Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2015-04-04 10:27 am
rionaleonhart) wrote2015-04-04 10:27 am
Entry tags:
Hello, Desmond! Go Away.
Started Assassin's Creed II!
Desmond has suddenly developed a personality! This is a bit disconcerting. It's especially disconcerting because the personality he's developed is specifically the personality of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted games. I thought a couple of times during Assassin's Creed that Desmond's voice sounded familiar, but it didn't really click that it was Nolan North until he started reeling off Nateisms. Don't say things Nate would say in Nate's voice in a game with Uncharted-esque climbing everywhere! How am I supposed to know what I'm playing?
A thousand thumbs up to the concept of the Bleeding Effect. I'm fascinated by the idea that people who use the Animus extensively start to take on a little too much of the person they're 'being'. Evidently Desmond's been using it on the side to relive the memories of Nathan Drake.
(Sudden thought: was it weird for Desmond to live through Ezio's night with Cristina at the beginning of the game?)
I was a bit uneasy with Assassin's Creed II at first. I missed Altaïr, and I didn't seem able to jump so far, and all the little changes bothered me. The interface was different! Synchronisation didn't recover over time! (This is terrible because it means I'm less willing to take risks, making parkour slightly less fluid and fun. My approach in the first game was STRAIGHT UP ONTO THE ROOFTOPS, HURTLE ALL OVER THE CITY, WHO CARES IF YOU OCCASIONALLY MISJUDGE A JUMP AND PLOUGH FACE-FIRST INTO THE STREET.) Lucy suddenly looked like a real person instead of a robot with laser eyes! (I realise that this isn't technically a bad thing, but somehow Lucy's creepy eyes had become an integral part of her character for me.)
But then I accepted a challenge to a race, and I sprinted over the rooftops of Florence as the sun slowly set and gorgeous music played in the background, and it was all so beautiful I could have cried.
The race took me five attempts. I didn't even care.
Assassin's Creed II is a better game than the first; you can see that a mile off. (Another unusual thing about videogames as a medium, to continue with the theme from my last entry: sequels are typically expected to be better than the original, as developers become more familiar with the latest hardware and learn what works and what doesn't. Also, of course, if a game was successful enough to get a sequel, the sequel is likely to have a higher budget.) The missions are more varied, the cutscenes more interesting. The soundtrack! The setting! Half the time, I get distracted from climbing by how magnificent the architecture is.
I still miss Altaïr, though. He doesn't interest me that much as a character, and yet somehow I ended up becoming weirdly fond of him.
I have yet to get a strong impression of Ezio, but it amuses me that he'll both beat up unfaithful men and accept requests to deliver love letters to married women. He's a complicated young man.
Desmond has suddenly developed a personality! This is a bit disconcerting. It's especially disconcerting because the personality he's developed is specifically the personality of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted games. I thought a couple of times during Assassin's Creed that Desmond's voice sounded familiar, but it didn't really click that it was Nolan North until he started reeling off Nateisms. Don't say things Nate would say in Nate's voice in a game with Uncharted-esque climbing everywhere! How am I supposed to know what I'm playing?
A thousand thumbs up to the concept of the Bleeding Effect. I'm fascinated by the idea that people who use the Animus extensively start to take on a little too much of the person they're 'being'. Evidently Desmond's been using it on the side to relive the memories of Nathan Drake.
(Sudden thought: was it weird for Desmond to live through Ezio's night with Cristina at the beginning of the game?)
I was a bit uneasy with Assassin's Creed II at first. I missed Altaïr, and I didn't seem able to jump so far, and all the little changes bothered me. The interface was different! Synchronisation didn't recover over time! (This is terrible because it means I'm less willing to take risks, making parkour slightly less fluid and fun. My approach in the first game was STRAIGHT UP ONTO THE ROOFTOPS, HURTLE ALL OVER THE CITY, WHO CARES IF YOU OCCASIONALLY MISJUDGE A JUMP AND PLOUGH FACE-FIRST INTO THE STREET.) Lucy suddenly looked like a real person instead of a robot with laser eyes! (I realise that this isn't technically a bad thing, but somehow Lucy's creepy eyes had become an integral part of her character for me.)
But then I accepted a challenge to a race, and I sprinted over the rooftops of Florence as the sun slowly set and gorgeous music played in the background, and it was all so beautiful I could have cried.
The race took me five attempts. I didn't even care.
Assassin's Creed II is a better game than the first; you can see that a mile off. (Another unusual thing about videogames as a medium, to continue with the theme from my last entry: sequels are typically expected to be better than the original, as developers become more familiar with the latest hardware and learn what works and what doesn't. Also, of course, if a game was successful enough to get a sequel, the sequel is likely to have a higher budget.) The missions are more varied, the cutscenes more interesting. The soundtrack! The setting! Half the time, I get distracted from climbing by how magnificent the architecture is.
I still miss Altaïr, though. He doesn't interest me that much as a character, and yet somehow I ended up becoming weirdly fond of him.
I have yet to get a strong impression of Ezio, but it amuses me that he'll both beat up unfaithful men and accept requests to deliver love letters to married women. He's a complicated young man.