Weekend Confirmed 121 - Ouya, Walking Dead, Gravity Rush, DYAD, Spelunky

So on AC2, I do agree with Andrew's point that it is a cleverly designed franchise. In terms of transmedia story telling though I would say Mass Effect has done a much better job. As I said originally, all these meta constructs in the AC franchise, is in fact what prevents its from maintaining a compelling through-line story.

That said, I completely disagree with Jeff's point about the side missions in AC being more gratifying the GTA's. The whole thing about AC's sandbox is that you get the worst of both worlds. Horseback riding is not the equivalent of driving in GTA. The game systems in AC aren't anywhere near as deep as those in say Red Dead Redemption.

The core problem is again, that there are two protagonists in the game, and I would argue that neither have directives or motivations that directly feed into the main science fiction bit that is supposedly so awesome. Ezio hates the Templars because they killed his family, and Desmond doesn't know anything at all.

Therefore, whenever you do a side mission to unlock some detail about the Templars' plans, neither Ezio nor Desmond will allow it to heavily affect their motives, or story lines. This reduces all the side missions in AC2 to exposition that will feed the player's own curiosity.

But this is the core of my criticism---there is no point to finding something out about the Templars, and the Templars' science fictiony plans can not be considered the "story" if those revelations only exists in the abstract. It merely creates meta construct that ostensibly makes the franchise more interesting---not the fiction itself.

That is not to say that conspiratorial elements, and mystery in the plot can't be a positive thing. Garnet mentioned how it would enhance the story if the crew talked to Desmond as he was in the Animus acting as Ezio. Well, Metal Gear already invented this. Its called the codec. The difference between MG and AC though, is that MG uses the whole idea that Snake is a pawn, and kept in the dark about the true grisley details of his mission, to enhance the plot. Where as in AC the Animus is merely a construct to obfuscate what is ostensibly the plot (according to fans) from the gamer.

And again, this all goes without saying how none of the characters in Assassin's Creed are actually interesting or even last for more than a couple of missions. For a game that no one plays for story, I actually thought GTAIV did a far better job of developing a consistently interesting cast of characters. Niko himself is way more interesting than either Ezio or Desmond---an Eastern European gadfly in this heightened version of American culture. Roman creates a constancy in the plot, by being Niko's relative, not dying in the first couple of missions, and actually being the subject of a fairly compelling rescue mission.

Me not being the biggest GTA fan withstanding, I remember even minor mission giving characters like Packie McReary---the Irish gangster with the sweet oblivious family, Elizabeta Torres---the notorious female drug dealer, way better and more fondly than anyone in Assassin's Creed.