I mean interchangeable in terms of culture. AC has always been very good at baking the culture of the setting and characters into the writing, but outside of the other maps that directly deal with Norse mythology, the culture itself could be anything. Just swap out the symbolism and you’re good to go. Contrast that…

I’m aware that they did have diplomats and such, but hell even psychopaths can be diplomatic. It’s less the diplomacy itself and more the symbiotic goals on display here and the extent of everything. Sure, there’s still violence, but everything is filtered through a sense of some greater, righteous cause, to the point…

Not really. Previous AC games’ writing was very much baked into the culture the games took place in. If you took Origin’s, for example, and set it in a fictional place, people would still be able to go “this is based on Egyptian culture,” because that culture was baked into everything, even many (and I’d say most) of…

Yeah, I’ve read that before too, but even with that in mind, they’re being portrayed almost an idealistic people. Minus the relatively few instances of raiding/pillaging, Eivor’s going around like he’s trying to get first place in Model UN.

Nothing more bothersome than the fact that if you remove the Viking coating, this could be any other AC story. I’ve raided like 10 places and pillaged maybe three. The Vikings, as it turns out, according to Assassin’s Creed, are a very measured group, capable of nuanced diplomacy to quench their thirst for peace.

I don’t disagree with what he says, or even have any active animosity towards him, I just don’t buy the fact that he actually lives most what he says. How could he? Market competition is literally a major part of his job. Everything he does is to build the Xbox brand and gain market share. And that’s not a knock…

I’m not saying he needs to endorse tribalism or stoke it or even enable it. But his whole “we’re not really in competition with Sony” thing, “we just want everyone to have fun”, while nice, I’m very certain is not the way he actually lives his day to day life as the EVP of Xbox. I’d go as far to say it’s part of the…

Listen, I agree the console wars are stupid, but only because I’m a consumer. Phil Spencer, on the other hand, deserves a fucking Oscar for how effectively he’s convinced the gaming community he really doesn’t care about competition with his whole “oh I just want everyone to have fun and get along” goody-goody Mr.…

I’m not the biggest fan of announcement teasers that don’t give any information other than something existing (I suppose that just means I’m not a fan of announcement teasers in general), but that was actually a really cool way to do the reveal.

Yeah I’ve yet to see anyone on rooftops either, except a few ranged enemies I take out with arrows. I’ve also yet to use social stealth too. And unless you have the stealth difficulty on easy, even with your hood up, if they see you in a distrustful area, you’re spotted pretty much right away.

It’s cheap, but an easy way to parry is to just keep tapping L1. It’ll work 90% of the time, and almost 100% of the time when using a shield, which has a little wider of a parry window (it feels like anyway, but I’ve heard from others on the subreddit who felt the same way). 

Yeah I was surprised how hard zealots still were when I tried one on easy. Any other enemy isn’t bad even underleveled by a good bit. 

I tried it out last night and would absolutely play on the higher difficulties if it weren’t for those goddamn pikemen. They have tons of health, they block almost everything, they’re a pain in the ass to parry, they have a counter move I’ve yet to avoid, and where there’s one there’s 2 or 3 more...the only thing I…

I like the idea of this, but I also really, really get a kick out of being a badass viking, viciously chopping through enemies in two swift swings of my axe.

I don’t think I got the bear helmet from the way of the berserker quest. Is that a season pass thing? Because I know the berserker gear in general is not automatically included in game and must be purchased.

Any thoughts on permadeath?

That’s fair, I forgot the game didn’t drop 110 and reforge is required.

If you want to reroll for different perks, fine, but I wouldn’t waste resources on reforging unless you’re really trying to hit a Ki score to unlock later content. Someone tested this out on Reddit (with a video) showing how little your Ki level actually matters. On bronze, Ki 5 players get killed in 6 or 7 hits and…

Rockstar’s decision-making for Red Dead Online could provide the outline for a Christopher Guest-style mockumentary. Just Fred Willard sitting there going “We’re going let players turn into bunny rabbits.”

I did one round of survival, and am about halfway through the MP story. I keep trying out different things on the first mission, which has kept me from progressing a bit (I think the first mission is best for trying out stuff because it’s most similar to single player). Survival I think is sort of a slog. It can be…