much. In Hitman you had to do your best to hide the bodies or everything would go to shit real fast. Not trial and error. Not RESTART MISSION, but there would be consequences.

In AC the stupid crowds are too stupid to react in any interesting ways. Bad guys stand for hours pointing a gun at a friendly character until you just walk up and press a insta kill button.
Guards forget about chasing you after a minute and go back to their patrols. you just work the simple AI for weakness. And it's been a major problem since the first game.
Taking back slums of London is fine enough. But it's something we already did in many of the other AC titles. The creative director talks about making this their own, but how is this any different from the others?


I'll play it because I like Assassins Creed, but it's weird how even Black Ops 3 seems to evolving more meaningful than AC right now. And it really says something when you're less progressive in your game design than freaking CoD.

 

[funkystudent]

They are probably saving the female playable character reveal for the E3 demo for maximum "LOOK AT US! WE LISTENED!" potential.


Or fuck it. Maybe its DLC.

 

[Circinus]

More options are welcome, but I have absolutely no problem with having just one protagonist with a set gender. Developers can tell the story they want to tell with the characters they want in their game imho. And I'll buy if it appeals to me. Free market.


Also, extremely silly that I've seen some people who were criticizing the lack of female protagonists, dismissing AC: Liberation because it's a handheld title. Slightly hypocritical..

 

[Corpekata]

Those seem like kind of lazy and boring choices. What I always liked about AC is that they take a lessern known cities and explore them in detail. Each of the games felt very different setting wise to me and I liked that.

This reads like a press release, and in fact I'm fairly certain we've seen devs say nearly the exact same thing.


I mean, are you ignoring this game is set in London? The last game was in Paris? How are these lesser known cities than places in Egypt or Japan where both the city and history is far less likely to be known by western audiences?

 

[Enduin]

Great news.

According to the article there isn't any multiplayer.

This bit of information along with the OP actually have me rather interested in the game despite being completely turned off by Rogue and Unity.

 

[SimonM7]

Also, extremely silly that I've seen some people who were criticizing the lack of female protagonists, dismissing AC: Liberation because it's a handheld title. Slightly hypocritical..

There's a reason devs often do more risky and interesting stuff with spinoffs and handheld games. They have a fraction of the budget and Ubisoft aren't banking on those selling gangbusters anyway.

It's when you're messing with the formula for a major annual release with sales projections out the assasshole that a female protagonist is too risky. Unless of course the blow can be softened by having a grim looking dude with stabby knives on the cover still.

 

[Toa TAK]

It's about damn time!

And no multiplayer is even better.

 

[Dantis]

Look, this isn't something we take lightly. Stephen and I have long conversations every time we get a scoop and have to decide what to report, how much to report, and when to report it. Our #1 priority is serving readers, but that doesn't always mean posting every little detail of every game we hear about -- we have to decide whether there's news value each time, and I will say this: though I lean towards a "report everything!" mentality, there are things I've heard but am not super interested in reporting because there's no news value in revealing them without more context.

"There's a new AC game coming fall 2015 and it's set in Victorian London" has a lot of news value, because we believe that our readers deserve to know what's coming next. "That AC game has a female protagonist" also has a lot of news value, especially in the wake of last year's controversy over Ubisoft and female character animations. We're reporters; it's our job to actively report this stuff, not sit around and wait until Ubisoft's PR team is ready to talk about it.

That said... if, say, I heard a few scattershot details about some new IP that Ubisoft's developing and will show at E3, there isn't much news value in just reporting those details, and in fact I imagine it'd serve our readers more for them to find out about the IP with proper context (and visuals!) at an E3 presser. So in that case, we might not be super-interested in spoiling a surprise just for the sake of spoiling a surprise. Make sense?

It kind of feels like this is a very roundabout way of saying "If it's a big story that will be popular, we'll post it". Which is arguably fine, but you know, it is what it is, and it's probably still depressing for the people spending large amount on their lives working towards a moment that you spoil.

 

[NullPointer]

They are probably saving the female playable character reveal for the E3 demo for maximum "LOOK AT US! WE LISTENED!" potential.


Or fuck it. Maybe its DLC.

I expected to something about it in the reveal trailer.

And then there wasn't anything in the early gameplay footage either. I wonder if its some kind of pre-order thing - but that's probably just Catwoman giving me single player online-pass flashbacks.

 

[tringworldso]

Or just very closed minded. I mean I have to play as the opposite gender most the time. I still enjoy it for the story. Yes, it would be nice to have more female characters to play though.

But, since it is so important to you I wonder then do you sympathize with females who want to have more female characters to play since you can understand why they wouldn't want to play the opposite gender (since you don't and it is a turn off to you)? Or do you feel they need to get over it?

It's not important to me. I was just questioning that weird statement he made. It doesn't matter to me if I play a male lead or a female lead - as long as the story is good and it fits the narrative then I'm happy. You're mistaking my questioning his statement as me also supporting his views which I don't.

Case in point - The Walking Dead by Telltale Games. First season had a male lead and a little girl with their relationship in focus for the majority of the season. Then the second season had the little girl as the lead character which was very very cool and I loved playing as her because it was the perfect way to continue the story. Now coming to a game like Mass Effect - I played as a Male Paragon Shepard and a Female Renegade Shepard because to me their voices matched those personalities better and I loved how the story unfolded in both cases. Now I come to a very recent example - the kickstarter for the new Igavania game has a female lead and characters which are way too reminiscent of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia and here is where I didn't like the direction it took because it was way too similar to something I had already played a few years back.

A lot of gamers nowadays get hung up on the gender of the character and want to play as a male or female for no other reason than to just relate to him/her which is valid and fine because everyone has their different viewpoints. There isn't any right or wrong here but I always felt that the character should service the story first and foremost such that the gender shouldn't matter to the player in the end. I'm happy playing as both male and female characters - even robots lol.

 

[Redhood]

The way they worded that the Male Assassin is brazen and reckless in his approach makes me think that all of the missions can be tackled with both male and female character both having different set of abilities.

 

[malfcn]

If there is a female protag, why wasn't she shown in the reveal? Or did I miss something.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

Ubisoft's recent implementation seems to be the result of a reactionary one rather than a predefined design. Not that I'm suggesting otherwise but you can't help but the pushback on their stupid "animation" excuse really lends credence to this theory.

"Predefined design" doesn't come out of nowhere. What you create is affected by experience and feedback. Change is reactionary; some is just more faster and unsubtle than others.

The call for diversity is loud, as it naturally is against something that's really hard to change. When it comes, I prefer it being forced rather them waiting for the "right moment," whenever that is.

 

[lucebuce12]

If there is a female protag, why wasn't she shown in the reveal? Or did I miss something.

In the reveal, they showed Jacob sitting in a bar, drinking and discussing things with a woman when a South-Asian fellow comes and they start discussing the plan. That woman is Evie, his sister. AKA, the OTHER playable character.

 

[Scrooge McDuck]

In the reveal, they showed Jacob sitting in a bar, drinking and discussing things with a woman when a South-Asian fellow comes and they start discussing the plan. That woman is Evie, his sister. AKA, the OTHER playable character.

The promotional trailer is all Jacob, though. It's rather disappointing.

 

[Cave Johnson]

"Predefined design" doesn't come out of nowhere. What you create is affected by experience and feedback. Change is reactionary; some is just more faster and unsubtle than others.

Yes, but in the case for AC (post black flag) they are both simultaneously in development. I highly doubt you would make such a change midway towards the development cycle could be in a polished state. Having the siblings split 70/30 is an indication of that.

The call for diversity is loud, as it naturally is against something that's really hard to change. When it comes, I prefer it being forced rather them waiting for the "right moment," whenever that is.

And it could easily be backfired, especially if the character is never truly fleshed out. (See feedback on Connor in direct contrast to Altäir). One is designed because they needed a Native American character because "forced" plot reasons and the other had a game based around him in direct relation to the protagonist.

 

[Conduit]

"Hey Brother"
(Brother / Sister)

Hey brother, there’s an endless road to re-discover.
Hey sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,
There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do.

Hey brother, do you still believe in one another?
Hey sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?

Great song!

 

[Metroidvania]

Unless it's been corrected since the original presser, playing as a 75/25 split for Jacob/Evie in story missions feels a bit odd (though granted, we've zero story details beyond the initial take over London aspect), even if the free roam is interchangeable, which is nice.

Just hoping the rest of the game holds up.

 

[Dreadnought]

This one will have a love story right?

 

[Dremark]

Although it's a little disheartening that the notion of a sole female protagonist is still ludicrous enough that she needs to be paired with a dude, this is certainly a step in the right direction. Sure, you could stick female characters in spinoffs and handheld games with a fraction of the budget of a big annual release, because who cares - but this is kkkinda half a commitment to doing it proper.

Baby steps, but the sense of progress they indicate is certainly not lost on me.

I could have sworn they already had an Assassin's Creed game with a female protagonist.

Edit: Never mind that was a portable/download game wasn't it. I don't follow this series.

 

[The Illiterati]

I still haven't played Unity or Rogue, and this is coming from a HUGE AC fan...looks pretty average. I definitely like a female player character though.

 

[Sayad]

If they always planned this I support it. If this was shoehorned in following the Unity debacle, I'm not for it. Follow your artistic vision people, not someone else's.

Artistic vision! This is Ubi-Soft's "directed by focus group" game. Everything in the game is shoehorned in to cater to a certain group of targets. No matter how this made its way into the game, I'd paint it as "the natural progression of the AC series", same thing with them implementing GTAV character switch mechanic. I see no negative side to this.

 

[ab.aeterno]

And it could easily be backfired, especially if the character is never truly fleshed out. (See feedback on Connor in direct contrast to Altäir). One is designed because they needed a Native American character because "forced" plot reasons and the other had a game based around him in direct relation to the protagonist.

The fuck are you talking about

So if Ubisoft decides to make the main character a Native American for their own design and story reasons, it's "forced"; and if they do it in response to any feedback or criticism it's "shoehorned" and a violation of their "artistic vision." That same vision that made Connor a Native American.

I guess there's no right way to do minority characters.