Haha, that is some pervasive commitment avoidance you've got there.

There's a ton of characters scattered throughout the game, and you can, via wireless, get more by beating bonus fights, or you can use the money you've earned in game to buy them.

Ditto to everything you said here, except the part about Ricken.

I'm on normal, and I've taken Frederick into every battle. I used him because his starting defense was high. My tactician is even better than Frederick (aside from defense).

Even though they are creating their own half-history conspiracy theory as they tell the story, I've always liked how accurate they strive to be with the environments. I went to my parents house for dinner during a week when I was playing a lot of Assassin's Creed. When a news report showed a the outside of an old…

+10 back at ya, because 'I don't believe in one way streets, not between peopole and not while I'm drving.' ...I'd wager that 10 percent of my vernacular is 30Rock quotes.

Oh, good to know. Thanks for the correction!

I'm playing through on normal casual (just to get through the story and get familiar with the game) and I leveled up Kellam before 20 to General, and now he is a BEAST. It made a huge difference, before he had high defense but couldn't kill a butterfly. I didn't think much about Pegasus knights until i got to the…

Aside from Frederick and my tactician, my other strong guys are completely different from yours. This seems to suggest that most (if not every?) character has the potential to shine.

In my experience, your created character and Frederick (2 of the 4 characters you start with) are powerful enough to take on the whole game. Also, you get often new characters that show up as you start battles, so you are supplied with replacements as the game continues.

Donnel still sucks in my game. I'm trying to level him, forged him a weapon and everything. I don't see how Donnell isn't dead in Jason's game yet. Maybe he never had him, though.

I agree: without hydraulics, I don't see what the point is. I'm not interested in space combat, but I'd like it for racing games. The wrap around screen would be nice, but I'd really want feedback for acceleration, turns, and breaking.

Right? There's so much going on at that time. In the early years there's the growth of Buddism, a military regime, contending imperial lines, the rebuilding of temples. I'd love for them to re-create that world. They always do well with costume and environment design, and given the emphasis on realism in art at the…

I always like how AC does their character and environment design. India would make for a beautiful setting.

I said it earlier today and I'm glad to see it listed among the possibilities here: I would love to play Assassin's Creed at the start of feudal Japan (Kamakura period, late 1100-early 1300: the rise of samurai and the attempted invasions of Khan.). Altair was in 1190, so feudal Japan would go back in time, but…

Great article! Aside from my interest in the topic, it was so well written that it didn't feel like a long read.

I felt that Desmond was, more or less, a time traveler. I didn't mind that his present day identity was the framework for traveling to the past, and a way to "explain" the inherent qualities of game play (dying de-synchronizes, etc). However, that does create that distant "game-within-a-game" feel that you disliked. I…

I haven't played it yet, but I intend to. I'm playing Revelations now. Most people in the comments hated 3, so I'm happy to hear someone liked it.

YES. This is what I want. I want one in the Kamakura peroid (1185 to 1333), but don't remember any references to this possibility. What happened at the end of the first game to hint at this?

I've got nothing constructive to say, I just wanted to let you know: reading that quote made me laugh out loud. Then I read it again. Then I laughed out loud again.