AC Mirage Gameplay Reveal Reactions | Jcers Talks

[@jcers]

I’ve had to say this in this comment section a few times already, so I'm going to pin it here: the idea that, somehow, if we just say enough nice things about Mirage and if enough of us fork over our money to Ubisoft for yet another game that fails to meet the standards of a 16-year-old game, Ubisoft will start making classic AC games again, is cope. The Ubisoft executives let Mirage happen as a one-off placation on a small budget to try to get fans of the classic games wrapped back around their little finger, consistently buying games that don’t appeal to them in the hopes that “maybe this time will be different”. Completely overlooking any criticisms I have about parkour for the moment: Ubisoft cannot ever do away with a game model that pushes MTX because that’s the source of over 90% of their profits. Needing to push MTX means RPG elements, often in ways that feel intrusive and that negatively impact the play experience normally, e.g., pushing for the player to buy an XP boost. This completely flies in the face of AC’s diegetic game mechanics. Who, in the AC universe, is spending money on these helix credits? Why is the helix store in the Animus HUD? Why is the Animus software set up to run like an RPG to begin with? These are all questions that simply do not have actual answers. The answer is “because it’s a game”, which is completely antithetical to the design paradigm behind the classic games. We can also look at present day (which Mirage doesn’t even have, like many seem to forget). Do we really think Ubisoft is ever going to make that good again? Classic AC as we know it is never, ever coming back. The sooner we all accept that, the better it will be for us and we can stop getting trapped in the constant cycle of huffing copium about a game until it comes out, buying it, and then being disappointed while thanking Ubisoft for the crumbs of AC's true identity that the execs allow the developers who actually care about the franchise to throw in there. If Ubisoft actually cared about returning to AC’s roots, they wouldn’t have given the game that’s supposed to do it the equivalent of table scraps to work with because they would recognize that AC needs more than just a number of relatively small tweaks to actually be true to itself again. If you want to buy Mirage and play it, that’s fine by me. I’m sure it’ll be a fun game. Just don’t do so under the impression that this is somehow a step towards AC “coming back” because all that’s going to do is lead you to further disappointment.

[@ashcartwright96]

Ubisoft will follow the money, if there is money to be made in making a game that has parkour, stealth, and Assassinations as the core pillars of gameplay, they will invest in that. It's not a question of "saying nice things," it's a question of encouraging the right direction. Mirage won't be as good as most, if not all of the ACs up until Origins. But it will be a step back that way after three games so far removed from that. As long as expectations are kept in check, there's no way you can't consider this a win for fans of the older games. It isn't as good as the classics, true, but it IS better than the RPGs, so that's a win, how can you say it's not?

There's always an involuntary feeling that it may, someday, be back, but you're probably right. Which makes me wonder, why has nobody else tried to make a game like AC?, with its parkour and mechanis? Is it trademarked? Does it have such a low of a fanbase that there's not at least an indie team out there that would want to make one "AC-like?"

[@Jupa]

@ Good question. Its definitely not trademarked. I think the appeal is similar to games like Mirrors Edge which is a different type, a first person parkour. maybe one day learning Unity via AI and game assets will become accessible enough that either an independent indie team can fill that role, or an individual. But I will not put faith on the big fish triple A studios. They have a business to run. Parkour for the broad playerbase must be 'smooth, fluid, effortless'. Frankly, as great as the pioneering titles were, they were old generation games when it was somewhat allowed due to technical constraints for some initial friction between the player and the controls. In the current market, struggling to figure out how to run up walls and swing around and stuff for over 5 minutes will put players off. Magnetic auto parkour is the cost dealing with millions of new players who likely started with Unity, or were too young to remember what AC1 and AC2 were like and don't care to try it again. But you're right, someone else will have to fill in those shoes. But at least it's become a genre of its own now, we can be grateful for that - even if it's from days of old.

[@unpass]

As someone who only got into the franchise recently, it's a shame that this game won't fully continue the honeymoon phase I experience while playing AC1. AC1's parkour feels very mechanically satisfying the same way driving a manual car is. The Mirage team obviously paid a lot of attention to what made the earlier level design great, but the lack of freedom in parkour is a huge oversight. I hope I'm wrong.

[@032_m.alfathcirrus5]

Despite the lack of freedom, I think they did the best with the resources and time they were given. It's a small team that got sidelined by other bigger Ubisoft studios trying to make the best they can out of the leftovers from Valhalla. This was originally a DLC afterall.

[@natchu96]

It's not an oversight, so much as the fact that this project began as a Valhalla DLC expansion concept, with a story featuring a Valhalla character in the protagonist role, and that they really have nothing else to build this game off of at the end of the day. It's still bad though, yeah.

[@ayumelove]

@@032_m.alfathcirrus5 Is that an excuse though? If I'm paying my money for a game I will judge it as any other game. whatever excuses and limitations they have is their own fault. No one is disregarding the hard work the team may put in, we are discussing what an ideal solution could be. Especially since they themselves say it is "love-letter" to AC1... lol what nonsense. They are charging 60USD.

[@tyr3xfn657]

There going back to the roots while using the left-overs from valhalla. Basically they are putting a faster version of aivor in Baghdad and they are calling it a "love-letter for traditional AC players". It makes me think, do they really give a 🐀 ass about us. After mirage they are going back to rpg style and this is the last game that is actually like the ones in the past and for shutting us up they are giving us left-overs from valhalla wow ubisoft u really outdone yourself with this. What og fans want is denser city's, something close to the parkour in unity, a better story, stealth and being in a brotherhood of assassin's, not vikings not demigods. Now I know that we are going to be a real assassin this time with denser city's and better stealth and maybe a better story but is this really going to be it. We are not going to be getting a real AC game in the near future and this is what they leave us with,left-overs just think about it. Some people already bought the game and I'm not stopping you buy it if you like but they are just taking your money to make more shitty games like this

[@032_m.alfathcirrus5]

@@ayumelove 50 to be precise, not 60.

[@thatsaweirdone]

My man timed his emotional outburst with the music. What a chad! I will tell you, that I wasn't expecting any major change to parkour even after their constant advertisement because they have said it countless times before Mirage and also because I remember being hyped for Valhalla. Seeing a focus on tool-based stealth and a city which simply _reminds_ me of AC1 is enough to me. I have honestly given up hope for better parkour in the series. I don't know when I did it, but I'm pretty sure about it since I had complete apathy for the parkour segment

[@AngelxVillian]

''My man timed his emotional outburst with the music. What a chad!'' LMAO

[@infinitespinergy1220]

I'm hoping that if the next AC game will be the one in japan, even if it's gonna be an rpg game, they might make it flashy because ninjas and stuff, so maybe it will be better than what we have right now. Edit: I'm only talkig about parkour just to be clear.

[@thatsaweirdone]

@@infinitespinergy1220 again, if the parkour does get improvements, I'll be one of the happiest people. But I really doubt that'll come to be

[@infinitespinergy1220]

@@thatsaweirdone I'm just waiting to see if they will ever implement a new movement system again. We have the same system since Origins, that's 4 games with Mirage. It will be time for them to make a brand new system I think, but if that new system will be shitty as well, than there is almost no hope for the next decade..

[@thatsaweirdone]

@@infinitespinergy1220 true. A new engine is the only chance we can get better parkour. Maybe they will, since people are really asking for it these days

[@LeoKRogue]

Very accurate assessment when you said this felt complementary, heh. I find it's very important for the community members whom players look to when gauging emotional responses to a game, to express what they're thinking and feeling. I think this video is _necessary_ for players who _do_ feel very let down and weren't feeling represented or heard by other perspectives. Thank you for making this, we should always keep conveying what we want, for sure for sure.

[@jcers]

Thank you, Leo :) Perchance it was fated that our videos should release at a similar time for this very reason, haha

[@Toast375]

Really put my thoughts into words. Everytime the gameplay switched to older I kept realising ezio and altair are just faster...

[@pedzel88888888]

It's not only about the speed though, is it? It's the flow, the momentum of the movement. These aspects of movement visuals were much better with the animations of the first few entries, even apart from the fact, that the player agency was literally on another level...

[@davyboi2469]

Man, I remember first seeing the parkour in AC2 as a kid and I was visually amazed by it. That's what got me into AC and start playing it. I wouldn't even do any of the main missions, I would just run around aimlessly parkouring across the rooftops. Now I get to see AC Mirage parkour, and don't even want to look at it again

[@shira_yone]

Fr 3rd person camera openworld parkour (not on set routes) blew my mind back then.

[@NiZaRiOn]

You can't imagine how happy I am to finally hear what you just said. People act like mirage just pulled some rockstar shit. All they did just copy paste and false advertise as usual. I'm happy to see someone like you with common sense.

[@darksouls7939]

Absolutely agree with you The parkour section disappointed me too

[@Hewasnumber1]

Finally, somebody with standards. I’m really tired of this mindless “be happy you got it at all” mindset. We shouldn’t be content with lackluster results just because it’s a step in the right direction; especially for something as important as parkour. I don’t care about combat being improved because the only Assassin’s Creed game I actually have fun fighting in is AC1; I don’t care for the minute improvements to stealth, because it doesn’t have anything that wasn’t done better elsewhere. The parkour was what MADE Assassin’s Creed-along with the social stealth-and I’m not going to settle for this start and stop moon jumping. An AC game without fluid and dynamic parkour movement isn’t an AC game at all, and hell would sooner freeze over before I ever entertain the idea of buying Mirage.

[@kinography9085]

This is basically how I feel. I don’t think Mirage was ever going to be the proper battleground for parkour, but they really could have added in some small mechanical adjustments to give more manual control. The fact that they somehow believe that vaulting and corner swings returning somehow justifies saying “PARKOUR IS BACK!!!!” is crazy to me. You make a lot of good points about the level design that I haven’t thought of too: will it actually *feel* good to traverse it in this system? The gameplay footage we’ve seen looks horrendously choppy whenever Basim jumps. Anyway, this was a really solid video with a lot of strong, well-argued points, thanks Jcers.

[@funkykrunc6857]

Dang, no punches pulled haha😂 I absolutely love it and agree! It seriously BAFFLES me that the freedom of traversal in the early games seems to be impossible to match after so many years 😂

[@SSJ_Lang]

Man the Revelations theme was timed oh so perfectly through the rant. You already know my thoughts on the parkour, but to reiterate them, it’s just Valhalla’s system with old school level design

[@LazerzZ]

Common Jcers W, mediocrity doesn't deserve praise just for being vaguely better than a previous entry and while it's not the fault of the developers, they're trying their best, it is the fault of whoever is managing this brand, not allocating the time and resources to the things that matter. Regardless of that though, the end product is still what the end product is, shallow and superficial.

[@alienplatypus1596]

An absolutely pitch perfect take. It has been really strange to see the overall positive reaction people have had to the demo, excited to see an urban setting again. It's as if people seemed to think the problem the series has had was a level design one, as opposed to a mechanical one. But it isn't. Without back and side ejects, it doesn't matter that the level design is better. Parkour will still amount to you being stuck on a linear path over rooftops, because there are no mechanics implemented that let you stray from the route the level designer placed for you. I have no doubt this game will exemplify even within the most casual of player how completely messed up the franchise has become. We have an engine built for expansive fields with an emphasis on combat, whose parkour system is used only for vertical movement. Yet they are trying to imitate games that were about multilevel traversal to dodge combat, with an emphasis on horizontal movement. The mechanics, the animations, the engine, the very philosophical design behind the whole game is a contradiction, and it will only hurt the overall experience. People will remember this as "that filler AC game" before RED goes back to the RPG formula. As a simple example, in the new games, when you run in the streets, you don't get slowed down. You just push NPCs out of the way. So if that's the case, what incentive do you have to use the parkour to get above ground level? As far as I can tell, very little. Maybe guards have more trouble following you on rooftops, but judging by how the AI seems virtually the same from the last three games (ie: dumber than a box of rocks) I have very little doubt that one smoke bomb will be enough to give them the slip without even using parkour. So I have a feeling most players will just run through the streets of Baghdad rather than take to the rooftops, as it will probably be faster and less tedious way to get around. Parkour will just be a fun thing you can do but do have to, just like the last three games. Honestly, the demo was everything I feared it would be. Add on top of that cutscene animations that seemingly can't even compete with that of AC3 (an 11 year old game), and it's hard to find anything to be positive about here.

[@jcers]

Thanks for your kind words. Agree totally with your thoughts here. I felt this pretty much right from the get-go when we saw actual gameplay: if nothing else, what AC Mirage will do is illustrate to the average player of games _just how far_ Assassin’s Creed strayed from its roots. It having the RPG game feel while trying to fit the classic gameplay will illustrate that perfectly.

[@maxm.m.7219]

​@@jcers Thing is, many have mentioned that he is still a novice in the footage, and they could have his parkour improve as he gains in rank. People have said that Basim was much faster in the original trailer. Also, I see in this game that Basim moves slower than Bayek, which is interesting, since they talked about how fast he would be. This is why I believe that his current parkour skills are a narrative thing, and it will improve. Bayek and Aya are the fastest Assassins in the entire franchise, believe it or not. They climb the fastest, and run the fastest (there's a video comparing all protagonists). With the focus on ranks, and unlocking new skills and tools each rank, I think they would do that.

[@manbat4582]

​@@maxm.m.7219 I wish. They still haven't shown the skill tree so maybe that'll include parkour moves

[@ashcartwright96]

It looks better than the last one, which means it's heading in the right direction. Shit on this too hard and they'll never try to make a classic style AC again, and that will be on you.

[@manbat4582]

@@ashcartwright96 dumbass, that will be on them

[@CorPetit-v6d]

That last bit came from the soul. You put in to words what I wasn’t able to verbalize. It really is a shame.

[@boiimcfacto2364]

Dude, THANK YOU for this. You and Leo K are my go-to KZbinrs when it comes to Assassin's Creed, and I'm so glad the community gets to hear your thoughts on Mirage now. While Leo felt satisfied with the gameplay trailer (as per his expectations), I agree more with you. I'm TIRED of making excuses and lowering my standards for Assassin's Creed just because I have fond memories of earlier games. It deserves praise for trying to be better, but it's far too little and far too late. It hurts most because I **know** Ubisoft will look at the poor reviews and think "damn, they don't like when go back to our roots".

[@jcers]

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. As for the last part of your comment, if that’s the takeaway they get from hearing my criticisms, then they really lack auditory comprehension skills 😂 No, but seriously, Mirage isn’t Ubisoft testing the waters for a return to classic AC. It’s a one-off placation to try to wrap people who love classic AC around their finger after Valhalla was the last straw for many and to get them back into the cycle of buying every AC again and coping hard, saying “maybe this time it’ll be different”. Classic AC as we love it is gone and never coming back. It sucks to admit that, but once you do and you break free from the endless cycle of disappointment, things get better.

[@boiimcfacto2364]

@@jcers Oh man, you hit it on the head. I *know* what you're saying is factual, but I can't help but huff that copium. Haven't played any AC game after Unity released, and I know I'm just gonna watch Mirage walkthroughs. But even when 'AC 2077: Assassins in Space' releases, I'll still have a lil hope that AC will return to its roots (for real) 😭

[@unc54]

I agree with a lot of what you said. I think if they had given back a lot of manual control to the player it would have done wonders. Yes the system itself lacks an advanced moveset but getting rid of automation would have helped achieve the goal of continuous motion that they seem to be aiming for and would create a skill ceiling.

[@natchu96]

Back in the day I used to jump around and practice my pathing and ejects because doing it was actually fun, and feeling my gradual improvement in optimizing my climbing was satisfying, even when just sprinting along the street or grabbing a horse would've done the job fine. Now it's so automatic that you can't do much beyond going from point A to point B anyway, with the occasional opportunity to leap of faith backward for some change of pace.

[@effervescentapricot7522]

You summarised my thoughts exactly! Since Syndicate I always had the feeling forward momentum in the movement systems had been lost, although the only way I was able to articulate this suspicion was by saying "the characters look bouncy" or something like that. I can only hope the other two pillars are strong enough to support the experience...

[@huyvouc9785]

Until this day, I can't understand how Ubisoft could make a game in the new engine that has worse movements and mechanics than an engine that they used 16 years ago.

[@joseortizreflects]

To be honest, what impressed me the most in this trailer was the stealth since it felt the most fledged out of the three AC standpoints. The combat we saw very little, but at least it wasn't the damage sponges of the last few games. When it comes to parkour though.... well.... I don't want to be too negative or anything bad but let's just say it was kind of weird seeing Eivor's ghost hopping in Altair's territory....

[@nikolabankov8187]

I completely agree! 'More deeds, fewer words' --- a popular Russian saying.

[@matheusfernandesdocarmo922]

Dude, you said everything I was thinking when watch this gameplay, the game looks " good", but parkour kind sucks, where's the side ejects ate least !?

[@willyfinny8384]

But🥺but🥺 they added the “AC1 filter” that is VERY characteristic of AC1 and that is present throughout the entire game and can notice it only if you played the game and REALLY understand what the game is all about🥺

[@jcers]

So true bestie

[@Zikuto_]

Thank you so much for making this I was going crazy watching everyone praise this and couldn’t help but sit there and think, how is this a “return to the roots” like I don’t understand why they didn’t just take more time with this it feels disrespectful tbh.

[@axel7780]

In this version of Assassin's Creed Parkour, "Jumping does not feel good". BRAVO!!!!!!!!! PREACH!!!!! This is something that I have noticed ever since in Origins. Yes they fall faster to the ground because they wanted it to become more "realistic and grounded" but it loose the style and momentum that made assassins creed feels fast. Secondly, unlike the older games it feels to me that the speed of the character is defined not by the animation but by the stats. Because of that walking or running feels floaty. That is how I describe the parkour from the latest games. In Pre-Origins I actually FEEL that the speed of the character is tied to the animation. After Origins, their are moments in which the characters move so fast or so slow yet the animation does not represent it because animations are now tied towards the movement speed statistic rather than the other way around. I don't know if this is actually the case, but atleast, that is how I feel when playing these latest games. P.S. The fact that I don't see parkour roll in the video trailer shows that one of the most basic techniques in free running is once again going to be inaccessible unless you jump from an absurd level of height. By rolling after jumping, we keep the momentum and flow moving, and it also adds immersion towards the animations. But now? We are stuck with the ugly fall animation when the character fall from a short side rather than rolling, and in Valhalla, it makes the character so much slower.

[@reclusivestarfisho_o1687]

Man, I was crossing my fingers that Ubisoft would nail this game by honing in on the classic formula. I hope the narrative will at least be compelling enough for a playthrough or at least to watch. I haven’t been able to get into ACO-ACV, and it sucks that I might skip on yet another part of the franchise. :(

[@bambusleitung7241]

Play both acO and AcV they are legendary games in the franchise

[@reclusivestarfisho_o1687]

@@bambusleitung7241 I tried both. They are great games for sure, but they aren’t good AC games, which is why I dropped them. Maybe I’ll give them another go sometime in the future.

[@DrOmni]

Thank you. I've felt insane watching people praise this movement system and animations

[@CrossfeetGaming]

That's it. I'm done with new AC games. I'll keep playing the old ones form 1 to Unity, but nothing will probably make me glance over at Ubi anymore if they ever announce a new AC game.

[@jcers]

Based

[@matex_e]

i was expecting a slightly better version of origins' movement with more consistent wall ejects at the very least, i'm really dissapointed too. there might be a really small chance that that they actually exist, since ubisoft has never showed advanced parkour in any of their gameplay trailers, but that would still be acting too optimistic at this point.

[@huntexlee]

On a lighter note your original ac clips were so good man. The contrast between the mirage parkour and the ac2 parkour made me appreciate it even more

[@jcers]

Thank you! That was very much the goal, haha

[@pedzel88888888]

Incredibely well put together, literally what I've been thinking since the Ubi Forward event, I'll share this video to express my thoughs and opinions on Mirage (or at least it's parkour) since I couldn't have said it better myself lol amazing job, Jcers!

[@EkarDGames]

Definitely agree with you on how they didn’t deliver much on their promises to return to form with parkour. The goofy inconsistent momentum basim shows jumping from one obstacle to the next is not very pleasing to the eye, which you’d at least expect them to improve aesthetically since not much has changed with the actual movement mechanics. I’ll most likely still play this one since I haven’t really played an assassins creed game on release before but I’m hoping the focus on assassin stealth and story makes up for how much they gassed up the parkour 😒

[@nemogotchemo5863]

That's whats been irking me! Basim has literally no momentum, he starts and stops animation, there's no flow from one hop to the other. It looks like he's stopping for a split second with every jump instead of just continuing his route. I'm so sad that we don't even see side ejects, side hops or even back ejects because that would level up the parkour significantly despite being something seen since the 1st AC

[@jimmymckie2272]

Exactly how I felt. I knew for ages they weren’t going to do anything with parkour but seeing Basim scale that parkour starter and jump about the same way eivor bayek and Kassandra did was still a punch in the gut. To me parkour is what assassins creed has always been known for and it’s a fundamental gameplay mechanic which has had me playing these games pretty much since 2007. It’s exactly what I expected and yet still incredibly disappointing

[@JudgeFudge57]

I'm sure it'll be a good refreshing game regardless of the limitations it has (being made in an engine that didn't intent this game or the fact it's available on old gen) but I hope they'll use this as a template for a new AC game that once again is based on the original game but this time made from the ground up for this console generation.

[@goodvibestv5380]

The one honest review I’ve seen on this game. Subbed

[@offtheradar1898]

Stealth looks good. I will play this game just for the stealth gameplay.

[@shira_yone]

Hope you have fun. My expectation for parkour were rock bottom and I'm still devastatingly disappointed, I really just play the series for parkour. Stealth and other stuff are looking nice doe.

[@gamuhnerdu4759]

Didn't know you were a web of shadows fan! Would love to see you make some clips of it.

[@esesel7831]

I agree 100 percent. Its so sad the even Mirage doesnt want the player to interact with the game on his own terms. I dont want a slo mo plus instant kill promt after getting detected killing a guard. i want to either get punished for my mistake or have to use my own skill to headshot that guard with a throwing knife. but with the current impementation i basically have to take the cheap kill or wait for the awkward slo mo to end completly ruining the gameflow.

[@jcers]

I imagine it’ll be like Valhalla where you can cancel the slow motion by simply moving.

[@DarT-dk6gs]

Hard agree on everything you said. I knew that the parkour will not be like ''the roots'' but c'mon not even manual jumping and ejects?

[@StealthAC]

I like what I see tbh. It’s a shame to see how similiar movement seems to valhalla but I think the focus onstealth and cleaner combat will make it fun to play passively. It’s not ideal but it’s much better than I expected.

[@Broox38]

Would you consider returning for a Mirage stealth video?

[@StealthAC]

@@Broox38 Might do, depends on how much I like it. Hope youre doing well Max

[@Broox38]

@@StealthAC I'm fine, thank you. Hope things are ok for you too

[@TheSupinesmokey]

In any event I hope when you get your hands on the game you and Leo K may find gold beneath the sand that is /will be the Parkour system. Perhaps that why the game its aptly named Mirage its a game that appears to be a return to the roots of Assassins Creed but isn't.

[@robertomacetti7069]

i almost wanted to believe a working unity with both depth and control or even bettere, a more fluid ac1/2 system which is my favorite guess i won't come back in the franchise

[@jackof4ll]

Well I came across your channel when I saw a video guide for AC Unity great work in that video man. Honestly I don't plan on playing this game from what I've seen so far. I only played AC because of how unique it's gameplay was at the time. Even tho the constant barrage of games in the start was fun for the little me, game in general was very enjoyable and I'd play almost 100% of each entry until Origin came. I never even played that game past 30% percent and after that never touched this game series. It's same as Farcry I stopped playing that game as well after FC4 NGL I only completed that game because I had nothing else to play because disappointment was high and I never purchased games after 2015. Gaming quality is in constant decline and player base is very saturated. Customers define the product and current customer base has basically ruined the OG game series. From COD to FC (Press F to pay respect.)

[@NoGaLyX]

I just wanted to comment on your > very < good use of the Revelations theme to add power to your words on how you felt about the series.

[@robertjv]

Mirage feels like a right step in the right direction for an assassins creed game. Hope they can keep improving after Mirage

You know what I think they were thinking of when they said this game is "returning to the roots"? They looked at a general scope of people who had nice things to say about the original games and they heard "It felt the best when I was pushing forward through the parkour starters, beams, roofs, etc" and completely forgot to look at the people who took most out of the mechanics. I really thought that, by this point, at least someone at Ubi would have at least heard about you guys (You, Leo K, even Whitelight) in passing, but after the reveal of this game, I doubt they even cared/had the interest/budget/personal to research what made the original games so satisfying to play. It seems they are taking the same route they took with AC3 about parkour and streamlining the movement to the bare minimum again, so they can focus the scope of the game in other areas, making it a bit more generic yet again by taking one of the most unique game mechanics that even they are not able to replicate. I think that the only time I'm going to trust that a next Assassin's Creed game team will do it justice is if they reveal the are bringin neutrual-low-high profile back. PS: This (very) passionate (and probably very wrong) comment is directed at the movement system exclusively.

[@FushiV2]

I completely agree with you, me being an Assassin's Creed fan ever since the first game same as you i am tired of people just trying to proove that mirage will be amazing, the parkour is slightly faster then origins parkour still it looks bland when ubisoft said "return to the roots" i thought "oh so they will make the playground where you do parkour is better like more poles more ropes more things to do and not a massive open world where you just ride your horse or a giant wolf" It feels more like ubisoft said "return to the roots" just to get peoples attention so people can buy the game", in my opinion the stealth looks really good reminds me of something like unity. I am not trying to proove anything i'm just saying my own opinions.

[@charlessimons2851]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Reminds me when CoD said they were returning to their roots with "boots on the ground". It's just PR bullshit

[@Fieryxjoe]

On the parkour, yeah its still the Valhalla system at its core. But I think a more parkour friendly environment can do a lot of heavy lifting. Unity and Syndicate have the same parkour system, Unity is considered one of the best parkour games and Syndicate one of the worst. That is all down to the different environment, London was so bad they had to give you a grapple hook to skip parkour entirely which made them put even less effort into a parkour friendly environment. I think a touched up Valhalla parkour system in a big dense city with narrow streets and careful attention to making it a parkour friendly environment will be a big difference.

[@jcers]

World design can make a huge difference, but I must contest that Unity and Syndicate do not have the same system. Syndicate makes significant mechanical downgrades from Unity in a number of areas, especially in the tracking and the removal of manual jumps. Side hops are also more inconsistent and are significantly more difficult to trigger, even in circumstances where they’re possible. Back ejects no longer gain height. Spinning pull ups were removed. There’s more, but that’s the short version. Placing Syndicate’s system in Unity immediately worsens the experience by a lot. Second, better world design can only make a difference if the mechanics present opportunities for it to make a difference. Sure, Mirage will have you doing parkour much more frequently than an Origins or a Valhalla, but if there’s nothing to actually make the movement interesting, that’s just not gonna be of much help. It’s like I said in the video: Mirage is choosing to focus on a parkour system that in no way deserves the level of focus it’s being given. Letting you use it more often isn’t going to solve any serious problems, it’s only going to highlight them.

[@Abdul-wo4nh]

Its baffling to me the potentianl a modern day AC can have, our modern resources can make such a smooth and great parkour system that would surpass AC1 and the ezio trilogy but its just... ubisoft abondoned this style of gameplay long ago and now the company is suffering more then ever with financial issues etc.

[@thebulletkin8393]

Was it just a theory that they’d be expanding the parkour control in this game? I’ve heard people say they were going back to enhance the parkour but it doesn’t look like such an effort has been made

[@Tazer183]

Basim seemed magnetic during parkour. But also, enemy AI is unintelligent. They can't see 50 ft away and especially if there's difference in elevation. Also, AI does not detect noisemakers in flight. Takes me out of it when, during the trailer, a noisemaker flies right in front of a guard and he just turns around to where it lands

[@natchu96]

Parkour has always been somewhat magnetic but Unity was when it first got super magnetic to the point that they game can't really smooth it over right. And people praise Unity's parkour to high heaven for some reason. I'm not saying it's a good thing, btw, I have a lot of gripes with Unity's movement controls.

[@toxpov3612]

they really said "easy to learn and master" as if easy to master is a good thing lmao

[@ayumelove]

When will people learn to stop trusting Ubisoft? They've proved it time and time again, they are not reliable.

[@ruijikisu]

given its origins as a dlc its no surprise the mechanical depth is not there im just glad it focuses more on stealth and hope that if this game does well warrants investing into parcour more as well in a future title because the two are linked, without the need to stealth the need for parcour is gone too which is why i barely used either in the last exhausting titles i hope this game does well but get the fair criticism of the parcour so that a new game where they can address this might happen cause its been so long and it seems like no other studio is trying to emulate what assassins creed did, so it feels like either ubisoft gets their shit together or we dont get anything like it at all

[@jcers]

I’m not saying it should be a surprise that the parkour isn’t good. I’m just saying that it’s not acceptable for parkour to not be good if Ubisoft actually cares about “returning to the roots” of AC.

[@ruijikisu]

@@jcers no thats true, some people just definitely expected too much after the initial announcement is what i mean. i guess what im trying to say is to me AC is parcour and stealth, and while this is lacking in one department, at least the other is getting close to what i want again, they are overselling the back to the roots aspects too much for what they are doing, but its no doubt a step in the right direction for me, a small step maybe, but given i expected any step they take to take us further away from the original, i cant say im unhappy.

[@jcers]

@@ruijikisu if you want to play and enjoy Mirage, go ahead. Just don’t get your hopes up with the idea that this is somehow a step in the right direction and that if Mirage performs well, we’ll be back to classic AC in no time. They are never, ever going back to what we want.

[@Darrf]

The irony they call this AC --> Mirage. Its a facade. An illusion. A false hope.

[@jeremy123577]

So with the parkour someone brought up the idea that since basim is still an apprentices his movement is sharper but not as fast so as the game goes on he may get faster but honestly I kinda bought it.

[@Omar-Asim]

*looks at AC Shadows movement* You were right lol

[@jcers]

I do my best

[@FirstCivDavid]

I really appreciate how intelligent you are. That’s rare to see in AC KZbinrs these days in my opinion. Defending a scummy company like Ubisoft is weird in my opinion. Ubisofts current games can’t even meet the same standards their same games decades older did. Calling Mirage a love letter is just insulting.

[@jcers]

Thank you! Most of my circle of AC content creators are generally pretty knowledgeable, articulate folks. I think it's fair to call Mirage a love letter on the part of the developers. The problem is that the resources they were handed are insufficient to allow them to make the game be the love letter they wish it could be. That has always been my main concern with this game: the executives are merely tolerating this for a time and for a lower-budget game; the company as a whole has no interest in returning to what made AC what it was, even if a particular group of developers within the company does.

[@Pedro_Le_Chef]

The idea that if fans accept this new game despite all its flaws and failed promises that we're going to eventually get a "proper ac game" down the line reminds me a lot of an abused spouse wanting to give her alcoholic husband "just one more chance". It oozes a lack of confidence and self respect, that we should somehow accept the garbage Ubi is throwing our way to keep us around. This is a nice mix of fanboyism with sunk-cost fallacy from the fanbase. Glad to see the credible ac creators not fall for it yet again. Edit: And as much as fans want to praise them for their apparent return to form, the fact that Mirage has worse movement mechanics than a 16 year old ac1 is enough to contextualize the reality of the situation.

[@Kevin-tl1zs]

These are my honest thoughts. But, I'm happy that atleast, they returned to the Parkour after having deviated from the core of AC.

[@natchu96]

I'm really only happy that they tried to make a stealth game at all. The parkour does not impress. The fact that an assassin's creed game actually having an assassination focus is even remotely a cause for celebration is tragic.

[@fortunatesoul12]

I also hope that the juxtaposition of level design and dull parkour make more folks aware of the downgrade in the last decade and push Ubisoft for more, but still, it's a missed opportunity considering the setting and character they have at their disposal for Mirage

[@monkeypete4018]

I am also not very optimistic but to be fair, it is still not confirmed that ejects, manual jumps and animation canceling is not in the game. The gameplay demos for AC2 and AC4 also had none of that back then and yet it was in the game.

[@potsiboi]

Yes the parkour doesn’t look great but the level design is great also this is still in works we have 3 months they could still change things and the parkour may feel smooth and better when we get to experience playing the game ourselves

[@lepersonnage371]

0:55 isn't it an animation from Unity?

[@jcers]

It definitely looks really similar. The first part of the animation is noticeably faster than its counterpart in Unity, though, so they definitely altered it somewhat if this is a case of asset reuse

[@amilex5805]

Hey jcers, do you believe adding diagonal wall run to ezio games parkour system would make it better

[@jcers]

Yes, but I wouldn’t do it the way that Unity does it. I would have it so that every wallrun begins straight up by default, but tapping legs in Low Profile during the run causes your character to redirect to the selected side. This fixes the problem with Unity’s diagonal controls being so sensitive & sloppy.

[@SADDE]

Basically put my thoughts into words. It's so painful to see the community try their hardest to find any redeeming qualities about the game even after ubisoft has shown that they don't really care for the millionth time.

[@tommywright2487]

they’re giving you exactly what you want with the recourses they have, the team working on this is ubisofts smallest studio, what they’ve done is pretty impressive and it’s kinda disheartening to see people like you tryna discredit all the work they’ve put into this, shame on you.

[@natchu96]

The stealth mission design looked like a pretty redeeming quality to me. They really should've given the parkour the overhaul it deserved it they truly wished to "return to the roots" as it were, but considering the development team this was dumped on and the likely number of fucks the company executives do not give, this tragic state of parkour was also the most likely result. I can feel that they tried, in many other aspects of the game we've seen, but this clearly wasn't a high budget priority project.

[@SADDE]

@@tommywright2487 what about the part where they advertised the game as a "return to the roots"? Did they deliver on that? I am not trying to discredit the studio that made this game, I'm sure they weren't the ones behind the false advertising either, but Ubisoft as a whole is a pretty tragic company who has a track record of making fake promises about things they never deliver. I also don't want or expect anything from them because I don't play assassin's creed anymore, so I'm not exactly qualified to want or expect anything out of this game.

[@tommywright2487]

@@SADDE it can still be a return to roots, im sorry it doesn’t meet your standards but they’ve done their best with parkour and the heavier focus of stealth is promising. Why are you so pressed over people being excited for a game?😭

[@jcers]

@@tommywright2487 the selling point of AC1 was its parkour, not its stealth. For it to be considered a true “return to the roots”, one would imagine that the movement system, which was the main selling point of AC1 and is being heavily focused on in the marketing here, would at least be of an arguably similar quality to the system found in AC1.

[@tktxlegend4540]

They never should have done away with Unity's parkour system. I understand why they didn't use it in Origins, Odyssey or Valhalla because those games with their predominantly large open landscapes don't need Unity's parkour system. That being said, it seems like they just scrapped the coding of Unity's parkour system altogether and just threw it in the bin because if they still had it saved somewhere you'd think they would have used it for Mirage.

[@maszkalman3676]

Thanks you Jcers to be honest about it, you are basically the only one left who i watched mainly due to the advanced parkour and mechanics in Ac games Leo K basicaly sold himself out to the shitty Mirage prakour and shitty ass magic assasination it was painful to see and get atacked because i dared to say that he once was who championed to fully learn the aviats to make your gameplay smoother and now sold himself out to shitty jump select target and watch choppy ass animations.

[@jcers]

I wouldn’t say that Leo has “sold himself out”. He’s not dancing around the fact that Mirage’s parkour is gonna be bad, as I’ve seen many people do. He plainly admits that in his video. His view is that because he didn’t expect anything different, he’s not upset about it. He’s not justifying it being awful. As for Assassin Focus, I don’t really mind it. I’d prefer if it were fully animated like Arkham Knight’s fear takedowns, but what we have is alright.

[@maszkalman3676]

@@jcers Well too bad if we accept this all right? where our favourite games will go? Do you like most wanted the classic one???? When underground 1 came out the press praised it with no end games like us loved it but pushed them to make it even better i live in Hungary a small ass country about 10 million peoples underground sill sold around 3 million so third of the conutry bought it and our medi didn't sjut bend over for it they pointed it out that why there is no free roam no actual city then we get underground 2 peoples loved it till this day but if we didn't pushed for the police to return there is no most wanted see my point? If we accept everything we still has racing games with clsoed loop maps nothing more....

[@jcers]

@@maszkalman3676 Classic AC is dead and gone. No amount of boycotting or criticism we do is going to bring it back. That’s why if someone wants to buy mirage because they think it just looks like a fun game, I understand. I’ve just been really trying to drill it into people’s heads that Mirage performing well isn’t going to “bring back AC” and that if that’s why they think they should buy it, then they should save their money.

[@llama6394]

They say basim's one of the fastest assassins yet he constantly slows down when landing

[@lukky6648]

While i understand that they would need to change engines to rework parkour (i assume) , i Still hate that they literally gave us a decent parkour environment only to fuck it up with the worst freerunning mechanics. The gravity feels too strong in these and the jumps basim performs feel VERY unrealistic and stiff , cartoonish if i say so.

[@lethalevasion]

Despite the lack of a mechanical difference between the RPG's, I don't see that as a bad thing. Origins wasn't bad in terms of parkour, sure it was no where near the level of the old games, but it is functional and can look good if the map provides for it. Baghdad seems to be full of parkour opportunities, and I can't wait to get my hands on it to show its potential. Great video man, I hope the game is at the very least enjoyable for you :)

[@jcers]

I think we’re just gonna disagree hard on the idea that Origins wasn’t bad in terms of parkour, man. I need more than a functional movement system in an AC game. I hope you enjoy Mirage, though. As for me, I won’t be playing it.

[@lethalevasion]

@@jcers Ah that's alright, we can agree to disagree. Hopefully an AC game comes out in the future with the mechanics you're hoping for :D

[@chkcnchncy]

What is insulting is how much they LIE about it☠Just tell us how it will be similar to origins but with more tools and prettier settings and everyone will set their expectation just right. This is a disrespect towards Ezio/Altair time because the parkour in those games are actually fun to pull off.

[@cosmic2750]

I'm gonna give Mirage the benefit of doubt, and say that perhaps we shouldn't judge the parkour just based on a showcase. Remember that dev showcases never show good parkour even in older games. People still to this day say AC1 has terrible and primitive parkour which is not close to true. We can't judge parkour before we actually play it. The problem with the last few games i feel was how the parkour felt. Of course, it is important to keep the hype in check considering past record. Which is why I'm saying that we should neither be too harsh nor too positive about the parkour. Whether it is good or not, only we can tell when we actually have the game on our hands, and we shouldn't make our decisions based on a dev showcase. A recent example: the dev showcase for Elden Ring showed us only a part of the Limgrave map and we all assumed that that was the entire map. Then when we actually played the game did we realize that the map is twice the size of what they showed.

[@TheButterAnvil]

I get the vibe that these devs are simply different ones trying to copy the og devs' homework, and they just dont know what made it work. Its like watching an indie dev try to make an ac game. You clearly want to succeed, but you don't know what you are doing

[@Penigale]

The devs really are passionate about returning to ACs roots, but you really have to understand that they built the game in 2 years, during the pandemic for alot of it. Expecting a smaller game to surpass Ubisofts best work is very over the top considering Mirage was supposed to be a dlc for Valhalla originally. I'd rather see the core experience of stealth and assassinating be perfect and the parkour slightly improved than have a very mediocre experience in all 3 departments of the core gameplay loop. The reality is that if this game is a success, Ubisoft will allocate a bigger budget, team and time frame to make a fully fleshed out modern AC game in the style of the older ones. Mirage is a stepping stone, not a jump across the river of shit that is the RPG AC games.

[@jcers]

I’ve had to say this in this comment section a few times already, but I’ll say it again: the idea that if we just say enough nice things about Mirage and if enough of us fork over our money to Ubisoft for yet another game that fails to meet the standards of a 16-year-old game Ubisoft will start making classic AC games again is cope. The Ubisoft executives let Mirage happen as a one-off placation on a small budget to try to get fans of the classic games wrapped back around their little finger, consistently buying games that don’t appeal to them in the hopes that “maybe this time will be different”. Ubisoft is never, ever going to get rid of their new game model that is fuelled by pushing players to buy MTX (which is over 90% of their income, btw). Ubisoft is never going to take present day seriously again (let’s not forget, Mirage doesn’t even have present day). Classic AC as we know it is never, ever, coming back. The sooner everyone accepts that, the better it will be for them and they can stop dooming about every piece of news that comes out. If Ubisoft actually cared about returning to AC’s roots, they wouldn’t have given the game that’s supposed to do it the equivalent of table scraps to work with because they would recognize that AC needs more than just a number of relatively small tweaks to actually be true to itself again. If you want to buy Mirage and play it, that’s fine by me. I’m sure it’ll be a fun game. Just don’t do so under the impression that this is somehow a step towards AC “coming back” because all that’s going to do is lead you to further disappointment.

[@Penigale]

@jcers I totally get what you're saying, but you're missing my point. I'm nor praising Mirage yet because I haven't played it yet. I'm just saying that there's more to AC games than just parkour and that personally, I like that the stealth and assassinations were overhauled. It's completely ridiculous to expect a flawless AC game given the teams size, budget and time frame. Instead of bashing it, we need to say "This is more in line with what we want, but could use work in this or that area for the future". Ubisoft listens to money. They'll just scrap the idea of returning to roots altogether if Mirage isn't profitable enough. AC is their most financially successful franchise because of the RPG style games. They won't bat an eye at leaving the older AC community out to dry if they deem catering to them to not be profitable or not. Mirage is a test to gauge consumer reaction in the market and is a stepping stone to the true AC game we want. Dont expect it to be perfect is all I'm saying

[@jcers]

@@Penigale no, I understood you perfectly. I’m just disagreeing with you completely. I don’t think Mirage is testing anything. I don’t think Mirage performing well is going to get classic AC to come back. I don’t think anything can make classic AC come back. I’m not interested in buying a game that doesn’t meet my standards in the hope that maybe the next one will. If you want to buy Mirage, go ahead. I’m sure it’ll actually be pretty fun. But like I said, if you buy it, just buy it for its own sake. Don’t do so with any hope that your money is going towards making a faithful AC1 remake or something akin to that.

[@digivagrant]

Yeah... I'll just replay AC: Revelations then.

[@lucagangemi1385]

You ever gonna do a proper review on this game now that its been out for a while?

[@jcers]

If I were to do a review of Mirage, that would require that I play the game first, which I have not done and don’t plan on doing, so no, I won’t be making a Mirage review, haha

[@sovietspyingonion9582]

6:15 so youre saying that Black flag is worse than AC III and Revelations.I mean like Black flag gotta be 1st or 2nd on the podium of AC games.

[@jcers]

I was referring to parkour specifically with that statement. In general, I personally don’t think Black Flag is top 2 material, but I understand and respect if someone disagrees with me on that because it is a really great game.

[@IveNeverStoodUp]

there has never been an assassin's creed game that's had better parkour than the game before it.

[@A-N-I-M-U-S]

Shadows Reaction when?

[@jcers]

My reaction is that I don't really care about it and it'll be like Odyssey but with a stealth system that doesn't actively despise any player that chooses to use it

[@A-N-I-M-U-S]

@@jcers Ive already seen it too Not gonna play it

[@jacoblopes3943]

do you think they will change it?

[@jcers]

No

[@Mourningwood95]

Sadly. It’s seems the only way Ubisoft will let’s us relive the old school assassins creed is to just play the old games. Studios have no interest to put player feel and enjoyment over profit. Ubi will hype us up with these meager offerings and expect us to be grateful. IMO, Ubi hasn’t even come close to repairing the assassins creed IP.

[@vinicius100470]

Yeah, I really don't understand why the developers were drawing such comparisons to the Altair/Ezio trilogy parkour. Basim has no momentum whatsoever, he comes to a near full stop with every landing, he drops like a rock after every jump, he's slow as shit.

[@eohgames9208]

So you play AC’s for only parkour?

[@soociesoocie]

that's like saying "so you play AC for only combat?" it's a pretty vital aspect of the game considering you'll be doing one of those two things the whole game

[@eohgames9208]

@@soociesoociemy dude is playing AC’s for only side eject and back eject lol

[@jcers]

In all seriousness, no, but I am tired of AC in general failing to meet the standards set by AC1 almost 2 decades ago. It's not just the parkour. I also wasn't planning on buying Mirage to begin with so the fact that the movement was disappointing didn't affect my decision not to play the game in any way whatsoever

[@Egobert]

Ubisoft is really outta touch with what the fans want

[@g3nh4rt14]

@Jcers excuse me but, why u said that they have worsened the movement since 2009, dont u consider unity as a good parkour game? For me it has one of the best movements in all franchise, i could say even the best one... Let me know ur thoughts about this.

[@brucemustdie]

The thing about Unity is, the game has lots of specific contextual animations and parkour moves, and the map is filled with so many contexts and parkour opportunities that more often than not you'll find yourself having more than one options to execute at the same point in time for the same input. So the game kinda gets confused as to which animation should be triggered at a certain point. Which is why it feels like your inputs are more like a suggestion to Arno and you're not in control of him. Arno will often perform a completely different move than you intended him to. Also, animations aren't cancelable, so you gotta commit to whatever move Arno performs. Plus, Breakfall isn't as reliable an option as Catch Ledge in classic AC. So Unity's parkour system, while without a doubt has some of the most flashy and versatile and great looking parkour moveset, can be very janky and won't always behave the way you want it to. It's a consequence of having too many options. However when the game actually behaves, it's the best thing ever. But that's kind of a rare case

[@jcers]

Bruce must die’s comment is pretty good and explains a lot of my position, but not entirely. I also take issue with Unity’s animation blending. Arno’s strictly-horizontal jumps look bad a lot of the time, not having any consistent momentum and often looking gravity in the face and laughing. I much prefer AC3 in terms of animations, and even AC1-Rev, too, honestly. I could say a lot more, but that’s the gist of it. My position is generally that AC2 had the best parkour in the series and that everything the came after it just gradually gets worse from the last entry.

[@ashcartwright96]

You're thinking about this the wrong way. First off, you should know that you and I have very similar views on AC, what makes them great, where they fall short and that we haven't had a good one in like a decade. Here's what I think you should consider. This game is just made with the Valhalla toolbox. That's why the jumps look shit, inertia doesn't seem to exist, no sense of momentum. But we all knew this wasn't going to change for this game. This is Ubisoft testing the waters to see how much of a base of paying customers will really come out and buy a game made to be like classic AC. We shouldn't be entirely uncritical, but we should be EXTREMELY clear that this is a step in the right direction. Is it as good as the classic era? No, it doesn't have the depth, even the animation quality is worse. But is it looking better than the last three games and 5 years of AC? Fuck yes, absolutely, it is made by a team that actually wants to make AC like AC, they're just using the shit toolbox because this is a test. We need to make sure Ubisoft gets the right results or we'll never get a good AC game again. Control the narrative, don't sink into this nihilistic criticism.

[@jcers]

I’m gonna be very blunt: the idea that Ubisoft will go back to making classic AC games if we just say enough nice things about Mirage and continue buying their games that fail to meet even AC1’s standards is cope. I understand that Mirage is better than the last 3 games. That doesn’t mean that the series actually has any possibility of improving. Assassin’s Creed is never, ever going to go back to what we want it to be. Here’s the biggest problem with the series, ignoring movement for now: Ubisoft cannot ever do away with a game model that pushes MTX because that’s the source of over 90% of their profits. Needing to push MTX means RPG elements, often in ways that feel intrusive and that negatively impact the play experience normally, e.g. pushing for the player to buy an XP boost. This completely flies in the face of AC’s diegetic game mechanics. Who, in the AC universe, is spending money on these helix credits? Why is the helix store in the Animus HUD? Why is the Animus software set up to run like an RPG to begin with? These are all questions that simply do not have actual answers. The answer is “because it’s a game”, which is completely antithetical to the design paradigm behind the classic games. We can also look at present day (which Mirage doesn’t even have). Do we really think Ubisoft is ever going to make that good again? Maybe this stuff doesn’t bother you as much as it does me, and that’s fine. But if we look at the classic games in their essence holistically, Assassin’s Creed is never, ever “coming back”. That’s why I’ve completely moved on. The main reason I made this video is because they were tarnishing the good name of classic AC by presenting it as though Mirage is somehow reflective of the movement experience in the classic games. Sure, it’d be nice if my criticisms helped improve future releases, but defending the games I love is my only real goal here.

[@ashcartwright96]

@@jcers I understand and sympathise with where you are coming from, I really do. But I think you're being overly cynical. I too have felt that way, lamenting the sad reality that whatever plan the Devs had cooking with AC1 and 2 will never come to fruition, and in many ways the franchise potential died with Brotherhood and the advent of annual AC games. But when the original vision died another vision replaced it and I think there is still room to realise that vision. The vision of the Assassin fantasy. I watched your video about roleplaying an Assassin in that one Unity mission. Awesome gameplay btw, got me reinstalling Unity tbh haha. And what that reminds me of is how integral the sense of being an Assassin is to making the franchise feel like AC again. And what that comes down to is design ethos. You are right that Ubisoft will always want to implement MTX to scrape a little more cream out of the players, that's a sad reality of modern gaming, but that's not something that's new to the RPG era. AC has had RPG elements since AC2. They haven't prevented the ability to roleplay as an Assassin in most of the games since, have they? It is definitely incongruous to the concept of the Animus, but as much as I love the sci-fi elements, I'm more invested in the actual Brotherhood and their shadow conflict with the Templars throughout history. I think what it comes down to is the design ethos of each entry. The last three games were not interested in making the player feel like an Assassin. Mirage aims to do that this time though, unfortunately hamstrung by the tools that made movement so unpleasant in the RPG era. But what it says to me, and the reports out of Ubisoft regarding their new direction with AC, is that they are considering making different types of games within the AC franchise. The big RPG games will be their huge money suckers, then they will have smaller, more focused titles that serve to satisfy those of us who want AC to be more like it used to be. If Ubisoft sees that Mirage is, in concept, something we want and will spend money on, they will make more, and they will improve on that concept for those smaller titles. It's not like they want to make bad games. Perhaps I'm incorrect about what you want from the franchise, in regards to gameplay I was under the impression you want mechanics like what Mirage is implementing. It won't deliver their mechanics to their full potential, but Ubisoft having an interest in those mechanics at all is cause for celebration and encouragement. You concede that Mirage looks to be better than the last three, but then say that doesn't indicate improvement? Something is off with that assessment, it absolutely is an improvement, even if marginal. Besides, who knows, perhaps ejects are better implemented than the last three. They were there to some pathetic extent in Origins so the code is there. And advanced movement techniques were never really showcased in gameplay demos of the past either so time will tell. TLDR, while I appreciate why you are so cynical, I think there is still cause to have hope for this franchise, more now than any time in the last 6 years.

[@jcers]

@@ashcartwright96 I appreciate you writing all this out. I’ll try to give a short-ish response because if I responded to everything I would just bore you, haha. I guess I can summarize my position as follows: I don’t want to buy a game that doesn’t meet my standards in the hope that maybe the next one will. I’ve seen the excuse being made over and over again. “Well, it makes sense that our character isn’t that good at parkour anyway, because it doesn’t make sense that a Medjay/misthios/Viking should be able to do parkour anyway since they aren’t an Assassin”. From my perspective, all I see is the same genre of excuses being made for mirage with a different flavour. As someone who mainly loves AC for its parkour, I’m done with the excuses. AC’s been playing that game for way too long and Ubisoft has not given me any reason to trust them. I also fully admit that I’ve become increasingly purist over the years and that that’s influencing my position here, too. My position isn’t that Ubisoft will never make a game that AC fans can enjoy again. It’s that Ubisoft is never going to make a game that is true to classic AC again. There’s a big difference between those two statements. I understand that my bar is way higher than that of many and is unattainable. But I’ve given up on AC ever being what I want it to be and made peace with that. My main reason for making this video was just defending the name of the classic games when Ubi is out there implicitly saying that Mirage’s parkour is akin to theirs in the trailers, haha. I understand that Mirage is an improvement, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to lower the bar. Hope that helps clear things up. :)

[@ashcartwright96]

@@jcers I very much enjoy your videos dissecting and discussing the quality of parkour, I even watched your lengthy and detailed tier list video more than once, so I don't think further discussion would bore me in the least! But obviously typing out enormous messages is tiresome so all good, I appreciate the discussion we've had thus far. I'll just say that I agree that those excuses people make are poor, and don't adequately explain the absolute decimation of parkour in these recent games. The fact that modern AC parkour is what Mirage is offering is pitiful considering the depth of the system 16 years ago far exceeds this recent garbage. But is there really no part of you excited for something at least vaguely resembling what came before? I can't wait to parkour through an ancient city in a white hooded robe once more, even if it pales in comparison to games from the past. Also, I guess I just don't read Ubisoft's statements about "returning to the roots" as saying this will be as good or as deep as classic AC, just that they're using the shit tools from this RPG era to try and make a game along those lines again. The fact that they have any interest in that at all is encouraging to me. I believe they're beginning to recognise the passion a lot of us have for a good parkour system and there's no reason they can't develop good parkour for future games. I've already heard rumours that AC Red, while still being a huge RPG, will be reintegrating a focus on parkour. Granted those are just rumours, but the trend towards parkour is improving and becoming a huge talking point with these games. Maybe I'm just a naive optimist, but I think times might be a-changing 🤷‍♀️

[@willyfinny8384]

You cooked

[@Lots-Of-People-are-Saying]

Personally ill probbably try it to see if the mission formula goes back to investigating your target, gathering information and then using that info to plan your assassination like in ac1. But the parkour will be meh like its been for years. Like people love or hate unity's parkour but at least unity's parkour looked nice enough and had enough variation in the koves you could do to encourage you to use it and then you'd find some hidden depth or hidden mechanics the game never explained to make your free running more smooth. Here it looks bad, it plays bad and its boring. I want something that is fluid, easy to pick up and has enough depth to it that there's something to master. Holding forward and pressing a/x has been boring for years.

[@andrewchandler9303]

I do not think ur being too garsh bro, I think people are being to easy on it no cap I've been Hella playing black flag just parkouring around and its better than mirages Parlor forshoski

[@gummypusswatterson1322]

the way the movement looks in general just reels like it lacks so much polish even compared to AC1. walking and running feel video-gamey and unimmersive. you can even see basims feet glide in certain moments. not even AC1 had it that bad! how they managed to completely ruin a perfectly good system is baffling

[@steventhekid5985]

I think he looks so slow because whoever is playing is jogging the entire time

[@HuskySansVergogne]

No back eject, no side eject Trash

[@fire-typhoon123]

At this stage of development with the game being 4 months away, there's no way they can improve the parkour or the cheap lookin character models.. how does ac unity, a decade old game look so much better? There's no justification for that... All they could do in regards to parkour is maybe make the existing animations faster and add side and back ejects... but even that's asking too much from these lazy ppl i guess

[@jcers]

I won’t tolerate calling game devs lazy on my channel, especially in this case. These people have shown that they deeply care about Assassin’s Creed. If they could have fixed parkour, I’m absolutely certain that they would have. Blame the company for not giving them the necessary time and resources to improve the game, not the passionate people working to make something half-decent for us out of the table scraps they’ve been given.

[@doriangrigorie7345]

i dont like when people criticize the lack of innovation in parkour when nobody, literally nobody said they will rethink it. They said they are inspired by unity and the ezio games but that has more to do with the map layout rather than the movements themselves. Criticizing them for not fulfilling the expectations you made yourself out of pretty much nothing affects your credibility.

[@MrMichealHouse]

"that has more to do with the map layout rather than the movements themselves" Do you have a direct quote?

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

yet another video bitching about the game not being good lets see how many videos hating on the gamw are gonna come until its release

[@jcers]

Charitably offering measured but harsh criticism is not “hating” or “bitching”.

[@huyvouc9785]

Those are valid criticisms, not bitching. Learn the difference. And the people who gladly suck up anything Ubisoft throw at us have no right to call others "hating on the game"

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

@@huyvouc9785 by all means continue to criticize just know that the game will return to rpg form since ubisoft sees what they do is getting hate with whatever they do why bother changing the formula

[@jcers]

@@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594 I’m gonna be a bit blunt here, chief: to think that Ubisoft has any intention of moving away from their current RPG, MTX, massive open-world paradigm if Mirage sells well is huffing super copium. Mirage is Ubisoft allowing a small team of people who love AC to make the best game they can with existing resources in the attempt to try to rope AC fans back into the fold after Valhalla was the last straw for many. For AC to go back to the roots, it needs a full-on overhaul, which Ubisoft could absolutely do if they cared about the franchise. But they don’t. So they didn’t. And they won’t. So we get this instead. Personally, I’m done being taken advantage of by them. What I want from this series is never, ever coming back. I’ve accepted that and moved on. However, I don’t take kindly to them tarnishing the names of the games I love by (at least implicitly) claiming that Mirage is somehow representative of the parkour experience present in those titles, hence why I made this video.

[@konstantinos-iliasstrempas4594]

@@jcers i recoment if you dont like this series anymore dont play them i get not all games are for everyone im a jrpg fan so i liked the rpg games and i like mirage to but if you dont support the series anymore in my opinion you shouldent covering it anymore insead of hating on a fun looking game just because you are bitter towards ubisoft