Early Thoughts/Impressions (spoilers? ish?)

[AlphaVictorKilo]

I have the game on ubisoft, so not through steam, so don't take the "doesn't have game" thing seriously

I have 16 hours in the game right now and here are my visceral thoughts and impressions

Yasuke's introduction is way better than Naoe's, and I think it's partly due to the fact that we have Naoe, the effective main character, have their story and "hook" only in flashbacks, they should've had us lead UP to Oda's invasion and then start the game proper, rather than start at the invasion without context for anything. Let us have our Ezio moments. And yes, a lot of Yasuke's story is told in flashbacks, but then, we already know the context, we aren't learning new information necessarily about the characters involved. Just...adding to what is there, if that makes sense?

The music...feels very out of place. It's trying to be this hip-hop classical japanese music and it just feels weird and discordant. Honestly, should've kept it classical japanese

The weather effects are some of the best I've seen, from the sound mixing, to what I see on screen, the particle effects etc

Naoe is...one note. Revenge! yay...we totally haven't done that before...and the english voice acting is extraordinarily inconsistent. From "this is amazing" to "I can't believe they greenlit this reading"

From playstyle perspective, I really like the two, the nimble ninja versus the samurai tank. They have their playstyles and they go beyond just simply "this guy hits hard and this girl hides well"

[DVerde]

Naoe's "flashbacks" are part of her coming to terms with the outcome of the invasion. It would have been weird, and incredibly boring, to have a bunch of short episodes, with zero skills, be part of the already very long prologue.

I find the tonal shift of the music weirdly hilarious.

Sayigg Naoe is just one note means you haven't unlocked yasuke's route, because she's definitely more note than that as the story progresses. But, you know, Revenge basically drove every AC protagonist through the first quarter of the game. Origins? Bayek wanted to avenge his son, extra conspiracy happens later. Alexios/Kassandra? Dad threw me off a cliff, etc. So, I wouldn't really call that a fair comparison.

[AlphaVictorKilo]

[quote=DVerde;591766382100697301}
Sayigg Naoe is just one note means you haven't unlocked yasuke's route, because she's definitely more note than that as the story progresses. But, you know, Revenge basically drove every AC protagonist through the first quarter of the game. Origins? Bayek wanted to avenge his son, extra conspiracy happens later. Alexios/Kassandra? Dad threw me off a cliff, etc. So, I wouldn't really call that a fair comparison. [/quote]

"Naoe is...one note. Revenge! yay...we totally haven't done that before..." etc

I address that.

I like Yasuke better simply because it isn't a revenge only plotline. Granted I'm only an hour in after unlocking Yasuke, but boy is he a breath of fresh air. And yes, I know about Ezio, yes I know about Connor, etc...but look at Edward Kenway, one of the greatest AC characters to stand alongside Ezio? He didn't have revenge on his mind, just a desire to understand the creed, and as the story developed, a desire to embrace it. I'm not far in the story but something tells me Yasuke is more Edward than he is Ezio, and Naoe...I just don't like the way she is written, I really don't. It's a "everyone in my way dies" sort of story and yes, a few get spared, but only by choice or through story necessity and...bleh

That being said, a highlight of my playthrough thus far was the tea ceremony for Naoe, that was a lot of fun, and definitely tried to be "different" in the AC formula and I think for the most part, it succeeded

In contrast though, and perhaps I'm slightly biased due to the way it's presented, I appreciated Yasuke's flashback's much more considering we already saw so much "from the other side" as it were

I guess what I'm trying to say is that the intro to this game is heavily flawed right now and I fear it may turn off a lot of people

[DVerde]

"Everyone in my way dies"

Uh, no? Have you not recruited any allies, or even done any of the side quests that actually flesh out her character? You can literally even choose the dialogue option to spare Wakasa, albeit her anger causes her to pull the trigger anyhow. THat's the point of an ass ton of her characterization. It's not revenge that drives her, but anger, and inability to resolve those underlying issues. She;'s not some die hard murder machine.

Did you not even watch the Kujikiri episodes?

[katzenkrimis]

Naoe's speed is second to none.

This is the first game that you'll play where you don't need a speed boost or a horse.

I haven't called my horse once because she runs so fast.

She's a speed demon.

[AlphaVictorKilo]

Originally posted by DVerde:

"Everyone in my way dies"

Uh, no? Have you not recruited any allies, or even done any of the side quests that actually flesh out her character? You can literally even choose the dialogue option to spare Wakasa, albeit her anger causes her to pull the trigger anyhow. THat's the point of an ass ton of her characterization. It's not revenge that drives her, but anger, and inability to resolve those underlying issues. She;'s not some die hard murder machine.

Did you not even watch the Kujikiri episodes?

Yes, yes I have played all of that

I actually ended up killing Wakasa, and I honestly felt bad, because not only was I like "oh this mission's writing was good enough that I got duped" but also "damn, I got a bad person but not THE bad person"

But yes, the kuri-kiji episodes with her father? I seriously wished we had started WITH that, instead of starting naoe's journey with Iga's fall and then seeing all the backstory later one

[☆ Ag1ad ☆]

Originally posted by AlphaVictorKilo:

I have the game on ubisoft, so not through steam, so don't take the "doesn't have game" thing seriously

I have 16 hours in the game right now and here are my visceral thoughts and impressions

Yasuke's introduction is way better than Naoe's, and I think it's partly due to the fact that we have Naoe, the effective main character, have their story and "hook" only in flashbacks, they should've had us lead UP to Oda's invasion and then start the game proper, rather than start at the invasion without context for anything. Let us have our Ezio moments. And yes, a lot of Yasuke's story is told in flashbacks, but then, we already know the context, we aren't learning new information necessarily about the characters involved. Just...adding to what is there, if that makes sense?

The music...feels very out of place. It's trying to be this hip-hop classical japanese music and it just feels weird and discordant. Honestly, should've kept it classical japanese

The weather effects are some of the best I've seen, from the sound mixing, to what I see on screen, the particle effects etc

Naoe is...one note. Revenge! yay...we totally haven't done that before...and the english voice acting is extraordinarily inconsistent. From "this is amazing" to "I can't believe they greenlit this reading"

From playstyle perspective, I really like the two, the nimble ninja versus the samurai tank. They have their playstyles and they go beyond just simply "this guy hits hard and this girl hides well"

I really liked the music during the prologue standoff (reminded me of some weird Western music playing ready for actually laughing through the scene out even though it was a sad scene to go through) between Naoe's father and those "templars" who came for the box.

Most of the AC games' titles started with a revenge storyline and build up from there.