#ezio auditore critical

[dragynkeep]

Edward Kennway >>>>>>>>>>> Ezio Auditore.

no absolutely. i will forever be bitter at the ezio meat riders who hated connor & edward because they weren't him like. your dude had 3 whole games!! step off.

[demigoddessqueens]

You already know WHO I’m going to say, but this is also so Castlevania-AC-other tall boi coded

[kylethescott]

It's time for some Revelations about Assassin's Creed: Revelations

[teecupangel]

Hey tee want to hear an absolutely horrific Desmond idea that just popped in my head? Of course you do.

(tw though for a bunch of stuff about dead bodies so if that's a squick you can delete this message without reading the rest.)

At one point in The Hollows book series, the protagonist encounters a high-power magic entity that can possess the recently dead in order to communicate directly with mortals.

What if a Desmond whose body is destroyed by the aurora device and he ends up adrift in the Grey for an unknowable amount of time

until he gravitates, without meaning to, to points in his ancestral history where there is a suitable vessel for him to inhabit?

The rules surrounding this:

1) The vessel he occupies must be recently deceased, within about two hours.

2) How long he can stay in a body is affected by how complex the life form is. Humans are the longest at 12hrs.

3) The time limit is expressed by the body slowly turning to ash and dust, until it reaches a critical point and can no longer hold itself together, at which point it basically disintegrates.

4) Those with Eagle Vision inherently know on looking at a body occupied by Desmond that it is Desmond. If he is occupying a human body, he will seem to them to resemble what he looked like when he was alive.

//

more assorted thoughts:

Desmond isn't limited to a linear timeline. He gets drawn back to the Grey every time his body dissolves, from which theoretically any point in time can be accessed.

I like the idea though that at least at first, he doesn't have control over where he goes. In addition to trying to figure out how this whole thing works, he's just popping up in the most random/useless of times.

He can visit any time and place he has an ancestral connection to, whether or not he unlocked those memories while he was still alive. There just needs to be a suitable vessel nearby. And, well. Pretty much every assassin ancestor has plenty of opportunity for that.

Also, jumping off rule 3 above, Desmond isn't like...so him needing to possess a vessel is basically like, needing to anchor himself to something Present. And what he's anchoring to isn't even the body exactly, it's the memory of life. Which is why more complex things anchor him longer, they have a more substantial memory of life/concept of self/their existence.

So as he's burning through the body, he's holding it together through his own force of will more and more, until the memory is burnt out and will alone isn't enough.

An interesting effect then is that the body's death blows don't affect what he's able to do in it, but lifelong conditions do, when he first possesses it. If a person's eyes were gouged out to kill them, Desmond can still see in the body, because the memory of life still remembers having eyes, even though the physical eyes are ruined. But if Desmond possessed someone who had been blind for years, he wouldn't be able to see, because the memory of life doesn't conceptualize itself as a seeing being. As the memory faded and it became more about Desmond holding himself together, he'd regain some of his sight.

Funny enough, this means that while non-human bodies tend to be of limited usefulness, there is a period toward the end of the possession where he can speak and communicate with people, even if he's like. A mouse. Because at the very end it's more his concept of self establishing what the body can do than the mouse's.

.

For real though just imagine with me how freaked out his ancestors would be when some of their kills randomly sit back up and start talking. Like. You never know when or where Zombie Desmond will appear, but it will probably be at the least convenient of times and everyone will scream.

I love this idea because of the sheer angst potential.

Like, sure, we can go down the horror comedy route and I’m all for it since I love that genre.

But just imagine Desmond possessing one of the Auditore’s bodies while Ezio was trying to bury them. Ezio’s horrified outrage at the idea that some kind of entity was possessing his younger brother. Desmond didn’t mean to possess Petruccio’s body, he still can’t control this, Ezio- “Shut up!”

It’s definitely the worst kind of first meeting.

And Desmond doesn’t know if this was worse or better than his first meeting with Altaïr.

Because with Altaïr, Desmond screwed up so badly by possessing Adha’s dead body, giving Altaïr a false sense of hope that he wasn’t too late.

Unlike Ezio’s grief and rage, the way Altaïr’s face completely shut down was much more worrying to Desmond because he has no idea what that silence was supposed to mean.

Even when Desmond apologizes and promises that he didn’t mean to, Altaïr simply ignored all of these and just asked Desmond what he was and what he wanted.

The worst part of this entire thing is that Desmond doesn’t even know what he wanted.

And then there was Ratonhnhaké:ton.

Desmond didn’t even know if Ratonhnhaké:ton hated him or not.

Because the first time Desmond possessed someone in Ratonhnhaké:ton’s time, he was getting the hang of all of these.

And he was able to save Kaniehtí:io, sure.

By possessing a child who had recently died. A child that Ratonhnhaké:ton knew by name. He had probably been playing with that child a few hours ago before Desmond possessed their corpse.

… and Desmond spent weeks in that body with only Ratonhnhaké:ton knowing that he wasn’t his friend.

Ratonhnhaké:ton probably didn’t trust him.

But hey…

At least he didn’t possessed Kaniehtí:io or something.

That would have been so awkward.

The new problem Desmond had was that…

Well…

He just possessed some naked dude in the middle of some sort of island.

“Jeezus!”

And he has no idea who this dark blond haired man that smelled of salt and rum was supposed to be.

But from the looks of things…

He was wearing what may or may not be Assassin robes belonging to the dead body he was now occupying.

[kiatheinsomniac]

in honor of it being ramadan, could you please write how the assassins (altair, ezio, connor, arno, and jacob) would react to their fem love interest being muslim? ❤️

☾ ⋆ ﾟ𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 / 𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: of course! sorry this is so late but now at least it's in time for Eid al-Adha being on the way! <3 as always, I'll just say that I'm not muslim myself so I'm always open to constructive criticism when it comes to writing about cultures and practices other than my own. A big thank you to @gojohater101 for giving me some pointers on things :) 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: altaïr, ezio, connor, arno, jacob 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: none

｡･:*˚:✧｡altaïr ibn la'ahad

♡ if you withhold from things such as drinking, gambling, swearing, etc. it honestly inspires Altaïr to follow your example and be more diligent in his practices too! He really admires you and the way you go about following your faith.

♡ a part of me feels like Altaïr lives the sort of life where he is a man of faith but he's very busy so it's not often at the forefront of his mind. But he's seen you making wudu and dua and it's really made him dedicate more time to his faith too and he's found that he's feeling much happier in following the example that you set for him, even without meaning to. He just loves you so much and admires so many things about you, he truly believes you bring out the best in him.

｡･:*˚:✧｡ezio auditore

♡ Firenze is quite a multicultural city and he's well-travelled so Ezio won't ever judge you. He'll ask you about your practices quite a bit but it's only ever out of curiosity and so that he makes sure he doesn't ever disrespect you by accident.

♡ one of Ezio's ways of showing love is gift-giving so he'll make sure to find places that specialise in pretty and modest clothing so that he can still spoil you all while respecting your way of dressing and your comfort. He also loves cooking for you so he finds substitutes for where he might use alcohol while cooking so that it still tastes good but he's able to make a version without alcohol for you. He doesn't make a very big deal out of it though and just ends up eating the same alcohol-free food as you, it's a silent little way of him loving and respecting you.

｡･:*˚:✧｡ratonhnhaké:ton | connor kenway

♡ he's very intrigued to hear all about your beliefs and practices as well as sharing his with you! He was the one that repaired and renovated the manor so I can 100% see him setting up a prayer room for you. He wants you to have the space that you need and he consults you about it to make sure that everything is in order. He'll try fasting with you if that's something you do! He'll get up before sunrise with you to cook and eat and he'll join you in fasting during daylight too.

♡ running the homestead means that he's a pretty busy guy but he admires the way that you take time out of your day for religious practices and it makes him realise he should probably take a page out of your book and slow down every once in a while too so that he can partake in his own practices as well. He'll always provide you with whatever you need, you mean the world to him and he wants you to be well physically, mentally and spiritually.

｡･:*˚:✧｡arno dorian

♡ like Connor, he also renovates the place a little to make sure you have a prayer room because he wants you to know that he respects you and he'll always make room for you in his life - emotionally and physically. Also like Ezio, he'll find some substitute flavour for alcohol when cooking so that he can respect your beliefs. He even arranges for a new line of the café's sweets that don't include alcohol so that you have a full pick of the menu when the two of you spend time watching performances over treats and coffee together.

♡ Arno is absolutely a fashionista and I won't be convinced otherwise. He gets into learning about modest fashion so that he can still treat you with new clothes the way he thinks any man should do for his lady. Considering the time period, I'd say that a lot of his sources come from places like Morocco so he's likely bought you a kaftan or a few considering how the french ladies were rather fascinated with this fashion at the time.

｡･:*˚:✧｡jacob frye

♡ like with Ezio, Jacob's city had opened up to become a very multicultural place so he doesn't really bat an eye at you having a different faith to him. (I honestly headcanon that Jacob was likely baptised under the anglican church but he's not really a big believer, he focuses more on this life than the next). He does ask you questions out of curiosity though and because he wants to make sure he won't say something disrespectful out of a lack of understanding.

♡ he's watches you pray a few times just out of a simple fascination and curiosity. He once interrupted you making wudu because he didn't know what you were doing but he was quick to apologise and let you continue without interruption once you explained to him - he ended up buying you some flowers to say sorry because he felt really bad for having interrupted something that he knows is so important to you.

p.s. again, I'm very open to any sort of constructive criticism! I want my followers to feel represented in my work. You all have a place on my blog, no matter what your background is 🩵

☾ ⋆ ﾟlike my work? why not: ∘ buy me a coffee? ∘ commission me?∘ join my taglist ∘ consider following/reblogging

🏷️@gojohater101 @ayameiris4 @veryfancydoilies @asuni921 @writing-noah @danielle-marie @minimisthios @tired-lime @ghostofpolaris @etherealsdreaming @loopycorn1123 @havatnah @firagirl @catou1305 @daddyadler @aarnodoriann @b3k1720 @asianbutnotjapanese

[gaymer-hag-stan]

On the 17th of November, fourteen years ago, Assassin's Creed II was released in North America for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The game's plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. The framing story is set in the 21st century and follows Desmond Miles as he relives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to uncover the mysteries left behind by an ancient race known as the First Civilization in the hope of ending the Assassin-Templar conflict. The main narrative takes place at the height of the Renaissance in Italy from 1476 to 1499, and follows Ezio's journey as an Assassin while seeking revenge against those responsible for the death of his father and brothers. Gameplay focuses on using Ezio's combat, stealth, and parkour abilities to defeat enemies and explore the environment. The game features a large open world comprising several Italian cities, including Florence, Venice, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and Forlì, all of which have been accurately recreated to fit the game's historical setting.

Using a newly updated Anvil game engine, Assassin's Creed II began development shortly after the release of Assassin's Creed.

Upon release, Assassin's Creed II received universal critical acclaim from video game publications, with praise for its narrative, characters, world design, and improvements over the first game. Considered one of the best video games ever made, it sold more than nine million copies within six months, and is frequently cited as the game that brought the Assassin's Creed series to mainstream popularity.

[witchblade]

i genuinely don't remember the difference between nokron and nokstella i think they're both fine. i get so scared in the underground area for some reason but it's fine design wise and i like running across the rooftops like ezio auditore da firenze (same with leyndell). and i think the balls and the stupid baby mimics are cutey. lake of rot is nothing i don't like looking at it. Deep-root depths is okay i guess it's very small but i liked navigating it despite the yonkey abandoning me at critical points. um siofra river is not that pretty to me it's too video game epic to me it's all bethesda blizzardified it's nothing.

[similar2views]

The Game

Assassin's Creed is a groundbreaking video game franchise developed by Ubisoft that has captivated gamers worldwide since its inception in 2007. Set in various historical periods, the series combines action-adventure gameplay with a rich narrative steeped in conspiracy, intrigue, and conflict. Within this expansive universe, players step into the shoes of skilled assassins tasked with unraveling complex plots and shaping the course of history. Let's delve deeper into the captivating world of Assassin's Creed.

The first installment, simply titled "Assassin's Creed," introduced players to the protagonist Desmond Miles, a modern-day bartender who discovers he is a descendant of a long line of Assassins. Using a machine called the Animus, Desmond is able to relive the memories of his ancestors. The game primarily takes place during the Third Crusade in the Holy Land, where players control Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, a skilled Assassin tasked with eliminating key targets to thwart the plans of the Templars, the ancient enemies of the Assassins.

With its innovative blend of historical accuracy and fictional storytelling, "Assassin's Creed" received critical acclaim for its engaging gameplay mechanics and immersive open-world environment. The success of the first game paved the way for numerous sequels and spin-offs, each exploring different time periods and locations.

One of the most beloved entries in the series is "Assassin's Creed II," which transports players to Renaissance Italy during the 15th century. Players assume the role of Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young nobleman who embarks on a quest for vengeance against those who betrayed his family. As Ezio, players navigate the bustling cities of Florence, Venice, and Rome, engaging in parkour-inspired free-running and engaging in intense combat against rival factions.

"Assassin's Creed II" expanded upon its predecessor with enhanced gameplay mechanics, including a deeper combat system, a variety of side quests, and a compelling storyline filled with political intrigue and personal drama. The game's attention to detail in recreating historical landmarks and events garnered widespread praise from critics and players alike, solidifying its place as a standout title in the series.

Subsequent entries in the franchise continued to push the boundaries of what an open-world action-adventure game could achieve. "Assassin's Creed III" transported players to the American Revolution, allowing them to experience pivotal moments in history through the eyes of Connor Kenway, a Native American Assassin fighting for freedom against the Templars and the British Empire.

"Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag" took players on a swashbuckling adventure set in the Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy. As Edward Kenway, a pirate and privateer, players navigated the high seas, engaged in naval battles, and explored lush tropical islands in search of treasure and glory.

The series continued to evolve with entries such as "Assassin's Creed Unity," which introduced cooperative multiplayer gameplay set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, and "Assassin's Creed Origins," which explored the origins of the Assassin Brotherhood in ancient Egypt.

With each new installment, the Assassin's Creed franchise continues to captivate audiences with its blend of historical fiction, engaging gameplay, and intricate storytelling. Whether exploring the streets of Renaissance Italy or sailing the high seas as a pirate, players are immersed in richly detailed worlds filled with adventure and intrigue. As the series continues to expand and innovate, the legacy of Assassin's Creed remains a testament to the enduring power of interactive storytelling in video games.

[dragynkeep]

Is it weird that i really like Ezio in Revelations, but consider him pretty bland in Brotherhood and one of the weakest-written protags in the series in 2?

Like, i appreciate the idea behind his arc throughout 2: he starts off as a cocky, free-spirited troublemaker who suddenly loses nearly everyone he cared about, causing him to initially lash out in anger at those responsible before calming down and, after nearly two decades of killing, growing tired of that life and sparing Rodrigo, the man directly responsible for ruining his and his family's lifes, proving himself to have grown past his need for revenge.

The issue with that arc is that he grows out of his anger and resentment extremely quickly; the last time he shows any disrespect or contempt towards one of his targets prior to Rodrigo is when Vieri refuses to give him any information before dying, leading to Ezio cursing him out and Mario scolding him for acting like Vieri would have.

Afterwards, he treats each and every person he kills with the utmost respect during their confessions, showing no signs of holding any sort of grudge against any of them, which is a shame; seeing Ezio slowly, throughout the story, become more and more calm as he learns to let go of his hatred would have made for a pretty interesting arc for him.

The other main issue is that him sparing Rodrigo at the end comes out of nowhere and is completely nonsensical for Ezio to do; sure, he had a monologue a couple chapters prior about how he was growing tired of the life of killing he led and how that did nothing to bring his family back or fix his sorrow at their deaths, but Ezio admitted to himself, right before he was about to kill Rodrigo, that he had been wanting to kill him and was going to enjoy doing so on a personal level.

What changed in the five minutes between him saying that and him choosing to spare Rodrigo, and why would he choose to spare the current leader of the Templar Order, someone who spent most of his life obsessing over the Apple of Eden and would almost certainly hunt him down relentlessly for it if left alive?

AC2 Ezio is lowkey a mess of a character; i understand people's fondness for him as a character overall, if only because Brotherhood and especially Revelations go a long way towards improving him, but the idea that he was always a strong character, especially in AC2, is a silly one to me.

Honestly? Agree.

The thing with me for Ezio that I'm perfectly able to admit is that, while I think he's one of the few protagonists that actually was allowed a long development arc because of his massive amount of screentime, I just... find him boring.

Because he's a flirtatious man who developed into maturity after a period of not taking things seriously or being guilty and angry over an injustice. Yeah, it's a staple storytelling device because it works, but for me personally, I just do not connect with him or overly care about him, especially with the overexposure he has and the fact that someone I despise was a massive Ezio stan and was racist to Connor (and in turn me) whenever I tried to talk about him.

And this is definitely an unpopular opinion since Revelations is the least liked out of the Ezio Trilogy, but... I actually liked it. Ezio's character didn't go through much, but that's the same in Brotherhood, and I loved Constantinople as a setting compared to Rome.

So yeah anon, I agree with you.

[kylethescott]

An Iconic Critique of Assassin's Creed II

[teecupangel]

Inspired by the "multiple ancestors time travel ask"

How about a reincarnation/time travel au?

Like:

Altair gets reincarnated in Bayek's time or he time travel from the moment of his death to the start of AC Origins in his body of 16 years (yes, I choose that age because Desmond).

The same for Ezio (in AC), Edward (in ACII), Connor (in ACIV) and Haytham (I don't know). Desmond ends in ACIII or in Rogue.

I don't care exactly, you can choose.

The same goes for the others protagonists + Clay (you decide what games/period you chose)

Maybe Arno gets Rogue and Shay gets Black Flag?

Or Shay gets ACIII with Haytham gets Black Flag?

Or the twins get Unity?

Go wild

Does this count as a time travel round robin scenario? Lol.

So let’s add a bit of order in this time travel shenanigan.

All of them will time travel and wake up in their 16 year old body BUT they would have the memories up to their death.

Since you put Altaïr in Bayek’s time then we’re setting this from AC1 to Origin only because if we were to include Odyssey, Valhalla and Mirage, Altaïr would end up in Eivor’s time, not Bayek’s

The time travel would be as followed:

Bayek’s time – Altaïr

Altaïr wouldn’t follow Bayek around. He has his own problems to deal with. He’s planning to leave for Masyaf or even Alamut as soon as he can but… the Hidden Ones start their operations and Altaïr is intrigued. He’s more of an observer who more often than not intervenes because he can’t just let innocent people suffer. (One of the Hidden Ones call him ‘that stray cat that comes every day to watch us but never lets us pet him’)

Altaïr’s time – Ezio

Ezio as a 16 year old who follows Altaïr around. He tells people he’s adopting Altaïr and everyone sees their dynamic (annoyed but letting the kid do whatever he wants, chill but extremely talented and nice chaotic gremlin) and is like “yeah, Altaïr’s the one getting adopted”.

Ezio’s time – Edward

Edward has no idea why he’s in this time but he’s trying to make the best of it. It’s not every day he can train with the legendary Ezio Auditore! Mario is actually suspicious of him and thinks he’s a spy. Edward falls back to the whole “I was a pirate once” shtick and that’s still suspicious but more on the side of ‘he wants money’ and less on the side of ‘he’s a Templar spy’.

Edward’s time – Haytham

Oh boy. Haytham absolutely does not want to be in his situation. Honestly, the man almost decided to join the British Templar Order but he knows he’d regret it if he doesn’t at least try to assist his father for a bit. The crew of Jackdaw (all of them) knows he’s a posh British aristocrat. He’s too posh to be a convincing spy so they believe he’s like Stede. Haytham is offended to be compared to Stede but he can’t say anything because they all insult him and jeer him when he starts giving ‘constructive criticism’ about how the Jackdaw is being sailed.

Haytham’s time – Shay

Nothing much changes to be completely honest. Shay appears and acts like Haytham’s loyal right hand man, an aspiring Templar recruit. Haytham doesn’t have any direct encounter with the Colonial Brotherhood so there’s no actual angst for Shay. He does wonder more often if he was doing the right thing. If this wasn’t his time to actually change the past by going to the Brotherhood instead of following Haytham around.

Shay’s time (this is because Rogue is set between Haytham’s prologue and Ratonhnhaké:ton’s start) – Ratonhnhaké:ton

Ratonhnhaké:ton would not know why he was sent to this time but he would immediately go to the Brotherhood and talk to Achilles because he believed Achilles would trust his words. Achilles doesn’t fully believe what Ratonhnhaké:ton told him but he’s willing to believe it more than he should because he does understand the power of these artifacts. Ratonhnhaké:ton wouldn’t know about Lisbon so he won’t be able to stop it but he’d be able to stop things from escalating and become a bridge between Shay and the other Assassins.

Ratonhnhaké:ton’s time – Arno

He would absolutely try to return to France but would get rope into the Revolution by Lafayette. Afterwards, he’d just search for the Colonial Brotherhood and find out how Ratonhnhaké:ton is all that’s left so he feels that he should stay and help.

Arno’s time – Evie and Jacob

They’re there to cause chaos and try to find a way back to their time. Jacob would absolutely join the revolution. Evie would try to cooperate with the council. The two of them would join Arno as fellow recruits. Evie has a lot of questions about Arno and his lover/adoptive sister who is a Templar. Jacob thinks ‘love is love’ but, also, he warns Arno that tragedy is always waiting in the corner for star-crossed lovers.

.

And then we set up the modern day time travel shenanigan and it will be glorious chaos because…

Layla will time travel into Desmond’s time and she knows the broad strokes so she’s going backpacking to find them before Desmond goes into a coma. Does she have any idea what to do to save the world without Desmond dying? Nope. But, at least, she can tell them that Lucy’s a traitor and stop her from getting stabbed along the way. She’s going to wing it after that.

Desmond, on the other hand, will time travel to Clay’s time and his main goal is to save Clay. Problem is… Clay’s already in Abstergo and is reliving Ezio’s memories. So… First step is getting to Italy. It doesn’t matter if he was seen or recognized, anyone Abstergo orders to hunt him down is taken down because, even if he’s back in his sixteen year old body, he still had the skills and guidance of his Bleeds. Oh fuck. He should have thought of warning the current Desmond Miles of this timeline. Well, that was one mind fuckery that Desmond wasn’t going to ignore for now. Especially since he got the Apple from the Colosseum vault. Now he can really fuck shit up.

And then there’s Clay. You might be where would we punt Clay? Syndicate? Sure, that would be fun. But there is one ‘time frame’ that we can make work. The time frame of the Fall Comics starring Daniel Cross. This would put Clay before the Great Purge and before Cross assassinated the mentor. And Clay knows the best way to take revenge is to make sure the Brotherhood stayed strong. This means… oh. Clay would have to take the lead. Well, fuck.

[demigoddessqueens]

Thanks for the tag @bookworm-with-coffee @ladysaturnsdust 😄😁

Not me having some kinda type... Who shall I tag? I think I wanna tagggggg... @mybugsmybugsmybugs @mexicangela @lunar-years @biscuitboxpink but no pressure!! I just thought it would be fun!

[emmagick]

i did the six fanarts thing on my instagram! (well, 12) (+ 3 i did just for me)

[gaymer-hag-stan]

On the 16th of November, thirteen years ago, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood was released in North America for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. The framing story is set in the 21st century and features series protagonist Desmond Miles who, using a machine known as the Animus, relives the memories of his Assassin ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to find a way to avert the 2012 apocalypse. The main story takes place during the Italian Wars, spanning the years 1500–1507, and continues from the events of Assassin's Creed II, as Ezio takes the fight against the Templars (led by the powerful Borgia family) to Rome, where he attempts to rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood in Italy and liberate the city from the Borgias' control.

Brotherhood features an open world and is played from the third-person perspective, with a primary focus on using Desmond's and Ezio's combat, climbing and stealth abilities to eliminate targets and explore the environment. As Ezio, players can freely explore Rome to advance the narrative, or complete a variety of side missions unrelated to the main storyline. The game introduces a multiplayer component to the series, in which players assume the role of Templars in training.

Upon release, the game received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its setting, new content, gameplay improvements over its predecessor and the new multiplayer mode. The narrative was also positively received, although it was generally seen as inferior to that of Assassin's Creed II. The game won multiple awards including a BAFTA award for Best Action Game. It was also commercially successful, shipping 7.2 million units by May 2011.

[approximately12screamingcats]

fbsdhdjsjks been looking some stuff up on forums since starting ac:r and so many people saying ezio looks different only cause he’s older (not even touching the animus 2.03 excuse, this was a decision by the gamemakers and they gave that dumb excuse) and it’s just hilarious because no he’s not just older his eyes are way lighter, closer together, and further up his face. an argument could be made for his entire jaw/face structure being different too but that i might buy as age. desmond has the same problem. it looks bad and unfamiliar. ezio (and desmond) changed slightly between ac2 and acb but NOT this much. admit it was a poor decision on the part of ubisoft and go.

[pixlh3art]

I figured I would post to the website proper some of my written responses to the questions in this survey, because I put enough time and effort into them and I feel like sharing:

What do you like most about Universes Beyond: Assassin's Creed?

There's a two-person pirate legend whose name I forget who kinda looks like me and my girlfriend, down to our hair colors. So that was neat. Oh, also Haystack is funny.

I looked it up - Mary Read and Anne Bonny. The card is very whatever, but the art looks so eerily similar to me and my girlfriend I'm surprised to not be receiving royalties.

What do you dislike about Universes Beyond: Assassin's Creed?

Literally everything else! Assassin's Creed is a truly *bizarre* franchise to pull from. It has barely any aesthetic similarity to any existing Magic cards, and yet lacks enough of its own aesthetic identity to be an interesting departure. The art of "Guy in jeans and a hoodie doing parkour among skyscrapers" that appears on Desmond Miles is too obviously modern-world to look like Magic, even in an aesthetically unique set like Neon Dynasty. But it also paradoxically doesn't *not* look like Magic because it doesn't *look* like anything. It's just... some guy in jeans and a hoodie. I almost feel like I could squint and see the Nike logo on his sneakers. The art is so inoffensive, and the effect is so "yeah, that sure is what Desmond would do if he was a Magic card" that it feels like an eminently amazing presentation of just... nothing. Of mediocrity. And not intentional mediocrity - Desmond isn't some draft common - but mediocrity in that he is perhaps the most artistically perfect recreation of Some Guy that this game has ever seen. And in some respects, it's a hilariously perfect recreation of one of the most universally bland, personality-less, uninteresting video game protagonists of all time. A character *so* boring that when his story wrapped up, his successor in later stories was *literally* a faceless character without even a name, and this was generally regarded as a positive decision.

Every card in this set feels like that.

None of them feel cool or innovative. I have no desire to play any of them, *even though* cards like Brotherhood Regalia and Excalibur, Sword of Eden are so blatantly designed to be Commander staples, not unlike Fallout's Silvershroud Costume being Literally Just Better Whispersilk Cloak.

Who is this for? Who was clamoring for *Assassin's Creed,* a series whose best innovations and most interesting moments are LONG behind it, to be adopted into Magic? What individual in the world wants to make Ezio Auditore da Firenze the head of their five-color assassin typal commander deck, featuring (one assumes) primarily other cards from this set? Who can do anything but say "ugh" upon the introduction of the extremely unserious and hyperspecific keyword, "freerunning?"

I am far, far less skilled at this than the endlessly talented creator Spice8Rack and its gift for thought-provoking, philosophical criticism of this greedy, greedy corporation that unfortunately makes some really cool games. But I happened to be rewatching its most recent work - a *fantastically* scathing criticism of the philosophy behind Universes Beyond and capitalism as a whole - when I saw this funny little survey show up on my tumblr dash.

In that work, Spice8Rack made the interesting claim in the beginning that each person it's met who has professed their hatred for Universes Beyond has, while doing so, owned up to their own "exception" to their hatred. That they have, unprompted, volunteered which media property they would genuinely love to see adopted into Magic.

I cannot for the life of me picture the person for whom Assassin's Creed is that property, and honestly? This release, among all others, is the one that most strongly convices me that I personally have no such exception. Even if Wizards of the Coast were to adapt one of my more obscure and cherished favorite franchises into Magic - fuck, if they adapted *my own original and currently-unpublished novels* into Magic - I probably wouldn't like it. This set more than any other has convinced me that the "art" of taking a guy from an established thing and putting that guy on a Magic card where he does the Magic version of the thing he does in his original property has been done in every single way that is interesting, and never will be again. It used to be sort of neat. It used to have a bit of an interesting design space. But now it doesn't, at least not for me, a writer with a game design degree. I cannot for the life of me take my own original characters from my novels and make them into Magic cards that I personally would want to play. At best, I can get some passing enjoyment from that process of translation and then show one of the double-digit number of people in the world who are informed enough about the game and my writing to make them go "oh yeah, that's kinda neat" and then we both would move on from it.

Wizards of the Coast is now paying licensing fees to do this for extremely mediocre media franchises and then selling the cards that result from it as their apparently-primary means of profit, and honestly, I can imagine few things more bleak.

Bonus Screenshot that really sums it all up honestly:

We want to know what you think of Universes Beyond: Assassin's Creed in our latest survey!