Review of Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection for Switch: A nostalgic city getaway

Playing open-world video games on a portable device has a certain allure. The freedom of a new universe in your palm is something remarkable, even if you're simply lounging on the sofa. It's crucial, in my opinion, to the Nintendo Switch's success. Not only did it debut with one of the greatest open-world games in recent memory, but it also continuously added new worlds to explore in addition to the well-known, old worlds to return to. Playing Assassin's Creed is similar like cleaning up after a large supper for everyone. Lots of enjoyable things, lots of work. Not just any tasks, but good ones that provide the same kind of joy as hob cleaning. I felt obligated to finish every mission in Assassin's Creed III on the Switch. I acquired every last memorabilia. That's absurd for two reasons: one, getting all those collectibles takes a very long time, and second, ACIII isn't that fantastic. However, the monotonous collectathon that is most AC games is really more fun because of how accessible this universe is. It was the Switch itself, not the game, that won me over to a newfound passion. And with that in mind, these games need to be evaluated. This occurred once again with the Rebel collection, which includes two excellent Switch games, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Assassin's Creed Rogue (better than many think). On a portable, sailing over limitless oceans is a marvelous experience. It's just really thrilling. It's the things that used to delight me as a child. That's the reason I started playing GTA Liberty City Stories and getting a PSP when I was a preteen. I've always desired it but was never able to get it. I'm overjoyed that I finally have it. Has the ploy, nevertheless, worn off? Does the Ezio collection reach new heights because of its magic? Are the three most popular AC games still relevant today?All right, kind of... Florence from AC2 is vibrant, but in a two-dimensional, nonsensical manner. Rome in Brotherhood is crimson, enormous, and polished. Istanbul in Revelations is multilayered, rich, and golden. Particularly in the latter two games, these locations are very audible. It is similar to taking a childhood vacation, but your parents aren't there. In other words, even when the visuals fall short, virtual murder and digital tourism are inextricably linked. These locations have a vitality, an aura, and a strength. Thus, despite all of my complaints that follow, the idea of a portable universe is sufficiently realized to be engaging and fulfilling. Thus, the collection may be considered successful.

ASSASSIN'S CREED IIIt's really challenging to revisit the original Ezio game after all these years. It starts slowly, features sometimes annoying parkour, but all in all, is a great reminder of how much better the Assassin's Creed games have become. It seems lot older than I anticipated, but it still has some endearing characters and a fantastic, absurd narrative. I'm willing to put up with this since I love the games so much, but Assassin's Creed II seems dated throughout.That is more of a warning than a criticism. The collection's main goal is to play classic games in a more improved format. You will naturally reflect on how far games have come when you play a game that is thirteen years old. That's how things operate.You may still explore intricate recreations of Florence, Venice, Forlì, San Gimignano, and Monteriggioni in this fantastic game from 2009. That, in my opinion, is what makes it so appealing (this is true of all the early Assassin's Creed games as well). Ticking boxes, picking up objects, battling, and running around some more. Everything is only furniture in the huge, exquisite chamber that houses the universe and the narrative woven within it. So don't worry—it's still available.Though the world exists, it doesn't always seem to be in its proper place. Of course, the collection has some odd visual bugs in addition to classic games. It doesn't always seem like the best method to play these three games, even if that is their intended purpose.The first thing I did in open-world Florence was scale the highest building I could see from the top, both literally and metaphorically. I had the same rush as when I played this game for the first time at the age of eleven when I ascended. Even yet, it offered me the sense of independence to explore the area in a manner that I had never experienced in a game before.Even after seeing it a million times, I still get a weird thrill from it. However, as I reached the summit, I was met with a depressing sight: the far streets and lanes had recurring textures, part of the river reflected light while the other did not, and some of the buildings seemed to be illuminated by sunshine even at night. This was just fine, yet it ought to be the centerpiece of the game.There are a couple more instances such as that. For instance, there's a brief moment when everything seems in the distance while rising and the camera pans over the top of a building to expose the skyline. Though little, it is apparent. I had the same thing as I was rushing through the streets: the game was loading little too slowly in higher-resolution textures, so when I turned a corner, I saw an odd, unexpected bit of movement, like the buildings were pulsing. Then there's aliasing, which is characterized by odd white lines that shimmer and move in the distance. That's ubiquitous, unimportant, but sometimes startling nevertheless.I could talk on forever about how the first game in this collection looks, but that would be pointless right now. The fact that Assassin's Creed II looks better today than it did when it was initially released is what matters most. Colors shine instead of having the washed-out beige filter that characterized games in the 2000s; faces are more emotive, despite the fact that they still seem a little odd; and the sky and lighting are much better. Furthermore, while still there, the problems are significantly less serious at Monteriggioni or San Gimignano, outside of Florence and Venice. You will, however, spend the most of your time in the cities, so it's unfortunate that Ubisoft didn't work out all the kinks. Once again, however, this is not so much an outright condemnation as it is a stark warning. This is the only method to play the excellent old game Assassin's Creed II on the Nintendo Switch, and it works well enough. It's a fantastic delight lazing in bed or taking the bus and running through narrow alleyways of Venice. You will have it if that is what you want. There's still much to like generally, and rejuvenating Monteriggioni is a delightful side trip. Riding across Tuscany's plains as the towers of San Gimignano loom in the background is still enchanting.

Brotherhood of Assassins

Brotherhood's opening scene is an odd mixture of excellent and evil. The game is obviously lot smoother than AC2, with more seamless climbing and fighting. Along with much reduced input latency, everything seems more beautiful. However, the hurried getaway from the Vatican is also not very successful. On portable, there were several frame rate problems and potentially resolution dips. Not sure why, but everything appeared to go blurry as I was racing against the clock and being pursued by opponents, especially around Ezio's clothing edges. So be it if these are the compromises required to get it on a mobile device. However, sacrifices were undoubtedly made.But as soon as things get rolling, it's evident how much better the game is than the last one, and the most problematic parts of the gameplay tend to be saved for the more dramatic, set-piece sequences. There have been some changes. Because to execution streaks—yes, that's the official in-game name—fights have become considerably more fluid, making Ezio the greatest killer in the world. Additionally, the start has a lot more dramatic elements, with spectacular scenes, cannonballs firing, civilians screaming, and Monteriggioni being besieged by enemies. Switch does have that dramatic sense, despite some graphic flaws.And there's Rome, the key to Brotherhood. Even now, it remains stunning due to its immense size and expanse. When I initially saw it, a ton of memories from my previous tomb raids and interactions with other characters instantly came back to me. Even if there are a few graphical glitches, the game has greater graphical depth and a more realistic feel thanks to the better textures and animation.It's fun to play each of these games in order. Ezio is the only character in the trilogy who is consistently written, and it is satisfying to see him grow as a character. The language in most modern-day content is so awful that I want to turn off the sound. Brotherhood is a very self-assured game that picks up where AC2 left off and meaningfully develops Ezio's persona. It's also lot more entertaining because to the speedier fighting, slicker climbing, and improved placement.

Revelations of Assassin's Creed

And now, onto Revelations. My first observation is that it seems a lot more sci-fi. After taking control of a character, we become Desmond, who is imprisoned in the Animus, and there are pulsating synth arpeggios accompanying a cinematic that narrates the contemporary events of the first two games. It has a basic, classic sci-fi vibe, similar to The Matrix. It's self-assured yet superficial, which I find appealing. After then, the action moves to the past, and the game has a very AAA feel to it with a lot of prestige. The opening credits include a hilariously lengthy list of every Ubisoft company that contributed to the game. After that, there's a sleek, beautiful animation that introduces Ezio in his latter years. This game was obviously created at the heyday of Assassin's Creed, when only the most current AC role-playing game trilogy could match its achievements. The writing in the game is much more intriguing than in the previous two, with a more sophisticated Ezio portraying a more complex character.All of the plot revolves on murder, but with explosives this time. There are also an absurd number of things to gather, mix and match to create bizarre mixtures, or simply hoard and sell. When you loot a corpse, the amount of money you take appears in the center of the screen, along with a list of odd items like salt of Petra and phosphorous. The franchise has suffered from this exclamation of "look how much stuff is in this game!" ever since. Revelations, the shortest of the three games in the collection, is the first in the series to seem a little too packed with content.Disregarding the peculiar mini-game of tower defense, the gameplay remains same, but with minor adjustments made for a more seamless experience. These pre-RPG games always have the same basic structure, but Ubisoft just adds more features to give them a sufficiently distinct feel. This time, the additional limb is a hook blade, which extends your arm to enable faster climbing.Out of the three, I find this planet to be the most beautiful to explore. Although they still exist, the problems with pop-in, draw distance, and the degree of detail on faces and textures seem to be consistent with all three games. The Bosphorus waterway divides Constantinople's two sides, and the city's magnificent, congested streets are full with colorful, warm turrets. with the three games, this one does the finest job of establishing a feeling of location.It's fantastic that graphics problems don't worsen while playing the somewhat harder games. Though the trilogy is a clear step forward, the appearance and feel of AC2 is much older than I had anticipated. The graphical presentation's overall texture and depth, as well as the face animations, all become better with time without sacrificing gameplay.That takes me back to my original idea. Because the Switch could play open-world games portable, I became enamored with it and played a lot of them. I finished The Witcher 3, even though it looks extremely bad on the Switch. On the Switch, The Outer Worlds seems like play-dough, yet I finished it *twice*. Is the graphics tradeoff always worthwhile if the game is good?Perhaps; I'm not sure. However, the answer is unquestionably affirmative in regards to the Ezio collection. My parents were shocked that I knew my way about Florence when I visited there as a child. It was because I had practically spent so much time there. I have such a profound connection to these environments since I was in them throughout my most formative years. And all I wanted on a portable machine at that precise moment in my life was to have these open-world experiences.It's difficult to put into words the force of these two decade-old, immature emotions coming together at this precise moment. Although these are very personal experiences, I'm sure many other people have also experienced them, which is why they have such force. If you like these games, it's great to have them with you wherever you go, particularly if the best portable game available at the time was a shoddy GTA spin-off.