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Thread: The Da Vinci Disappearance - Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 2/2/18

  1. #141
    TheDarkKnight's Avatar Compliance will be rewarded
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    Default Re: Assassin's Creed Unity -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 1/8/15


    Assassin's Creed Unity Dead Kings (2015)

    Assassin's Creed Unity Dead Kings Set a few weeks after Assassin’s Creed Unity, Dead Kings sees the return of Arno Dorian to Revolutionary France, this time set in the small town of Franciade on the outskirts of Paris. The location of the tombs of the French royal family, Franciade is the target of raiders and pillagers. Arno must travel deep into the catacombs of Franciade to find the artifact that is currently being hunted by none other than Napoleon.
    As this is simply a DLC the review will be mercifully short compared to that of the main game, so first up is the positives of the game. For one, the DLC is actually rather impressive in its size. The city of Franciade consists of five districts, two of which are the catacombs underneath the city. The size of the above ground portion is rather large by itself, roughly a quarter of the size of Paris in the main game, which the underground portion makes it larger but is mostly tunnels and small and large chambers. Despite its smaller size it is nonetheless just as graphically pretty as Paris, and feels just as alive. The city also has a different atmosphere, which is much darker than Paris and fits the theme of the DLC as well as distinguishes itself as its own. The atmosphere really is one of the coolest aspects of the DLC, and Ubisoft Montpellier should be commended for making it so dark and brooding. Another large positive of Dead Kings is that it allows the player to really make use of a fully upgraded Arno in a different adventure than Unity, while obtaining the cool new Guillotine Gun. If stealth is your preferred approach than Dead Kings will definitely not disappoint, as virtually the whole underground portions are stealthy incursions into the catacombs, though stealth is not absolutely necessary if you are a guns-blazing kind of player. Aiding this in one small way is a new mechanic that involves raider leaders; if Arno successfully kills the leader, the raiders in the area will not fight, and instead run away. Stealth is certainly encouraged here, as a sneaky assassination of a leader can mean no fighting at all. Although this feature can be a bit glitchy at times, it does fulfill its purpose and again sets it apart from Unity. Another good aspect of the game is the collectibles and extra activities make a return, with Franciade having their own side “Franciade Stories” missions, murder mysteries, and other things to do once the DLC is completed.
    The game does have some negative aspects, some of them shared with Unity. For one the story of Dead Kings is not overly interesting. Without spoiling much it simply does not have the payoff of completion, and does not seem overly important in the grand scheme of Arno’s story. It also does not really feel like its own adventure, but rather a sequence that was cut out of the main game. This is in direct contrast with previous DLC adventures such as Tyranny of King Washington and Freedom Cry whose stories were completely separate and very distinct from their base games. It feeling like a cut sequence is also not helped by the fact that it is even named sequence thirteen, which you can begin after completing the story in Unity by simply taking a carriage fast travel to Franciade. This also makes the story of Dead Kings feel very anticlimactic, as the story was easily ended in Unity yet this feels like Ubisoft’s way of saying “No wait, THIS is Arno’s ending for the French Revolution”. And overall, like Unity, Arno’s adventure just does not feel as interesting as it could have been. There are other more minor negatives, such as the somewhat glitchy nature in certain areas, as well as the refillable lantern that is needed for some parts of the game such as bugs that can attack Arno without the lantern, or puzzles. The puzzles part is alright, but overall the lantern feels unnecessary. The guillotine gun is fun, but overall useless if you are a stealth-minded player as its secondary function obviously makes it quite unsuitable for staying quiet.
    Overall, Dead Kings is not a bad DLC. It, like Unity, could have just been so much better. Again, Arno’s adventure was simply underwhelming over both Unity and Dead Kings, and the ending of this DLC is simply not fulfilling to me. But the game is still a fun extra adventure in Revolutionary France. The gameplay is still solid, the exploration is fun, and it still has the same quality audio and graphical features that were a huge plus for Unity. The soundtrack alone is quite a treat to listen to, and the city, despite its atmosphere and some familiarity with Paris, is very cool to look at. The guillotine gun and the new enemies were a big plus as well. But overall, the game simply feels unnecessary. Luckily, due to the huge mess that Unity was at launch, Dead Kings was free, and honestly I feel that that helped it tremendously. If you did enjoy Unity, even only a little bit, there is no reason to not play this DLC. I just hope, in some way, that we do see Arno and Revolutionary France again, as the whole setting was simply not utilized in the way it could have been.
    7/10


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  2. #142
    Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar From the Writers Study!
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    Default Re: Dead Kings -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 3/4/15

    Considering it's free it doesn't sound too bad.
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    Default Re: Dead Kings -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 3/4/15

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    Default Re: Dead Kings -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 3/4/15

    Quote Originally Posted by Shankbot de Bodemloze View Post
    Considering it's free it doesn't sound too bad.
    I thought I responded to this

    As a free DLC, it is indeed not bad. Adds a few more hours into the story, more collectibles, etc. I'm glad I did not need to pay for it, but even as a free addition it could have been better.

    Hopefully Chronicles: China is good. It will be a lot different from what we know, but hopefully it will be a fulfilling experience.
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    Default Re: Dead Kings -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 3/4/15


    Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)
    Assassin's Creed Syndicate
    It is 1868, and the Industrial Revolution is nearing its end. In the city of London, twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye arrive to find it controlled by the Templars. Though they both follow the Creed, the twins have vastly different views on how to return the Assassins to influence in London. The twins must utilize the criminal elements within the city to help bring about the downfall of the Templars as well as discover the location of the Shroud of Eden, a Piece of Eden that is rumored to be able to make its wielder immortal.
    In the modern day, the Assassins are on the run. The second Great Purge is in full swing, and the Templars are closer than ever to hunting them down completely. They must use their skills and the Helix to gain important knowledge of the past in order to find the secret relic that the twins in the past sought after. But with every step they take they come closer and closer to their own destruction.
    Utilizing the engine pioneered by Unity, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate brings Industrial Age London to life in an overall stunning way. Like Paris, London is quite beautiful and quite large, its greatest extent being about a mile and a half across. And unlike other games, London is represented in its entirety; though there are clearly defined borders, Ubisoft made it so that the city appears to continue on and on in any direction, only stopping you from exploring further as those areas are not relevant to the story. This gives the fantastic illusion of the city being appropriately sized and set up, perhaps making it the most accurate game yet in terms of world building. The city comprises a number of districts including Winchester, Lambeth, and even the Thames River itself. The Thames is fun, and a fantastic re-creation of how busy the river was; either of the protagonists can use the shipping or the river itself to cross the expanse rather than using the bridges, and there is plenty of boats to raid along the way. The detail in the buildings and the city itself is magnificent, and combined with the overall size of the world, really makes London feel as if it were a living city. Additionally, Ubisoft has improved on the map mechanic from Unity, making it look a fully representative 3D map with all the proper features and scale.
    Syndicate brings a number of new gameplay mechanics to the franchise, one of the most important of which is the rope launcher. Acquired from a slain Templar, the rope launcher allows either of the protagonists the ability to quickly climb tall buildings as well as form a sort of zip line across buildings or streets, allowing easy traversal of London. While it may feel like somewhat of a copout to have give climbing an easy alternative, the player will find the rope launcher necessary given the attention to detail with London. Ubisoft has ensured that the tall buildings and wide streets of Victorian London were present in the game, which means that it is incredibly difficult to climb such buildings as well as cross the streets from building to building without great effort. The rope launcher eliminates this problem and presents a fun way to move around London. The player can also use the rope launcher to create assassination opportunities in places where there would otherwise be none.
    Another new addition that also aids in movement across the city is the carriage system. For the first time in the series, the player can commandeer horse-drawn carriages to ride from point A to point B. These carriages are utilized by civilians, police, and gang members alike, so there are plenty of opportunities to hijack a variety of them as well as engage in high speed pursuits as well as use the carriage to damage enemy ones that get too close. The carriages are used in missions, side activities, and free roam alike, so the system is heavily used to complement the game. The system is fun and an interesting twist on the use of horses, which has not been used since Assassin’s Creed III. The only problem that really emerges is the sometimes iffy controls as well as the fact that it is possible to run down and kill civilians with the carriages. This is of course a contradiction of the core of the creed, which is to not harm innocents, and since the Animus/Helix does not punish you for such things, it is possible to freely ride around the city and mow down crowds of civilians. It’s not a very stealthy nor creed-like addition, but it does not exactly hamper the fun of the mechanic.
    A final new mechanic to movement is the the introduction of trains and river boats to the franchise. Jacob and Evie capture a train early in the game and convert it into a mobile hide out, and there are trains that move throughout the city. These trains can be ridden on and in some cases robbed for experience and money. Related to this is the boats that sail up and down the Thames. These boats can be ridden on and raided as well, and their movement allows for a fun sort of crossing. The experience with the these two new systems is a bit mixed. The Thames itself is quite fun overall, and a nice feature in the game. However, though it is an interesting addition, I don’t find the trains to be all that useful as it is quicker to simply move throughout the city on carriage or with the rope launcher. Overall though, both offer an interesting flavor to the game, and contribute to the overall atmosphere of Victorian London; without them, something would certainly be missing.
    The missions and the story have, in some ways, been greatly improved over Unity. Both Jacob and Evie have their own missions as well as their own story in the quest to liberate London from the Templars, contrasting their different aims. Jacob wishes to focus primarily on eliminating Templar influence to aid the poor working classes that are being oppressed by them, while Evie’s aims are to stop the Templars from acquiring a Piece of Eden that is hidden somewhere in the city. While these are diverging goals for certain, they both exemplify the creed of the Assassins, and as the story goes on, their quests merge into one unified goal. The story is good, to be sure, however it does have its own problems. For one, while both Evie and Jacob’s quests are important, there is a clear inequality in the actual number of missions each has. Evie’s story only contains roughly one-fourth of the number of overall main missions. Jacob’s story takes clear center stage in a game that features two separate but supposedly equal protagonists, and this is a problem. It is clear that Ubisoft, under pressure from the backlash of no female protagonists in Unity despite the co-op mission structure, tacked on Evie’s missions to sort of appease outcry. This makes it feel like Evie’s story was an afterthought; while she must have been included from the very beginning, her own missions probably originally belonged to Jacob and tweaked for his aims. It’s a shame, as her missions and goals are quite interesting, and would have been better if they had been more fleshed out.
    Another issue that comes from having two protagonists is the somewhat disjointed nature of the story. There is no clear chain of events within the game, as within each sequence one can play Jacob’s or Evie’s missions in any order unless they are directly related to previous missions. Combined with the already haphazard switching back and forth, the story is somewhat convoluted and hard to follow. It also is a rather bland and generic story, if my summary of it at the beginning of the review is any indication. The modern day is also kind of uninspired as well, at least until the very end, and requires little to no interaction by the player yet again. I find myself needing to play the game again or at least certain sequences in order to grasp a better understanding of the overall story, and that should not be the case. The story remains much more interesting than Arno’s in revolutionary Paris, but these problems cannot really be overlooked. However, for the first time since the very beginning of the franchise (not counting Rogue), the protagonists begin the game as established members of the Assassin Brotherhood. While perhaps an odd thing to praise, it eliminates much of what has comprised previous stories; the need to join the Brotherhood, and in most cases, the need for some sort of revenge. Ezio, Connor, and Arno all join the Assassins because of some sort of revenge, with Shay and Edward being the odd exceptions. This is, in my opinion, a step forward to reduce the repetitiveness of previous games.
    The side missions and activities are also very well fleshed out in this game. There is plenty to do for both Jacob and Evie, and each of their mission chains allow for side missions. Oddly enough these activities and missions can be done by either twin, which one would think would violate the rules of the animus and the memories of individuals. Either way, the system works. It is often through these side activities that the player meets some famous historical figures such as Charles Darwin and Karl Marx, whose mission chains can be quite fun as well as more fully fleshing out the twins ideologies and their goals. The side activities consist mostly of liberating the city of London, which means gang fighting between The Rooks and the gang associated with the Templars. These activities are certainly fun, but they can also be somewhat repetitive after a time. Nonetheless they are good additions to the game and also increase the variety offered by the overall campaign.
    Outside of the Helix/Animus, the modern story has thankfully been improved on compared to Unity as well. While there was no clear story in that game, Syndicate’s modern day has a clear, albeit non-interactive, story. The modern day is in some ways a continuation of both Unity and Rogue, further tying the latter into the main canon of the game. The inclusion of Rebecca and Shaun from previous games was a definite highlight, and the story is driven forward in a meaningful way in my opinion. I am aware that many people disliked the modern day story as well as the twist at the end, but I believe that the modern day is still necessary for the game as well as the franchise. I for one enjoyed the end of it, as it shows that the past is still linked to the present and that both are relevant for the overall story. However, there is still some work that needs to be done, particularly to make it more interactive as the last game that we actually interacted in the modern day was Rogue.
    Combat has received an overhaul in Syndicate. Eschewing the multiple different weapon and armor types of Unity, Syndicate instead focuses on a core group of weapons and armor/outfits. As the game takes place in a different era, the weapons themselves are wholly different from previous games. Instead of large weapons such as swords and axes, Jacob and Evie have access to multiple types of kukris, sword canes, and brass knuckles. Each weapon type has more powerful variants that can be unlocked with game progression, and each weapon deliver differing methods of death. For the most part, combat feels fairly repetitive when it comes to whittling down enemy health, but that feeling disappears when it comes to death animations, which now include multi-kills that can go up to four enemies killed in one swift animation. This is achieved by lowering enemy health to a “near death” status, and when multiple enemies near the protagonists are in this state the resulting multi-kills can occur. Combat is a bit easier than Unity was, however it is still more difficult than previous games, which is a good balance in my opinion. It is easy to become overwhelmed early in the game, though, as the combat takes some getting used to.
    In addition to combat you also have the ability to level your characters throughout the game. Spanning from 1-10, these levels are necessary in order to equip different weapons as well as give Evie and Jacob upgrades to their skills. These skills can be both shared as well as unique to individuals, and they are valuable in upgrading as they help greatly throughout the campaign. Both the skills and the upgrades are especially necessary as the enemies have their own levels in this game, and it is entirely possible to die to a high level, single thug if your skills/levels are not good enough. You can also use a similar feature to upgrade your gang, The Rooks, so that they may better aid you throughout the game. I feel both of these features are welcome additions, and further add to the role playing nature of the game as you do have to make choices on where to spend your points and money. While you will eventually get all the upgrades it still makes early choices important in how you will play the campaign.
    One final thing that is worth discussing is the fact that unlike the previous games Ubisoft has focused entirely on the single player campaign. For the first time since Assassin’s Creed II, there is no multiplayer. As someone who enjoys the single player campaigns nearly exclusively in an era where developers are focusing too much on multiplayer (in my opinion), this was a refreshing change. However, there is one clear area that the game lacks; the ability to play as both the twins in co-op style. It would have been fun, and would have been similar to how they did it in Unity, but for whatever reason Ubisoft decided not to include it. This might be further indication that Evie’s part of the story was shoe-horned in from the criticism hurled at Unity for the lack of the ability to play as a female. Either way, it is disappointing and would have felt far more natural to include than the co-op campaign in Unity. In addition, and as already mentioned, the story has many flaws, though it is still a huge improvement over Unity in nearly every way. But there is still some progress that needs to be made to bring it back to the greatness that was present in the first few games, especially since we are definitely nearing the end of the story from the modern perspective.
    It would be worth mentioning that there are a couple more negatives worthy of discussion. Despite the beauty of the game, it is still clear that some of the graphics have been downgraded from Unity, and the absence of large numbers of people in Industrial Age London is quite noticeable. Obviously this was done to increase the performance of the game compared to the issues present in Unity, but it is still a slight disappointment that it came to that. There were also some slightly glitchy mechanics that did occur throughout the game, indicating that it was not quite as polished as gamers would prefer. It especially happened during combat fairly often, which contributed greatly to early frustrations with the combat system. The glitches in the game thankfully never reached the degree that Unity had, yet still occurred enough that it warranted being mentioned. Other than that and the earlier mentioned issues, the game does not have that many issues.
    Overall, I would highly recommend Assassin’s Creed Syndicate to any fans of the franchise as well as to people in general. It is in every way an improvement over Unity, and honestly is a vastly superior game to its predecessor. Its scale isn’t as big, but that only benefits it with a more focused story, greater performance, and an overall better experience than Unity provided to its fans. It still isn’t perfect, as it has many flaws, and the franchise has yet to recapture the magic of the earlier games. But this is a step in the right direction, and I hope to see further improvements in the future. Any fan of this series as well as those curious about Victorian London should definitely play this game.


    8.5/10


    Personal note: I want to take a minute here to do something I never do and talk about my personal life. Part of the reason I love Assassin's Creed so much is because of my love of history, a love that is not unique to the people on this site. I owe that love entirely to my father, who fostered my interest in the subject from a pretty early age. He further encouraged it with numerous trips to places of historical significance and also made sure I always stuck to my goal of becoming a history teacher, something that I accomplished this year.

    This game was the last gift I received from my dad before he died last fall, as it was an early birthday present. I was in fact playing it when I got the phone call stating that he passed away at the hospital from complications relating to the cancer discovered that summer. For whatever reason, this game helped prevent me from losing my mind that day and the days that came afterward, and will always be special to me because of that and because of how much fun it was.

    I'd like to dedicate this review to my dad. I know that, despite his views on video games, he would have loved to see such historical eras come to life for me and other fans to enjoy.



    Hello everyone, it's been a long time. Luckily this was posted a few months ago for the Gamer's Gazette. There should also be a review for the Jack the Ripper DLC coming soon enough.

    Currently I am rewriting my three Ezio-era game reviews as I have been playing the Ezio Collection. In addition to this, I am FINALLY doing the reviews for the DLC for these games as well (Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities, The Da Vinci Disappearance, and The Lost Archive). I have played them before but never felt like doing the review for those, so in addition to new(ish) reviews for the three Ezio games, expect reviews for the DLC too in the coming weeks as time permits.

    So seven new reviews coming after this.

    Thank you for your support all these years. Can't believe it has been four years since I started reviewing these games.
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  6. #146
    Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar From the Writers Study!
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    Default Re: Syndicate -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 4-19-17

    The review was a pleasured to read again, and as emotional at the end.

    Great to hear you have more reviews planned for the AC series, as someone who stopped playing after AC3 I'm looking forward to hearing your latest thoughts on the Ezio-era games.
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    Default Re: Syndicate -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 4-19-17

    Great work mate, I enjoyed Brotherhood immensely (Y)

  8. #148

    Default Re: Syndicate -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 4-19-17

    Hey!!!!

    Nice game & nice review. Thanks!

  9. #149
    TheDarkKnight's Avatar Compliance will be rewarded
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    Default Re: Syndicate -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 4-19-17


    Assassin's Creed II
    Battle of Forli & Bonfire of the Vanities(2010)
    Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities
    Battle of Forli
    Set during the later stages of Ezio’s quest for vengeance, the two DLC additions further expand the story of Assassin’s Creed II by unlocking the two “corrupted” memory sequences that were locked out during the main campaign. And by unlocking, I of course mean paying extra for content that should have been in the game since the start.
    When the Assassin’s decide to hide their recently acquired Apple of Eden in the city of Forli, Ezio sets out to make a deal with Caterina Sforza, the ruler of that city and the region it calls home. However, once he arrives, Ezio discovers that the swampy city of Forli has been attacked and occupied by by the Orsi brothers, and the children of Caterina have been kidnapped in order to force her to be more compliant with their wishes if things became hostile in the city. Realizing that he must help Caterina recover her city as well as her children, Ezio prepares himself for battle.
    The Battle of Forli is easily the most exciting of the two add ons to the game. Virtually the whole sequence is one big battle as well as the immediate fallout of that battle, so the action in the mission chain is fast as well as pretty fresh compared to the rest of the campaign. There is nothing particularly new or different about this DLC compared to the rest of Assassin’s Creed II, though it does feel out of place compared to the rest of the main campaign in terms of tone and structure. It is also clear that this mission chain is more about the side character Caterina Sforza rather than a story about Ezio, which is kind of frustrating as it again feels more out of place than anything. It feels clear that this was designed to be a DLC to be released separately from the main game, and I will talk more about that later. The memory sequence does die down a bit towards the end in terms of excitement and the last mission ends on a kind of cliffhanger, yet it feels very anticlimactic. But it does provide for a decent lead in towards the second DLC, which is called Bonfire of the Vanities.
    _____________________________________________________________________________________________
    Bonfire of the Vanities

    Nine years after the Apple of Eden was stolen by Girolamo Savonarola after The Battle of Forli, Savonarola has the city of Florence under his control. The Medicis have been expelled, leaving the city at the mercy of the priest who wishes to see the city return to its medieval ways at the expense of all the progress of the Italian Renaissance. Using the powerful Piece of Eden, Savonarola has put many people under his spell, and resolves to spread his influence beyond the city into the rest of Italy. Ezio, returning to his childhood home, resolves to save the city from the influence of the crazy priest and his entranced followers.
    While the Battle of Forli is in my opinion the more exciting DLC, I do feel that Bonfire of the Vanities is objectively the better campaign. Consisting of 12 memories scattered around the city of Florence, the Bonfire of the Vanities is a good old fashioned story of assassinations. Bonfire of the Vanities involves Ezio killing nine lieutenants of Savonarola across the city, concluding with the capture and death of the priest himself. The missions are much more varied than Battle of Forli and each assassination feels unique compared to the others. The reason for this is pretty simple, as each lieutenant is placed in a different location that require different strategies of reaching them, with different conditions for success, yet there is still some freedom in achieving these goals. This is very similar to the very first game where Altair killed nine Templars scattered across the game, so I suspect this was a very intentional homage towards the roots of the franchise. The conclusion is also much more meaningful, as it consists of a powerful message from Ezio towards a confused and enraged crowd as they watch the body of the priest burn on a pyre. It overall feels like a much better mini-story compared to the Battle of Forli, and it is a chain of missions that I wish I could play again. There are some minor graphical and audio issues during it that make it seem like it might have been rushed or of low priority like Forli, but they do not detract much from the overall experience.

    _________________________________________________________________

    Verdict on both DLC's


    Overall, both of the DLC memory sequences are good additions to the campaign. They both add more to the story of Ezio and his quest to free the people of Italy of Templar control. Both cost four dollars which is pretty cheap for a DLC and each provide an hour to and hour and a half of play or more depending on how fast one goes through the missions, with Bonfire of the Vanities always taking more time due to the sheer nature of assassination missions. They do have some minor problems though. The Battle of Forli does feel like one constant battle, but the actions of NPC’s in the city make it seem like its just a regular day, despite the fighting taking place between the guards of the city and the occupying soldiers. It feels like they could have done a bit more to make it seem like a city under siege. Perhaps it was an issue of time and development resources, but it makes it look like the developers were being a bit lazy with the Battle of Forli.
    Here’s the problem with these DLC sequences; there is literally no reason that they should have been made into DLCs. Unlike DLC campaigns that are attached to later Assassin’s Creed games, these sequences take place in the very middle of Ezio’s story during a large period of time that the original campaign skips if you have not acquired the missions. That means that you are literally skipping over a large part of the story. In a way, this is not a huge issue as the consequences of the missing Apple is resolved by the end, so even if you skipped over it you would not realize that the Apple had ever left the Assassin’s after reacquiring it.
    However in hindsight it does explain why nothing happened during the decade or so that the two sequences take place in when compared to the original game; with no Apple and originally no idea who took it, both the Assassins and the Templars were at a stalemate. For nearly ten years in the context of the game, nothing happened, and without the two sequences, it makes no sense to us as a player. That is a frustrating revelation, and should not have been the case. I do not mind paying for extra content as long as that content is exactly that; extra. But these two memories have been ripped out of the main story and that does have some minor consequences on how that story is presented. The issue is compounded by the fact that both of these DLC’s were originally released months after the main game, leaving any impact that they could have on players to be minimal as by then most players might not even remember what leads into those two memory sequences. That, in my mind, is unacceptable on Ubisoft’s part. Besides that, is it worth the cost? Two to three hours of extra content that you can, in theory, not even realize is wholly important to the story for a grand total of eight bucks? That is something I cannot really say for sure. However, since I am playing this now on the PS4 Ezio Collection that gives all DLC for free, I can say that the extra missions are good and it does not hurt to play them. In fact, I think they become mandatory in this version of the game, so you might as well sit back and do them anyway.

    Thankfully, none of these issues detract from the actual quality of the gameplay experience. There are some issues to be sure, but these sequences are still a fun way to spend more time with Ezio during this time period. I can think of worse ways to spend your time and money. Because of this, I would argue that any fan of Assassin’s Creed would do well to play these in order to better understand his story as well as the complete story of the Apple of Eden.

    Battle of Forli: 7.5/10
    Bonfire of the Vanities: 8/10


    (Special thanks to Radboud and Inarus for helping me with creating the poster image at the top)


    FINALLY I have reviewed the DLC for AC II!

    Soon I will update this with other reviews in time. I should probably fix my AC II review since it got messed up due to photobucket. I also have reviews for Brotherhood, Da Vinci Disappearance DLC, and Revelations done (all for the PS4 Ezio Collection release)...You can wait to see them at the Gamer's Gazette in the following months.

    Same with Origins, which I hope to have a review for within a couple weeks after it comes out
    Last edited by TheDarkKnight; July 31, 2017 at 01:12 AM.
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  10. #150
    Shankbot de Bodemloze's Avatar From the Writers Study!
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    Default Re: ACII DLC's Review -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 7/30/2017

    Another great AC review Gen., makes me want to play AC2 again.
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  11. #151
    TheDarkKnight's Avatar Compliance will be rewarded
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    Default Re: ACII DLC's Review -Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 7/30/2017


    Assassi's Creed Brotherhood
    The Da Vinci Disappearance (2011)


    Desmond is in a coma, unable to communicate with his allies. However, through the Animus, Desmond shows them hidden memories of Ezio, who still has stories to tell from his time living in Rome. 1506, after the death of Cesare and the fall of the Borgia in Rome. Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio’s closest friend and confidant, has been kidnapped by the Hermeticists, an underground cult dedicated to "transforming mankind". In order to find the inventor and friend, Ezio must embark on a relentless quest to recover Leonardo's stolen paintings. Within these stolen paintings lies information that can lead to a hidden vault beneath Rome, a vault desired by the Hermeticists and of great interest to both Ezio, but also Desmond.
    The Da Vinci Disappearance picks up not long after the events of Brotherhood. Within its short duration, you must discover where Leonardo has been taken and also the secrets he has uncovered regarding the hidden vault. The list of positives about this DLC are short, just like the game itself. The story is fairly packed with action, and there is never really a dull moment throughout the story. The puzzles are fun to solve, and the story itself is very interesting and compelling. The gameplay is simple and straightforward, and not at all challenging. It was a pleasant experience and somewhat rewarding to finish in terms of the information obtained that furthers the overall plot of the series. In addition, the story is short enough that you can start and complete the DLC in an afternoon or evening.
    However, many of these things also contribute towards the numerous problems the story has. While the story is pleasant and interesting in some ways, in the end, most of it simply is not important. Ubisoft learned their lesson by setting it after the main campaign so that it feels like additional content rather than cut content, but much of it is simply wasted. I honestly did not even know about the game because none of it felt like it was missing from the story besides one important key detail; what was discovered in the vault. I will not say what it was, but it is actually very important to the overall story of Desmond’s journey. To stick that information in a DLC and just assume that everyone plays it before playing the next game is a bad move on Ubisoft’s part, and led to some confusion in later games since I did not play this game until after I completed those ones. The story, while nice to finish so quickly, is too short to justify the purchase in my opinion. But aside from that, there is also the issue that the DLC brings nothing really new; no new mechanics, nothing. Fighting the cultists is not interesting as they turn into generic villains, and in the end I care not for them or why they are doing what they are doing. I was also pretty disappointed that the Borgias were once again involved, if only a little bit. There are other issues as well with the DLC, but it really is not worth going into.
    Ultimately, the DLC is simply a disappointment. The story is filled with some mysterious voices, Leonardo's puzzling disappearance is definitely abrupt, but it is short and easily fixed, and the ultimate reveal at the end is pretty much ignored by Ezio as not important and for “someone else” (Desmond), so why should I care? There’s nothing horribly wrong with the DLC, but there is nothing great about it in the end. Luckily for me, I did not have to purchase the DLC separately as it came with the Ezio Trilogy on PS4, so the cost was not an issue to me. But the rest of the issues stand. It’s a shame that Ubisoft decided to include such important information in a DLC, and a mistake I hope is never made again.

    7/10

    Things I trust more than American conservatives:

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  12. #152

    Default Re: The Da Vinci Disappearance - Assassin's Creed Franchise Review- Updated 2/2/18

    It's great that people are still interested on games on Da Vinci. Making a tour on Vinci's life may ease to visualize his life and play the game better.

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