Octopus Overlords

Picked this up in the Steam sale, and am having far more fun with it than I expected to. AC is a series that I've always wanted to like, but found that the games got extremely repetitive and dull, once you got past the "wow factor". The streamlining of the activities, the RPG elements, and the overhauled combat have really made this one click for me. Doesn't hurt that it's stunningly beautiful. I could seriously just sit on top of some of these sync points and look at the view for days.

The further I get, the more bugs I see though. Nothing major or gamebreaking, just things like the characters mouths not moving during conversations, mounts getting stuck in walls, etc. The most annoying one is that I picked up one of those "revenge" missions where you track down the killers of another player. This was was for a Mrkittyboobutt. It was in a fort I was already clearing, so I figured I'd just grab a few extra XP. Problem is, I had already killed one of the perpetrators and threw him in a hay pile. When you do that, you apparently can't move the body again, and the "confirm kill" command won't trigger. And since you can't discard quests, I'm now permanently stuck with the "Avenge Mrkittyboobutt" in my quest log for the rest of the game.

Damn fun game though, and if they stay on this track, I may actually get back into the AC series.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Sun Jun 24, 2018 1:59 pm Damn fun game though, and if they stay on this track, I may actually get back into the AC series.

From Reddit, something to help you figure out which AC game had which feature:

I'm honestly as pissed at a game right now as I have ever been.

Spent the last hour working on clearing out Fort Nikiou. I methodically stalked and eliminated every guard in the place one by one, only getting spotted once. Part skill, part sheer luck, but it was a thing of beauty and fantastically thrilling.

The only person left in the Fort was the Commander. He was too strong to take down with an assassination, so I had to fight him one on one. I bobbed and weaved, but he hits like a truck. I use all my tricks and get him down to a tiny sliver of health. I rush in for the final blow...and my character gets stuck on the edge of a random cart. I can't move, can't dodge, can't drop smoke bombs, nothing. Try to run away, game won't let me move. I'm completely stuck, the Commander gives me three quick smashes with his mace, and I'm desynched.

When I respawn, all of those dudes that I spent the last hour killing? Yeah, they've all respawned and I have to clear out the entire fort all over again. Gonna need to step away from this one for a bit.

Personally, I'm never ashamed to switch to Easy difficulty to get through combat. I absolutely loath replaying a combat over and over, it's just not enjoyable for me.

Finished this last week. Brilliant game and easily the best AC game for me. It's also the most grounded in its history. Just have the tour mode left to do.

Oh, I always play on Easy. I’m generally terrible at these games. You’d laugh if you saw the number of arrows I waste trying to actually hit someone in the head.

I’m just pissed I have to replay an hour because the damn game glitched and got me stuck on that stupid cart.

Climbed my first pyramid and did my first ship battle tonight Both were fantastic. This game certainly knows how to push the adrenaline buttons. It also helps that Bayek is a great protagonist. The digital and voice acting are incredibly well done, and I'm really enjoying his story...something that has never happened in previous AC games.

I think I'm about halfway through, 20 hours and level 22.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 12:05 am It also helps that Bayek is a great protagonist.

He's become my favourite AC protagonist. There's something really down-to-earth about him. At the same time, he's kind of like a superhero, helping the people of Egypt with their woes. We never really saw any of the other ones do that before, although to be fair, that's due to the RPG nature of the game. But I think it gives both the character and the eras they're set in a bit more personality.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 27, 2018 12:05 am I think I'm about halfway through, 20 hours and level 22.

I put in 84 hours on my playthrough, although I didn't quite finish the main campaign. I kind of loath the boss battles and I was getting burned out. I did do a lot of the side missions as they take you to interesting places on the map. I was leery of ACO when it was first announced, but I'm glad the next edition is going to be more of the same. The only regrettable thing is that it is also going to be nicknamed as ACO; I think they could have gone with Assassin's Creed Zorba myself

I was going to start a new game of AC4 Black Flag, but I decided I'd first finish the campaign of Origins. Turns out I had to only put in less than an hour to finish it. I'm showing 93% complete as I still have some side quests to complete, which I may or may not get around to finishing.

As I posted on the first page (sheesh, why are there only three pages in this thread?), when I had my GTX 780 3GB I was running at Medium to keep the frame rate decent. I recently got a GTX 1060 6GB and I can now run at Very High graphics at almost 60 fps all the time. Sadly, I don't really notice much of a difference, but then that's just me

I've spent an unconscionable amount of time playing Origins over the past few weeks, and I think I'm finally ready to give it a rest. What a fantastic game. Sure, the storytelling is a mixed bag, but the world they've created is top-notch -- detailed and vast. And so pretty.

I guess I'm not quite done with Origins yet. This morning I listened to this podcast with the game's director. It's almost always fascinating to hear a committed, talented professional talk about their work, and that's certainly the case here. He goes into a lot of detail about their development process and influences -- not surprisingly, he mentions The Witcher 3 a lot.

Finally pushed through and finished the main story in AC: O last night. I've played nearly all of the AC games, but have never actually finished one until now. Origins is easily my favorite.

Bayek was a fantastic protagonist, and I found the story it told to be surprisingly moving. I wasn't crazy about the way it ended, but I get why they went that direction. It's also the most beautiful game I've ever played. The level of detail in the world is truly incredible, and the views when the camera pans around as you hit a sync point are simply breathtaking.

Moving away from the "collect a new doodad every 3 steps" into more of a true RPG format did wonders to streamline the AC experience, imo. As did the removal of "crowd stealth", which I always found to be a very silly mechanic. There's still a ton left that I could do in terms of sidequests, but at just over 40 hours, I think I'm ready to move on to something new.

All in all, I came away wildly impressed, and Origins has me 100% re-engaged with the AC series. That's something I didn't really think would ever happen, and I'm pleasantly surprised. Can't wait to start Odyssey next month.

I've tried and failed about 3 times to get into Origins on the xbox one. The combat and movement felt like a step backwards for me. I got stuck on surrounding terrain more than a few times, and the combat didn't have the same visceral feel that earlier games had. I recently went back and started playing through Black Flag (a game I had put aside due to time, not dislike...but just never returned to for various reasons unrelated to the game), and it is everything great about the Assassin's Creed series. The combat is fun, the stealth feels like real stealth, you can stick to cover, etc..

But I'll probably go back and give it a fourth try after I finish a few other games. I did like the world building in the game (even if they pulled the animus encyclopedia out of the game in favor of a "tourist" dlc ).

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 9:48 am Bayek was a fantastic protagonist, and I found the story it told to be surprisingly moving. I wasn't crazy about the way it ended, but I get why they went that direction. It's also the most beautiful game I've ever played. The level of detail in the world is truly incredible, and the views when the camera pans around as you hit a sync point are simply breathtaking.

Yep, he was a great protagonist. I found him to be the most relatable of all of them. And the world itself was as much a character as he was. Instead of them just being places, they felt like they were lived-in. For the first time in an an AC game, I felt like I was being taken back to a different time and place. I felt like I was in the middle of that history.

I am way late to the party on this one, but after ~5 hours, I can see now why they're calling this Assassin's Creed: Witcher. You can absolutely feel the influence and I'm really impressed with what I'v seen so far. Took me a little bit to get used to the controls and to get back into the basic game play philosophy of the Assassin's Creed games, but now that I'm over that hump, I can see myself spending a ton of time in this one. Would recommend based on what I've seen so far.

38 hours later and I've finished. I'm sure if you remained focused you could do it faster but I feel like I've seen less than half of the entire game. It's absolutely huge and really amazing to explore - so much to see and do. If you're into world exploration this delivers. Would absolutely recommend it, particularly if you've been looking for something that borrows from The Witcher Wild Hunt. It didn't quite reach the same height for me (does anything?), but it's definitely the closest I can recall a recent game coming.

Now you can get started on the DLC!

I think I'm actually going to jump right into Odyssey - I picked that up last month along with a bucket of DLC for it as part of the last sale they just had. I only picked it up based on how much fun Origins was; I'm hoping it's more of the same but with a gladius.

Odyssey was pretty dang fun from what I played. D bought it for me so Id have something to do after nothing for so long. She got it on a great sale for me 4 days before he stroke..maybe 2. I played the heck out of it but haven't touched it since I rushed her to the hospital. May never. Ive not played anything I owned much before her death. I know she got it for me to enjoy...and shut me up lol.

I've been casting around, trying to find something to play. I couldn't find anything new, so I thought about restarting an Assassin's Creed game or continuing one. I considered Black Flag, but I found some parts of it to drag and it wasn't that big a draw for me. I never finished Odyssey, but after putting in 41 hours I kind of burnt out on it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as Origins. I did finish the basic game of Origins, but with Uplay+ I now have access to the DLC The Hidden Ones. I installed Origins, fired it up and tried to continue my saved game with the first DLC mission. However, it has been more than 22 months since I've touched it and it was November of 2017 that I last played it in earnest and I'm rusty as hell. But damn, it does look pretty, so I decided to start a new game and see how long I wanted to play though the main campaign again.

I've run into one thing I'm not sure about. I'm seeing the following symbol in the upper right corner of the screen, and it is there all the time except in cutscenes. Anyone have an idea of what it means?

I actually started Black Flag for the third time (I never got far, and haven't finished an AC title since Brotherhood) a week or so ago. I'm having fun, but for the first time in the series I'm playing the story and doing what sounds fun. I only go after collectibles if I stumble across them directly, with the exception of the shanties. Not chasing down every obscure item in every location improves the flow so much.

jztemple2 wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 11:45 pm I've run into one thing I'm not sure about. I'm seeing the following symbol in the upper right corner of the screen, and it is there all the time except in cutscenes. Anyone have an idea of what it means?

The internets say that it means that you can craft an upgrade for something.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Sep 14, 2018 10:18 am I've tried and failed about 3 times to get into Origins on the xbox one. The combat and movement felt like a step backwards for me. I got stuck on surrounding terrain more than a few times, and the combat didn't have the same visceral feel that earlier games had. I recently went back and started playing through Black Flag (a game I had put aside due to time, not dislike...but just never returned to for various reasons unrelated to the game), and it is everything great about the Assassin's Creed series. The combat is fun, the stealth feels like real stealth, you can stick to cover, etc..

But I'll probably go back and give it a fourth try after I finish a few other games. I did like the world building in the game (even if they pulled the animus encyclopedia out of the game in favor of a "tourist" dlc ).

By the way, I was completely wrong about this. After I let go of the old series in my mind, I discovered that the Assassin's Creed franchise changes that began in Origins are amazing. It took me about 4 tries to get into it all, but after I did I played Origins through to the end...then some more. Around that time, Odyssey went on sale and I sunk almost 200 hours into THAT then.

So yeah, I was wrong.

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 9:46 am After I let go of the old series in my mind, I discovered that the Assassin's Creed franchise changes that began in Origins are amazing.

So, for someone who owns a couple of the later games through later giveaways, but has never played past Black Flag, what are some of those changes?

As Smoove mentioned earlier, it's like they took a look at Witcher and decided to incorporate that into the series.

Combat isn't as heavily based on hitting a certain key at the right time. It's more fluid and organic to the fight, and now includes shields. Once I got the hang of it, I loved grabbing new skills for combat when leveling up and then trying to find the right ones to use that fit my play style. I actually look forward to combat (although to be fair, I did enjoy combat in the previous AC games...just not as much as I do now). It's more Dark Souls than anything else...but far more forgiving.

You don't slide into a locked position when seeking cover, you just have to assume you're hidden. Don't worry, the visual cues are enough to make it work after you get used to it.

The game worlds seem much larger. MUCH larger. ESPECIALLY in Odyssey. 200 hours into that game I'm STILL finding spots I haven't seen. If you get one game in the new series, I HIGHLY recommend it be Odyssey. Easily one of the best games I've ever played.

Here's a great overview of how the series changed with Origins.

So, the AssCreed series are mostly standalone. Is there a reason to do Origins --> Odyssey? Or does the order not matter?

(I have a $10 coupon for Epic, which would net me Odyssey for ten bucks, but there are a couple of other contenders.)

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 3:23 pm So, the AssCreed series are mostly standalone. Is there a reason to do Origins --> Odyssey? Or does the order not matter?

(I have a $10 coupon for Epic, which would net me Odyssey for ten bucks, but there are a couple of other contenders.)

No, you could do Odyssey without playing Origins, the order really doesn't matter, especially since Odyssey takes place chronologically before Origins.

I've put in several hours on Origins and I'm reminded why I consider it the best of the AC series. The map with its details is fantastic; Odyssey's map feels repetitive, once you've seen one small island you've seen them all, so to speak. Also, Bayek, the main character in Origins, is more interesting and complex than the Alexios/Kassandra protagonist in Odyssey. A lot of my preference is subjective of course, but I think if you are going to get just one of the games, Origins is the way to go. I think my best measure is that of all the AC games, the only two I played to completion are Origins and Black Flag. And I'd be happy to play through Origins again (as I'm doing right now) but I just don't think Black Flag would be that interesting the second time around.

I thought there was just as much difference in the maps between Origins and Odyssey. There’s just a lot more in Odyssey.

I also preferred the ship combat and the crew customization in Odyssey. It made killing enemies secondary to trying to recruit that guy or gal with legendary abilities.

As for the story, I enjoyed them both equally.

I still say if you have to choose, Odyssey is your best choice.

Odyssey lives with me now. I studied ancient Greek (5th century Attic) in college alongside a (mostly useless) minor in folklore and mythology, so the setting appeals to me quite a bit.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2020 7:44 pm Odyssey lives with me now. I studied ancient Greek (5th century Attic) in college alongside a (mostly useless) minor in folklore and mythology, so the setting appeals to me quite a bit.

You get to fight some ancient mythological creatures. That should make your purchase even more enticing.

I'm continuing to play a second time through the main game of Origins, but there is a chance of burn out if I only just keep playing the same missions I did before. So I'm trying to stop and smell the water lilies so to speak, checking out all the odd buildings and structures, doing the daily missions and avenging fallen players. There's a lot to do if you aren't in a hurry.

Well holy shit. I found a tweak guide that worked. I found two sites actually. Both agreed with each other and one even had a bunch pics with sliders to show the difference. Ill post the first one I found without the pics. Also I only followed the guide for the game settings. I didn't do any of the nvidia settings or anything like that. Also Im Win 7 not Win 10.

But my other couple tries even with my own tweaking were bad. It was slow, lagged, and floaty. Running around was slooow at times and trying to use a bow was floaty. Just bad. Now though its perfectly smooth and plays fine. The only regret is I had to turn off the clouds and sky. Maybe Ill get used to a bland sky.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/582160/d ... 082106581/

Noone should be running Win 7 on a PC connected to the internet!

We've tried warning him; he refuses.

God I HATE the controls in this game. It uses the shoulder and trigger buttons for attacks. Im used to the buttons being attacks and assassinations and the triggers being run and such. The entire time Im trying to fight I go to block and take out my bow. I go to light hit and I duck and when I try to run I do a heavy attack...then I die...over and over. Why is every AC game control itself different. Argh.

Yeah, attacking with the trigger or shoulder seems odd. I'm going to play it soon, hope I can get used to it.

Mouse and keyboard, as all things are meant to be played!

I only had to end up changing about 4 buttons. Now its all better. Still a little weird theres no sprint button. Its just built in to how far you push the control stick. Also buttons have multiple actions so it took me a few min to make it so they didn't conflict.

Im having a hell of a time with the high lookout points. I can get up there fine but the sync button 'A' is the same as the swan dive so I simply end up re watching the spin instead of jumping. So Im left with climbing back down which can take some time. More often than not I simply fall and die because 'B' is my down key. Really getting irritated by it.