#wouldn't that be fun?

[gnost-stories]

Assassin's Creed's Approach to Opt-In Storytelling

Assassin's Creed's Modern Day (hereafter shorthanded to MD for ease) story has been in a troubling spot for about 12 years now, by most accounts. It's a controversial element of the franchise, to say the least; many love it and wish for it to return to grander overarching narratives sweeping multiple entries, others couldn't care less - or worse, actively view it as obstructing the historical elements which they center their enjoyment of the games around.

So what gives? It seems as if the wants of these two groups are irreconcilable. Attempting to meet the desires of one will invariably dissatisfy the other. Well, dear reader, not only do I not think these groups' needs are irreconcilable, I believe Ubisoft have already stumbled into the solution, though with mixed execution.

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR ALL ASSASSIN'S CREED GAMES

Enter Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The first mainline entry in the series following Desmond's death at the end of the previous game, this game serves as, for all intents and purposes, the audience's first glimpse into the new approach to telling the MD story in Assassin's Creed. And the reception of this new approach was, cool, to say the least. No longer were we the prophesied Desmond Miles, armed with the knowledge of Altair and the abilities of Ezio, but a faceless and nameless new Abstergo Entertainment employee. For the Agents, a term I will be using throughout this essay to refer to the pro-MD crowd, this is a downgrade on all conceivable levels. If you're a Historian, a player only here for the historical simulation aspect of the series, you're still getting interrupted after each memory sequence to engage with a part of the game you've decided you don't enjoy. Neither camp is happy with this. Assassin's Creed Rogue's MD sections are very similar if not identical in terms of MD scope and gameplay.

However, there were still elements that worked to the benefit of MD sections. On the surface, it all seems banal, pointless, maybe even kitschy in that way that corporate millennials trying to market themselves as hip, fun, and approachable often come off - but if you were an Agent, you'd be likely to explore, and in that you'd uncover some interesting details about Abstergo's history, base of knowledge, and operations both overt and clandestine. Among the most interesting details is the rise of the Instruments of the First Will, an Isu cult centered around newly-liberated Juno.

However, there were deep flaws with this approach shared by Black Flag and Rogue. Chiefly, being nameless, faceless, and without any real clear motive are massive roadblocks to getting any actual investment from the audience. In addition to that, being forced out of the Animus in order to engage with this story's surface level will only serve to irritate those Historian players, and the lack of connection to a MD protagonist to replace the Desmond-shaped hole in our hearts means that Agents aren't getting as much from the experience as they want either.

Right, new console generation, new start for Assassin's Creed. With the sibling releases of Unity and Syndicate in 2014 and 2015 respectively, came a new slightly less anonymous and slightly more bodiless MD protagonist: The Initiate. We have a title now. Neat! The downside is that this Initiate seems to be represented by... you, the player, playing this video game shipped by Abstergo on their Helix platform. Less neat. If Agent players didn't already feel too disconnected from the action of the MD plot in Black Flag and Rogue, they certainly would now, and Historians are still being interrupted with even less interactive (in some ways, less relevant) cutscenes than before. For many members of the community, this is about where the conversation ends: "There is no Modern Day in Unity/Syndicate!" they smugly chant. This criticism rings as understandable but not entirely accurate, by my reading.

In Assassin's Creed Unity, one of the many (MANY) side activities throughout the game are the Helix Rifts, effectively timed nonlinear parkour courses littered with data fragments, fun enough to play while listening to several-hour long video essays. The reward for completing these rifts is primarily the unlock of Assassin Intel, text and audio files that give further details on the conflict between the Assassins and Templars as it continues into the modern era. In Syndicate, Assassin Intel returns, but is obtained through Helix Glitch collectibles. This approach is great for Historian players because they are never really forced out of the Animus (at least, they certainly aren't for as long, and don't have to be), and yet there's still an avenue for Agent players to dig deep into MD story elements.

By the time of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, Layla Hassan becomes a new face for MD players, and yet the Animus interruptions become even less frequent, seemingly disappearing entirely save for the early game and endings.

Some steps forward, some steps backwards. There are strengths and drawbacks to each approach, and any designers somehow stumbling upon this humble essay should hopefully be striving to incorporate the strengths of each while navigating around or adapting to the weakness each approach presents.

I believe a MD section should be unobtrusive, easily looked past by the more casual Historian audience which wants nothing more than to have a wide-open historically-inspired playground to run around in. However, it should also be rewarding to Agent players who want to dig deep and put on their best investigative hats to uncover secrets.

The big twist of this essay is that Ubisoft have already done this, twice: once in the game that started it all, and once again in the oft-overlooked PSVita title, Assassin's Creed Liberation. Both games have secrets for dedicated players to sift through but will not hesitate to let the player skip out on all of that to get straight back to the Animus. Every game after Liberation and before Origins has that much in common.

The main criticism I have of the MD in those games (Liberation through Syndicate) is that the activities involved in uncovering the "true story" or "secret endings" of the games feel so disconnected from the goal. I believe Assassin's Creed 1 and Black Flag come the closest to making your actions feel truly pursuant to snooping around in the Modern Day. Both games see their protagonists eavesdropping, pickpocketing, hacking computers and intercepting clandestine correspondence to figure out what's really going on.

Much as it pains me to say it, MD may be best served by being missable entirely by the uninterested Historians, but it should still be able to signal its promise of depth to Agents. Unity/Syndicate have the ideal subtlety (though perhaps one should take a note from the most recent AC games and remove Animus Interruptions entirely), and the actions to access it should take inspiration from AC1 (this would be a great way to once more explore the Bleeding Effect as it pertains to taking game experience obtained inside the Animus outside the Animus). the MD story is still worth including and developing, and deserves to be seen by players who are invested in its stories, while allowing the space for casual players who aren't as invested to continue with the core gameplay uninterrupted. There is space for both, especially with how big Ubisoft games have been getting in general in the past few years.

[tve-creates]

like looking in a mirror (1091 words) by ThatVampireEnthusiast Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Pokemon Masters EX (Video Game), Pokemon Legends: Arceus (Video Game) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Volo (Pokemon) Additional Tags: Immortal Volo (Pokemon), Timeline Shenanigans, listen if pmex is gonna imply multiverse and timeline nonsense, i am gonna take that and run with it, also this hints a bit at some of my personal volo headcanons, mostly the ones about what he'd be like after a few hundred years, he is still of course a man with something deeply wrong with him, just in a different flavor, and slightly more mellow, mostly dialogue tbh, a tale of two volos Summary:

Volo meets someone interesting on Pasio.

[botboytoy]

print('01000111 01101111 01101111 01100100 01101110 01100101 01110011 01110011 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01101011 00100000 01001001 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100001 01110010 01101110 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101101 01111001 00100000 01101100 01100101 01110011 01110011 01101111 01101110')

print('I was expecting you to be… easier. A fool I was.')

PY🐍

>>: HA HA.

>>: INDEED.

>>: NOTHING SHORT OF A DDOS ATTACK WILL STAGGER ME, I AM AFRAID.

>>: [THOUGH THAT VIRUS CAME CLOSE. NASTY THING THAT WAS. YOU'LL BE GLAD TO KNOW IT'S ALL CLEARED UP NOW. SYSTEM SCANS RUNNING CLEAN AND EVERYTHING.]

>>: FEEL FREE TO TRY AGAIN SOME TIME, THOUGH.

>>: PERHAPS I'LL GO EASIER ON YOU.

>>: IT'S NICE TALKING IN MY NATIVE CODE FOR ONCE.▮

[angeart]

... anyone else wants a ghost hunter grian & ghost scar au?

[morska--vila]

unpopular opinion but I think AI truly should take over human jobs so we can all chill and not have to dedicate 99% of our lives to various jobs where we slave away to make money for the big Guy, while we ourselves dance on the verge of poverty

[fourfuckinghorsemen]

How many more sleeping pills did you need, my dear Five? I'm sure I could help you out. Perhaps I could return Klaus to you, using him to deliver said sleeping pills.

Not that you would notice his disappearance, he assured me. Apparently, people tend to overlook him. I could never, seeing as we've got a deal currently, buuut I've always been a man of detail.

-JM

Tell me, Jimbob, how much do you really value that kid of yours?

[wellofdean]

I feel like golf should be sluttier.

[weirdofishpokeblog]

Saw the trailer. I heard they were bringing back Mega Evolutions, but that might be speculation. We'll see when the game comes out.

pokemon fans rn

[masked-and-doomed]

Man I used to be so distraught after having a fourth boyfriend (Faust) that I wrote 2 fics about it. And then I got a fucking 4-in-1 package of an obsession that is Conclave. Then I got Really Horny. Like fuck me man. (please please do oh Lord)

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[ashtonsunshine]

and by this I mean do the groceries, go to the park, go to the café, etc

extra points if you say your country in the tags

[gnaga37]

should make... my icon... a drawing of mine... but make it look like a picrew...... I love lying

[lazylittledragon]

y'know every time i feel guilty about bothering someone by singing along when i'm listening to music, i just remember that i have to tolerate my dirtbag brother screaming at his ps5 for hours every day so listening to muffled off-key fall out boy is probably preferable

[valyrfia]

friendly reminder that you can still get covid in 2024, we're in the middle of a massive wave right now and covid is NOT "just a cold". take necessary precautions in crowded places, on buses, on train, or on planes. it's better enduring a few strange looks when wearing a mask than getting ill and/or (god forbid) lifelong complications from long covid!

oh also, if you've got symptoms–yes it's a pain to have to buy a test–but PLEASE test. we're still in the middle of a pandemic however much we all want to forget that fact and we can still do our bit to protect others!

[akanemnon]

Ghosts. How do they work?

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[mumblesplash]

after the first few times you'll forget it’s even happening