Food for Thought: Assassin's Creed III

 
Isara
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Connor, a character with a story filled with blood, and the intrigues of colonial America primarily seeks revenge, and answers for the major events in his life. His mission, however, does not consume him, and it does not become bloodlust, as he remains uncorrupted.

The main issue with Assassin's Creed III can't be found with its strangely placed military patrols atop the roofs of Boston, nor the British soldiers who may appear in key locations whenever a mission is taken even though control of the area already belongs to The Sons of Liberty or the peculiar changes in combat that followed from Assassin's Creed II.

However, it can be found within the main character, Connor, the assassin. When he speaks, when he is shown in cinematics, and whenever he is faced with a moral dilemma, Connor does not appear brave, albeit his decision should give that exact feeling.

That happens because Connor's facial expressions and voice acting do not always match with the momentum at hand. Where there are lines when he's confronted to express emotion, Connor not only replies with lack of emotion or his emotion—anger is the default one at many points, but also his body language is bland as the camera usually focuses on the face, ignoring that Connor might move his hands in a certain manner.

This is not directly evident in the first acts of the game. A younger Connor has a much better way to express his feelings, and his body language reflects what goes onto his mind. When he is given the Assassin's blades for the first time during that scene one can witness the transition from rage, to excitement, and humility.

So, where does it begin? When does his emotions mismatch his body language? During the next segment of the game, it progresses steadily. The first hints can be noticed when Connor declares war and plants the hatchet some of the lines are not accompanied by the body language being shown.

Certainly, this also applies in side missions, and sometimes even in Desmond's story. Many characters have this issue, but major ones  do not show it, actually, the major characters do not show this issue as much Connor does towards the end of the game's story.

A moment that I memorized though and it became evident is when Desmond admits that he hates killing. Without any kind of warning, or explanation, even though the moment is harsh, it is strangely brought that Desmond has a hard time to kill a person.

The sudden input of this emotion is simply thrown there, and it also applies on Connor as his usual input is anger or simply playing the overly good hero. As long you keep playing as Connor, the more you catch up on those bits, and the more it stays on your mind.

Assassin's Creed III is a great game, and has some problems. These problems do not disrupt the gameplay to most players. Yet, with some insight, when you notice that your character's emotions become bland, it hurts the story which at the start is exciting and slowly, over the course of the game drains itself, as all the major characters.

What do you think about Connor's personality, and do you find that over as the game progresses the character's emotions become drained out as I have experienced during my play through?



Food for Thought is a series of critical outlooks on games written by Isara exclusively for Sep7agon.net. Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft, Ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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Last Edit: October 06, 2014, 04:57:42 AM by Isara


Yu | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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I never played any of the Assassin's Creed games, but I have a feeling you would make a good in depth review on the game.


 
Isara
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Maybe, but for games as large as Assassin's Creed it is quite the work. A whole in-depth critical piece that contains something about each chapter would be at least 5k words which would need to be edited, processed and checked again. Perhaps, if I could release them online and charge like $1 or $5 for each then that would make it worth all the effort for a full in-depth piece. (Always implying my quality is up to that)

I never played any of the Assassin's Creed games, but I have a feeling you would make a good in depth review on the game.
Last Edit: October 01, 2014, 01:14:14 PM by Isara


Yu | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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Maybe, but for games as large as Assassin's Creed it is quite the work. A whole in-depth critical piece that contains something about each chapter would be at least 5k words which would need to be edited, processed and checked again. Perhaps, if I could release them online and charge like $1 or $5 for each then that would make it worth all the effort for a full in-depth piece.

I never played any of the Assassin's Creed games, but I have a feeling you would make a good in depth review on the game.
You could always just shorten a review by putting in the most important things that you think deserve attention in it. Its not really necessary to be extremely in depth, unless you want to that is.


 
Isara
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There's a difference between writing a full document with criticism on a game, and a review to be given on a website. If I am to convey everything from my critical standpoint then I would probably remove things that aren't needed from the text. Instead in a review for a website or a magazine (which both deal with quite limited space) you must retain a few bits of everything that is important, but at the same time that explains your thoughts on those bits. So, I'd say that I actually prefer to be wholly in depth, even though the audience for this would be much smaller.

You could always just shorten a review by putting in the most important things that you think deserve attention in it. Its not really necessary to be extremely in depth, unless you want to that is.


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I thought Connor was a great character, and I loved the story in AC3.


Yu | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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There's a difference between writing a full document with criticism on a game, and a review to be given on a website. If I am to convey everything from my critical standpoint then I would probably remove things that aren't needed from the text. Instead in a review for a website or a magazine (which both deal with quite limited space) you must retain a few bits of everything that is important, but at the same time that explains your thoughts on those bits. So, I'd say that I actually prefer to be wholly in depth, even though the audience for this would be much smaller.

You could always just shorten a review by putting in the most important things that you think deserve attention in it. Its not really necessary to be extremely in depth, unless you want to that is.
To me how much depth I put on a review depends normally on how enthusiastic I am about what I'm reviewing, otherwise I just try to cover the important bits and analyze them.


 
Isara
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That's not the wrong attitude, it's the prerequisite to write a review. However, it's different when you need to make a publication on the web, or a magazine. Where the length, and content matters, and an editor will expect you to meet those things.

To me how much depth I put on a review depends normally on how enthusiastic I am about what I'm reviewing, otherwise I just try to cover the important bits and analyze them.

Alright, and why is that so?
I thought Connor was a great character, and I loved the story in AC3.
Last Edit: October 01, 2014, 01:40:07 PM by Isara


Yu | Mythic Inconceivable!
 
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That's not the wrong attitude, it's the prerequisite to write a review. However, it's different when you need to make a publication on the web, or a magazine. Where the length, and content matters, and an editor will expect you to meet those things.

To me how much depth I put on a review depends normally on how enthusiastic I am about what I'm reviewing, otherwise I just try to cover the important bits and analyze them.

Good thing I review just for the fun, but I get what your saying.


 
Luis
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I didn't like Connor that much tbh. Though he had his moments.


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I thought Connor was a great character, and I loved the story in AC3.

Why the fuck would they cut that. That was really good.


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Isara
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Personally, my favorite is Assassin's Creed II when it comes to character. The story is very involving, albeit a little cliché, Ezio Audiotore (the main character) has a personality that is quite three dimensional more than Altair was in the first game, and than Connor in Assassin's Creed III. Also, during the story personalities change, and adapt with the changes undergoing in their lives, which is quite advanced as far character development goes in writing.

You should watch a long play on YouTube, if you are uncertain whether to actually play the game or not. It's worth experiencing it as a player or viewer at least once.

If you actually happen to do so then would you please share your thoughts? I am curious what others might think about the characters and their stories in Assassin's Creed II.

I played the first one and half of the second and got bored. Is it worth getting back into it to play the others?
Last Edit: October 03, 2014, 01:40:53 AM by Isara


 
Isara
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Can you also please elaborate? Do you find familiarity with the points I have made?

I didn't like Connor that much tbh. Though he had his moments.


 
Luis
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Can you also please elaborate? Do you find familiarity with the points I have made?

I didn't like Connor that much tbh. Though he had his moments.
I agree with your points. There were parts in the game where I did like him, but like you said, he rarely showed any emotion when he spoke.


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Doesn't change the fact that the game lost what made it good after 2.