Sulphur on 4/12/2023 at 08:56
When it comes to writing, I think that ship has sailed for Ubisoft. I'd much rather they work on things they can actually get better at, like gameplay mechanics, outside of hiring someone better at narrative to direct their games' stories (and even that's not a guarantee that the end result will be any good). Origins' story is very much carried more by its performances than the writing, though some individual scenes are really rather good. (Anything that has Bayek and Aya together, and most of the stone circle bits I've seen are quite touching.)
It's an interesting thought, making an AssCreed that's as unfriendly as Far Cry 2. I know some people still hate FC2 with a passion for giving them malaria amongst other things *cough* Jesh *cough*, but I think that and its politics gave the world more depth than any of the subsequent iterations' commitment to an accessible slop of frictionless pastiche.
nicked on 4/12/2023 at 09:15
Far Cry 2 is the last Ubisoft game that actually tried to immerse you in a world, rather than just being a gamified sandbox.
Thirith on 4/12/2023 at 09:26
Ironically, Ubisoft's idea of friction these days seems to be bullet sponges and the played needing to do the same shallow, challenge-less, repetitive action five to ten times rather than once before a bad guy keels over and dies. Which seems quite representative of the usual Ubisoft design ethos.
Edit: "the played" was a typo, but I'll leave it like that for its implications. :p
Sulphur on 4/12/2023 at 11:58
Hey, well, at least I got these games at the price I thought they were worth it for.
Did you (or anyone else here) try the discovery mode? I'm curious about the historical detail they mined for this, and I know there's a reddit post out there from a historian that confirms Ubi got a lot of things right, and took creative liberties with a bunch of plot/setting and attitudes. I'm definitely curious to see if there's some interesting things to be gleaned from the research they did for the game.
Thirith on 4/12/2023 at 12:08
Even though I think it's a really cool idea, I've not tried the discovery mode (I really should one of these days...) and I'd also be curious to hear from anyone who has.
WingedKagouti on 4/12/2023 at 13:46
The best Far Cry game is still Blood Dragon, precisely because it doesn't drag on unlike every other Ubisoft Open World title.
Aja on 5/12/2023 at 01:06
Quote Posted by nicked
I've been playing some
Mosa Lina after it was mentioned in the imsim thread. It's a bit rough round the edges - I still haven't been able to figure out how to get a controller working, and actually starting the game is kinda obtuse, but it is a fun concept.
Interesting, controller worked right off the bat for me; I just pressed a button. Personally I kinda like the way you only get one shot at a time for each level. It keeps it from getting stale in the way that something like Super Meat Boy doesn't, where it starts to feel like you're grinding. Shuffling the levels forces you to mentally reset rather than try the same things over and over.
As for the boss levels, they're usually harder but they do also give you extra tools, so it mostly balances out for me. I've made it through maybe three runs and have never been truly stuck. At this point I'm willing to say that it's actually an extremely cleverly-designed game. I've pulled off some wild maneuvers out of desperation and luck, which is exactly what you want in an immersive sim (although I think that term is somewhat misapplied here; the game itself also declares that it isn't one).
Anarchic Fox on 5/12/2023 at 01:33
I find the Assassin's Creed games best enjoyed in small quantities, like potato chips. I'm still only up to Assassin's Creed 3.
nicked on 5/12/2023 at 07:39
Yeah, it's a sim, and a good one, but not an imsim, there's nothing immersing you in a world.
Thirith on 5/12/2023 at 08:22
I think it's really more about the idea of immersive sims to offer systems and tools rather than puzzles with clear, obvious solutions - and about moving away from the more recent imsim habit that the whole systems and tools thing is stripped down to "You can sneak through a vent, you can talk to the guard, you can shoot everyone". Really, it's about the philosophy behind the best old-school immersive sims.
