Assassin’s Creed: Phantasms – A Return to the Original Intention

“Assassin’s Creed: Phantasms” will be launched on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series Changes, and different feelings are the main ones.

As we already know, “Assassin’s Creed Visions” focuses on a return to the original intention. It not only destroys the structure of the mythical trilogy “Origins”, “Odyssey” and “Viking Age”, but also rebuilds the “Assassin’s Creed” series to eliminate the essentials and retain the essentials. , to find the gaming experience that should belong to the original “Assassin’s Creed”.

There are no plot mines, there are system mines, and the screenshots may contain misleading associations.

“Assassin’s Creed Visions” is led by development studio Ubisoft Bordeaux, whose previous works include “Wrath of the Druids”, the first DLC of “Assassin’s Creed Viking Age”.

The most special thing this time is that in addition to English and Japanese, it also includesArabic voice!

This test uses the PS5 physical disc version provided by Ubisoft; the content does not include key plot points, twists, endings, the final fate of the characters, etc.

【Friendly lightning protection line】

Back to original intention

First of all, the RPG concept is finally unplugged from the growth system, and returns to focus on the player’s game skills, level understanding, and smooth parkour routes. All the players have to do is concentrate on killing people.On the normal difficulty level, you only take the main route and can complete it in about 20 hours.

Skills are not so much about growth as they are about helping you have a more convenient assassin experience. For example, the “Assassin Concentration” in the later stage can be used to hit up to five at a time. Whether you just want to be lazy or deal with big scenes, it is a good skill that is highly recommended to be maxed out.

Of course, even if you don’t use all the skills, you can still get them all broken.

Not only is the system very simple this time, the combat is also very basic.

Close combat “R1” short press light attack, long press heavy attack, L1 dodge light attack, ▢ can avoid heavy attack. Also because the combat system tends to be simple, the skill tree is relatively simple. It is divided into three categories: assassination, auxiliary attack, and reconnaissance, with a reset function.

The equipment is also very simple, and the important equipment designs come from treasure chests. The basic values ​​are almost the same, but the difference lies in the equipment’s auxiliary capabilities, such as 50% health, light attack bonus of 30%, or automatic blood recovery, etc.

There are rough level concepts of “apprentice”, “disciple”, “disciple”, and “assassin”. Simply as the main line progresses, it mainly distinguishes the recommended difficulty of different cities. For example, Baghdad belongs to the assassin. Of course you can go there, but it may be a little difficult. That’s all.

Different from the previous generations where you can go from assassin to unparalleled, the stealth assassination in “Illusion” is more efficient. The close combat moves are relatively simple. If you ignore blocking and dodging, small damage will lead to loss of health and death. It may be a little difficult in the early stage. Once you develop your skills, you can quickly get out of an encirclement by two or three enemies.

This time, area construction was also removed and the focus was on the assassin’s own growth. There were no other partners, no siege warfare, and no face-making system. The protagonist Bessim had his childhood sweetheart Nihar, but the plot focused more on the assassin’s identity and the advancement of the mission.

However, there are still some trivial tasks that you can just go to the stronghold to undertake. They are all necessary skill points, resources, etc. for upgrading.

Because there is no area building, there are no life systems, such as hunting, modeling, or dice games like “Assassin’s Creed Viking Age”. This time is more like an “Assassin’s growth process” than an “Assassin’s life experience”.

Also because it focuses on the assassination experience and nothing else. The weapons this time are only the “long sword” and “dagger” that are standard equipment for assassins (the sleeve arrows are original equipment and have no growth system), and naturally there is no shield.

The main areas of the game are mainly cities and some suburbs. In addition to changing areas according to different chapters, there is relatively little need for frequent long-distance movement. The synchronization point requirements this time are relatively few, but you can still try to solve a few of them.

Although there are many fewer systems, there are still many urban collection elements.

This time there are only three difficulty levels: “Easy”, “Normal”, and “Hard”. , you can additionally adjust different auxiliary functions such as pickpocketing, aiming, exploration, distance, and compass. Want to challenge the limit? Turn them all off!

Do you miss tearing up posters (by mistake)? There are a total of 4 stages of “notoriety” that are enough to make it difficult for you to move forward. As long as you accidentally injure people, or kill someone and be seen by people, they will all increase; 1 is the lowest, and 4 is the highest. The way to eliminate the notoriety, besides tearing up the wanted notice, is to bribe the herald with money to put in a good word for you.

Little thief becomes big assassin

Compared with the complexity of family ties and hatred between country and family, the plot of Phantom is relatively simple. A little thief who originally had nothing to do until he began to concentrate on becoming a qualified “Invisible One” (assassin), he embarked on a career of supporting justice and crusading against the “Order” (Templar Knights).

Compared with the previous linear logbook of main quests, this time an “investigation board” has been enabled, which is similar to a huge quest record board and records the various main quests and side quests you have experienced since the beginning of the game. You can confirm the completion progress at any time and know the relationship between each other’s tasks.

The point is! In addition to the main line structure of a big concept, you can choose the progress between different plots according to your own ideas.

The benefits of the investigation board don’t stop there. In addition to progress reports, it even tells you the connection between the final boss and the main plot. It is really clear at a glance and you can keep track of the progress at any time, whether you are rushing to finish it all, or playing slowly and slowly.

Stealing, I found it difficult at first, but then I became addicted to stealing. In addition to understanding tasks and obtaining money, the most important thing about stealing is to obtain “Hidma Coin”, which is a way to invite scholars, businessmen, and mercenaries to help.

There are three kinds of “Hidmar Coins” that can be used in “Assassin’s Creed: Visions”. In order to avoid using it when you need it, you can steal more and put it away when you have time in the early stage.

Scholar Assistance Coin:Presenting coins to certain scholars and artists can assist in playing the piano and singing to attract enemies.

Merchant Assistance Coin:Store discounts or other services.

Power Assist Coin:Show coins to officials and guards to get help and passage; show them to mercenaries to ask for help.

Because there is a relatively strong emphasis on assassination, puzzle solving and exploration, the level design uses many familiar gameplay methods. This time, there is a relatively strong emphasis on poor terrain and obstacles. Occasionally, you need to break windows from the outside, or pay attention to low holes, high places, etc.

In short, no matter where you go, no matter what mission you take on, you can always observe the terrain, make good use of the eagle Enkidu and assassin vision, and scan the surrounding environment at any time, so you can get twice the result with half the effort.

By the way, this time the officers and soldiers are limited to the ground (they can’t even swim), and the parkour route on the roof is entirely their own. After generations of roof archers plotted against them, they can finally run around on the roof with their eyes closed.

This time the eavesdropping system is really approachable compared to before. There is no need to follow you half to death, just find a chair on the roadside to sit and eavesdrop. It’s really…

There are camels on the land route and boats on the water route. The camel walk is outside the city limits. Press and hold the right arrow key to summon a camel for a ride. For small boats on the waterway, you can row them as long as you see a boat on the river, regardless of whether there are people on it or not.

Although, the blood volume is limited, and although there are no ambushes in the wild, there are some wild creatures such as snakes and deer. Especially the deer, don’t think that it has no lethality. If you accidentally hit the deer when it is out of health… you will die.

It comes from the goodwill of the development team. There are not many terrain indicators in the game, but if you see a cloth curtain in particular, you can try to find a way and climb over it. It should be good.

Written after playing.

Perhaps it’s because Baghdad and the Levant of the first “Assassin’s Creed” belong to the same continent of West Asia. The art style of “Assassin’s Creed Visions” is full of mystery and romance like “One Thousand and One Nights”, and is a little reminiscent of the nostalgia of the first generation.

At the same time, because there are very few Abbasid monuments left, in order to recreate Baghdad’s magnificence as the world’s cultural center at that time, not only a city that accommodated 1.5 million people, but also the absolute prosperity of learning, thought, science, and economy, It relatively tests the development team’s creative and inspection capabilities.

The main plot is mainly about tasks. The protagonist Basim’s personality description does not have much description, but you can get familiar with his thoughts, concepts and personality from the side tasks and NPC conversations.

Unfortunately, there is no clear modern line this time, and you don’t even know who is controlling Bassim. What makes people even more curious is how the modern lines are arranged today.

“Assassin’s Creed: Visions” has returned to the early style, and the content has been significantly “condensed”. Although it is said to be “a culmination of the series”, it may lack new content. For players who are accustomed to the middle and later stages, it may be a little uncomfortable, or they may feel that the content is too little.

But for old players or stealth assassination enthusiasts, “Assassin’s Creed: Visions” brings a “purity” that has been tempered for 15 years; at the same time, you can see the growth of the series.

Anyway, this is familiar Assassin’s Creed, welcome back.