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Ubisoft's games get a lot of flak, and some of it is a bit exaggerated

Drizzlehell

Banned
Now, while it is a fair criticism that Ubisoft games often reuse similar tropes and gameplay features, and it's easy to get burned out on those epically long games with ginormous open worlds if you attempt to play all of them back-to-back, I would argue that the impact of this homogenization may vary depending on your personal familiarity with multiple Ubisoft franchises.

I recently came to rethink my stance on this a little bit, and allow me to share an anecdote for context.

What came to me as a big surprise recently, is when my brother told me that he really got into the recent Ghost Recon games, big time. And I'm talking about hundreds of hours spent across Wildlands and Breakpoint, just bumbling around those games' open worlds. What was surprising about it is that I could never ever convince him to ever pick up any of the other Ubisoft games before, no matter how much I would praise them for their storytelling or gameplay. Mostly I wanted him to try out Far Cry 3 and Blood Dragon but he just found them cringeworthy and uninteresting, not to mention that he just hates vast majority of open world games. But when I asked him what on earth changed his mind when it came to Ghost Recon, he simply said that he digs the military theme. Also he's a huge Tom Clancy geek, so go figure.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that there is nothing inherently wrong with the Ubisoft formula itself and it can work for anyone, provided that you find a game with that special hook that will reel you in.

While it's perfectly valid to expect something completely different out of each of their franchises, Ubisoft simply figured out blueprint that works for most of their games. Therefore, their main focus now is in diversifying the themes and settings - you'll either find all of their franchises interesting, or you may only vibe with one or two of them. But once you do, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll be happy to spend hundreds of hours just plowing through all that nebulous content. It only ever becomes a problem if you start to play through every single one of their franchises and start to notice all the similarities shared across them. But again, this doesn't really make them bad. I would even say that some of their games are nothing short of amazing.
 
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My problem with the games from Ubisoft, I tried (Watch Dogs 1-3, Driver: San Francisco, The Crew): I feel like they don’t have any kind of personality or that you feel that someone really put their love in building these games. The characters feel bland and one dimensional, the worlds are sterile. In comparison to the worlds in Hitman or GTA, it feels so uninspired.

But I cannot say anything about Assassins Creed or Far Cry, I didn’t play them long enough.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
I *really* liked Wildlands. I actually thought it was AWESOME, and one of the best looking games of the time. Then I played another one of their games, it might have been Far Cry 5, and you could tell they lifted all sorts of shit from it. Then they released Breakpoint which really added nothing to the formula except adding an abhorrent loot system that was lifted from The Division. That's the problem really. I guess it's ok if you play one of these games every 3-4 years but any more than that and it's just horrible, and Ubishit shows absolutely no constraint or having any sort of designer's touch - it is like they do surveys on each feature and if it polls above a given % they add it to every game no matter whether it fits or not.

Like Mirage looks cool but they're still doing the stupid eagle thing that they started with Origins. The issue is that in Origins it also fit into the story wheee the guy was some sort of animal whisperer. It even makes sense in Wildlands because it's just a drone. But it made no sense in Odyssey but they just did it with no explanation. And they're still doing it. Legion should have been WAY more interesting and compelling than it turned out being, and I fully believe that is because of the Ubisoft homogeneity.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
I love the Assassin's Creed games. Always have. Far Cry seems to get worse every time though. Enjoyed the first two Watch Dogs games, but Legion was shit. That's about it for me and Ubisoft. Their games are extremely popular and that's fine, but obviously they are not for everyone.

Really looking forward to Mirage and getting back to core AC.
 

Robb

Gold Member
I think the main problem for me is that the gameplay loop often feels like a check-list. At least that was the case with the most recent AC game I played.

Get quest, the exact location where you need to go is marked on your map, go to location, kill enemy, get new mark on your map, go to location, finish quest. Repeat for next quest.

In most cases you can skip all dialogue/text and finish the quests just fine. You don’t have to think.

At a point I was just thinking “why am I wasting my time on this” and quit.
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
How much did Ubisoft pay you for this?
dr-evil-one-billion-dollars.gif
 
I love the Assassin's Creed games. Always have. Far Cry seems to get worse every time though. Enjoyed the first two Watch Dogs games, but Legion was shit. That's about it for me and Ubisoft. Their games are extremely popular and that's fine, but obviously they are not for everyone.

Really looking forward to Mirage and getting back to core AC.
on the other hand: i loved origins, & didn't enjoy odyssey & ragnarok, agree regarding far cry, loved legion, & was okay with wd1&2, really loved division & disliked division 2, & loved breakpoint & disliked wildlands. oh, yeah - & same afa mirage...

ubi's alright by me. for every game of theirs i don't like, there's been one that i do...
 
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hyperbertha

Member
It's a serviceable formula as long as it's the first time you're playing it. Most people have enough by the third go around, which is why hardcore gamers hate them with a passion. Your logic is inherently flawed.
 

Topher

Gold Member
on the other hand: i loved origins, & didn't enjoy odyssey & ragnarok, agree regarding far cry, loved legion, & was okay with fc1&2, really loved division & disliked division 2, & loved breakpoint & disliked wildlands. oh, yeah - & same afa mirage)...

ubi's alright by me. for every game of theirs i don't like, there's been one that i do...

No doubt they are hit and miss. But they have a steady output and with their subscription I don't have to worry about laying down $70 every time. I hated Far Cry 6 and was thankful I didn't lose much on that one.
 

Aenima

Member
Its the echo chamber effect. They do follow an Ubisoft formula that is familiar in all they games though.

From the Ubisoft games i played recently:

Immortals Fenyx Rising is one of the best Ubisoft games and an amazing game overall
Enjoyed Ass Creed Valhalla alot but story was half baked with no real ending
Had a great time with Far Cry 5
The Crew 2 was a pretty decent open world arcade game, only seeing alot of stuff locked cuz gaas mechanics, was a turn off.

Only huge disapointment was Watch Dogs Legion. Super unispired with huge lack of creativity for mission objectives.
 
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Zoloft

Banned
Its the echo chamber effect. They do follow an Ubisoft formula that is familiar in all they games though.

From the Ubisoft games i played recently:

Immortals Fenyx Rising is one of the best Ubisoft games and an amazing game overall
Enjoyed Ass Creed Valhalla alot but story was half baked with no real ending
Had a great time with Far Cry 5
The Crew 2 was a pretty decent open world arcade game, only seeing alot of stuff locked cuz gaas mechanics, was a turn off.

Only huge disapointment was Watch Dogs Legion. Super unispired with huge lack of creativity for mission objectives.
Immortal Fenyx was surprisingly good coming from ubishit. And maybe, just maybe, there is hope, after all.
We used to shit on EA and Activision in the old days, but they are not as bad as ubisoft nowdays.
I can't wait to see bungie go bankrupt or get dissolved by Sony something after what they did with destiny 2 and especially removing my paid content.

 
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Drizzlehell

Banned
Immortal Fenyx was surprisingly good coming from ubishit.
See, that's exactly the attitude I'm talking about. It shouldn't be surprising to anyone, considering that every new game they make sells like hotcakes and is generally well-received, with only a few outliers.

There's this overall negative sentiment that grew around their games but in most cases it has less to do with their actual quality and it feels more like some hate bandwagon.

Your logic is inherently flawed.
Don't you repeat my own arguments back at me now, you.
 

Fbh

Member
To each their own.
I think their formula is extremely boring, their gameplay is dull, the world design is the epitome of GPS simulator, their games have gotten increasingly bloated and they have some of the worst writers in AAA gaming.

But it's all very serviceable and their games at least have pretty good visuals. I think almost everyone has some generic designed by committee stuff they like, a sort of "comfort food".
If not in games then in movies, or TV, or books, etc
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
Clearly a ton of time, money, and work go into most Ubisoft games. On a technical level, modern Assassin's Creed games are absolute marvels.

But they're such made-by-committee, lowest common denominator experiences for the most part. You don't feel any passion or heart or intimacy in their experiences.

Their games are like those fake games that you see in movies that everyone who doesn't play games thinks games are.


They're just shallow, cash-grabby, repetitive snorefests more often than not.
 
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SeraphJan

Member
Ubisoft's design philosophy focus on user experience, the reason their game felt formulaic is because they show you everything with their UI, icons, logs etc. If other game do the same they will also feel like a checklist. Now imaging BoTW but this time everything had a checklist and icon (with everything else remained same), now imaging AC4 Black Flag but hides everything (with everything else remained same).

Game design that focus on user experience is a relative new game design concept (relative to other type of design philosophy), whether you like or not is down to personal taste.

For me its a mix bag, for example the new Hitman World Assassin franchise also had this design going with the awful guided mission feature, but thanks god you could turn it off (and now it plays like Blood Money! Which is what the game suppose to be like), the game felt like a complete different game with that feature off compare to on, this is where it's implementation was so contradicting to its core game design it break the aesthetic of the game. However in most AC games (especially the open world ones) that design wasn't that devastating.
 
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Zoloft

Banned
GPS simulator
Thanks for the big laugh. I just remembered this article

Ubisoft Game: The Review​

BY TIM COLWILL · JUNE 4, 2014
 

Lasha

Member
I enjoy many Ubisoft games. The flak Ubisoft receives seems to be focused on the AC/FC formula which are two franchises I never followed.
 

T4keD0wN

Member
People give Ubisoft shit, but nobody bats an eye when Breath of the wild and TOTK use the exact same formula.

Its a dead give-away that they dont even know what games Ubisoft makes.
Only some of their games use the so called "Ubisoft formula". They have lots of stuff like Anno 1800 (best game in the whole genre), Prince of persia, and Rayman series.
For what its worth my favourite part of their games are the settings menus (very few do them as good and even fewer as consistently).

Unfortunately their games tend to have an overwheling amount of content and lot of it is not worth the time, which isnt really a huge problem since you can just pick what to engage with.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
I love the Assassin's Creed games. Always have. Far Cry seems to get worse every time though. Enjoyed the first two Watch Dogs games, but Legion was shit. That's about it for me and Ubisoft. Their games are extremely popular and that's fine, but obviously they are not for everyone.

Really looking forward to Mirage and getting back to core AC.

I loved AC from launch until Odyssey and Valhalla. Both are just bloated, tiring experiences that don't care at all about the lore of the series, basic history (the series always did well in at least honoring architecture and clothes, but not in these two), pacing, or even proper game design.

I enjoyed Watch Dogs 1 and 2, but hated Legion like you. FarCry I enjoyed 1-3, but 4 was just more of the same. 5 had some cool concepts, but fell on its face. 6 was just bland and utterly forgettable.

Their games are the ultimate normy game. People who dont' play a lot of games and so arent' inundated with all the most basic tropes and tried, boring gameplay design that they are filled with.
 

Fredrik

Member
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was like going on a vacation, I love the beautiful scenery and clear water with tons of life.

But it could’ve been stripped from all that is AC and just called it Odyssey and it would’ve been a better game.

Wouldn’t have sold as much though so I understand them shoehorning AC into whatever new thing they want to do. It’s a wonder they didn’t turn Skull and Bones into Assassin’s Creed Skull and Bones.
 
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Hudo

Member
I only give them flag for how they have and are treating the Might & Magic and Heroes of Might & Magic franchises. And Rayman.
 

Paasei

Member
I like AC games from time to time. But that is mostly because of historical settings. Story makes me think they still don’t know where they want to go with it.

Gameplay is fun enough for a few hours. These RPG-lite games are too long and cannot sustain it.

I get games in this franchise on larger discounts only.

Also, when the game released, I really though R6 Siege was the coolest competitive FPS out there. It no longer is for me by the vast amount of characters they added. They should’ve just stuck with the original ones or the first season. And kept supporting the game with better maps.
 
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CGNoire

Member
Nah

Ubisoft 2002-2008 = Dependably good top of the line games made by nerds utilizing the best tech and talent in the industry with some of the coolest concepts for games being generated year on year.

Ubisoft 2009-2023 = Endless Samey sequel generator designed by commitee using big data to fleece uneducated kids who stole there parents creditcards. So lazy infact that there games seemed to be created by AI long before that term was at the top of headlines.
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I don't criticize Ubisoft as much as other people do.

However, I also recognize their recent downfall and what Ubisoft used to look like in its glory days years ago. That's why it hurts to see them make these cookie-cutter games. It's the same company that gave us Prince of Persia, Assassin's Creed Ezio Trilogy, Splinter Cell, Far Cry 3, Rayman, etc.

They should have been doing so much better.

I wish them the best of luck and hope things improve for them -- financially as well as in the quality of games they put out.
 

Sentenza

Member
I love the Assassin's Creed games. Always have.
Conversely I'm not even "tired" of them. I don't thing they've ever been starting from the first one.

They excel in terms of production value, I'll concede that, but they are stinkers in pretty much any other metric that matters to me.
 

rahuljx

Member
Ive mainly played the Assassin Creed games from Ubi and almost every game feels formulaic and soulless. The map feels like its just been peppered with too much useless shit to collect. The gaming experience feels like it's not been given any care or attention. For instance, if you have a tailing mission, you can forget about trying to listen to the dialogue. There's no feeling of uncovering any conspiracy. Every now and then though you get a gem like Brotherhood and Origins, which are not without flaws but have some polish. However, those are few and far in between and Ubi makes sure they find a way to screw it up in the follow up by doubling down on the bloat.

I dont feel the criticism is exaggerated; it's completely justified because you almost always feel there was a great game at the core which got Ubisofted.
 
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Drizzlehell

Banned
My problem with the games from Ubisoft, I tried (Watch Dogs 1-3, Driver: San Francisco, The Crew): I feel like they don’t have any kind of personality or that you feel that someone really put their love in building these games. The characters feel bland and one dimensional, the worlds are sterile. In comparison to the worlds in Hitman or GTA, it feels so uninspired.

But I cannot say anything about Assassins Creed or Far Cry, I didn’t play them long enough.
I can definitely agree with this sentiment when it comes to Watch Dogs. The first game's characters and overall vibe was just so bland and generic I just couldn't be bothered to finish that game, even though it was pretty okay from gameplay standpoint.

Most of the mainline Assassin's Creed games definitely have far more personality and better characters so I would recommend giving those a shot. Watch Dogs is one of their weakest franchises so it can make for a pretty bad first impression.
 
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