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BrawlMan

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One of the lesser reasons Ubisoft is on the my shit list, because that's an awful way to resolve what's supposed to be a major plot arc IN A VIDEO GAME! "Hey, go read this comi...." "No, asshole, put it in the fucking GAME SERIES IT WAS DRIVING!" I don't care if you want to put Desmonds first Wank or how Aiden got his stupid fucking hat in the damn comics, but if it's important to the games, it should be in the games.
Pretty much why I refused to get Prototype 2. They made Alex Mercer completely evil for no reason in the sequel after turning a new leaf in the ending of the first game. The justification was read this comic or digital comic on why. No, fuck you Activision and Sierra!

But yeah, I read that and pretty much thought that this is Ubisoft Tripling down on the GAAS they've already been pretty much doing anyway for the past few years. The Division, the shitty MTX in all the recent AC games, etc. And as I've been saying with all the Ubisoft Sexual harassment/"Women don't sell" and the shit they've been pulling with Valhalla, I feel increasingly justified in my decision to stop buying Ubisoft games after Odyssey.
Thank you. You have my high respect.
 
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happyninja42

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The dog Dogmeat from Fallout 4 was based has unfortunately passed away (tweet leads to a thread about her involvement with development)
Bummer, but that's to be expected. I think it's a nice thing that she is immortal in a way now, and that most people who interact with her, love her to death, because she's a doggo, and adorable.

Honestly, they should've stopped after Desmond dying in the present timeline. And yes, I'm one of the rare people that cared about present timeline story, because we are experiencing AC games w/ desmond everything he enters the animus.
*highfive* Yes, thank you. That was why I loved the movie of AC so much, because they actually structured the narrative properly. The issue with the AC/flashback model, is that it flips the typical storytelling trope on it's head, without also flipping the importance of the plot. Generally, in a story that involves flashbacks in them, the flashback portion is a short, isolated incident, that is used to provide the protagonist with some previously forgotten knowledge, insight into a current problem, or a chance to re-contextualize previously held beliefs, and apply that new input, whatever it is, to their current, present day problem. Some recent examples of this, though the pool is vast, would be like the flashback training for Kiddo from Kill Bill, and the Tekken film, where the protagonist kept flashing back to his mom teaching him new techniques. The scenes are a few minutes at most, illustrate one key plot point, possibly illuminating a few others (like motivations or whatever), and then it's done, and back to present day conflict. It's a time honored method of story telling.

Long ramble about why the games shot themselves in the foot narratively below:

The problem with the GAMES, is they flip this entirely. They pack all of the story into the "flashback", and the present day conflict, is given the amount of time and story investment, as is normally reserved for the flashback material. We get the single plot point of Desmond being trapped, and that the Templars are trying to take over the world. Each time we have his "flashforwards" to the present story, a single plot element is expanded on, that provides a bit more framework for the stuff in the Animus, but mostly just adds a new element for the present conflict. Then, it's back to the flashbacks, for potentially 10+ hours of gameplay before we have our next present day scene. So the amount of player investment in the events of the current day, are severely hampered. The impression I got by the end of the first game, was that they were going to slowly transition, over the course of a few games (probably a triology) to Desmond being a full Assassin, and him doing Assassin stuff in the present day. And we would have a present day sandbox to creep around in for an entire game. And have a final closing shot of him in his white hoody, echoing Altair's "fade into the crowd of robed monks" scene in the opening trailer. Cementing the idea that the Creed still lives, and is around, in the shadows of present day, to protect the world against the machinations of the Templar. Roll credits.

But they don't do that. They put less and less emphasis on the present day stuff (to the point by around the time of Odyssey the present day stuff is almost non-existant). Only giving us some ludicrously basic obstacle courses as Desmond in his final game, some minor expansion of the supporting cast that ultimately goes nowhere, and then they kill him off, have him press the World Doesn't Die button, roll credits. It just left a sour taste for most players who, like myself, actually cared about the present day conflict. Because that's the thing, ALL the stuff that happens in the Animus, is ultimately irrelevant. No matter what choices you make, the end result is "And then Abstergo took over the world, and are about to enact a plan to solidify global domination, and the subjugation of the human species forever. No amount of charm from Ezio, or teenage angst from Connor, or smarmy pirate charisma from...the guy from Black Flag whose name I forget, is going to change any of it. Ultimately, they all fail to stop the Templar, and it's all up to Desmond. And in a story where the stakes are literally the fate of ALL LIFE ON PLANET FUCKING EARTH, the resolution of that, felt like a wet fart on a hot, humid day. Awkward, and unpleasant for everyone involved, or witnessing it.

In fact, they often know the broad strokes, and tell you up front, giving you the framework of the game setting. You know you will be dealing with these Templar agents, in this city, you are this person, etc. It's the 5 minute mission brief before they plug you in, so it's not like everything is a huge mystery to you. Generally, ALL of the plots boil down to "Show us where X is buried", in every game. And then we futz about some ancient location for 20+ hours, and forget that there is a global corporation, with it's talons in every level of human society, about the seal the deal on global domination, and only Desmond can stop them! Because Ubisoft didn't put any real thought into the present storyline, beyond it being the vaguest of connective tissue between entirely separate video game settings.

The movie however, at least, put the emphasis in the right place. The primary narrative was on the present day threat, and the present day players. The animus content, was of appropriate flashback length, and importance, illustrating single points of interest, or just being action scenes that also kind of sort of move the Apple plot forward. They were serving dual duty of showing how the impact of involuntary Animus time was driving people crazy, and pushing the Free Will plot point as well as just showing us what happened in the past. And then the climax of the film, isn't the battle in the flashback, it's the present day battle, of them doing a prison break (because that's ultimately what the film is. Inmates slowly planning a breakout, under the noses of the guards.) and stopping the Templar from using the Apple.

It's a far more solidly built movie than I think it gets credit for, and actually has the narrative be where it should be, based on the framework established by the game series.

Ramble over.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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It makes sense after releasing the "Ultimate" edition of the game. It would be cool if they branch out into something completely different, as both Injustice and MK need a long break. It will make a possible return maybe a decade or so later more interesting if they bring fresh ideas after doing something else.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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Since some mention has been made of Ubisoft being on people's shitlist, seems this also extends to wanting to work there.
"Ubisoft says in the filing that it has taken allegations against employees "seriously, making every effort to remedy it....""

Translation: "We are doing our best to shuffle abusers around and silence the abused."

It's a good thing for Ubisoft that they have legions of fans willing to ignore any wrongdoing their executives do, so long as a shiny new toy comes from it.
 

happyninja42

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"Ubisoft says in the filing that it has taken allegations against employees "seriously, making every effort to remedy it....""

Translation: "We are doing our best to shuffle abusers around and silence the abused."

It's a good thing for Ubisoft that they have legions of fans willing to ignore any wrongdoing their executives do, so long as a shiny new toy comes from it.
Sounds like the catholic church!
 

Mister Mumbler

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So, just found out about a game in development called Tiny Combat Arena, which looks pretty great;
 

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Apparently a new studio by former Bioware head, Casey Hudson. Here's hoping they do something great without EA holding them down
 
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BrawlMan

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Apparently a new studio by former Bioware head, Casey Hudson. Here's hoping they do something great without EA holding them down
A lot of former devs, teams or individuals that worked for EA, are doing their own thing now. Best of luck them, and be awesome to each other.
 
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Chimpzy

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EA being EA.... again
Oh, it gets better. In Europe, likely the largest market for FIFA games, the PS5/XSX version will cost €80 (~95 USD or 127 AUD). Also, if you're on PC, you're stuck with the last gen version of the game, and as far as I can tell from the pre-orders on EA's website, it still costs €80. Also a reminder that FIFA is a bullshit delivery device first, game second (maybe third).

I considered posting this in Gaming Jokes, because there definitely is a joke here, and it's on anyone who buys EA.
 
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The Rogue Wolf

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Oh, it gets better. In Europe, likely the largest market for FIFA games, the PS5/XSX version will cost €80. Also, if you're on PC, you're stuck with the last gen version of the game, and as far as I can tell from the pre-orders on EA's website, it still costs €80.
Even odds that EA is planning on charging an extra $20 for a "next-gen upgrade" down the line.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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FIFA really is a bizarre franchise. Back in high school, I had a classmate explain really smugly to me how FIFA releasing a "new" game every year was a good thing. It's the perfect example of such bullshit practices that we say will lead to a gaming industry crash, but nope it's still going stronger than ever.
 
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BrawlMan

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FIFA really is a bizarre franchise. Back in high school, I had a classmate explain really smugly to me how FIFA releasing a "new" game every year was a good thing. It's the perfect example of such bullshit practices that we say will lead to a gaming industry crash, but nope it's still going stronger than ever.
Well your friend is definitely a a thundering dumbass that buys into the hype. I take it he plays that almost nothing else.
 

Bob_McMillan

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Well your friend is definitely a a thundering dumbass that buys into the hype. I take it he plays that almost nothing else.
Well he plays CoD :p

He's also the only son of a very rich family, so buying a new game every year was no problem at all for him.
 

BrawlMan

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Well he plays CoD :p

He's also the only son of a very rich family, so buying a new game every year was no problem at all for him.
So a rich idiot then. And there's part of the decline of gaming right there. He's that part of the crowd that only plays COD, any random sports game, and maybe one other shooter, but that's it. I knew some guys in college and all they ever played was COD 4 and Halo 3. Sometimes gears but not much else. They lived across the hall for me during my time in the dorms. They were okay guys, but I could swear one of them was homophobic. When he saw me play Viewtiful Joe he got this nervous look at his eyes and considered it "gay". I responded back with that's a you problem.
 
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Bob_McMillan

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So a rich idiot then. And there's part of the decline of gaming right there. He's that part of the crowd that only plays COD, any random sports game, and maybe one other shooter, but that's it. I knew some guys in college and all they ever played was COD 4 and Halo 3. Sometimes gears but not much else. They love to cross the hall for me during my time in the dorms. They were okay guys, but I could swear one of them was homophobic. When he saw me play Viewtiful Joe he got this nervous look at his eyes and considered it "gay". I responded back with that's a you problem.
Yeah honestly we forget that people who play video games couldn't give half a shit about 90% of the stuff we care about. I have so many casual gaming friends who actually like the presence of microtransactions, and pre-ordering. It's not always their fault, but it is sad to see that the fight against bullshit video game practices is such an uphill one.