Does He Have A Reason For Doing That?
Mar. 27th, 2015 10:42 pmMy new favourite thing in Assassin's Creed: I impaled a guard who'd been harassing a civilian, and a passer-by exclaimed, scandalised, 'You can't just kill someone!'
(I love that there's a 'social unacceptability' button in this game. Press the R1 button to do things that will make passers-by tut at you!)
My stealth skills continue to be unparalleled. So far, I've completed four major assassination missions, and I have blown my cover on every single one of them.
Fortunately, when I do inevitably find myself exposed, my target will usually come right after me with sword drawn rather than, say, retreating to a safe place and letting the guards deal with me. I fled up onto a roof in Damascus, and Tamir actually followed me up there, where we were alone and I could finish him off without worrying about any guards or civilians getting in the way. None of these guys know how to delegate.
I've talked about this before with regard to Ghost Trick, but I love it when games give an explanation for why you can try again after failing. When I get murdered by guards, it's not Altaïr actually getting murdered by guards; it's Desmond trying to re-enact the things Altaïr did and failing so miserably he can't maintain his connection with Altaïr's memory.
But I don't lose any synchronisation when I accidentally fling myself through some poor roadside seller's ceramic display, so presumably Altaïr was just as clumsy as I am.
(Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a game I never got that far in, dealt with player failure in a way that absolutely cracked me up. The game is presented as a story the prince is telling. When you die, the prince goes, 'Wait, no, that's not what happened,' and you get to try again. I love the idea of him going, 'And then I fell to my death! Wait, did I say "fell to my death"? I meant...')
It took me a while to realise the concept of the Animus also explains why you never miss an opportunity to carry out a 'Save Citizen' mission. The guards harass the citizen, threatening to drag them away, but they never actually do because that's not what happened in Altaïr's memory. Altaïr's already saved all the citizens. It's just that you haven't re-enacted his memory of saving them yet.
Unfortunately, the 'you're not actually time-travelling; you're just reliving someone else's memories' concept of Assassin's Creed means it's probably impossible for Altaïr to become aware of Desmond's presence and go 'okay, who the hell are you and why are you in my head?', but I can dream. I want them to have an incredibly uncomfortable conversation in the glitchy blue Animus space.
"We're talking maybe a thousand years in the future."
"A thousand years." Altaïr falls silent for a moment. "And have things changed?"
Desmond shrugs. "Well, there's a guy here who won't shut up about how they haven't."
(I love that there's a 'social unacceptability' button in this game. Press the R1 button to do things that will make passers-by tut at you!)
My stealth skills continue to be unparalleled. So far, I've completed four major assassination missions, and I have blown my cover on every single one of them.
Fortunately, when I do inevitably find myself exposed, my target will usually come right after me with sword drawn rather than, say, retreating to a safe place and letting the guards deal with me. I fled up onto a roof in Damascus, and Tamir actually followed me up there, where we were alone and I could finish him off without worrying about any guards or civilians getting in the way. None of these guys know how to delegate.
I've talked about this before with regard to Ghost Trick, but I love it when games give an explanation for why you can try again after failing. When I get murdered by guards, it's not Altaïr actually getting murdered by guards; it's Desmond trying to re-enact the things Altaïr did and failing so miserably he can't maintain his connection with Altaïr's memory.
But I don't lose any synchronisation when I accidentally fling myself through some poor roadside seller's ceramic display, so presumably Altaïr was just as clumsy as I am.
(Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a game I never got that far in, dealt with player failure in a way that absolutely cracked me up. The game is presented as a story the prince is telling. When you die, the prince goes, 'Wait, no, that's not what happened,' and you get to try again. I love the idea of him going, 'And then I fell to my death! Wait, did I say "fell to my death"? I meant...')
It took me a while to realise the concept of the Animus also explains why you never miss an opportunity to carry out a 'Save Citizen' mission. The guards harass the citizen, threatening to drag them away, but they never actually do because that's not what happened in Altaïr's memory. Altaïr's already saved all the citizens. It's just that you haven't re-enacted his memory of saving them yet.
Unfortunately, the 'you're not actually time-travelling; you're just reliving someone else's memories' concept of Assassin's Creed means it's probably impossible for Altaïr to become aware of Desmond's presence and go 'okay, who the hell are you and why are you in my head?', but I can dream. I want them to have an incredibly uncomfortable conversation in the glitchy blue Animus space.
"We're talking maybe a thousand years in the future."
"A thousand years." Altaïr falls silent for a moment. "And have things changed?"
Desmond shrugs. "Well, there's a guy here who won't shut up about how they haven't."
