The Decline and Fall of Assassin’s Creed

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This past week, we posted up our review of the recently released Assassin's Creed Odyssey! While we really enjoyed the game, there were some issues, but chief among them was the fact that while it may have been a great game, it was not even close to being a true-to-form Assassin's Creed experience. So I thought it would be interesting to go back and take a look at the progression of these games to lead to the departure of form that we see not only in the recently released Odyssey, but in the previous installment as well: Origins.

The first Assassin's Creed game was released way back in 2007, the game followed a guy named Desmond Miles who was reliving the memories of one of his ancestors in a redemption story of the assassin Altair Ibn La'Ahad. The game took place in the Holy Land during the Second Crusade. In this game, they established the staples of this franchise: lots of free running across rooftops, scaling large buildings, stealth assassinations with the hidden blade, and a counter-attack based combat system. Over the next several years we got to see the franchise grow and expand as they took on different time periods and introduced new Assasins. In Renaissance Italy, we met Ezio Auditore di Firenze who would be a protagonist for three games. In the games, Ezio traveled all over Italy and finally ended up in Turkey during the height of the Ottoman empire to find out the secrets of his predecessor, Altair. During the time of the American War of Independence, we got to meet Connor Kenway, a half Welsh, half Native Assassin hunting for revenge, and ultimately the decline of these games began here.

Assassin's Creed III is to date probably this franchise's most publicized entry. Promotions were everywhere as the franchise was brought to the literal defining moment of American History, and with as much time was spent in making Connor as authentic as possible, the hype behind this game was immense. However, Assassin's Creed III was met with a mixed response. While the game certainly was praised for its gameplay mechanics, it was heavily criticized for its narrative and portrayal of the protagonist. This would lead to a bit of course correction for the next game of the franchize.

One of the most popular aspects of Assassin's Creed III was a newly introduced Naval Combat system. Connor would occasionally captain a personal vessel of his own. With this in mind, the next Assassin's Creed game was one that would go all in on this mechanic as the driving force of the game. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is to date probably the best-received game in franchise history. Investing in the naval combat paid off, and the choice setting of the Carribean during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy was a fantastic choice. The story of the game was fantastic as well, sporting probably the most popular of the protagonists of any of the games, Edward Kenway. Sailing around the Carribean and being a Pirate was a dream come true for most, however, there was a big issue. It was not really an Assassin's Creed game, and in all honesty, the main character is only an Assassin for like 10 seconds at the end of the game. This was the first sign of the true start of the decline of the franchise.

With the hype of Assassin's Creed being back up due to the wild popularity of the Black Flag, Ubisoft decided to push Assassin's Creed the way most companies try to push their triple-A titles, push quantity over quality and so they tried to push out 2 games at the same time, one for the next generation consoles (PS3 and XBox 360) and one for the, at the time, recently released generation now consoles (PS4 and XBox One). The next-gen consoles would receive Assassin's Creed: Rogue which was the story of an Assassin gone Templar, and the gameplay was essentially just a port of Black Flag in the far less colorful setting of British Columbia during the Seven Years War, and for the generation now we got Assassin's Creed Unity which was to be set during the French Revolution (a time period that I had been advocating for years prior to this game's release).

Assassin's Creed Unity promised to be a return to form for the franchise. The cinematic trailer was very reminiscent of the old trailers for the Ezio Games as we saw our new protagonist running along the rooftops of Paris, following the massive mob of Sans-Culottes as they storm the Bastille. The game even teased the ability to invite friends along to assist on missions and explore Paris together. With the credibility of the franchise back to top form, the anticipation for the game was very high.

Now ultimately, Unity just didn't live up to any of the expectations. The game was released before it had been properly tested for bugs, and so players all over had horrifying glitches during the game. Even more than that, however, the story was terrible. The game's protagonist, Arno Dorian, is a pale imitation of Ezio from previous Assassin games, and the plot felt like a cheap knock-off of an Alexandre Dumas book, most notably: The Count of Monte Cristo. In  addition, the game's story had little to nothing to do with the events going on at the time, something that previous games in the franchise made sure to put focus on (in the Ezio games you had the rise and fall of the Borgias, Connor was instrumental to the efforts in the American War of Independence, Edward was a silent partner at Nassau and was an instrumental figure in the Golden Age of Piracy that brought the big names together). The game lacked appearances from substantial people of the time and some of the people that do make it in the game have such a limited part for the very grand role they provided to the Revolution. Worst of all however was the blatant slap in the face to the French by having all the characters voice by British people, an even larger slight considering that while exploring Paris all the people around are speaking in perfect Parisian Dialect French, only to be interrupted by a BBC program whenever one of them talks to you (talk about immersion destruction).

At the end of the day, all those negative things compounded snuffed out the positive points of the game, like a truly enjoyable co-op based around ACTUAL events of the Revolution, or the smoothest free running of the games, and the massive crowds that you can literally disappear into upon assassinating people. What's sad is that the things the game does right, it does exceedingly well and after playing Odyssey and experiencing its hollow RPG mechanic, it's an even bigger shame because this game could have actually been a true RPG with a meld between single player and multiplayer. It could have been a game where you can play the main story either by yourself or invite others and invest skill points in your character to make them unique in a squad of assassins. They could have also allowed you to choose the origin of your Assassin as both Women AND  Persons of Color were instrumental in the French Revolution. Most importantly though, it FEELS like an Assassin's Creed game. The Urban setting of Paris is perfect for free running, and with buildings like the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Toulerie Palace, there are plenty of large buildings to scale for Viewpoints. The game promotes stealthiness, and while you can take on droves of enemies, the range and damage of rifles and pistols make doing this far more of a challenge than before. Sadly this all doesn't count for much as the thing that sells a game like this are the very things that game failed to provide: a captivating narrative, an enjoyable protagonist, and world immersion. So when Ubisoft saw the numbers for this game it was all but dead.

Assassin's Creed would release one more game prior to Origins, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which took place in Victorian London. Despite the intrigue behind the setting, people didn't pick up the game. While those who played the game did enjoy the game, lauding it for its story and two main characters, the failure of Unity had destroyed most people's faith in the franchise, so it was time to hit the reset button. They brought back the team who did Black Flag and gave them a new project, set in Ptolemaic Egypt. They continued in the same vein of Black Flag in making a game that was Assassin's Creed in name only, and while the pay off certainly did come through as Origins was well received and sold very well, the death notice of the Assassin's Creed template of the game was signed. While the franchise may be alive and well, Assassin's Creed will never truly be Assassin's Creed again.

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we hope you enjoyed and we’ll see you again soon

Farewell to a Friend: Tribute to Stan Lee

Welcome Back to Another edition of Comic Relief! Where we talk about all that is going on in the world of nerd!

Sadly, that world is one in mourning as we grieve the passing of one of, if not the most iconic name in the industry. Stan Lee, the prolific co-founder of Marvel comics, passed away today at the age of 95. If you have been following this page for a while, one of the first pieces I wrote was on Stan: The Man. It talked not only on his legacy of characters he bequeathed to comics but his stand against censorship from the CCA (Comic Code Authority). We have truly lost a great man today, however, I feel that with as much sadness as there is in the world, sadness would be the last thing he would have wanted. Instead, I propose we take a moment to celebrate the life he lived, and the gifts he gave to us in his stories.

If you were looking to know Stan, I feel that there is little else that needs to be known other than that even in fading health, in the wake of losing his wife Joan, he still dedicated himself to being there for his fans. Even with his poor health, Stan made it out to conventions all over the country, maintained a fairly heavy social media presence, and made sure to let us fans know that as much as we appreciated him for the characters and worlds he gave us, he appreciated us just the same. Normally I wouldn't exactly feel comfortable calling someone I met for only a brief few seconds by there first name, but just like a certain wall-crawler we all know and love, Stan Lee was your friendly neighborhood kind of guy, and I believe he would be friends with everyone. In fact, if you look at his work in the industry, I feel it only reinforces that. To Stan Lee, there was no such thing as a stranger or an outcast, only a potential friend to make.

During times of adversity, Stan Lee used comics to fight institutions of hatred and bigotry. Titles like X men and Black Panther tackled civil rights issues in complex and nuanced ways that allowed people to appreciate people for more than the color of their skin, but their actions. Characters like Peter Parker shine a bit of Stan through as a person that wants to see the best in everyone and tries to do right for others more than himself. Stan Lee was about telling human stories through fantasy and sci-fi, so, to him, a person's sex, ethnicity, beliefs, it didn't matter, what mattered was how a character overcame adversity, in whatever form it may have come.

Thank you, Stan Lee, for the gifts you gave us: every character and every issue. While it is sad that you are no longer with us and can no longer grace us with more brilliant cameos, the ride couldn't last forever, and so on behalf of the entire world of nerd: Thank you for it all, it's been a blast! I am not a particularly religious or spiritual person, but I do hope that you are with your wife and are watching over us. Excelsior!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! we will see you again soon!

A Much Needed Apology to a Great Series: 'Titans' Review

Welcome Back to Another Edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of Nerd!

Today marks the day of the 5th episode of the DC streaming service exclusive show, Titans. With the first being comprised of 11 episodes, we have finally reached the midway point of the season and so I feel like I can give an official verdict on the show overall as a whole. The first thing I want to say is that I owe an apology to this show. When those set photos and that first trailer came out, I was objectively against this series. I wanted it to fail because I refused to see how anything about this show could be good. While the first episode certainly didn't quell all my fears about this show, the increased quality of writing and acting throughout each episode has more than earned its due, so before anything else, Titans I am sorry for misjudging you, I can't promise I won't continue to evaluate how I think something is going to turn out based off of what I am seeing, but I have to admit you have certainly proven exception to the rule. Without further ado, let's talk Titans, the best live action, Superhero-Team Show!

The Good

So let's talk about all the good in the show. The most obvious is the writing, having comic legend Geoff Johns write the screenplay for this show so well proves two MAJOR things: 1) comic writers should be the people writing any comic adaptation, film or tv, and 2) that investing in high budget Super Hero TV shows is the best way to do justice for your characters while establishing a connected universe. In this first half of the season of Titans Johns effectively establishes an overarching universe far more successfully than ANY of the DC films have. The reason it has been so effective is due to the episodic nature of a comic book that lends itself perfectly to the TV format. One season of a show can effectively set up more than 4 movies can and they can do it in far less time! 

Moving onto the next good thing is the cast. By this point in the show, every character is shining. Some shine brighter than others, Dick and Gar are easily my two favorites of the show, there is no member of the cast that still feels awkward in their respective roles. While these characters are not exact adaptations from the pages, the spirit is there and they become more like their comic book selves each episode. What's more is that these characters are at their best when they are together (which is ironically the name of the 5th episode) as you see both their personalities as characters and fighters play off one another. I am very much looking forward to all the transitions that will be made for these characters over the course of the second half of this season, in particular, a certain boy wonder turning into Nightwing. 

The Bad

While this show has very much surprised and impressed me, it's not without its flaws. However, the two biggest ones I feel are somewhat connected. The first of these issues is the very clear cheap production budget. It is no mystery that the biggest thing that turned everyone against the show in the first place is the poor character designs shown from st photos and character posters, and sadly this cheap aesthetic is almost a universal constant. With few exceptions, nothing really looks cinematic in quality and this really hurts the series as I am actively paying 5.99 a month for this subscription service. I would hope to see costumes and action on par with the Netflix Daredevil series if it feels like I am the one picking up the tab actively. Which leads to my next point, the forced use of gore during the fight sequences.

If there is one bad trait this show inherited from the DCEU it's being edgy for edgy's sake, and there is no better example of this than the over the top gore effects in a lot of the fights, especially in the first 2 or 3 episodes. Goreing and maiming people should not be the objective of portraying these characters. While the Titans books of the past certainly dealt with a lot of drama and teenage angst, brutalizing a man's genitals with garden sheers and slicing out the back of people's knees, isn't exactly the repertoire of these characters. While I am fine with some of these being used as shock value to show, in particular, Dick Grayson's struggle with his own personal demons that will lead to the transition of Nightwing. Moments like that are hindered when you watch a fight scene that shows the character years before, being less brutal for sure, but he still appears to be murdering people (it just doesn't seem to bother him as much) because blood is flying in every damn direction the moment he hits a thug with his bo staff. This is not conducive to the story being told and actively hurts it! Hopefully, both of these problems will be resolved by the next season as the show has already been approved for a second and third season. The show can only become better if they continue down the path that they are in, and so long as these characters continue to develop and don't remain stagnant. 

All in all, Titans is a great show, at the end of every episode I have been excited to watch more and I patiently endure my week wait for the next episode to drop. I would give Titans a solid 8.5 out of 10 and my official backing for anyone on the fence to go on ahead and binge the episodes they have. Episode 5 of the show, Together, was released this morning and episode 6, Jason Todd, will be released next Friday. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we will see you again soon! 

An Odyssey Through the Aegean: Review for 'Asssassin's Creed Odyssey'

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! 

I apologize for my hiatus, it's been far too long and that's unacceptable, however, it's not without reason. The next piece I wanted to deliver to you was a review of the recently released: Assassin's Creed Odyssey. This has been a game I have been anxiously awaiting as I have always dreamed of an open world, sandbox set in the Peloponnesian era of ancient Greece. With the amazing job that Ubisoft did in Assassin's Creed Origins, completely redeeming the hatchet job of Assassin's Creed Unity, I was eager to see how they handled my favorite time period in history. Let's just say they did not disappoint. I have been gone for so long because I have been very busy exploring ancient Greece, and selling my sword to the highest bidder in the first Peloponnesian War. Without further ado, let's talk about the game, what I enjoyed, and what problems there were with the game.

The Good

Normally when I do these reviews, this would just be a long summary paragraph talking about all the things I enjoyed, but a game of this scope deserves a bit more than that. I am going to be talking about each of this game's facets it brings to the table in a great deal of depth, for quite possibly my lengthiest review I have ever done. 

The Narrative

Assassin's Creed Odyssey does something unique that it has never done before, the choice between two protagonists: Alexios or Kassandra. While I have only chosen Alexios, due to my wish to maintain posterity with a semblance of Historical Accuracy, it honestly doesn't matter who you choose as both their stories are identical. Either way, you play as the descendant of Leonidas, whose family underwent a  horrible tragedy that left you stranded on the island of Kefalonia where you were brought up to be a mercenary by trade. As an adult, you are hired by a mysterious man to kill a Spartan general of great renown, and this sets you on an Odyssey across the Aegean Sea as you become an instrumental force in the Peloponnesian war, swaying the tides of war one way or another by aiding either Athens or Sparta, while simultaneously hunting a cult bent on spreading their dominion and influence across Ancient Greece. It is a story of revenge, redemption, and family and whether it be Alexios or Kassandra, there has not been a protagonist with so much heart since Edward Kenway. While this will be a statement that will undoubtedly spur some argument due to the very positive reaction of Bayek of Siwa, the protagonist of Assassin's Creed Origins, the reason why these characters are better are due to how much better the story of this game flows. Origins, for all its strengths, had quite possibly one of the worst narrative flows of any Assassin's Creed games that left me confused for a good quarter of the game. No such issues exist with these characters as their narrative flows very well and you feel for the characters throughout every step of their journey. 

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Setting and Historical Accuracy

When I was a boy, the Iliad was my bedtime story. I was obsessed with Greek myths and by the time I was finishing grade school, I had filled myself with enough knowledge of Ancient Greece, it's culture and history, to give my teachers a run for their money, so when I got to experience this time period firsthand, I was overwhelmed with joy. Speaking to the Pythia at Delphi, standing before the statue of Zeus at Olympus, meeting the great Perikles and having discourse with some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers of any time, fighting in battles in the Peloponnesian war, it was all a dream come true. While Historical accuracy is also a problem I had with this games, those problems were mere the minor details that were things only classicists like myself would really care about. 

The Mythology

By far the BEST time I had in the game was fighting the monsters of myth and finding the legendary armor sets and weapons of the great Greek Heroes like Theseus, and Achilles. I don't think I have been happier in any game as I was when I entered the labyrinth and was led to the Minotaur by the thread that Theseus had used to ensure that he would not be lost in the labyrinth. What's more was that as a big fan of the Dark Souls series, it seems Assassin's Creed has implemented the multi-phase boss fights for these monsters of old, and what's better is that unlike the shitty 'Trial of the Gods' from Odyssey, each of the monsters are unique and have different move sets.

The Bad

That pretty much wraps it up for the good portion, now we get with the bad parts of the game. Now before I get started here, I feel I should clarify that MOST  of these are not big problems, they nitpick on minor details in the game. I want to make sure that is clear before anyone gets up in arms about anything I say here. 

The Combat

In Assassin's Creed Origins, the franchise introduced a brand new fighting mechanic modeled heavily after the Dark Souls series. This has become a very common trend for the fantasy/RPG game as it frankly is kind of the gold standard. In Assassin's Creed Odyssey we see that mechanic return in a very odd way. It's not that the combat is bad, it just doesn't seem particularly organic to the time period. The Combat of Ancient Greece, during this time period, was heavily reliant on the Shield. The hoplite formation dominated the battlefield as strength was found at it's greatest in numbers. The interlocking of shields to form a Phalanx created an impenetrable unit, good for both defensive and offensive maneuvering on the battlefield. Our character uses no shield whatsoever but instead uses an Isu (first civilization) tech spear paired with another melee weapon. While this is without a doubt a very fun mechanic. I feel it should have been that his shield was an artifact that allowed for these powers to be used, or to have made this the combat mechanic of Origins and this game have been heavily reliant on the shield. This is a good time to shift into my next problem: 

Historical Accuracy and Its effect on the Story 

So these problems are interconnected, and part of it is nitpicky, but it does lead to a MAJOR problem I have with the game. While the setting and the gist of Greek culture is done beautifully, it's on the minor details it fails, however, there are enough of them to leave a sour taste in my mouth at times. For example, this character was trained by their father to be a Spartan warrior and is a Spartan. However, he/she does not use a shield (to go back to the issue from before). The hoplite shield or Aspis was an almost religious artifact to the Spartans. The Spartans had an idiom: 

Come back with your shield, or on it 

While I understand that the main character did not complete the formal hoplite training that Spartans go through, it just doesn't feel right to be this Spartan mercenary without a shield. However there is a problem that goes hand in hand with the character's training and the game's story that becomes a massive problem, and that is how they handled the character of Kassandra.

As I said in The Good section, the story of these characters are IDENTICAL which means that where Kassandra was a baby in Alexios' campaign, Alexios is a baby in Kassandra's. Kassandra received combat training from her father, which is something that just WOULDN'T happen in this time. Now if Kassandra was just an exception due to her heritage as a granddaughter of Leonidas, that would be one thing, however, Ubisoft and the dev team of this game decided that rather than deal with the sexism of the ancient world, they would just ignore that it was a problem and portray the time period as something it wasn't. Where this becomes a huge issue for me is that despite the disclaimer that these events are in fact fictional, people look to these games as a representation of history. By doing this you allow people to have romanticized this time period as being something it's not, and this can be very dangerous. History is doomed to repeat itself if we don't commit ourselves to learn from the mistakes of the past. There was a lot of great things about ancient Greece, but it was a far cry from a society of gender equality that they show in this game. Female mercenaries, women who own property in Athens, women being able to attend symposiums and seminars with Socrates, it's all a fiction that NEVER happened, and that annoys me a great deal.

This is NOT, nor SHOULD it be an Assassin's Creed Game

My last problem with this game is that as great of a game as it is, it is a TERRIBLE Assassin's Creed game. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a cry for a new IP or at the very least admitting that Assasin's Creed has an expanded universe where new titles can exist while being attached to this overarching story. The weakest parts of this game were the parts that were forced to be associated with the Assassins, and big shock, they are, for the most part, all in the present. This game could have been so much better if it had the ability to run wild and actually explore the potential of being something new. I feel like all the assassin nonsense could have been replaced with being hired for mercenary contracts where you actually led your crew of mercenaries into an all-out battle to turn the tide. Instead, we got "WE NEED TO TAKE DOWN ABSTERGO!" that was frankly played out in the original games.

At the end of the day, Assassin's Creed Odyssey is a great game, a solid 8.5 out of 10 for me. I had a great time exploring the Greek world and will definitely continue playing the game on days off. However, it is restricted by the fact that it's attached to a franchise that's, in all honesty, past due for extinction. That along with a lot of minor issues in historical representation compounding prevent it from being the perfect experience it COULD be. 

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! hope you enjoyed and we'll see you again next time!