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Assassin Creed: Unity's love story: Success or Failure?
- Thread starter NotTheGuyYouKill
- Start date
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
It's actually the complete opposite imo, the game should've done a much better job at informing you about a shit ton of things, like the fact that you can visit your village multiple times to have conversations with the tribe, or with Washington, or with Benjamin Franklin, or the homestead missions being incredibly important for seeing another side of his character. Dude had a ton of opinions on the current events of his time, but you need to go out of your way to see a lot of that, when that stuff should be in the main campaign and not side content.
staticneuron
Member
That is why I am far less interested in the series. I usually would have been there day one, but for the past few I waited till discount. I am most likely going to wait again till this new one is in the bargain bin. They are fun, but I was far more interested in the future aspect of it. People forget it wasn't present day tale really. When the series started the "present day scenario was actually several years in the future.
As far as the love story, I like the characters interactions but it seemed as if it was just "there". It wasn't very moving or involving for me.
I hope this is true, my enthusiasm will remain low for now. I will def give it a rent to see what they are talking about.
Frozenprince
Banned
I think they squandered the fact that they had a NA protagonist, to be quite honest. I mean all that stuff is in the game (but like you said it's basically hidden and I honestly had no idea you could go talk to your tribe until just now), but it's ultimately just window dressing. It has no tangible impact on anything other than just giving a bit more flavor to things. Connor should be a deeply conflicted man, his loyalty to the Assassins, to his people, to his father, to what he believes is right verses what he believes is possible. There should be a lot more internal and external conflict with his character. Something that they needed to address in ACIII. Maybe that was going to be an element they explored in ACIV until the overwhelming negative response to Connor's character made them change things, I have no idea. But ultimately, Connor feels, to me, like a book where we only get words printed on one page. Very rarely do we get the feeling that this is a brash young kid trying his best to struggle with the duality of his existence, instead he merely feels like a plot device in his own narrative. Being pushed around by the plot in which he is supposed to be the central figure.
His stoicism is what is the most common complaint, and I do think it's an issue (even though it's not as bad as people say). But my biggest problem is that there is SO MUCH POTENTIAL for his character that's just completely ignored or thrown away. A native american protagonist during the time where he people were literally on the precipice of a mass-near extinction and their way of life was only a decade or two, at most, from death, should be a compelling character. But instead they chose to ignore that so you could play "lets meet the historical characters" before trying to use two chapters of him and his dad talking and combating ideologies poorly until he gets angry and they fight, then the game remembers it's a revenge story and we end with "well I guess I'm the Master now, oh hey Slavery, that's bad I guess, oh well off to do more adventures." Black screen.
The Templars/Assassins dynamic, the father/son dynamic, the NA/White European dynamic, all these things should be key parts of his character but I feel like they only ever explored the bare bones surface level of all these things. There is a lot of time in the game spent by Connor and Desmond trying to understand why the Templars are what they are and why the Assassins can't try other means, such as diplomacy or discussion, to talk to them. And yet it doesn't actually tell us anything. It's not actually plot or in depth, it just exists as an excuse to push the plot forward and handwaved away as "well that's just how things are, they're enemies and will always be enemies." And that's just not satisfying.
edit: Also I think the game jumps through the war waaaaaaaaaay too quickly, ACIII is the one of the series where I think making the chapters not be years and years apart would serve the narrative a lot better.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
When you know about things that you can't talk about... >.>
This is all stuff that's talked about outside of the main campaign, (more so than in the actual missions). (They even speak in his Native language during every conversation with his tribe members.) Granted his and Haytham's relationship I felt was really well done. And I do also agree that they put him into too many historical events. Like way too many.
Frozenprince
Banned
I too like his relationship with Haytham, I just wish it didn't come A) so late, and B) was so truncated. It felt again, like half a book. Like there was supposed to be way more to this that just was never put into the game.
And well, then my criticisms still apply I think because you shouldn't have to look at things that you aren't even told you can do in order to figure out your character. If it's a part of the plot or narrative, that's one thing, but the core being of your character should never, EVER be relegated to side content that you can very, very easily miss. That's bad writing and bad game design.
If he's so conflicted I need to see it in more than 2-3 lines per chapter with his tribe and his friends about how it hurts him.
And well, then my criticisms still apply I think because you shouldn't have to look at things that you aren't even told you can do in order to figure out your character. If it's a part of the plot or narrative, that's one thing, but the core being of your character should never, EVER be relegated to side content that you can very, very easily miss. That's bad writing and bad game design.
If he's so conflicted I need to see it in more than 2-3 lines per chapter with his tribe and his friends about how it hurts him.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
A book where the context for a lot of stuff is hidden in the very back. IIRC even the creative director regretted that design decision.
Frozenprince
Banned
It doesn't even feel like a codex or glossary, it just feels like they ran through his meeting Haytham, their relationship, it fracturing, them fighting. It was so quick and tried to cover so much without really talking about anything in depth that it just seems wasted.
Connor is an amazing character on paper, it's just that yeah, I think they fucked up the design big time.
I'd also like to point out that, as an AC game III is probably my favorite. It's just that the narrative is so lost and tries to have it's finger in so many punch bowls without talking about or resolving anything satisfactorily that it ruins the characters and the world for me.
rockman zx
Member
Never care for their relationship or her at all. For me it was a failure. Her 3D model was off to me, I think they messed her proportions a little, not that it matters to the OP but I have to say it.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Her character model was nearly perfect, but there's one scene in particular where her face doesn't contort correctly. In the beginning cutscene of "Confrontation." The nighttime lighting looked really strange.
brianmcdoogle
Member
Games rarely do love stories, so, kudos for that....
But, shamelessly ripping off Romeo and Juliet in a hackney manner, with an ending telegraphed a mile away (not just because of its "homage" to Shakespeare, but because the woman must always die in this stupid video game stories...).
I dunno. I want a romance I care about in games. I really do. Unity felt like "oh, it's Paris, the city of love so let's have a love story! Oh, and Romeo and Juliet is "the greatest" love story, so let's rip that off wholesale!" And, ok, if you can do that and pull it off, that's fine. But, you can't because you hire poor writers, teen lit writers, fanfic writers, and it's not like it matters anyway because the hype machine (got to buy that triple AAA! and keep supporting the franchise...) and clientele (teens and young "adult" men who know nothing outside of video games) will either go "eh" or not care or, worse, praise it as great.
The closest I've cared about a video game love story was MGS4 when
abandoned it with a shrug and shoved in Mr and Mrs Smith garbage escapade.
So, eh. It was a failure like many.
*Spoilers for Gone Home:
But, shamelessly ripping off Romeo and Juliet in a hackney manner, with an ending telegraphed a mile away (not just because of its "homage" to Shakespeare, but because the woman must always die in this stupid video game stories...).
I dunno. I want a romance I care about in games. I really do. Unity felt like "oh, it's Paris, the city of love so let's have a love story! Oh, and Romeo and Juliet is "the greatest" love story, so let's rip that off wholesale!" And, ok, if you can do that and pull it off, that's fine. But, you can't because you hire poor writers, teen lit writers, fanfic writers, and it's not like it matters anyway because the hype machine (got to buy that triple AAA! and keep supporting the franchise...) and clientele (teens and young "adult" men who know nothing outside of video games) will either go "eh" or not care or, worse, praise it as great.
The closest I've cared about a video game love story was MGS4 when
Meryl sees Old Snake and feels a rush of sadness, not just for his health but for a love lost. It's kind of a beautiful moment that exists because of one game, separated by nearly a decade of real life, and augmented by age, acting, and writing, but then Kojima (and, by extension, Old Snake)
So, eh. It was a failure like many.
*Spoilers for Gone Home:
I cared about this love story, but, the main problem I had with it was the knowledge of who was making it, so I knew it was going to be handled with care and not be cliched, or "have the gay character die or be a martyr" that lots of these types of stories contain. As a result, I had an idea of where it was going, so it wasn't as impactful as I would have hoped.
rockman zx
Member
Sorry but not to me, she looks off, I don't know if my issue is the big head or the torso but she looks off, just my opinion, I'm not saying the 3D model is bad or anything like that, just off to my eyes.
Crossing Eden
Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
Granted they both look quite strange in that shot.
Sorry but not to me, she looks off, I don't know if my issue is the big head or the torso but she looks off, just my opinion, I'm not saying the 3D model is bad or anything like that, just off to my eyes.
NotTheGuyYouKill
Member
Sorry but not to me, she looks off, I don't know if my issue is the big head or the torso but she looks off, just my opinion, I'm not saying the 3D model is bad or anything like that, just off to my eyes.
This is just a bad shot