Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:chuappgame, author: Morgana

I enjoyed the story of Basim, thank you for taking me to the original Alamut.

There is no spoiler in this article, please feel free to read it. )

Time can change many things. I remember when the Assassin Creed was first presented to players 16 years ago, people were stunned-amazed by its huge open maps, quaint Arab-style cities, and novel ways of sneaking around. and modern plots that have never been leaked before the release. Of course, on the other hand, everyone is surprised by the content of the game. In this game, there are basically no details that should be found in the sand table game in the modern sense, what branch lines, collection and exploration, almost all zero, basically only a few leading battles connected by stories. To put it bluntly, it is both amazing and poor.

Needless to say, as we all know, the series of "Assassin's Creed" became rich and even bloated and so "liver" that many people missed the original "Assassin's Creed". It's because of human nature, and it's not surprising. So, looking around, when Ubisoft announced the 13th major work in the series, "Assassin's Creed: illusion" (Assassin's Creed: Mirage) last fall, "the original Heart of the return Series" became the promotional theme. A year later, on October 5, tomorrow, the latest series of the Assassin's Creed will officially arrive, exactly three years after the last major work, the Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls.

In 2007, the first generation of the Assassin Creed was relatively simple and simple.

In 2014, "Assassin's Creed: the Great Revolution", the pinnacle of opening the treasure chest. In the past three years, our discussion about where the open world games are going has never stopped. Even earlier, Toule had keenly asked the question when evaluating the Assassin's Creed: the Origin: is it necessary for the open world map to be so big?

Compared with the verbal discussion a few years ago, some games that have been released now really try to return to the level system, or choose semi-open maps. In short, they are not so big, so full, and players are not so tired. In this way, the Assassin's Creed: illusion comes at the right time. Does it mean that the trend in the industry is about to change?

It does remind me of the early days of the Assassin's Creed, and even the tone is so similar to Ayu must be exploring something new, or at least changing the taste.

According to the media, "Assassin's Creed: illusion" was originally planned as a DLC or expansion film of "Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls," but later became an independent production, so it is inextricably linked to "Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls." The new story takes place decades ago in "Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls," and the protagonist is Basham, the villain in "Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls." he is actually the biggest new villain in the series (at least for now). He is one of the longest-lived people in the series by making his own way from ancient to modern timeline. Therefore, the Assassin's Creed: illusion itself is a Biography of Basham, which will start in the 9th century in the Middle East and describe the growth path of the invisible.

This is undoubtedly reminiscent of the early days of the Assassin's Creed and its protagonist Artel-the story also takes place in the Middle East, but hundreds of years later than in Basham's time, during the third Crusade of the 12th century. This is an ingenious opportunity to connect the series with the latest work through a similar story background. Therefore, from the day of its release, this work has clearly expressed its intention to return to the origin of the series in terms of plot and play-"heartfelt respect to the legendary homeland that laid the foundation of the creed of the assassin organization."

Assassin master Roxanne led Basim to join the Invisible. I have no doubt that he can do this. Before the game was officially released, Ubisoft invited domestic media such as Toule to Shanghai to try out the "Assassin Creed: illusion" a few hours in advance, and the game it saw at that time convinced people that it really wanted to return to the early style of the series. Now that I have played the official version a few days ahead of time, I can say that it has fulfilled its promise and paid homage to the early style of the series. More specifically, it has indeed become more "retro" and "assassin".

The retro aspect is easy to understand. The first stories take place in Akkar, Damascus and Jerusalem, and players visit Anbar and Baghdad in what is now the Republic of Iraq, as well as Alamut, a shrine organized by assassins, now belonging to Iran. What remains unchanged is the long yellow sand and the oasis cities dotted with it. In short, walking through this world, every place is easy to touch the scene, reminiscent of similar scenes in the early days of the Assassin Creed-a better version, of course.

Developer reference materials, a good restoration of the historical style here. Walking in Baghdad in the 9th century is like entering the classical world of "1001 Nights". The jade belt-like Tigris River flows slowly from the edge of the city, and the round city of Baghdad, the seat of the Abbasid dynasty, which was built in the 8th century, stands in the center of the city. Arab jujube trees grow all over the streets, the roads are lined with domed arcades, and bustling people pass by shops and bazaars. Here you will also visit places of interest such as mosques, the Palace of Wisdom and the Observatory, which has always been one of the most enjoyable parts of the series of games.

The first generation of the Assassin's Creed arrived in Damascus

The Assassin's Creed: illusion, outside Baghdad

Round City under High Wall Sanitation

The streets of the Round City

Sandstorm effects can be turned on in the Baghdad bazaar game, which helps players to be more immersed in the environment, but the number of frames is reduced after opening. The point is, I don't really like the dirty effect, but I prefer the feeling of relative purity of blue sky and white clouds. This coincides with the painting style of the early days of the Assassin's Creed. In fact, you can open the original filter of the Assassin's Creed in the graphics settings and experience the game in the original iconic blue tone-why don't you just say you don't have feelings?

In the early days of the Assassin's Creed, the Knights Templar was entrenched in Akka. Aka shows a gray-blue hue as a whole.

After opening the original filter of the Assassin's Creed: illusion, this retro is not just a gift to the veteran players of the series. Selling feelings is not a shameful thing, but there are very few veteran players who have been playing for more than ten years. Each generation of "Assassin Creed" shoulders the important task of expanding the number of players. "Assassin Creed: illusion" is undoubtedly a link between ancient and modern times, calling back old players under the banner of retro, and at the same time, the story of this game is very easy to understand, which is beneficial for those players who come into contact with the series for the first time to enter the pit quickly.

In addition to the retro scene, the size of the game has been moderately reduced, no longer offering exaggerated maps like the Myth trilogy ("Assassin Creed: Origin", "Assassin Creed: Odyssey" and "Assassin Creed: Hall of Souls"). The only areas that can be explored in the game are cities surrounded by deserts, which are not very large. The game offers some feeder activities, such as world contract missions, short stories of Baghdad, collection and location exploration, and the search for cats with assassin badges. It is true that there are some feeder lines to fill the map, but not many, which is quite restrained compared with previous generations of games.

There is neither much nor less to explore on the map.

Meow Meow, Assassin Meow all in all, the scale of the game seems to be back to that of the first few generations of the series, and the main process takes only about 15 to 20 hours, compared with about 100 hours for the platinum Assassin Creed: the Hall of Souls. Downsizing is not a bad thing today, but friends who may be annoyed by the open world will breathe a sigh of relief-I think developers feel the same way.

It does subtract, and it picks up some of the things discarded in the previous work in the more "Assassin" section, and we know in advance that the Assassin Creed: illusion will not be a game like the Myth trilogy. Not only will there be no scary map size, but the system itself will subtract, which is intuitively reflected in the skill tree.

If you remember the skill trees of the Myth trilogy and their more complex branches in DLC, the skill interface of Assassin's Creed: illusion can only be described as "streamlined". The skill tree has three routes, corresponding to different styles of action, but it's not complicated and you can almost see it to the end at a glance. At the same time, characters do not have the concept of RPG hierarchy. Character growth is not based on the acquisition of empirical values, but on the overall strength of the invisible rank unlocked by key story nodes, and the acquisition of new skills through the improvement of the invisible rank. In addition, armor, clothing and weapons can be unlocked in the process of exploring the city and completing the main story.

This is, of course, a big step back from the Myth trilogy, but considering the size of the game and the way of thinking about the return, these changes seem reasonable.

Compared with the general skill tree of integrated circuits in the past, it is now clear that a lot of battles have been identified as Basham's last resort. Like some of the protagonists in the previous series, Basham is designed with main and second-hand weapons (such as the main hand holding the sword and the second-hand dagger), but the character itself is very "fragile", if you face the enemy head-on, especially when there are too many people, it is not easy to win. Through task requirements and game mechanisms, game designers encourage you to keep a low profile, or even to hide in a crowd through a danger zone. These are common ideas in the first few generations of the series, but they are very different from the Myth trilogy, which provides completely RPG-style character growth, explosive weapon selection and evolution. There is also a combat experience that is unparalleled or close to the "soul" system (depending on the difficulty you choose).

The character interface is not fundamentally different from the past, and weapons are no longer as varied and can be picked up anywhere as in the Myth trilogy, and basically you have only a few fixed major weapons available. The design of the weapon itself has also been subtracted, and a dazzling array of entries, damage, and attributes are missing. A weapon is only composed of basic and special attributes, and the basic attributes can be upgraded, that's all.

For example, the player's novice sword, in addition to the base damage, the special attribute is to successfully parry and bring a huge bonus to the next attack.

Therefore, after a battle, it is not a scene that players are already familiar with, such as jumping randomly and picking up a bunch of weapons and props, but now to fight monsters is to fight monsters, and at most scrape some rubbish from the enemy to sell the store. This is really retro.

Looking for materials, upgrading basic attributes and retro thinking, the game provides six stealth tools-torches, arrow blows, traps, flying knives, smoke bombs and noise bombs, all of which are particularly familiar to old players. I remember, in the past games, there is no one-time stealth tool provided so completely. You can-or must-rely on these tools to assassinate enemies as much as possible through most missions (continuous assassinations after skill upgrades). Some tasks will explicitly require you to bribe guards or bribe businessmen to enter certain areas with tokens (obtained through contractual tasks). If you break in, you will find that the door is closed and you are just doing useless work. This ensures that you actually have only the only game style to choose from at the design level.

Similarly, along with the stealth route, many of the mechanisms seen in previous generations of the series have been brought back. For example, pickpocketing can collect unique items (keys, task items, money, materials, etc.) from NPC. For example, notoriety and wanted systems, if you are found stealing on the street or being caught in the street, someone will call the guards to hunt you down. Naturally, there are ways for you to clean up your bad names and hide in broad daylight.

More importantly, of course, when I go back to the place on the map where I had fought before, I will find that the enemy who has been cleaned up has not been reborn-rest assured, this is not a "brush" game.

Stealth tools can still be enhanced.

A contract task, the client will ask Basham himself not to get hurt. It can now be concluded that in the name of return, the Assassin Creed: illusion brings back a lot of things that make old players feel cordial, sneaking, parkour, more sophisticated weapons and battles, and appropriately reduced size so that people can enter the pit comfortably without feeling too tired. That's the bright side. At the same time, it must also be noted that there is no breakthrough design on the basis of bringing back many classic games, and it is more like the concentrated summary and nostalgia of the good things in the old series. How to evaluate the Assassin's Creed: illusion depends on your mindset in the face of the game-the old player may be filled with tears, and the average passer-by may feel fresh and relaxed, after all, for a change and keep his liver.

For more demanding people, the game does not bring many surprises, of course, surprise is not its mission, the slogan of the game is not innovation in the first place. It was rumored that while the Assassin Creed: illusion was being developed, Ubisoft was still making a remake of the first version of the Assassin Creed. The news was later denied, and it is not known whether the news was released or not, but judging from the response, in the era when fried cold rice was popular, people were still happy to see the initial reproduction. If it is not remade, the Assassin's Creed: illusion is a good substitute meal, which is equivalent to "reproducing the original generation in disguise". If the "Assassin Creed: illusion" is positioned in this way, it can be said that the final effect is good.

If you can speak, don't do it.

If you can use a knife, don't use a sword.

The idea of "don't fight if you can spend money" also leads to a long but often mentioned topic: what game did the original Assassin Creed want to make?

The concept of stealth was heavily mentioned in the promotion of the Assassin's Creed in the early days, when sneak games were still a popular branch of action games, and the trailer made Artel hide in the crowd looked very cool. the parkour demonstration is also quite smooth. But it is a pity that these things have not been excavated more deeply so far, and the sneaking has later become unparalleled, and it is easier for players to eat more easily when they run cool and real. Many people are attracted by the sneaking concept to play "Assassin Creed", only to find that this is not the case, so with the return of the "Assassin Creed: Phantom", will the series continue to dig in this direction?

In the early days, because of the emphasis on stealth, it was difficult to escape after the assassination. yes, will you continue to dig this way of thinking? My personal feeling is, it's hard to say.

Although the Assassin's Creed: illusion has brought back a lot of familiar things in the name of return, I'm not sure what the future series will be like.

In part, this is because the Assassin's Creed: illusion may not be the main line of the original plan. As I mentioned at the beginning, the Assassin's Creed: illusion could have been a derivative of the Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls, but it became a new, separate game. It's not a full-price game (the standard version of PS5 is usually priced at $69.99, and the Assassin's Creed: fantasy is priced at $49.99). It's not a heavyweight work dominated by experienced studios like Ubisoft Montreal or Ubisoft Quebec (the main developer studio is Ubisoft Bordeaux). Another indicator is that Basham, the protagonist of this film, is a villain from the perspective of the whole series, and the villain has only been tried in the derivative game "Assassin's Creed: mutiny" before. All these signs seem to mean that the Assassin's Creed: illusion is more like an outspread with a good idea to support the schedule, and is unlikely to be the main axis of the series.

Yes, the future... The scale of "Assassin's Creed: illusion" is undoubtedly eye-catching to players suffering from open-world games, but from the developer's point of view, is such a game scalable and in line with the concept of "service-oriented games"? can it be updated continuously for two or three years like the Assassin's Creed: the Hall of Souls, attracting new players? From a cost point of view, this is not necessarily a good choice. Now that the Myth trilogy is over, does Ubisoft need to start a new trilogy? Would the larger new "Assassin Creed", which is still slightly adjusted on RPG's path, be more attractive?

In short, I don't know whether the Assassin's Creed: illusion is a condiment to fill the gap in the masterpiece, or a new direction for the series. All I can say is that now I enjoy the story of Basim, thank you for taking me to the original Alamut.

At this time, Alamut is still under construction (the game evaluation code is provided by the publisher Ubisoft. )

Advantages

+ various early designs of the regression series

+ reduce the scale, nourish the liver and protect the liver

+ veteran players are full of feelings.

+ Assassin cat praise!

Shortcoming

− doesn't have many new ideas in playing.

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