Requiescat in pace

It took me a long time to finally experience the Ezio trilogy and I'm glad I did. The hookblade is a ton of fun to use and Constinople is a cool place to explore. Also the Assassin Brotherhood system from the last game is fleshed out immensely making as there is more variety in the mission types for recruiting them as well as giving unique missions to the recruits who become master assassins which makes the process a lot more rewarding. I would've rated this game a tad lower since there were far less side missions than Brotherhood as well as far less interesting side characters than the previous Ezio games but with the ending being so well written and emotionally fulfilling I mostly just reflected on the wild journey these games took me on as Ezio and Altair's storylines wrapped up.

A lot more streamlined with the ideas that Assassin's Creed 2 introduced even though it did feel like we were just going over the same motions again. The story has great spectacle and production value but it didn't feel as engaging as 2's story was especially with how at least on Ezio's side, how abrupt it ends. The feeling of being a master assassin though feels executed in a satisfying way here with the authority Ezio commands in the story as well as the recruitment mechanics. There's a ton to do in this game to net full completion but I really only went so far to just get the Romulus armor. Speaking of, the linear levels in these games are pretty enjoyable, they remind me a lot of the Prince of Persia games I enjoyed.

I did encounter a lot of bugs and exploits sadly that still haven't been patched to this day Ubisoft really needs to update this game to work more naturally on modern hardware.'

Wow this game was a massive step up to the first AC. A lot more fluid wirh much better pacing and flow and carried by a much more compelling protagonist and a more expansive world to explore. Renaissance Italy is utilised amazingly in this game with both how the setting is used as well as the integration of famous historical figures from that period especially Leonardo Da Vinci being your gadget guy. This is only the first game in Ezio's trilogy and I've already been impressed by his charm and charisma as the protagonist. This game is dated in a sense that a ton of open worlds copied its formula so it's not as awe inspiring to me compared to when people first played this in 2009. I was also let down with how boring the completion rewards are besides Altair's armor and sword. A cape that makes you notorious and a video of two naked people running don't do it for me lol.

The general gameplay of it is decent with the iconic parkour mechanics and the simple but fun combat. While the story has some pretty strong dialogue, it isn't very satisfying on it's own and feels too abrupt. The mission structure with how side quests work also can get very repetitive and even frustrating with how broken or unforgiving the AI can be sometimes. I do love the architectural design of the levels especially as someone of Middle Eastern descent. Overall it's not a bad start for the series but it does feel very primitive these days.

I've been looking for an RPG/dungeon crawler that has dungeons as creative with overworld powers and puzzles as Golden Sun was for a while. It doesn't exactly scratch my GS itch but I'm still proud to say that I had a blast with this game. Simple but expansive battle system, creative puzzles keeping the dungeons fresh and a really fun story kept me hooked for the 50 or so hours I was playing this. Although it did drag at points with overstimulating boss fights and enemy encounters as well as the game kind of feeling monotonous and repetitive at points. Regardless those times of frustration didn't detract from the fantastic time I had with it. Looking forward to trying the DLC out soon