My mother mailed me the game for Christmas, so I finally got to play it. Just finished it.
Like everyone else, I encountered a lot of glitches, despite downloading whatever the latest patch was as of last week. Mouths moving when no one was talking. Moments of characters not doing what they were supposed to. Weapons disappearing from my inventory.
Lots of frustrating game play. Seemed like there were always too many guards in every fight. Horses stopping at stupid rocks, and getting shot down easy.
I don't know that the open world was as beautiful as Skyrim. The animal graphics were terrible, especially the horses, and their non-historical tack (why don't these developers ever hire equine artists onto their teams?). It often pulled me out of the world. The artists obviously went through so much trouble to make the people and their clothes real, and yet the animals lacked this sense of bone, muscle, expression, and texture.
The naval missions were beautiful and fun. It was as if way more time was put into them. If only there was more to them.
I think I'm alone, in that I like Conner better than Ezio. Never had a thing for the suave womanizer type. Especially ones in eras before birth control was invented. Loved Conner's moments of sarcasm. I also felt Conner was more compassionate about his kills. Like he was doing what he had to do, but hating it. Spoilers: Even with Lee. Trouble with him was, the writers put him in a position of constantly grieving. Ezio lost his father and brothers in the beginning, and that was pretty much that. Thereafter, he always had his sister, mother, and close friends to lean on, laugh with, and fight for. The writers gave Conner nothing. Yet, Connor pressed on. I admire his tenacity. But I really wish he'd gotten some joy in his life, aside from the homestead people.
The story fell through for me at Hatham's death. I liked Haytham, despite his darkness. I wanted to see him redeem himself. I desperately longed to see father and son reconcile in a big way. I wanted them to HUG by the end, dammit! Why did they have us play Hatham, and grow attached to him, and then develop such stimulating father-son chemistry, only to finish it like that? I mean, why couldn't Desmond's dad have been the one to die? He was the boring unlikable one.
By the end of the game, Connor suffered too many loses, and so did Desmond. Everything felt too vague and abstract. Like nothing mattered anymore.
