Goated remake for a goated OG game. I loved the original and it is the only Assassin's Creed game I have ever beaten more than 2 times purely for my love of this story, it is one of my favourite stories ever told.
However, it was always a bit of a struggle because the combat and stealth were WAY too easy, even for 10 year old me back when the game came out.
But now with the addition of harder difficulty options, getting hit and getting caught is way more punishing. Plus you can set the npc's to not experience object impermanence, while being blind and deaf. Meaning they will actually hear and see you from much further away while actually chasing you down, even if they can't see you. And the combat is really clean too. Even though they got rid of Wristblade Combat (Rest in Peace) there are more options for combat while introducing parrying, perfect dodges and manual sweep/kick buttons.
This makes my least favourite parts about the original, SO much more enjoyable and it really elevates the experience for me into one where I now genuinely enjoy every part of it.
The only critiques I have is that they did in fact remove Wristblade Combat, but I am not too chuffed because I am certain that a modder out there is going to re-add that form of combat back into the game via some sort of mod. This next critique is however, is not something that I can personally fix so easily. The in-game DLC Marketplace... I would understand it's inclusion if they did include the multiplayer content from the original, but they didn't. So what that means is that a singleplayer focused story game has microtransactions focused on making you look cooler. Which I would honestly have zero issue with IF they didn't also make the cosmetics have perks that make the game easier. Meaning you can buy "cheats" for a SINGLEPLAYER game if it is somehow too hard. I don't believe I need to elaborate further on why that is an issue. But it's your money spend it how you want. I personally will be avoiding that market like the plague.
But tl;dr:
This game is as goated if not more goated than the original. If you like the original, buy it. If you like pirates, buy it. If you like a good story, buy it. 'Nuff said.
