"This game isn't assassin's creed" Odyssey: Hold my beer

" I'm looking forward to Skull&Bones, a 2017 title." That didn't age well.

I think this game was good precisely because it was NOT a standard Assassins Creed game.

Story's honestly the most important thing for me when it comes to a good game. Black Flag has an amazing story and I like how we see the Assassins in a different setting, less traditional and not a city. So for me, Black Flag is undoubtedly an amazing game overall, and as an AC entry.

Nobody talks about how historically accurate this game is. Black beards death is spot on compared to how he really died.

I agree with most of your points except distinguishing cities from each other because I find it extremely easy to distinguish Nassau from Havana and from Kingston

The ending hit me hard in this game. Looking at a new generation of pirate buddies while also seeing the people who he lost in his own ways... It is one of the most memorable game endings I have played through, loved it.

Your argument about Edward's backstory not being explored more thoroughly being a negative is a weird one. In your Assassin's Creed 3 review you criticize the game for having an extended long drawn out opening exploring the backstory of the main character for hours prior to the actual game starting. But then question why AC4 didn't have one. AC4's plot is told in medias res and the game gives you just enough of Edward's backstory that you really need. It has a few cutscenes where it shows that Edward is poor with his wife and he wants to go to America to make money and a new life for himself and his wife. That was what I got from the game and it really doesn't need an extended opening for that. Edward's backstory not being explored is actually a reaction to your complaint about AC3, which was a very common one players had at the time of the game's release. So you essentially got what you wanted.

Other reviews by the same author: This game is too repetitive, and didn't try enough new stuff. Ubisoft: Here's a game with assassin stuff in it, but with whole new game mechanics, ways of telling the story, and the best pirate simulator ever. The Author: I don't like it.

Dude I'm gonna admit I cried watching the ending, and I still feel emotional watching it again. Especially when he sees his friends who are all gone.

I feel like I'm starting to get annoyed with people criticizing a game for it "not being what I like about the series despite being a good game on its own". It happens sometimes: - Breath of the Wild is a great game but not a good Zelda game - Black Flag is a great game but not a good Assassin's Creed game. What ever happened to enjoying something you didn't know you want? What ever happened to breaking the cycle? What ever happened to reinventing?

“Great game Terrible sequel” So basically, as a stand-alone game it’s great and that’s the only important thing lol

IMO, this game is at the core, the most “Assassin’s Creed” you can get. The conflicting ideologies of the Assassin’s and the Templars is presenting as well as drawing parallels with Pirate ideology and the Creed itself. It is presented from a different perspective, which imo is always welcome. This is the story of a pirate changed Assassin, not of a pirate assassin. Edward’s growth and development throughout the story was very well done too.

I've been playing black flag recently and even when it's just sailing around, it's fun to look at other ships and hear the sea shanties and it has a really great atmosphere. I also like when you get on the ship and all of the pirates cheer for you

Chapter titles 0:03:00 Chapter 1: AC4 is a good Pirate game, not a good Assassin's Creed game 0:28:00 Chapter 2: AC4 is a good Pirate game, not a good Assassin's Creed game 0:43:00 Chapter 3: AC4 is a good Pirate game, not a good Assassin's Creed game 0:52:00 Chapter 4: AC4 is a good Pirate game, not a good Assassin's Creed game

I personally disagree with the argument that it' not an AC game. I thought that it was a great AC game since it showed the Brotherhood through the eyes of an outsider. The take was really fresh and I felt it was an AC game that managed to be about assassin's vs templars while showing you how a person that doesn't belong to either yet gets tangled in their fight manages to survive and achieve his goals

Amazing story. Amazing combat. Amazing characters. Amazing landscape. In my opinion Black Flag is the best assassin's creed game. The ending always makes me tear up. Edward kenway is such a good character filled with emotions. It has the best story without a doubt. The way Edward changes as a person and how his friends turn on him. Its all so good. When you see all is friends sitting at the table chatting and having a good time while Mary is singing beautifully , it always tears me up. Thank you for this beautiful game.

Damn looking back at this makes me wanna play it again

If you don't appreciate the story then I would recommend the black flag book by Oliver Bowden. It goes into Edwards backstory more than the game does. It goes into more detail about the main missions and everything makes way more sense.

I feel like everybody starts to judge ac games based on how ezio-like they are

Ahwww, forgot how my heart melted at the end

Wait but if im not mistaken the Wii U was actually mroe powerful than BOTH the 360 and PS3. Its only issue is the mediocre CPU, but its GPU kicks thier asses.

Having replayed Black Flag, it's definitely hard to enjoy it as an AC game. But because of how vast the in-game world is, it's the most enjoyable in the series when you turn off the minimap, ignore the Ubisoft towers, and just wander around. Which fits Black Flag closer to the supposed gameplay loop of aimless open world games instead of the plot-focused AC games. Also, I love your channel. I usually enjoy videos with more articulate criticism to games, but I rarely find ones made towards Assassin's Creed. So thanks for fulfilling that unspoken demand of mine, and then some.

Just as a side note, the water in this game is absolutely magnificent! Probably the best in any video game ever, from what I've seen anyway. Truly beautiful and very realistic looking.

They honestly should make a movie based on this game.

Two whales for a single holster TWO!! I could probably make a holster with a rabbit or a deer But Kenway needs two whole whales Edit : 2 massive humpback WHALES

I can’t believe that you didn’t being up the dream sequence that is in the game. I related to Edward from just playing, and related more when you revealed what happened with Edward and Caroline (which I did not know), but in game, I felt totally connected with him during his dream sequence. His friends passed welcoming him into the fold of death and later him sailing towards his own death as the few people he thinks are still alive in his life tell him to turn around. So much of that are things that I related to and fell for. Part of me, rather irrationally, fears the idea of losing all of my friends. And I always have. And the self destructive tendencies are other flaws that I also see a lot of myself in. And doing all that for love, which his backstory with Caroline tells us, is something I now realize is something I didn’t know about but is another aspect that connects me to Edward. That dream sequence made the story for me

AI is Syndicate is also stupid. I have cleared almost all Gang Strongholds without being detected. Really I have never saw any intelligent AI in the series.

I had a more insightful and informative review of this game by reading the comments then the video itself. ( Seriously though, wtf happened while making this? Because it honestly just felt like you were talking out of your ass, which isn’t how I usually feel about these critiques. )

It's intended to be different and set itself apart from the "traditional" AC game. I wouldn't want a repeat of AC2 or Brotherhood. Been there done that. I like something new to see and do. Even if I'm not assassinating hunchemen all the time and jumping on rooftops. AC 4 gave people variety.

I find this a really intriguing example of just how powerful subjective, personal bias can be, Luke. Love your content...before I say another word. ...but after having watched your Origins and Odyssey reviews where you sort of heap praise on those games for actually evolving totally beyond the original concept of AC, and I never heard you once criticize those games for doing that, even going so far as to point out how that very evolution is CLEARLY not for everyone, but that it's your opinion that it's for the better...it's sort of jarring to hear a main criticism here be that it's a "Great game; Terrible sequel." What changed for you? Did you just come to enjoy the new systems and less framed narrative construction married to new RPG-styled gameplay? Is that sort of the cornerstone of how your own particular enjoyment of the games evolved? I think it's clear that one of the reasons Black Flag is so very well loved is specifically FOR that reason, right? That it legitimately tried to do something different? Like, I find it incredibly intriguing that one of the major criticisms of 3 was just how "flat" the world was. That Boston and New York didn't feel EPIC on the scale of other games centered in medieval Europe. Then Black Flag comes along, and it's borderline universally beloved, and the biggest and best cities in the game are probably the least cosmopolitan, epic, and historically insignificant in the series (...note I say that realizing just how fundamental the entire history of the Carribean (especially Haiti) are to the history of America). I'm only commenting on the general praxis in representing American history that prefers a Euro-centric view that the North East and even the South/Southeastern coast of the United states is really...little England...when so much of the history of the actual South and South East is really MORE little Spain/France/the Carribean.

Recently played this on PS4. I can agree that overall it was fun, but not the best AC game. I don’t think the stealth controls were bad, but the way that areas and levels were designed, were not conducive to assassin/stealth play. In previous games, specifically Ezio games, areas were designed such that while seemingly impossible to get through undetected, there WAS indeed a way to do it, and you just had to find that path and technique. There was almost none of that in this game. The underwater stuff was a nightmare. I hated that part. Edward was a phenomenal protagonist though, very likable.....a scoundrel, but a slightly moral one, or just enough to maintain his humanity.

Loved this game. I was actually a fan of AC3 too but this was when the series reached its epoch, (imo). I didn't care much for unity, syndicate was ok. I still own all mentioned. Black Flag was my favorite. They really got the water/diving right and you could really get into some huge naval battles.

"The average gamer without any expectations will find this to be an incredibly fun time and it could even serve as an introduction to the series." Nothing could be more true. Black Flag is my first Assassin Creed game and I went in with no expectations. I had such a fun time and collected every single fragment, bottle and chest. Now I'm interested in trying the rest of the AC games.

Yeah because 2013 was a long time ago. Making me feel old here.

Who else loves every AC like me? Every entry had something new and I love the open worlds so much.

"An unfortunate reality of porting the game to the [system more powerful than the PS3 and 360]."

It's safe to say that this was probably the last AC game that had a great story.

more people need to see your videos man, you did a very good job in this AC:BF review, the way you explained Edward's personality and actions is perfect.

I love your critique videos, however for me I loved everything about this game and had no quarrels with the stealth system

I'm the 45th view I've never felt so validated in my life

uh the 360 and ps3 are both less powerful than the wii u the wii u version even runs at 1080p while the 360 and ps3 versions run at 720p

Normal people: Men O' War Him, an intellectual: Man O' WarS

No matter which assassin's creed 4 video, it's easy to find a solid 70% of comments about it being "a bad AC game, but a good pirate game" or some bullshit along those lines. It remains a game within the assassin's creed franchise, so we should treat it as that alone and not as a pirate and an assassin game. Just because there are carriages and guns in Syndicate doesn't mean it's Asssassin's Creed as well as a racing game and a 3rd person shooter

You know what is an even better game, but gets no credit at all? AC: Rogue. All the good bits of Black Flag + something to do on land + seriously screw the Assassins, long live the Templars! + Haytham Kenway best AC character.

Do Skyrim next

Every person who says this game is a great pirate game and a horrible assassin’s creed game need to be taken out back and shot. There’s still climbing, stealth, great finishing moves, with an interesting story and great naval combat. The Templars and Assassins are still heavily prevalent within the game. I mean, my god, every assassination involves some form of Templar! Just because the Naval Combat is a lot more prevalent in this game doesn’t make it a bad assassin’s creed game. The outside view of a seemingly normal character elevates this game higher than if it was just another assassin just going with the flow. Edward tastes both sides, and of course goes with the Assassin’s. Would it have been better if the last half of the game had Edward as an assassin? Sure, but the story would have lacked. The emotional punch of losing all of the friends you make wouldn’t have been as powerful. IV has great writing and truly is a great AC game. Do you want to know what a bad AC game is? Syndicate. That game is by far one of the worst games in the series. From its uninteresting map, the fucking rope launcher, Jacob Frye and the extremely limited customization, that game took 1,000,000 steps down from Unity’s scope and scale. The only good part of that game was Evie Frye and Henry Green. AC IV changed up the formula, and because of that, this series has survived. If you don’t agree, you don’t agree, but I can say that I love ACIV and that IT IS a great AC game.

The one I hate the most about AC IV: the random capitalization in the dialogue

The memory corridors were lacking in this game - making the primary assassinations less notable. This was my main gripe about the game. After 60 hours and nearly 100%-ing, I can say it's a great game. AC's age-long universe allows for unique and engaging stories. The story was jumbled and a little hard to follow but overall good. The Ezio trilogy will always be my favorite, but the Kenway family is intriguing because it had characters clashing on both sides.

I mean, the stealth in Assassin's Creed games has _always_ been incredibly incompetent. The AI has always been terrible, controls and mechanics have always been a constant struggle, not even the most recent games Unity and Syndicate have come close to having decent stealth, in fact I'd argue controls just got worse and more unresponsive in those two games. Your arguments aren't invalid or anything, they're pretty much on point, but the thing is they apply _to the whole franchise_, to Black Flag itself and the games that came before AND after it. Also, the games releasing on previous generation consoles isn't an excuse, 2013 wasn't that long ago, and there were games on the freaking PS2 like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell that had better stealth than Assassin's Creed ever has.

There’s no grand architecture because Europeans have only been building in the Caribbean for a century or so. Also I find it easy to distinguish between Kingston and Havana, it’s English versus Spanish design.

Arnos character development made sense, first, he was in prison and even though he broke out quite soon after it would have still changed him, and second, he was only a punk because he didnt have a purpose yet, the assassins gave him that purpose.

This game was amazing on its own. It is the best in the series of games that focus on flintlock pistols and what not. The true beauty comes out every time Edward looks out to a horizon he can actually travel to and explore.

I like your very organised Reviews and am impressed by your professional presentation.

Man... that shot when Edward sees everyone he met in his adventure, sitting on that table... it just gets me every time. Such a poetic way of showing his past, and him moving towards his future.

i've always considered assassins creed as a sort of entertaining history lesson, and the over-arching plot is just a way for ubisoft to explore lot's of different eras and cultures, and i think it's always been that way. I fucking love that. long live the ac developers

Make a video about Assassin's Creed Rogue. I'm probably alone here, but its my favorite Assassin's Creed Game. It could have been Black Flag, but the amount of griding the game required turned me off, while in Rogue (ironically, because it's not as big as a game) i felt i had more focus and enjoyed it more.

Edward was reckless because this was his idea of freedom. Until his friends started dropping dead like flies did he realize that with freedom begets responsibility. If you look at it, the game is still a part of the "Assassin's Creed" series lore-wise because it focuses more on the philosophy behind the titular Creed's maxim: "Nothing is true, everything is permitted", than being a field agent for the Assassins and going on missions like AC1 was.

I appreciate that they didn't overdo the backstory. As the wife said it's not her that Kenway is getting rich for, it's for Kenway's pride. That's the real motivation. Id still like more connective story- cut the modern day segments in favor of more interaction with the cast of pirate friends- but I never felt anything was under explained.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is amazing, but fails in two main ways for me. One: The Kenways Fleet minigame is just awful and it sucks you can't actually bring allied ships into combat with you. Two: The main story has some of the better writing in my opinion, but probably the worst gameplay in the series, it's trailing mission after trailing missions with a few epic moments mixed in.

Really the Templar targets were not memorable in AC4. In my opinion the most memorable game was AC3 as it had some of the most fascinating Templars.

AC4 Black Flag; great pirate game, mediocre Assassin's Creed game.

Edward had the most character and all of his friends were the most memorable assassins creed characters I have ever seen

Once you realised Metal Gear Solid 2 came out years before, it does make you think, why is the AI in this game so dumb. MGS2, guards would call for reinforcement if guards don't call back. So if you kill or knock out someone, other guards would get suspicious. They would also hear noises. Gotta be honest, it is hilarious to see how dumb the guards are in AC4

Classic, god damn Lukiepoo

I'm sorry but the cities are not phoned in. They were all great and distinct. If you can't tell the difference between Kingston and Havana then you must be blind. These were some of the best cities in the series. I think it's ridiculously disrespectful to write these off as phoned in when it's obvious alot of work went into them

Ismail Ashraf is one of the best game directors that UBISOFT has, and he delivered Black Flag & Origins that are really great games that had well-crafted characters, beautiful open worlds and introduced new gameplay elements in the AC series consequently saving it from the free downfall initiated from AC-Unity failure.

Watching this in September of 2022, while playing black flag. Still no skull and bones

There should be a video explaining how AC3 is extremely underrated in the franchise and is way better than the blind bashing it gets from casual fans.

There are 4 steps to makeing AC4 a great game 1. Mute Game 2. Get on Ship 3. Blast The Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack 4. Watch all of the Man O Wars meet there end

This aged like fine wine. The hypocrisy is overflowing like bad side quests on Odyssey

The only change I would make to this game and to all AC games really is to make the timeline of the game more clear. There is a point in this game where you sail to Africa and back. That trip would take hundreds of days IRL but in this game its a loading screen, a relatively short mission, and another loading screen before you are back in the normal playable area. That is just ONE little section of this game. Clearly everyone should know that the game doesnt take place over the course of a week, but once you as an audience member for this game realize the years that this story is stretched over, I think it gains a lot more potency and power. It just commands more respect for these characters and the journey that they are/have gone on in this story. So if that was more clear I think it would do all of these games so much more justice, especially the Auditore trilogy. For this game, I think the ending just hits so much harder when you think about how for Edward, sailing with his daughter during the credits is like coming home from work and taking off your shoes, belt, and tie. Except your workday is closer to a decade, and your shoes, belt, and tie are intense feelings of loss, anger, and emptiness from a lifetime of chasing a treasure you could never posses. It gives you closure as the player, but in a way feels empty because of how subverted your expectations are, and I think that a thorough understanding of the games timeline amplifies that to the next level.

AC4 is one of the most AC-ish AC games. Unity and Syndicate are probably the least AC-ish AC games. In AC 2, 3, 4, and Unity, you don't start out as an assassin. And in AC3, the protagonist is only an assassin to carry out their own personal objective. AC4 is filled with great precursor-race lore, and brings some very interesting revelations into the present day. Neither Unity or Syndicate offer much that is traditionally in an AC game. People who think AC4 isn't an AC game, but is more of a pirate game obviously weren't paying attention while playing the game. If AC4 is a pirate game, then AC2 is not an AC game but is a renaissance game. And if AC4 is not an AC game but a pirate game, then AC3 is not an AC game but is a native-American game. And Unity then is not an AC game but is a French-revolution game. Out of the main series, AC4 is one of the AC games filled with the most AC-ish content, lore, and philosophy. If people see the colourful pirate atmosphere of it and stop perceiving there, then that's not a comment on AC4 as an AC game, but on the extremely limited extent to which they paid attention while playing.

I'd love to see a video on AC: Rogue, as it's the forgotten child of the series. Recently picked it up in the Steam Summer Sale, and it seems pretty alright so far.

"This game isn't assassin's creed" but then he says odeyssey is a great assassin's creed game,what a hypocrite

The best among the old Assassin's Creed games, mainly because the AC formula was really worn off back then and this was such a different experience. A breath of fresh air, still one of the games I keep reinstalling from time to time, just to sink some spaniards with my old saves.

Last time I heard about side-quests being Witcher 3-esque they were talking about Mass Effect Andromeda. And we all know how that turned out.

I'm so excited for orgins.

Ngl that song at the end always makes me cry. AC Black Flag is still in my opinion the best game in the series. I never grew emotionally attached to most of the characters, but that scene at the end gets me. But that song does me in every time.

Black Flag is an amazing game. The story was the only Assassins Creed game story to make me cry. The Mary Reed death scene was so sad because it was invested in the character and she became one of my favourite characters in Assassins Creed. She felt like Edwards best friend who wanted him to realise his potential to be a good man. The second was the scene where Anne sings in the beautiful song while Edward reflects on the friends he’s lost before leaving the past behind and meeting his daughter. The pirate sections where you would board a huge ship and destroy the crew with your sword and pistols. I loved swinging from a rope on the crows nest before jumping onto a ship. It was so fun. I loved exploring the islands and collecting treasure. The side activities like harpooning swimming underwater and diving down into ship wrecks to collect treasure. It is so fun. This game has the perfect balance of fun gameplay and a beautiful story.

2:12 "The unfortunate reality porting the game to the Wii U" What? They had to port the game to the X360 and PS3. The Wii U had nothing to do with it, especially given it's a console around 80% faster than the PS3 or X360.

When you said "I likely am" when talking about Ishmael, I thought you said "I like Liam" 😂

The main "problem" of the game for those who want to play it like an assassin is that Edward is a fucking one many army. Outside of quest that will reset you if you get noticed, you don't really have to sneak anywhere. Edward can take down a hundred soldiers alone just by button smashing. I kind of loved that. It was like a real pirate thing fighting face on. But I understand that those who would prefer a sneaky gameplay would be bothered by this. But while I never really liked AC games, they were always about repetitive gameplay and control dumbed down to a way that the character does not do what you want it to, and that makes you fail. I did not have a problem. I found all the previous entries boring. But I could hardly put down my controller with this one to go to the bathroom. And I played it on the PS3 in 2019.

This is a great video. Can we take a moment to appreciate how OP the motor is on the ship once you have moderately upgraded it?

Ha yeah. Funny you'd talk about the ending like that. For me it was like "Wait, wut? It's over, who's this? What's that? I got a daughter? Huh?!" and it ended on a really silly note for me, because I did realize I seemed to missed something crucial, but it wasn't so good I was willing to go through it again. Fun game, weird story.

IMO AC needs a different gameplay formula for time to time. If they do someday a western with assassins make it third person stealth shooter I will buy it.

It's crazy that this is now one of the most assassin creed games ever made. What a handful of years have done to our boi

This guy said exactly what I thought about Black Flag. I see it as more of a pirate game over an Assassin's Creed game. Which is why I call this one Assassin's Creed: Pirate Simulator.

An hour to make points that could have been made in like 20 minutes?

Every time i say this : "its a really good game but a terrible AC game" i gain so much hate ... because all those kids liked this game as an AC but its more a pirate game then a AC. But a really AC fan know what i mean.

I look at AC games as a History Lesson With an assassin's point of view and the conflict of the Templars during the set time period and every game has been that for me. I learn each time I play and they always make it fun. I think pirates was a very interesting theme to take on and they did it well.

One of the things I miss most in the newer entries is the inability to fistfight civilians. One of thefunniedt things in revelations was to pickpocket everyone on the street and then punch out the entire mob

It's clearly an Assassin's Creed game through and through.

Best source of gaming videos on the internet. Cred to you Lukie!

The fact that they had Mayan assassins lore made this game great for me. The Mayan beareu should have had its own game.. would work so well especially since we don't know alot about them historically.

To this day, this is one of the AC games i enjoyed the most. Probably my favorite.

yeaAAA you lost me when you said the three cities were "the same" and continued talking about how bad they are.

I disagree with every single take this guy gives on the AC franchise.

Black Flag is the only good example of how to do an independent story inside the Assassin's Creed universe. A proper spin-off.

That ending gets me every time especially that song 😢