Got assassin's creed 2

The quick select for weapons has been needlessly switched around as well. Yeah there's a lot more stuff now so they have the equipment wheel thing that you bring up with RB, but at least keep the quick select the same.

In AC1 the d-pad selected your weapons. Up, down, left and right for the hidden blade, fists, dagger and throwing knives. Left was the dagger than the throwing knives, depending on how close the enemy was. Now left is medicine, which means the dagger and throwing knives need to be accessed through the wheel. Which is silly since I'll use them a lot more often than I use the medicine.

Just got to the bit where they explain about renovating the town and crap. They sure crammed a hell of a lot into this game. I've got to collect feathers, find scrolls, looks for hidden crypts, raise of the value of my home and town to increase the profit it turns out so I can buy shit, take down posters and stuff when I get noticed... It's like 10x the content of the first game.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

It's like 10x the content of the first game.

Yet you don't seem overly positive about it. Some of the changes you've described seem like a step backwards, change for the sake of change rather than for the purpose of improving the gameplay.

I just liked that the first game was playable without the HUD. It was nice that you could turn all that off and not be stranded, but be able to find out where to go by listening and observing carefully. But that was because the mission structure and story were a lot simpler in AC1. You were just an assassin going out on assassin missions to cities you didn't know, so you'd get told everything. They'd say "Go meet this guy northwest of here near the church" and so forth, and you could do all that without a map. It was very satisfying to walk into a city and be able to tell what direction you came from by looking at your shadow, to look around for landmarks to guide yourself to the hideout, and spot an eagle or hear it screech, indicating a viewpoint you hadn't found.

In this game it's different. It's much more informal since you're not just an assassin going out on assassinations. People just say "this and that needs to be done" and you'd have no idea where to go without the map. It's the only big downside to this game compared to the first one. The only thing that seems like an utterly pointless, bad change is that the eagles still circle viewpoints you've already synced, so you can't even look for viewpoints on your own without the map because you don't know which ones you've already done.

There is some opportunity for brain work in the navigation though, but you kind of have to force yourself to do it. I can locate Leonardo's workshop without the map, and there's certain buildings that have special marks or contain tombs. When you first see notable landmarks they a little notice pops up and they get entered into the database, and the notice will tell you if it has a mark or a tomb to find. But I'm leaving them for now so I can go back and find them just by looking at the pictures in the database.

Also, am I the only one who's far more interested in the story that's going on in the future setting? I'm barely following Ezio's story, while the stuff I'm unlocking to do with ABSTERGO and such seems pretty damn interesting. I've finished 3 or 4 memory sequences now and I haven't left the Animus once.

Although all the stuff to do with rebuilding your town and increasing it's trade and the value of your house to earn income and all that shit seems like a completely arbitrary addition. It's only there to support the fact that you have to buy absolutely everything now. Both of those things could be removed and nothing about the story or gameplay would actually change.

I suppose it's just another completion aspect, like finding all the feathers and scrolls and crap. But those involve running around and doing stuff. This system just has you buying stuff to earn money to buy more stuff to earn more money and so on. Feels redundant.

Spoilers bitch.

You leave the Animus once before going to Venezia and of course at the end of the game.

And way to spoil shit again, Tobi.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

Although all the stuff to do with rebuilding your town and increasing it's trade and the value of your house to earn income and all that shit seems like a completely arbitrary addition. It's only there to support the fact that you have to buy absolutely everything now. Both of those things could be removed and nothing about the story or gameplay would actually change.

I suppose it's just another completion aspect, like finding all the feathers and scrolls and crap. But those involve running around and doing stuff. This system just has you buying stuff to earn money to buy more stuff to earn more money and so on. Feels redundant.

You get a buttload of money for rebuilding your town but you only really need it to buy the best weapons. The best armour is the armour of Altaïr, who has the best defense and can't break.

In terms of gameplay it's better than the first. There's more ways to assassinate people, and the blend system is much better. Rather than having a find a group of monks and press A to join them, you can blend in with any moving group of people just by walking amongst them. You can hire courtesans to cover you and distract guards.

Having two hidden blades means more enjoyment when you counter attack with them in battle as well. Although all the single blade counter attack animations are now gone it seems, which is a shame. I killed one of my targets by counter attacking with a single hidden blade and stabbing him in the eye. Dodging is borked though, since you have to release to guard button to dodge now, which feels odd.

Have you read some of the Codex pages yet?

I've only found 9 I think. 2 of which I haven't taken to Da Vinci yet.

Also, "It's-a me-a, Mario" was way funnier than the vaginas line.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

I've only found 9 I think. 2 of which I haven't taken to Da Vinci yet.

The Codex pages actually talk about Altaïr inventing your new assasination moves (among other things).

Quote :

Also, "It's-a me-a, Mario" was way funnier than the vaginas line.

What?

Yeah, I heard that when I handed some of them over and got the extra blade and the new skills.

And when you meet your uncle Mario, he goes "It'sa me, Mario", thick italian accent and all. Laughed my ass off.

Just got the Medici cape. Finally I can beat the shit out those damn minstrels without getting hassled by the guard.

And because there's more weapons and more options after you grab someone, it's more satisfying than ever! It's always fun to grab the lute playing bastards and just nut them.

The only way you can can the hookers or anything you can hire is by making them fall off a roof or by knocking them into water. They dont loose health to weapons, yet you hit them and blood comes out.
Also there a glitch on some ships that make you go really deep under water.

Yeah, I figured out I couldn't kill the courtesans after I bashed one around the head with a club a few times and nothing happened.

Okay, I'm out of the animus. Let me just say, that was cool. However... WHY MUST SHAUN PERSIST IN BEING SUCH A STEREOTYPICAL SARCASTIC ENGLISH TWAT?! Well, it is a French game studio I suppose. Smelly frogs.

At least you're not always stereotyped with a German accent.

A_Nonny_Moose wrote:

Okay, I'm out of the animus. Let me just say, that was cool. However... WHY MUST SHAUN PERSIST IN BEING SUCH A STEREOTYPICAL SARCASTIC ENGLISH TWAT?! Well, it is a French game studio I suppose. Smelly frogs.

Dude's a douche. Hated him from the start. I knew I was going to hate him the whole way through...

I like him in the videos where he tells about the conspirators.

I don't really like either of them. That woman who built the animus is too damn cheery and enthusiastic.

Combat is even easier than it was in the first game now too, especially since you can now guard and attack with the hidden blade or even your bare hands. If you were fighting with the hidden blade in the first game, you either countered, dodged, or got hit, which made it quite a bit more satisfying to pull off a counter. I like the single blade counter kills more than the double blade ones as well.

I think the stun counters have been removed as well. In the first game, when you countered a heavy attack from an enemy (an attack where they take a massive build up), Altair wouldn't kill them straight off. He'd punch them and they'd stand for a second, and you could press X you finish them with your weapon, or press A to kick them in the knee and break their leg, which was hella fun since it knocked them down but didn't kill them, so they'd lie there screaming for the rest of the fight.

Holy shit that flying machine pissed me off. Crashed it about 10 times.