I've 224 hours played in Shadows (just checked), and checked off the platinum trophy - as I did with Unity, Syndicate, Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla and Mirage. I've played all earlier ones on 360 or could not bear the MP grind. I'm looking at you, Black Flag.
That said, I'm not sure that Shadows is a better game when not playing with L2. The lackluster writing does not change, the aborted story right in the middle does not change, the overabundance of circles does not change ("I hate this group, go kill 100 for me."). Romantic quests just end suddenly, with no further communication between hero and love interest. And while the world looks stunning thanks to seasons and the systemic weather system, it's empty. There is no incentive to explore it, not even a chest with the odd reward in the middle of the forest. Don't get me started on forests on hills.
Another weak point: Japan isn't as familiar series location as Italy or Greece, so let's check the codex, right? Well, the codex needs editing badly and abandons all sorting logic. When every friend and foe was listed in the same branch in Valhalla, some - not even all! - characters are now distributed all over the place. Never mind the codex writing is so very boring, compared to the snarky-entertaining way Shaun Hastings would write the entries in all other AC games. And it's still buggy, I see "new entry" markers when there are no new entries.
The icing on the cake is the complete abandonment of the reason we've been time traveling since 2007. Neither does the Valhalla modern day cliff hanger get resolved, nor does the game tell us what's happening in the trippy "in between" passages - unless we play months upon months of weekly quests to unlock written notes. There were more notes and material to pore over in Black Flag and Rogue! There were more location puzzles in the Ezio trilogy!
And no, I'm not tired of the series after almost 20 years either - I finally played Odyssey's Atlantis DLC and Valhalla's Ireland and Paris DLCs last month. What a difference! Ireland and Paris almost look as pretty as Japan, too, minus the seasons and the PS5 weather. Plus much better writing.
I read Stephen’s take and I’m inspired to go back to the game. Then I read your comment and I remember that either way, this is still an assassins creed game. I played for 20 hours and fell away, probably never to return.
But to Stephen’s point, I’m loving Silksong, a game that demands so much of me. It’s just disheartening to play a game that expects nothing of me, like Shadows. KCD2 was amazing this year as well.
In your case, I'd say wait a year or so until they have - hopefully - made the game a somewhat more polished and deep experience.
Maybe they will have even fixed the bug that if your camera is inverted, your menu controls are inverted, too - a first in all AC games. And still not fixed about half a year later.
Maybe they will even have re-added the option to navigate the inventory and skill menu with a joystick, just as it was possible in AC Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (blanking on Mirage, it's been a while and took just one week to finish).
This feels like it has its roots in the Batman Arkaham games. I remember when they did that detective vision and then every game after started incorporating it. I hated it in the Batman games! I felt like I spent half the game looking at it through that awful neon x-ray filter! I recently went back to Tomb Raider 2013 and it's in there too, and it makes an annoying sound every time you activate her "survivor vision."
When Arkham Origins was announced, they said it was going to be a prequel to Arkham Asylum and I thought, "Oh sweet, no x-ray vision. Maybe they'll make you actually do some detective work." Nope! In fact his tech in Arkham Origins was somehow even MORE advanced! He could use his x-ray vision to reconstruct entire crime scenes that had happened days ago.
Anyway, I haven't picked up Shadows yet, so I appreciate the tip, I will avoid L2!
Arkham Asylum came out in 2009, Assassin's Creed had Eagle Vision in 2007. So technically, all games after that one should thank Ubisoft Montreal's designers for this inspiration. :)
This was a great read, as someone who played some AC Shadows not too long ago. As I read through I was thinking, "What's the L2 button do?" Once you reminded me, I was like, "oh damn, I used the f**k out of the L2 button." So I guess it will soon be time to go back and try again without the L2 button
It feels like the game was originally designed without L2. I'm guessing it got added after a playtest where a player got frustrated, and gave bad feedback.
I get why modes and mechanics like Detective Vision are included for those who want to play the game and get through so they can move onto other pursuits outside the game. What I'd be curious to hear more about is why these seemingly contradicting styles of gameplay have been included in the same game by the developers. Is it due to the many dev teams needed to develop open-world games? Do their goals clash with one another as a result of disjointed development cycles? Is it a requirement from the publisher, dictated by the many versions of "go here, do that, go somewhere else and do it again" game loops that they have released in the last two decades?
I know that I will at least give consideration next time I play a game with similar mechanics to giving the developers their due and enjoying the game the way at least some of them intended. Thanks for opening my eyes to this conundrum!
Good point. Even in the first AC, Eagle Vision did highlight your kill targets in gold. So I'm really not sure why they would include it in Shadows AND also add the L2 option.
Is there a way i can share this over on reddit? Its a great read that i think people would find interesting, but i'm pretty sure they'd just be paywalled and i dont know if thats good/bad/neither for your traffic. Do people get a free article? idk.
This is peak. The only reporter going this deep into Ubisoft games haha
If you can speak/understand German, I could recommend the podcast a friend and I have been recording since October 2020. ;-)
I've 224 hours played in Shadows (just checked), and checked off the platinum trophy - as I did with Unity, Syndicate, Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla and Mirage. I've played all earlier ones on 360 or could not bear the MP grind. I'm looking at you, Black Flag.
That said, I'm not sure that Shadows is a better game when not playing with L2. The lackluster writing does not change, the aborted story right in the middle does not change, the overabundance of circles does not change ("I hate this group, go kill 100 for me."). Romantic quests just end suddenly, with no further communication between hero and love interest. And while the world looks stunning thanks to seasons and the systemic weather system, it's empty. There is no incentive to explore it, not even a chest with the odd reward in the middle of the forest. Don't get me started on forests on hills.
Another weak point: Japan isn't as familiar series location as Italy or Greece, so let's check the codex, right? Well, the codex needs editing badly and abandons all sorting logic. When every friend and foe was listed in the same branch in Valhalla, some - not even all! - characters are now distributed all over the place. Never mind the codex writing is so very boring, compared to the snarky-entertaining way Shaun Hastings would write the entries in all other AC games. And it's still buggy, I see "new entry" markers when there are no new entries.
The icing on the cake is the complete abandonment of the reason we've been time traveling since 2007. Neither does the Valhalla modern day cliff hanger get resolved, nor does the game tell us what's happening in the trippy "in between" passages - unless we play months upon months of weekly quests to unlock written notes. There were more notes and material to pore over in Black Flag and Rogue! There were more location puzzles in the Ezio trilogy!
And no, I'm not tired of the series after almost 20 years either - I finally played Odyssey's Atlantis DLC and Valhalla's Ireland and Paris DLCs last month. What a difference! Ireland and Paris almost look as pretty as Japan, too, minus the seasons and the PS5 weather. Plus much better writing.
I read Stephen’s take and I’m inspired to go back to the game. Then I read your comment and I remember that either way, this is still an assassins creed game. I played for 20 hours and fell away, probably never to return.
But to Stephen’s point, I’m loving Silksong, a game that demands so much of me. It’s just disheartening to play a game that expects nothing of me, like Shadows. KCD2 was amazing this year as well.
In your case, I'd say wait a year or so until they have - hopefully - made the game a somewhat more polished and deep experience.
Maybe they will have even fixed the bug that if your camera is inverted, your menu controls are inverted, too - a first in all AC games. And still not fixed about half a year later.
Maybe they will even have re-added the option to navigate the inventory and skill menu with a joystick, just as it was possible in AC Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla (blanking on Mirage, it's been a while and took just one week to finish).
This feels like it has its roots in the Batman Arkaham games. I remember when they did that detective vision and then every game after started incorporating it. I hated it in the Batman games! I felt like I spent half the game looking at it through that awful neon x-ray filter! I recently went back to Tomb Raider 2013 and it's in there too, and it makes an annoying sound every time you activate her "survivor vision."
When Arkham Origins was announced, they said it was going to be a prequel to Arkham Asylum and I thought, "Oh sweet, no x-ray vision. Maybe they'll make you actually do some detective work." Nope! In fact his tech in Arkham Origins was somehow even MORE advanced! He could use his x-ray vision to reconstruct entire crime scenes that had happened days ago.
Anyway, I haven't picked up Shadows yet, so I appreciate the tip, I will avoid L2!
Arkham Asylum came out in 2009, Assassin's Creed had Eagle Vision in 2007. So technically, all games after that one should thank Ubisoft Montreal's designers for this inspiration. :)
This was a great read, as someone who played some AC Shadows not too long ago. As I read through I was thinking, "What's the L2 button do?" Once you reminded me, I was like, "oh damn, I used the f**k out of the L2 button." So I guess it will soon be time to go back and try again without the L2 button
It feels like the game was originally designed without L2. I'm guessing it got added after a playtest where a player got frustrated, and gave bad feedback.
I get why modes and mechanics like Detective Vision are included for those who want to play the game and get through so they can move onto other pursuits outside the game. What I'd be curious to hear more about is why these seemingly contradicting styles of gameplay have been included in the same game by the developers. Is it due to the many dev teams needed to develop open-world games? Do their goals clash with one another as a result of disjointed development cycles? Is it a requirement from the publisher, dictated by the many versions of "go here, do that, go somewhere else and do it again" game loops that they have released in the last two decades?
I know that I will at least give consideration next time I play a game with similar mechanics to giving the developers their due and enjoying the game the way at least some of them intended. Thanks for opening my eyes to this conundrum!
Good point. Even in the first AC, Eagle Vision did highlight your kill targets in gold. So I'm really not sure why they would include it in Shadows AND also add the L2 option.
Is there a way i can share this over on reddit? Its a great read that i think people would find interesting, but i'm pretty sure they'd just be paywalled and i dont know if thats good/bad/neither for your traffic. Do people get a free article? idk.
This piece isn't paywalled, so you're welcome to link it to folks on Reddit, if you'd like. Thanks for asking!