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.
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!
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.
This is peak. The only reporter going this deep into Ubisoft games haha
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!