PREVIEW: I was invited to a press preview of... Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced in Paris, back in April, as I previously mentioned, and I played ~3 hours🚀 Here are my impressions: 🎞️Visuals & Performance: being a remake, the visuals are quite well upgraded, making the most of modern tech and the beauty of the setting, creating a breathtaking atmosphere ✅Stunning environment ✅Dreamy natural beauty & grounded world ✅Photorealistic character models ✅Smooth animations ✅Sharp resolution ✅Runs at 60fps 🕹️Gameplay & Upgrades: The game is a faithful remake, with new gameplay systems, along with enhancements to the original formula ✅New gameplay systems ✅Faithfulness is the main priority ✅Enhanced parkour (still faithful) ✅Manual jumps and side ejects ✅Seamless exploration of cities ✅Zip-lines added ✅Dynamic weather ✅Brand new content expanding narrative ✅Quests with new secrets ✅Original modern day replace with rifts ✅Rifts explore “what if” scenarios ✅6 hours of extra gameplay ✅3 new recruitable officers ✅New storylines for the new officers ✅New chapter to play as Robert Mena ✅Extended endings for iconic characters ✅Hideout side quests ✅New collectibles ✅Forts modernized with new content ✅New voice lines for activities ✅New islands with rewarding secrets ✅New world moments ✅New content for the hideout ✅History of the villa explored ✅Heated shots new naval weapon in seq 3 ✅Explosive fire barrels w/wider effect ✅Swivel gun can now be manually aimed ✅Rebuilt combat system rewarding to skill ✅No skill trees, all unlocks from the start ✅Enemies now have defense meter ✅Meter is depleted with a perfect parry ✅New perfect parry depends on weapon ✅Heavy strike (high damage/wide area) ✅Shove to wall/ground > new take downs ✅Stealth inspired by Shadows ✅Crouch option added ✅Visibility affected by day/night & weather ✅Whistle/breaking things blow your cover ✅Rope dart unlocks in sequence 3 ✅Ambient dialogue leads to new quests ✅Raise and lower your hood option The new enhancements make the game far more entertaining compared to the original, except for one controversial change of bit having Hidden Blade combat, except in stealth assassinations/take downs Everything else effectively elevates the original design and makes gameplay either feel just as good, or more refined 🧬Changes: with this remake comes a few elements that were removed from the original, which may upset some players ✅Menus have been revamped and they don’t feature the DNA sequence tracker ✅Difficulty can be tailored with much more detail from the menu ✅Switch between and choose your favorite Sea Shanties to be performed by your crew ✅No hidden blade combat. The Hidden Blade is mainly used for stealth take-downs ✅No present day segments. I was informed that it will be replaced with new moments that explore Edward’s past with his wife, along with some “what if” scenarios like Edward siding with the Templars, for example, likely related to Juno’s involvement in the original narrative 📜Thoughts: While the demo I played featured only a portion of the map, Resynced has potential to replace the original as the definitive experience of Edward Kenway’s story I also wasn’t able to experience any of Rifts that replace the modern day, so for me, as a fan of the series’ lore and present day since 2007, the absence of a traditional modern day is the only let down that prevents me from fully replacing the original with it, as present day and sci-do elements are the DNA of the franchise and what makes it stand out It would also be great if mission replay is added later, a feature the OG had by default, like its predecessors That said, everything else very much elevated what was in the original, which made going back to replay it show how dated it feels by comparison I look forward to the final game, and to see future games inherit this formula of a defined protagonist, focused progression and no RPG elements😎show more
