Big fan of the series, this Assassin's Creed is clearly not the best of the series but it remains a very good surprise. Yes surprise because the trailers and different opinions of journalists were very scary. He largely catches the failure that was Unity.
- Graphically still as beautiful as Unity, the light effects are very realistic as well as the animation of the characters which is very successful. Technically it's very very good, the bugs are far less numerous than Unity, (yes, but absolutely nothing alarming), the framerate is stable, some falls during the chases but absolutely nothing that spoils the fun of the game .
- The gameplay is successful, not so many bugs about parkour, it is more accurate, more responsive. The infiltration is simpler than before, the X key to bend down and put on his hood is welcome, the character is more manageable and he goes to cover easily.
The grapple is not welcome in the series, it takes a big part of the parkour and removes a fun side. It's easy and fast, maybe too much. However it is adapted to the environment, it is justified and necessary.
The fights are not the best but they are very dynamic and rather tactical. But objectively it's the middle ground between Unity's boring and tough fights and the easy ACIII and AC Black Flag fights.
One of the big negatives of the game is driving the carts ... A nice mess but it was predictable. These are still justified, without them the trip to the city would be much longer and tiring. But they are not manageable, we hit the whole city destroying everything, not to mention the chases, we advance almost with the posts, people, carts stopped, those who move, the more your attackers who chase you by hitting you and shooting at you ... In short, as soon as we can, we go down to screw them up in combat. - The big big highlight of the game lies in its main characters. Jacob and Evie are super endearing, charismatic, Jacob is pretty funny and Evie attractive. You can switch at will between the two main missions.
- The scenario is rather banal, simple to follow, some passages stand out but it's not unforgettable crazy crazy (unlike AC II and III).
- The management of the attributes on each of the characters is pushed and it is the same for our band. The inventory is customizable and pretty, not very varied, however.
In short it's a good game, a good surprise, I enjoy my hours of play unlike Unity. Many people bash the game without having played it is pitiful. JVC's rating is far too severe for me, 13 should have been for Unity.
But as a big fan who respects myself I expect a murderer's creed that will be worked from top to bottom, all points mentioned above will be successful and it is possible Ubisoft has already done. With of course a big advance in the meta history, revelations and suspense!
I agree Syndicate was not the best, but the failure of Unity did have some positive and negative effects on the series as you mentioned. I kinda feel that Origins has gone down the same path as Unity to a degree, only in the case of Origins they tried too hard, added way too much and didn’t focus on what the essence of an Assassin’s game should be.