Recent reviews by Exodus

As an avid fan of the series ever since its introduction with Altair way back in 2007 all the way to the present with Naoe and Yasuke I can safely say I've enjoyed the 100 hour epic even going in with slight skepticism. There are a few games that do leave lasting impressions on me and I am not ashamed to say AC Shadows falls into that category, especially in todays day and age where its not easy to drown out two sides of angry people berating and shaming you for not sharing the same opinion as them.

To talk about the game itself I must begin by saying that the world that was created for AC Shadows has been an absolute joy to get lost in, walking through the muddy and cobbled streets, scaling sprawling mountains and pushing past the dense forests of 1579 Japan had me enthralled with how well the game looks and even runs on my 4 year old system. There was definitely great care taken into recreating as much authenticity in the landscape and architecture here as is seen in previous titles. It is clear there has been a graphical and technical leap since Unity here that should not be ignored. Its safe to say the world crafted here is a character in itself, wind moves almost everything in sight, snow melts throughout the day and seasons change the landscape both visually and mechanically.

Central Japan in AC Shadows consists of 9 regions all of which are vast and filled with things to do and see, especially with Guided mode off which is improved since Valhalla. The experience of discovering new objectives and stumbling onto treasures and targets feel a lot more organic than previous iterations of the "Ubisoft formula" There are still synchronization points littered across the map that fill it with question marks however Ubisoft have dialed back their checklist handouts with a more engaging player experience overall. The scouts you recruit on your journey, which refresh every season or with a small fee at hideouts, are used to, well, scout areas that your objective is located in. People in cities will talk about things that are happening in the vicinity leading you to encounters and targets, or miscreants along the roads would be harassing a family of peasants and choosing to intervene will reward you with information on things in that region. There are also random odd encounters that lighten the somewhat more serious tone of the game that are short but sweet. Target boards fill the objectives menu as you find these targets and information throughout the world and act as side quests which you can pursue at your own leisure. Its interesting to note that since some of these targets and pieces of information are already placed or moving about in the world while you're exploring, you can find some interesting ways to complete certain boards.

Exploration feels rewarding to say the least, hidden caves and mountaintops have legendary loot to be found all of which do some interesting things in combat and stealth in terms of gear and equipment. The seasons in the game change the vistas you see in the game and with the draw distance being as far as it is, the world does feel like it evolves with every shift of season.

Spring has the least mechanical changes but Summer is when foliage actually grows taller so you have more hiding spots, guards will also tend to be more drowsy during this time as the climate is warmer. Fall is when the climate gets a little colder so you will start to see more guards appearing closer to heat sources such as torches or campfires. Winter is when the game changes its terrain mechanically the most from the other seasons as shallow bodies of water Naoe can hide in are now frozen, shrubbery has shed all their leaves so there are fewer hiding spots and rooftops are prone to dropping icicles when run on causing guards to be alerted. During winter, guards will also huddle closer together to stay warm. Rain masks the noises you make and cause less guards to be out in the rain as they actually seek cover. The day and night cycle also play into the mechanics of guard behavior and visibility during stealth such as guards being able to see light sources being destroyed from further away or there being more shadows in which you are in complete darkness.

Stealth in Assassins Creed has never been the best or even good part of the titles but in AC Shadows an attempt was definitely made to try and rectify that somewhat and I believe to some extent, it does bring the feeling back of old Splinter Cell games where you could split jump up a wall just as a guard is turning the corner and then dropping down on top of them to take them out or lurking in dynamic shadows in the world and seeing your visibility meter drop to zero while a guard walks right by you. Previous AC games always had the most stealthiest approach be from above as guards and targets seemed to have not been given the use of their necks. Expert stealth difficulty feels like it changes the gameplay quite a bit forcing you to try different avenues of approach as guards actually spot you quite easily if you're visible above them. I feel like this should have been the default but I could see at times I was getting frustrated, whether that's a good thing is if you solely want or expected the experience to be entirely about stealth. I think that stealth gameplay has been massively improved but if you're looking for the incredibly creative ways to take out targets ala Hitman games, sadly that isn't present here as they have not been in previous entries. Hopefully Ubisoft improve on stealth gameplay further and experiment a bit more now that it has a very good base to work on. Although unexpectedly there are some targets you could surprisingly choose to spare.

Combat also feels incredibly polished upon coming from previous iterations. Yasuke feels like you're playing a raid boss when you first unlock him and then as the game progresses he feels a lot more humble, although with a proper build he still feels like he could just mow down countless enemies effortlessly. Animations feel like they play off each other a lot better and don't have that floaty feel that was present in previous games in the series. There is still some jank with the parkour where your character feels like it doesn't follow where you want it to go which does lead to some frustrating scenarios which needs to be looked at in the next game. It looks really good to parkour but it feels like it always has been. The grappling hook is a really good addition though, swinging and scaling vertically make it a lot of fun to infiltrate a castle.

The overarching story feels like they want to move back towards the whole Isu/Desmond arc but there doesn't seem to be enough meat there yet for fans of that storyline. I was hoping to see Basim again. The roughly 40 hour personal story of Naoe and Yasuke however are enjoyable and put my initial skepticism to rest about the latter. It did feel a lot more serious in tone than previous titles, however that's not to say that the previous games were all rainbows and sunshine. I can see how some people might have an issue with how the story is spread throughout the game but there was enough in between with other plotlines that I did not find it to be an issue. I actually enjoyed both protagonists equally but would have preferred if it was still just one focus.

The only bugs I've encountered are Naoe being invisible during one cutscene and guards resurrecting like they were Jesus Christ two seconds after I've stabbed them in the gut on occasion. Otherwise, I did not experience a single crash in my 100 hours playtime. Cutscenes are capped at 31 FPS and I see that as a problem even if the graphics do look maxed out during them.

Overall if you are interested in or are a fan of Assassins Creed, currently or previously, this has been an incredible experience and I am looking forward to the expansions in the future.

Like magic

Performance issues as of early access launch. Framerate dips to the 20s-30s even in 1440p in some areas.

i9-10900k + RTX 3080

Fun, when it works. The problem is that it doesn't work almost half the time, especially during prime time and weekends. Login issues, progress not being saved after missions, and down right not being able to play the game due to a black screen on launch. The problems have only progressively increased since launch. Patches have been put out regularly but it feels like things get fixed for a day or two and then get broken again. Disappointing that live service always online games like this can be good in terms of gameplay, sound and graphics but at the same time be bogged down by technical issues that actively prevent people from playing.

TLDR: Check back in a month and see if problems listed above have been resolved.

Edit: ♥♥♥♥ works now

Unpolished jank

Monster Hunter fan boys out in full force to review bomb a game they have less than an hour playtime in. Keep in mind people are petty enough to pay a minuscule price for the EA trial to leave a review, which you can do for some reason.

Personally, performance has been fine but there are rare occasions where it dips below 60 fps. The devs have said patch is out next week, wait till then if you are still on the fence and have a mid-tier PC regarding performance.

A lot of potential from what I've played in the first area, weapons do have depth in their move sets and there are skills attached to your armor sets which from what I've seen can be stacked to create proper builds. Monsters also have very varied move sets that can be countered in numerous ways with the karakuri you build (which persist through the entire playthrough) A lot of experimentation to be done with the huge amount of traversal options at the players disposal, only scratched the surface so far but the amount of unlockable things you can build looks huge.

If you like Monster Hunter and are open to trying new things without feeling threatened for some reason, definitely give it a try with the trial on EA Play or watch some videos/streams without reading the comments/chat.

There was definitely passion put into developing this game, a game made by monster hunter players. Also, post launch plans include some free updates every month or so, so it seems like the devs are hunkering down to support the game for awhile.

Intriguing.

Broccoli cheese soups main ingredient is onion

Despite the first day of performance issues which were rectified for me the next day with a prompt response by the dev team, I enjoyed the 8 hours I spent on Callisto. I had some qualms with the melee system and how dodging worked but warmed up to it after awhile. Combat felt very satisfying especially with how visceral the visuals are, coupled with amazing sound design throughout, the short journey I had with Jacob left me wanting more.

This is at its core a survival horror game, resources are scarce, jump scares might happen around any corner adding to the already increasing tension you feel when walking down dimly lit fogged filled corridors obscuring your vision. Not to mention how the sound design complements this perfectly, for example the sounds of enemies creeping around in vents are actually enemies crawling around in vents and not just something to throw the player off. With any survival horror game nowadays there is a small arsenal that can be upgraded by the player at apt 3D printers scattered around Callisto and watching the machine in action is a pretty satisfying sight to behold. Be it the reaffirming nod from Jacob after its done or how the weapon actually changes in looks/design as you upgrade, the combat does not only limit itself to its advertised melee gameplay.

Finally it is worth mentioning just how uncanny the character models look from their real life counterparts, the performances were also, evidently, top notch be it with voice acting or motion capture. There was definitely a lot of love put into the visuals, not forgetting the entire game, but its sad to see how the performance issues still managed to creep through at launch. Still, it was definitely enjoyable to see how good the game looked even with RTX off, which by the way does not add much to visual fidelity.

For what its worth, for the price Striking Distance studios is asking for, the game should have been slightly longer instead of ending it on a cliffhanger. Could the narrative have been better fleshed out? Maybe, but this is more dead space moving into the future and I'm all for it.

GOTY