Take plenty of screenshots of 47 in his camouflage gear at the jungle, please.
9 Likes
A few weeks ago I finished the Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Trilogy. A 2.5D stealth-platformer.
(Ive heard it heavily takes mechanics from the “much better” Mark of the Ninja so I’ll have to check that out sometime.)
The trilogy starts off okay, has a few gameplay/style improvements as it goes on and the team learned from complaints of the previous one, but overall I feel it’s just too restrictive in terms of stealth/level design which can make it frustrating to get through.
AC China:
- Colour pallette is distinct with interactible Red-soaked objects, green key colours and the brown of the countryside/docks all in a watercolour style. I do wish it was a little more vibrant since the colours can feel very muted.
- the best level design of the collection. There are 2-3 different ways you can get through each encounter and avoid getting spotted to get the highest score rank. Serves replayability well.
- combat is a clunky terrible last resort, killing an enemy (i.e being an Assassin) is slightly less worse, and ghosting an entire section is great to pull off. It can just be pretty dang tough, meaning disposing of enemies can drop your score significantly.
- the story in this one is an extremely simple revenge story that barely concerns itself with the “mystery” the trilogy sets up.
They end the game with the line: “when you take on revenge, be sure to dig two graves”. Lmao wow I bet a writer was really proud of that one 
how original!
- there is a forced combat boss battle and it sucks because the combat is so stiff and basic.
India:
- way, way more vibrant colour pallette. I love all the mandala effects in the backgrounds and cutscenes.
- level design becomes way more linear, very few diverging paths or alternate routes through a level.
- The game makes use of a lot more lengthy and unique 'travel inwards/outwards from the backgrounds/foregrounds which is always cool to see in a title like this.
And there is an appearance of a First Civilization temple, with its blocky futurustic looking architecture and provides a pretty cool obstacle course and change of scenery halfway through. - Assassin Rank is now the lowest "type " of ranking in the game, but the middle ground is now Silencer, allowing you to knock out NPCs more quietly and still get a decent amount of points.
- I think it was in China, but I noticed here that the game constantly introduces New Enemy Types, ones that have a special attack move, either need a gadget to stun to take down, or are a counter to stealth in some way.
The thing is, with them all having stats of “High Health, High Damage, Can’t be Countered etc.” It’s all usually related to being in combat, which is useless because open combat is the very last thing you want to be doing in this game! It’s weird. I never learned their specificities, and honestly I could rarely tell them apart as specific units. They were all just enemies to avoid, as is key. - New obstacles like tripwires are just a nuisance. They explode and insta-kill you, and are just meant as a dead end you have to stop and destroy, as they’re also sneakily hidden with the weird 2.5D camera too.
- The story actually revolves around a mystery box macguffin and the Kohinoor diamond being some mystical lock-and-key for ancient secrets or something, which is kinda nice. I like the ancient tech mysteries of the series.
- There is yet another clunky forced combat boss battle at the very end but thankfully it’s fairly short and easier IMO.
- China had I think one or two timed “get to the end” action-heavy scenes, but India uses it a whole lot more. Feels like nearly half the levels amount to these sequences. Which I dont mind, they are a faster pace than regular missions and some of the running parkour/kills are fun to indulge in.
Russia:
- This one goes for a very distinct Black, White and Red colour pallette, and mimicking old Soviet Propoganda posters with striking silhouettes of industry. (At least for the “bleak” outside world. Inside buildings, things are well-lit and fully coloured.)
- This is probably the most “modern” AC game at least in terms of the main historical events, taking place in the 1910’s I think, right after the killing of the Romanov royal family.
So, you’ve got electricity-powered lights, streetcars and trams on the street, and a whole lot of more modern-looking environments. - They make use of this setting by adding small obstacles and tools like spotlights to avoid, generators to sabotage, electric wires to disable, and more. It’s pretty neat for the series.
- Unfortunately this game is also painfully linear in its level design. There is only one way to ever go, and very, very few areas where you’re allowed to be a little creative as to how to climb around and complete your objective or reach your goal.
You also reach a point (much like India) where enemies use equipment that cancel out specific moves or gadgets, that those become strategies you never use anymore, because way too many people counter it. It’s more of a hinderance than an obstacle.
Combat still sucks too. - You have a Sniper Rifle (that is sometimes used in 1st person in sniping sections). It’s not particularly useful since its loud and slow, but yeah.
- I quite enjoyed the setting in Russia though qs it felt quite refreshing in terms of architecture for the series. The story was even pretty sci-fi at times, though they make some wild decisions with the Assassins in this and it’s left on a note that we’ll probably never get explanations or closure for.
Anyway, that’s all that. I enjoyed my time overall with the game, but they have some serious flaws in their design/structure that I’m disappointed that we might never see an improvement on it.
I guess these games are worth it if you’re looking for a game to challenge your stealth capabilities, making it through each level as quiet and unseen as possible, but these games should be bought for super cheap so you can finish each one in an afternoon or two.
Thankfully I paid like 10$ for the trilogy pack so I’m cool with it.
5 Likes
To be fair, that line is most commonly attributed to a Chinese person, many believe Confucius once said it.
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Going through the Mafia series, I have come to the close of Mafia II. Everything was fine except for two occasions the first was in Chapter 7 when Eddie Scarpa, in his quest to make sure Frankie Potts lay six feet under dug too deep and we wound up in the Hollow Shadow World and in the last chapter when Vito felt the weight of his sins so heavily he slipped into the Shadow Realm.
I have to say these are odd decisions but if it helps them bring Mafia II closer to Varva’s vision I am all for it. Then again they might have been horrible glitches…
2 Likes
If it’s the cough Definitive Edition then yeah. I had one preventing me from finishing one of the later chapters.
Guessing when it comes to the first Mafia game, you’ll be playing the remake and not the original? 
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I already have the Mafia: Definitive Edition, I played chronologically and I play on console so of course it was the more modern version I played.
I have actually finished II now and that means I am onto III. I am one of those Sickos that actually likes III and I intend on playing hard and loud instead of mostly stealth this time around.
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Still haven’t played it though I might give in one day and buy it but I’m just tired of open world traps that Mafia 3 is riddled with. I’m actually playing Hogwarts Legacy and after 34 hours of exploring the castle and the main village next to it, I barely explored the wilderness which is insanely huge and ofc filled with open world shite. I actually took a 2 week break from it 
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III is awesome, engaging story and characters. It might be a bit repetitive, then again I think that goes for all open world games.
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Yeah, it is a blast even though it it could have used some more time to full develop a lot of its system and even story.
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Honestly if you are playing a game like Hogwarts Legacy you might as well bite the bullet and play Mafia III.
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I will, definitely will. Mafia 3 has been on my list for ages. Hopefully I’ll be able to do this before Mafia 4 comes out which I hope it will be a more linear experience like Mafia 1 & 2 
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Given rumours of it being worked on began two years ago with nothing definitive since then (to my knowledge)? I say you have set an ample time frame for the game.
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I can´t say for certain if I prefer the DE over the older ones(s) or not. I feel like it both added to and took from the series. That being said, the seamless ability to enter/exit almost all interiors is the one thing it has definitely going for it.
Haha, I actually enjoyed the story of 6 a lot. Proabably because I liked 3 as well and 6 reminds me a lot of it in many ways (rural setting, getting chummy with the local family, plus the whole shipbuilding angle is pretty unique and appeals to me on an interest level).
I can tell you from personal experience that as long as a person keeps up their training and has sufficiently good health, they can mess you up even in their 80s. I know someone like that. That being said, I wouldn´t say Hirose was at a John Wick level. He was more methodical. I actually really liked how notably different his fighting style was compared to the usual Yakuza stuff.
Yeah, knowing that it´s actually not the last entry in the Kiryu saga helps it. I can´t blame people for being less than thrilled about it when it came out.
You gotta admit it helps that Y6´s completion list is noticeably shorter than the previous games´ 
Actually, I feel like having the Archipelago (as I like to call Daigo, Majima, and Saejima) barely present in the game was a sensible decision given the overall story. Cause frankly, they would feel rather forced in this particular plot (as Majima already felt in 5) as their stories have already been told, and - let´s face it - if Kiryu had these three at his disposal, they would just steamroll the Iwami family and their allies and the plot would be over in 10 mins.
Shinada not being referenced is a bit strange. I can understand him not being physically in the game though, since he was one of the many cases of characters modelled after famous actors, and since they had new famous faces in Y6, it wouldn´t make sense for them spend more money on a cameo. But yeah, a textual referrence would´ve been nice and made sense given that particular minigame.
As for Tanimura and Homeland, yeah, that´s another unanswered question. But Tanimura was basically the same case as Shinada, since he had been already deliberately dropped in Y5 (he is at least mentioned there but doesn´t appear), which came out years before Narimiya, the actor in question, was even facing those allegations. In fact, he retired pretty much right at the time Y6 came out now that I look at it, so I doubt they were even considering including the character there as well.
And that´s not even considering more prominent characters like the Florist not even getting a mention.
Interesting! You really liked 5´s story that much? Mine would probably be 4<5<1<3<6<2<0 (which is rather amusing when I look at it, cause if I ranked them overall, then 4 would probably be in my top 3).
1 Like
A few days ago I jumped back into my Veteran playthrough of Alpha Protocol which I started last spring or so but immediately sort of left. I´m nearly finished with it and was planning to uninstall the game afterwards, but am a little too hooked again and have realised (or rather confirmed) that I really have trouble deviating from preferred paths in my RPG playthroughs. Like the decisions I´ve made in this particular playthrough (both dialogue and skill-wise) are very much the same like in my two previous ones. There are still so many options I haven´t tried or explored and suddenly I want to try an aggressive-talking, weapons-focused, kill-all-major-characters run, or one where I explore the more technical skills.
But I think I´ll try to resist that urge and save it for when I get the GOG version of the game, since that one has achievements, so that will make it a bit more “rewarding”. Still, good thing the game is pretty short overall, making repeat playthroughs more bearable.
4 Likes
You may now address me as Rhythm God.
(This is from earlier in my playthrough, but still near the end of the game. You really have to LOCK IN and enter this flow state of rhythm, reflex, and repetition.
I’m surprised I got these three levels in one go, especially with some extra tricks like grabbing some blue rings for more points!)
I’ll upload a clip a little later of the final 2 levels that are stupidly tough and screwy with you, but I finished Thumper, all in VR because its just SO GOOD (and easier?) in there! All S Ranks because I’m a little crazy! 
9 Likes
Behold: the madness of Thumper’s ending…
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Well today Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League released its Season 2, aka the Miracle Season as in it’s a miracle that the game is continuing. It came out a while ago that a lot of Rocksteady had moved on and it was honestly doubtful that the game would continue getting support. And yet despite things stacked against it, I’d say this was the best episode so far!
The new Elseworld is frozen themed, and for the first time there’s a new weather effect: ice storms which can freeze you, before this they all used the same electric storm effect. They also staggered the Incursion missions unlocking giving them a very small story arc where you’re tracking down Mrs. Freeze and extract her and Nora. Speaking of Mrs. Freeze, her Frozone traversal making an ice path in the sky is really fun, my new favorite traversal in the game! Her design is…not great, but at least the Action Figure Toyman skin from the Battle Pass looks decent! The dumbest complaint I’ve seen about her design is that she looks like a lesbian, when in the game she is a lesbian.
This update features notable improvements. For one, unlocks that have been bugged since launch finally got fixed so they’re unlocked properly. There’s now a weapon stash to store items, I’m using it to dump the better weapons I had so they aren’t cluttering up my inventory. Green Lantern enemies were introduced in Episode 2 and were used a ton. But now in Episode 3 they are more balanced, showing up the same amount as the Batman and Flash ones. Promotinauts which upgrade grunt enemies to brutes were introduced last Episode too, but here they show up less often so they aren’t as annoying. The Out of Orbit mission was another new addition from Episode 2, but they were only playable three times. But now in Episode 3 they’re Incursions and repeatable as much as you want, with progress sped up making them go much faster than they did before.
For once the shop actually has good skins in it with skins based around Classic Arkham designs. Harley gets her Arkham Knight and Arkham City looks with a color swatch similar to her Asylum colors, Joker gets his Asylum look and tourist outfit he wore in the Knight flashback, Mrs. Freeze gets Mr. Freeze’s look from City and Origins, and Deadshot gets the look from City and Origins. I was honestly surprised Rocksteady brought back Origins designs for this game, previously the only reference to Origins was that an item in the Bane weapon set was called “TN-1 Tolerance”. This was the first time I actually bought a cosmetic for the game:
And finally there’s the story updates. I was honestly shocked that there was a fully animated 3 minute cutscene where Mrs. Freeze gets recruited to the squad, I didn’t think they would’ve been able to finish any other cutscenes for the game. And after recruiting Mrs. Freeze we fight against Brainiac #4 who uses elements from both the Flash and the Superman boss fights in a sort of hybrid fight. And then after the Brainiac fight we’re able to rescue The Flash from Brainiac. He’s alive, and it turns out the League weren’t permanently killed off in the main game! Who could have seen that coming!?
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I just finished playing the Providence Trilogy. This time I decided to create some restrictions for myself.
- Play on Master (Only played around with it before)
- Only walking
- Distraction are okay, clearing rooms by throwing stuff is not.
- No Silly kills
- Disguises are welcome (expect silly ones like Flamingo)
- Only Absolution suit / Signature Suit / Winter Suit / Unique story related suit or Tactical Turtle neck for Colorado.
- Pistol either Silverballer or ICA Black Lilly (I went with Black Lilly for all missions)
- Only SA ratings (I never tried anything else)
- Only default starting location.
- this is the most important one, no fucking rubber ducks.
I wanted to try a recreate a feeling playing past titles, by handcuffing myself. Not to intentionally make it harder, but to make a more “believable” world, where I just can’t clear a room by throwing the same hammer 47 times. To begin with Master difficulty did feel tedious and sluggish. Especially when it came to the Paris level ‘Show Stopper’. However moving past this level and onto Sapienza things began to click into place. By restricting myself I began to feel a greater connection to the game, I wasn’t bothered by falling back on old tactics. Like throwing stuff around until I got the right NPC to move where I wanted them. Some rooms and routs just weren’t variable to achieve my goal. So I had to try something else, by finding the path of least resistance.
To quote Arthur Edwards, “Freedom form choice is also freedom, everything is so much simpler in black and white”
The restrictions I posed on myself, had exactly the outcome I hoped for. The trilogy grew on me, before it never really clicked like C47, SA and CA did for me. It was good, yet there where to many things that bothered me for the trilogy to really hit the high notes I hoped for. Does it rival past games? no. Has it come closer? yes, diffidently. It felt much more like the games I feel in love with 20+ years ago.
The Story is good enough for what it is. It’s held up by some outstanding characters, Grey (H16 & H2 especially), Arthur Edwards (even if his voice “changed” for the worse after H16), Diana had more skin in the game this time around and it was a more personal story for here. Even if I dislike her parent’s deaths being connected to 47 and Grey, it’s a bit to convenient and it makes the universe smaller. The emotional payoff is nice, even if the subplot didn’t stick the landing.
One thing that still bothers me is the conclusion of H2 Haven DLC. The last cutscene heavily implies that Grey is behind Arthurs escape or the very least hiding something from 47. This scene is never picked up on again in H3.
Replaying the trilogy also gave me the time to reflect on the levels.
I’ll only highlight a few
The good levels
-
Whittleton Creek
Is in many ways perfect, the level isn’t that large, still a big level with a lot of exploration. But it feels more contained and focused in what I wants to be. The target in form of Janus is prefect, it being a very personal contract and removing one of 47 tormentors gave me a great feeling of pathos. -
Berlin
This is the level I been wanting since H16. A level where 47 is the “prey”. Stalking and killing 1 short of a dozen ICA operatives. It’s set at night, it’s rough, targets can for once fight back. Levels like Temple City Ambush from H2SA, Hunter and Hunted from Contracts and Hunter and Hunted from Absolution have always been some of my favourite missions and I love when the premise of the game is turned upside down. Driving home the point that 47 is the Apex Predator and even when cornered his still the most dangerous man in the room.
The Ones I hate to play
-
The Show Stopper (Paris)
Is absolutely the level I despise the most. I hate the level structure and how it’s put together. Even if Novikov and Margolish are some of the most intriguing targets and the hole IAGO subplot is one of the more interesting plots in the game. -
Bangkok
Is just bland, the hotel doesn’t really get to shine, it’s both from the overall level design and one of the wings are completely restricted. There is no real freedom to roam around the hotel and relive the Hotel fantasy from C47 and Contracts. Making it the biggest disappointment in terms of levels.
In a period of my life, were my personal time is greatly diminished by a soon to be 1 year old, work, house renovations, garden work, workouts and normal family life. It’s been an awesome journey replaying the trilogy for the last couple of months.
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I realized IO wasn’t as good as it used to be when there was a Hotel Mission in a Hitman game that sucks.
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I have no doubts that they are able to create a hotel level that equals Tradition of the Trade. When it comes to level design IO are among the best in the business. That said Bangkok is awful.
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