Has Ubisoft completely failed to innovate Assassin's Creed?

[RJ43]

I had a nice debate with a friend of mine last night regarding this topic.

During my winter break I have gotten into AC Origins and while I think it is a well-made game, I can't help but shrug and think that Ubisoft has taken quite literally zero chances with this franchise in the last 8 years.

My friend vehemently disagreed citing the RPG progression system, weapon class system, and a few other things. While some of this is new to the AC franchise, none of this is new to this game type. If anything, it feels like window dressing that they backed in to copied from other games.

I still see so much damn potential for this franchise, but they seem to be either unable or unwilling to take an innovative step forward.

 

[ookii]

They need to set AC in modern times(not just sparsely) and in a futuristic setting. I'm getting tired of their pre-technological settings

 

[Gregolian]

I have enjoyed Origins

I like Syndicate (need to finish the bloody thing)

I loved 4

That said I agree. I enjoy the changes in Origins but it feels like a Far Cry/Ghost Recon Wildlands with a new layer of paint basically and that's the only difference.


HOWEVER, I do NOT want this series to go to Ancient Samurai/Feudal era Japan. Ubisoft will just fuck it up.

 

[tru3f4n]

no reason to innovate when they can still sell their games. I'm sure Unity was them trying to innovate and game blew

 

[BjPenn2017]

It's not that Ubisoft failed to innovated Assasins Creed, it's that Ubisoft fails to innovate period. I know what to expect from Ubisoft games when I buy a game from them nowadays.

Although Watch Dogs 2 was actually a pretty decent game.

 

[TribalDrumz]

I’m ubi soft right now

 

[RJ43]

no reason to innovate when they can still sell their games. I'm sure Unity was them trying to innovate and game blew

That is actually my 2nd favorite in the series.

 

[tru3f4n]

That is actually my 2nd favorite in the series.

when did you get it? I like the series well 3 and Black Flag mostly the pvp in 3 and the pve in Black Flag so I picked this one up day one and it was garbage. Not only did they take out the pvp in favor of co-op but they revamped the combat system and fucked up the parkour system. Then there was the whole shipping out a broken game that they thought they'd just fix with a patch post launch and nobody would know. I never played the game after the fixes because I broke the disc before the patches was released.

 

[method115]

I used to love AC the story was great, gameplay was great. AC2 kind of sucked because the story was to confusing and hard to follow. AC1 and 3,4 were all great games and I enjoyed them. After that the series just got kind of dull to me. I'm just tired of the game mechanics in general. Not sure there is anything they can do to bring me back other than completely changing the game play and just keeping the name.

 

[Drain Bamage]

What series innovates more than Assassins Creed?

Lets face it all game series are repetitive. Stop putting unrealistic expectations solely on Ubisoft.

Every Uncharted game is basically the same. Every Halo game is basically the same. Every GTA game is basically the same. And on and on...

All these series use incremental improvements.

Why do people single out Assassin's Creed?

There was more innovation between AC1 and AC2 than most series pull off.

Same with AC3 to AC4, huge improvement.

AC Unity was a huge leap in graphics, many called it the first true next gen game when it came out.

And now, by and large another big improvement in gameplay with AC Origins.

So what's the deal guys?

 

[RJ43]

when did you get it? I like the series well 3 and Black Flag mostly the pvp in 3 and the pve in Black Flag so I picked this one up day one and it was garbage. Not only did they take out the pvp in favor of co-op but they revamped the combat system and fucked up the parkour system. Then there was the whole shipping out a broken game that they thought they'd just fix with a patch post launch and nobody would know. I never played the game after the fixes because I broke the disc before the patches was released.

I bought it at launch and honestly only had one performance issue when climbing the interior of the Notre Dame cathedral. Other than that I thought the game was second best mainly due to:

- I loved Paris. Just a beautiful sandbox the created for that one.
- I'm not a co-op guy, but found that to be quite fun and more fun than the PVP variants before it.
- The main assassination missions were the best in the series.
- The loot and costume progression were the best in the series.

That said, I can admit that I am in the minority and most people prefer Black Flag which, objectively speaking, was probably the most ambitious game they released in the series.

 

[TeTe]

Not a fan of AC, but I still buy Far Cry games even though they are repetitive despite the setting change. So yeah, I'm one of those people that keeps buying them anyway.

 

[RJ43]

What series innovates more than Assassins Creed?

In the same genre ballpark as AC? I'd say GTA and Witcher by far. In terms of action rpg combat, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Nioh shit all over it. A better comparison, perhaps, to AC would be the Shadow of Mordor games that have introduced their nemesis system making encounters take on new meaning. Not to mention the combat evolution it has borrowed from the Batman series.

Why do people single out Assassin's Creed?

AC is chosen because what other game type of this genre gets pumped out as much as AC? I think they're at 10 main installments over the past 10 years? There is a reason why games like GTA and Witcher take considerably longer. I wish AC would do the same.

I've also chosen them because that franchise still has so much untapped potential.

There was more innovation between AC1 and AC2 than most series pull off.

That's a very bad comparison because AC1 was, at the time, considered one of the biggest busts and disappointments of it's time. That series would have been completely dead had AC 2 not been a fantastic game. To this day 2 is still generally regarded as the best in the series.

Same with AC3 to AC4, huge improvement.

I agree that Black Flag was their most successful attempt at truly offering a unique and new experience. Its also why that game is regarded as arguably the 2nd best of the series.

And now, by and large another big improvement in gameplay with AC Origins.

The combat gameplay in Origins is crap. It's a baby step from what it has been, but it's a glaring example of their failures to REALLY innovate anything. Lock on - dash backward - strong attack - regular attack - repeat. You can do this to every single enemy I've encountered in 10+ hours of playing.


Don't get me wrong, these are very well-made games. They obviously have very talented individuals working on them and the formula is generating cash, but for a series that has such unbelievably immense potential I feel like they are being far too lazy by refusing to take a real chance and create a truly unique assassin game.

 

[RJ43]

Not a fan of AC, but I still buy Far Cry games even though they are repetitive despite the setting change. So yeah, I'm one of those people that keeps buying them anyway.

I think most gamers have a series like this. I'd buy a Dark Souls game every 3 months if they released them even though that series is also very guilty of failing to innovate, but to From's credit they have put the series on ice indefinitely having recognized this themselves.

 

[Eazy123]

I keep buying Far Cry (although I feel it's an awfully mediocre series) and think Watch Dogs 2 was a step in the right direction (I REALLY enjoyed the online "hacking"/hide and seek idea), but Ubisoft flat-out lies when they claim they're going to revolutionize games like Origins - just because they took 2 years off and made it extra pretty doesn't revolutionize shit. Hell, they cut and pasted Primal's map from FC4. And FC5 is going to be the same shit - introduce one or two "new" mechanics that every other open world game has and claim it's a reinvention of the series.

 

[Drain Bamage]

In the same genre ballpark as AC? I'd say GTA and Witcher by far. In terms of action rpg combat, Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Nioh shit all over it. A better comparison, perhaps, to AC would be the Shadow of Mordor games that have introduced their nemesis system making encounters take on new meaning. Not to mention the combat evolution it has borrowed from the Batman series.



AC is chosen because what other game type of this genre gets pumped out as much as AC? I think they're at 10 main installments over the past 10 years? There is a reason why games like GTA and Witcher take considerably longer. I wish AC would do the same.

I've also chosen them because that franchise still has so much untapped potential.



That's a very bad comparison because AC1 was, at the time, considered one of the biggest busts and disappointments of it's time. That series would have been completely dead had AC 2 not been a fantastic game. To this day 2 is still generally regarded as the best in the series.



I agree that Black Flag was their most successful attempt at truly offering a unique and new experience. Its also why that game is regarded as arguably the 2nd best of the series.




The combat gameplay in Origins is crap. It's a baby step from what it has been, but it's a glaring example of their failures to REALLY innovate anything. Lock on - dash backward - strong attack - regular attack - repeat. You can do this to every single enemy I've encountered in 10+ hours of playing.


Don't get me wrong, these are very well-made games. They obviously have very talented individuals working on them and the formula is generating cash, but for a series that has such unbelievably immense potential I feel like they are being far too lazy by refusing to take a real chance and create a truly unique assassin game.

I think you are expecting too much change

Assassins Creed games are what they are

I like the formula so I dont want too much deviation, just more stories and settings

For me AC games have always been about the environment and the stories

They could repeat the gameplay ad infinium as long as the maps/settings keep changing and the graphics and physics keep improving

I love exploring in games so the AC series is pretty good for me

 

[RJ43]

I think you are expecting too much change

Assassins Creed games are what they are

I like the formula so I dont want too much deviation, just more stories and settings

For me AC games have always been about the environment and the stories

They could repeat the gameplay ad infinium as long as the maps/settings keep changing and the graphics and physics keep improving

I love exploring in games so the AC series is pretty good for me

I'll ask then how many of the games in the series do you own? It's not like I'm not a bit of a hypocrite in that I've bought 1,2,3,4,Unity and Origins, but I can say that at this point it's all completely old hat and I doubt I'll finish Origins and at this point have no plans to purchase any new installment until they mix it up.

 

[Thrawn33]

Give us some AC in feudal Japan and bring forth the goddamn Ninja.

 

[Drain Bamage]

I'll ask then how many of the games in the series do you own? It's not like I'm not a bit of a hypocrite in that I've bought 1,2,3,4,Unity and Origins, but I can say that at this point it's all completely old hat and I doubt I'll finish Origins and at this point have no plans to purchase any new installment until they mix it up.

I've played AC1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, 3, Black Flag and Rogue

Still need to play Unity, Syndicate and Origins

 

[Chubz]

The answer is absolutely yes. Far Cry has suffered the same fate.