I Dunno, I Just Think AC Syndicate is Neat

AC Syndicate brings up a lot of mixed emotions in people, and so I wanted to give my two cents on the game here.
You can follow my Patreon at patreon.com/user?u=79897293.
00:00 Intro
02:08 A Game That Actually Works
07:31 The City of London
12:33 The Parkour Problem
18:05 The Peak of AC Stealth
24:20 Punching Down
28:48 Narrative Ups and Downs
40:53 A Good Game, In Spite of it All
Content Cited:
Assassin's Creed Syndicate Graphics Comparison/Tech Analysis | Digital Foundry
• Assassin's Creed Syndi...
Reductive, superficial, beautiful - a historian's view of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate | The Guardian
www.theguardian.com/technolog...
Ubisoft Family Accused of Mishandling Sexual Misconduct Claims
www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...
I hope Assassin's Creed Mirages parkour will look like this | Assassin's Creed Unity | The Dude Jqn
• I hope Assassin's Cree...
"Assassin's Creed Unity has the best parkour in the series" (Assassin's Creed Unitys parkour sucks) | The Dude Jqn
• "Assassin's Creed Unit...
[AC Unity] It Belongs in a Museum | Stealth Reaper | SAD_DE
• [AC Unity] It Belongs ...
Music from AC Syndicate OST used:
London is Waiting
I Would Have Created a Paradise
A Ballet of Blades
Waltzing on Rooftops and Cobblestones
Bloody Presto con Brio
A Gauntlet Scherzo
Hooded Allegro Vivace
Family

[@amysteriousviewer3772]

I always had a soft spot for Syndicate as well. I like the vibe, I like the music, I like the gameplay, I like the city, I think Evie and Jacob are fun characters. It’s definitely one of the more underrated AC games.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I think the soundtrack is great. One song in particular, called 'Cathedrals of Steel' is absolutely amazing, really somber and melancholic. Plus the name is very fitting for the setting too

[@VSN-wb2ly]

I like it as my night late session gaming, wouldn't say it's even close to great game but I enjoy it

[@wingedhussar1453]

I think k that's why I didn't care for it.the charactyers compared to the order 1886 are a morning cartoon. Ubisoft aren't known for great stories so comparing to order 1886 even though order 1886 is 8 hours I enjoyed all of them while I couldn't even play this this bore fest for 5 hours

[@VampiricBard]

Same. Evie and Jacob are both awesome. I'm a huge fan of Evie. I'm NOT a fan of going to far back in the past. I love the city. It's just a really fun game.

[@chrisstucker1813]

Syndicate was originally called assassins creed:victory. The leaked screenshots you can view online had a much more serious Victorian London vibe and atmosphere. It was a lot darker compared to the boring lighter tone we got with syndicate It was also only meant to have one protagonist called Samuel Fey but Ubi we’re being scrutinised for lack of female protagonists so they came up with the idea to play as the twins. I didn’t mind the twins but I’d rather have one well fleshed out character instead of two half baked ones Syndicate was a huge missed opportunity for a game set in Victorian london!

[@tdoran616]

I always enjoyed Syndicate, sometimes I just turn off the HUD and walk around. Also the WW1 section with Lydia Frye wasn’t even advertised at all, it was a complete surprise for players. It came out at a perfect time because it was around Remembrance Day and I was learning about WW1 in school at the time. It holds a special place for me.

[@chrismoore5333]

Jacob is my favourite, but I wouldn't mind seeing more storylines with lyida in ww1.

[@StoicEmperor]

Wait how to play ww1?

[@ItachiUchiha_1724]

​@@StoicEmperora special rift To the east i believe I think you need to finish game or be close to end Jump into rift and you are the descendant of jacob or evie we don't know for sure But she was trained by both

[@KevinCow]

When I played Syndicate, my reaction was: - The parkour actually does what I want it to do most of the time! - The stealth is actually fun! - The combat isn't great, but it's miles better than the atrociously unresponsive combat of every other entry in the series up to that point! I actually kinda got into the underground fighting missions! - So many fun ways to get around the city! The zipline, carriages, the train, doing a Frogger across the Thames - getting around the city is just a joy! - The setting felt so refreshingly unique for an AC game! - The Guy Ritchie vibe, basically blending his gangster movies with his interpretation of Sherlock Holmes, was delightful! - Evie and Jacob were charismatic and likable, and instantly became two of my favorite AC protagonists! I thought it was by far the best and most refined version of the urban-focused AC games. It had the stuff I liked about earlier games without the jank that made them hard to go back to. I was absolutely shocked when I found out it was considered an unpopular entry in the series.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I really like Evie's outfit and overall character design in the game. It has a nice crow motif that looks like traditional assassin robes, but also ones that fit the 19th century Victorian Era English setting nicely, with a feminine flair that is unique to her. Plus the large shoulder pad, adorned with a large Assassin insignia, on her outfit is a nice callback to Ezio's AC Brotherhood robes too, which is neat

[@wingedhussar1453]

Except as a Victorian era game it felt like a cartoon comapred to the order 1886.i enjoyed 8 hours of order 1886 and couldn't even finish 8 hours of sindicate because it was so boring and cartoony

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@wingedhussar1453 That game was more of a steampunk urban fantasy game

[@Nikolai1939]

Ac3 combat was very responsive, also better than most of the series in that aspect

[@Nikolai1939]

​@@unicorntomboy9736 yet it nailed the feel and spirit of the victorian era

[@Stelassin]

They could've easily altered the stats of Evie and Jacob to make them play differently. Like make Evie run/parkour a lot faster, lower chance to get detected, but have low hp. And make Jacob a lot slower, more likely to get detected, but being able to tank hits. It would make them stand out from each other, rather than being clones.

[@Pooky1991]

The only difference felt is in stealth. Evie does have a more stealth heavy Stat than Jacob even without the invisibility ability. As for combat, yeah. Both twins can kick ass brutally so no much difference there. With his more brash way of doing things I thought Jacob would be more combat focused, but I really didn't feel too much a difference.

[@voratittchunharuckchot9711]

@@Pooky1991Agree. While Jacob has counter skills that can instantly kill enemies, usually combat are the same with both twins.

[@OrionXIXI]

I genuinely loved my time with Syndicate. The setting was interesting, given being the most historically recent we've gotten in the series, and I think the parkour changes not only did a good job of addressing Unity's issues, but made a lot of sense given the physical differences of the setting itself. People may find the grapple to be a bit of a copout for a series about parkour, but it was a genuinely smart solution to the problem of the much larger buildings and wider streets of Victorian London, and in my opinion it never really broke up the flow or feel of the on-building parkour. It felt right and like a logical addition for the setting. It is also probably the best stealth in the series, and the most fun I had engaging with the stealth systems in moment to moment gameplay, instead of many other entries, where missions sometimes made it feel frustratingly forced. And I loved Evie as a character, and do wish she had gotten more to do in the story.

[@JackycakesV2]

Good job addressing unitys issues? It removed half the animations and you couldn’t manually jump. Way more contextual actions too. It’s the worst in the franchise by far outside of the RPG games

[@OrionXIXI]

@@JackycakesV2 As stated in the video, the vast majority of Unity's animations and actions simply didn't work 95% of the time. At no point during my 60 or so hours with the Syndicate did I think the parkour or animations looked any less impressive than previous games, but I *certainly* thought it looked less janky and broken than Unity did in just about any given moment of its parkour gameplay. I find that people who loved Unity's parkour and animation are more in love with the *idea* of that game's content rather than the content as we actually got it in the context of the game. So yes, it addressed the issues well, in that it was a far better game to play, while retaining the core parkour elements and smartly adapting them to the new setting.

[@chrismoore5333]

I hated evie. I know the original plam for syndicate un development, and it was much better. Evie being added reuined the story, because certain things planned for the game when it only featured Jacob, were cut to make space for that teachers pet snooty evie.

[@theninjamaster67]

@@chrismoore5333 Jacob was loud obnoxious and annoying with no sense of self preservation or sense of how to formulate a plan past beat everything to a pulp Evie carried that game for me cause while there were moments I found Jacob funny he was far more often a pain in the ass that I was forced to play for more than half the game.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@theninjamaster67 that's because Jacob's the main character. Evie was a lazy, annoying, sad teachers pet. She was far worse acted, she didn't care about London's people nor defeating the templars. She was only interested in satisfying herself on pleasing her father's memory, and dating Henry. Jacob was always the intended protagonist of that game, and that's why he had the most of the story, as evie wasn't planned, and she was shoehorned into the game. It is also worth noting that Jacob is actually canon in the side missions. Roth mentions that Jacob was seen conquering the districts and defeating the gang leaders. Jacob rightly points out that evie didn't do anything helpful unless it was right in her path already, and she doesn't even try to deny it. She just complains that Jacob made 3 mistakes along the way, two of which didn't even make sense. Evie has no personality, plus she makes plenty of bad jokes like Jacob does, only she's a lot ones funny. In the final boss fight, she tells Starrick "Jesus looked better in the shroud." Which is a stupid thing to say that spoils the tension of thr scene. Jacob on the other hand is always perfectly serious during the major confrontations. Jacob is actually arguing with Starrick and thr actor is showing the hate that Jacob has for the templar grand master, while evie is making silly jokes. Jacob is also great and perfectly serious when fighting Roth or chasing down Pearl, and during the asylum mission, to name a few. Evie however, isn't serious when it matters, she's serious when it doesn't. The game is great until it forces you to play as that miserable evie. She didn't even suit the game, and she wasn't even intended to be in the game the way she is. It is also worth remembering that evie messed up and lost the shroud key twice, she barely managed to defeat one templar while Jacob got all the rest, as evie failed her attempts to defeat Lucy multiple times. Evie got captured by Starrick and pinned by snipers in the final mission, and she managed to allow Henry and the plans to the vault to get stolen. She also broke the creed in her first level when she chose not to help a man escape the blighters, only changing her mind when she heard it'd help her mission, because she is vastly selfish. Ezio made more major mistakes than Jacob did, when ezio destroyed a city, the docks, a lighthouse and many ships, defeated an ally who he only thought was a templar, and lost all the masyaf keys. Jacob never messed up that bad. Arno and Edward and Connor all messed up more than Jacob as well. Jacob's only problem and the soul reason he is so unfairly treated by fans, is because he is paired with an obnoxious hypocrite of a character, evie.

[@jierdareisa4313]

While not perfect, I liked the polish of some of the systems in this game. It "felt" fluid to play, and I certainly had a lot of fun with it!

[@GameDenColor]

Another absolute banger. Narrative section, really digging into the disconnect between the reality of social conditions and what was presented in the game was very well done. Playing the game I didn’t even register that in reality I would be costing these children their actual jobs. Big man punch problems away

[@sosaysjay]

Thank you. It was that article I referenced by Dr. Harris that had me thinking along those lines, which I also link in the description. I had previously included information regarding the legislation put in place to improve working conditions in Victorian London that made 1868 a weird year to choose to set the game in. A few decades older would have been more in-line with the stereotypical London we know, with its horrifying working conditions at their worst. I cited some of Dr. Bob Whitaker's old videos for the History Respawned channel going over some of this, but in the end I cut the whole section for the sake of flow. People have written entire theses on the portrayal of history in Assassin's Creed, both good and bad, so I decided to reign myself in a bit.

[@JackycakesV2]

You’re the Batman guy 😱

[@fightthepowerman]

​@JackycakesV2 Bro, you're thinking of Burt Ward

[@STSGuitar16]

Syndicate inarguably has the best side content and black box assassination missions of the entire series. It also has probably the most interactive and immersive city out of any of the games as well. The fact that you can't go more than like a minute without having some sort of world activity near you that you can participate in is amazing and should be the standard for open world games like this. I would find myself on my way to do a mission and wind up getting sidetracked by one of the many world events and side activities. Even better, I actually enjoyed that and didn't mind it one bit since the events felt natural and flowed perfectly into the gameplay loop. None of the side content felt forced in any way to me. The various gang-related missions, the spontaneous cargo and carriage hijacks, the "protect this citizen" sort of world events that randomly pop up, etc. all work together to make the city feel vibrant, multi-layered, and alive in a way that even Unity with its inconsequential large street crowds could not accomplish. London feels like a a big playground with fun things to do everywhere you look. Yes, Unity had larger crowd sizes, but realistically what did that do in terms of gameplay? They were basically nothing more than an aesthetic choice; the crowded streets didn't really affect all that much or have any real bearing on the game itself, which is why I kinda discount that argument a bit. Sure, it does look cool to have the large crowds in Unity, but aside from that, the larger crowd sizes in the streets of Paris really doesn't mean much to me. They just stand there and yell, nothing more. I personally put Syndicate in my top 3 AC games and genuinely believe it is certainly every bit as fun to play as the OG Ezio games (not saying the story is on par with the Ezio stuff, just that the game itself is a ton of fun to play, similar to how fun the Ezio games are to play). I truly think if a real AC fan goes into Syndicate with a totally open mind, there is absolutely no way in hell that person won't have fun playing the game. While I do love Unity, I would probably put Syndicate ahead of it in my personal rankings. Shoot, I even loved the grappling hook. You can't honestly tell me that zipping around Victorian London isn't a great time lol. It's a good game, man.

[@jaysanj152]

I genuinely think Syndicate is one of the most Fun and Complete AC game out of the franchise next to AC3/4 and also the safest as it didn't tried to risk and achieve anything groundbreaking. and I do appreciate the fact that it didn't overstayed its welcome as it wasn't as huge and bloated like the modern AC games while also wasn't as short as the old ones and it didn't played with our nostalgia for the sake of it. The main theme isn't for once not yet another remake of Ezio's theme and its actually memorable, the open world again didn't felt mighty bloated like the modern AC games and it doesn't have its stupid RPG mechanics and Colored Loot nonsense, The Gameplay and Parkour is tight and not as clunky as Unity, The Stealth works as intended without being annoying whereas the Actual Combat while repetitive is actually fun and satisfying, like as someone who loves his Arcade Beat em up games. This game is a treat. and as for the story and characters,I think the story is much more easier to digest thanks to its light hearted nature with an antagonist that's equally memorable not because he's good or well written or anything but because he's your typical cliche comic villain and idk i liked all of that plus I wholeheartedly prefer Evie and Jacob over Kassandra and Alexios and Male/Female Eivor as the Dual Protagonists. They felt like an actual fun goofball characters with personalities you can easily relate, get to laugh at their childish antics and sympathize with their actual real problems of being a grown up adult. They aren't trying to achieve anything spectacular or showing off. They just got a simple but different motives while cliche and not amazing it's still feels much more original and this game shows. while it is a shame Jacob gets all of the assassinations, I do love how even he questions that and i like how the game is being self aware of that fact while Evie gets less screen in the base game i think she shines in the DLC where she takes the center stage and the story is a gut punch cus seeing those likeable characters getting in such a dark situation just upsets me and more of all, poor Jacob :(. Plus the fact that you can seamless switch between the twins to do whatever you want is so much cooler than just choosing one character and do a full play through. While i wouldn't necessarily say it's an "Underrated" AC game, It's certainly not overrated either. If anything it's appropriately rated and generally well liked from anyone who played it with an open mindset and those who didn't are like you mentioned are usually from the ones who simply just likes the Ezio trilogy or Older AC games, for the modern AC fans it wasn't as Ambitious, Bloated and loot/RPG heavy and from those who never given it a fair chance and dumped the game mid way just because it had a grappling hook or it didn't looked as good as Unity etc. Sorry for the big comment, as you can see this is one AC game i thoroughly enjoyed for what it is.

[@JackycakesV2]

Are you saying the theme was a remake or not a remake? I haven’t the played the game for a while but I’m 99% sure it was a remake

[@ThatBoyAqua]

Really love your gameplay analysis and it’s definitely changed the way I view the movement in this game. Excellent work once again!

[@sosaysjay]

That means a lot, thank you!

[@muninraven3327]

I got my enjoyment out of Syndicate by trying to force stealth as much as possible throughout my playthrough, and enjoying my exploration of the city at a observational slow pace. My most memorable session was messing around on the Thames river - going from one end to the other - in one long and extended flow (no pun) of deliberate creativity.

[@sonofsparta3858]

Syndicate is what got me into this franchise. It will always have a special place in my heart

[@JosephineSheesley]

Same here. One of my favorite artists did the music for one of the trailers. While I prefer some other AC games Syndicate will always feel special to me.

[@charlieni645]

Edit: I really like your segment about this game's social commentary. I remember one of the trailers had the quote "when the rich steals from the poor, it's capitalism" and was like damn this game may go hard! But then I remember it's Ubisoft and their biggest brand... Having Templars as the big bad is the perfect strawman, otherwise many of Jacob and Evie's allies would be at each other's throats as they have pretty much opposing interests. I had a completionist playthrough of this game this year and it is indeed very neat. Is it derivative and safe? Yes. Is it a consistently fun game that runs well and plays well out of the box? Also yes. I like the lighthearted tone and the side content, especially with DLCs, are fantastic comparing to Unity. The crime solving missions were already solid in Unity and they are even better in this game. I hope it expands some of the systems it merely dipped toes in, like gang upgrades, duo protagonists, and the grapple hook. There are a ton of upgrades to progress toward, but most of them are just numbers going up that make an already easy game even easier. Jacob and Evie are charming contrasts of one another and being able to play as both of them highlights that rather well, but it's very obvious that Jacob gets more overall screentime. Evie only has one black box assassination which makes no sense to me as the lack of post assassination philosophy debates deprived of her valuable moments for characterizations. The grapple hook is quite disappointing imo. The trailer shows Jacob swining with it which hints immense potential of integrating grappling into parkour that keeps it relevant in the much larger London with wider steets, but instead it took away from it which is a real shame. Most of the Unity animations are still in Syndicate but the game seemingly discourages players from seeing them.

[@sosaysjay]

You condensed a lot of good points into a concise paragraph, thank you for commenting!

[@charlieni645]

​@@sosaysjayThank you! Love your channel

[@huyvouc9785]

When it comes to stealth in AC series, usually people mention Unity. In my opinion, Syndicate did stealth better, since it polished many stealth mechanics (better enemy AI, environment takedown, whistle comeback...). And alslo one thing that people seems to ignore: consistency. Compare to the buggy enemy detection of Unity, Syndicate enemy behavior & detection is a lot more consistent. The kidnapping mechanic is also a genius mechanic that should have stayed in the following games. And I haven't mentioned the fact that Syndicate has better Blackbox missions with many creative opportunities.

[@Pooky1991]

Yeah. Even when my stats were legendary, stealth felt inconsistent in Unity. Sometimes I could literally kill someone right next to a guard or walk up to a guard and stab them like I'm invisible. Other times it's like guards can see through wall and I get detected by enemies nowhere near my location. It doesn't help that Unity has one of the weaker versions of eagle vision. Even social stealth felt inconsistent.

[@Gordon.Pinkerton]

As a Londoner, I waited years for an AC game set in my home town, and as a result it's one of my favourites in the series.

[@Arkenway]

The Thames is one of the best realized areas in any AC game, I love parkouring on boats and random floatsam

[@KuningannaSansa]

Syndicate is my very favourite AC and I feel so alone with that. So glad to see it's starting to get more love in recent years.

[@khoinguyen4455]

This man is preachin some fire stuff Def glad to find someone else agreeing Syndicate is an improvement to Unity in some aspect and good ones at that (most notably the window thingy that was recently added to Unity by modders). Combat is okay-ish but I really wish the near-death opponents would sit still so I can set up a 3+ man finisher instead of accidentally parry killing them for trying to attack my character while in near death state. The missing ingredients are to incentivise you to do side activites and ranking up your loyalty with associates to unlock and since I did a 99% playthrough (Ubisoft wants real $ to reveal the 2 last Helix glitch in City of London district), I got most of the crafting unlocked. Goes without saying that I enjoy this game, whether it's parkour through roofs and zipping across the streets or listening to a performance in a random park in-game (also it's kinda hard to immerse yourself in these performance bc the moment you accidentally shove someone, the crowd gathering for the concert disperses and you're just awkwardly standing there taking insults from NPCs and being weird)

[@ghosty2548]

The thing is... I tried to replay syndicate and I do agree with what you said about stealth, london, story heck maybe even combat which I do consider significantly worse than Unity. But I can't agree at all with parkour and it hurts. Because tbh it killed my replay with how much I was bored going to anywhere with it. System just feels so limitic that I feel like either I'm doing a quicktime even or fight the to do something. And I'm sorry but it wasn't simply just time when I think about it because at the very least we could still had the jump button? It's so frustrating to be not able to jump resulting me to just press rope launcher button again again and again. After a point I gave up on any kinda parkour because do I really need to push myself? All I need is pushing one button and it's done. It "works" but working does not mean fun. Edit: Honestly ny opinions start to shift a bit as I just looked at London lol. Like you can actually look at the city without npc's just regenarate like a time lord eaxh second.

[@Arcanelake98]

I absolutely love Syndicate. After the Ezio trilogy, it’s my favorite. Jacob having a personality was a huge selling point for me since the last protagonist that had a personality was Edward. I love the weapon choices in Syndicate and the awesome cinematic assassinations.

[@chrismoore5333]

Jacob is one of my favourite protagonists and so underrated. He deserves his own standalone story set after the ripper story, and focusing on a more mature Jacob. Possibly set in late 1800s paris, or still in London but dealing with the hermetic order of the golden dawn.

[@SomasAcademy]

@@chrismoore5333 I wouldn't want the games to revisit Victorian London again (even after a few decades it wouldn't be different enough from Syndicate's map to feel new), but I really like the idea of some spinoff material or a game in a new area focusing on Jacob and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. If you've ever delved into the material from the old AC Facebook game Project Legacy, there was a lot of lore surrounding the Hermeticists and other kind of occult and esoteric stuff, and I really enjoyed that side of the AC universe.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@SomasAcademy I know about the order of thr golden dawn, and it is a great fit for Jacob. I have also previously suggested that Jacob's sequal story take place in 1889-1899 Paris. The political struggle of the time was based on workers revolts, only this time the workers took it to far and bombed innocent people. So it would be a great conflict to test Jacob and his views on the world. The setting itself suits Jacob, perhaps even more than victorian london did, and we would have historical figures such as Van Gogh. The map would be easy for ubisoft to make, as it just needs to use assets already made for syndicate and unity. It could be an update to syndicate, or perhaps like a crossover with unity? Something of that sort maybe. I think it's necessary to create a proper sequal dtoty for Jacob, as his fans have been pretty poorly treated over the years. From not featuring Jacob in the ripper dlc, to evie and not Jacob, being available as a ally in Odyssey, despite having both bayek and aya as allies in the same game... Ubisoft treat Jacob with a harsh and unfair double standard that holds him back. Many fans do the same. So Jacob's fans are really poorly treated in general, and deserve a proper storyline with new content dedicated to just Jacob and his story.

[@SomasAcademy]

@@chrismoore5333 At this point Syndicate and Unity are probably too old for Ubisoft to want to reuse a lot of assets from them, and definitely too old for any new expansions to be released, so they'd probably be making it mostly from scratch. Unfortunately, though, I don't think Ubisoft has any intention of revisiting old protagonists in new games, so the greatest hope for a follow up for Jacob would be something like a DLC (like how Aveline got a DLC for AC4), or spinoff material like a novel, comic/manga (like the ones about Edward and Shao Jun), or table top/trading card games (which have introduced or fleshed out lore before, including about old characters).

[@chrismoore5333]

@@SomasAcademy this is very true, however if they re-release unity and syndicate in a collection with all their dlc and some new features, sort of like thr AC3 remaster, we could see new Jacob story content in that? But I know ubisoft won't do that. They are far to obsessed with kassandra these days, unfortunately...

[@supergamerd64]

I bought ac syndicate deluxe edition a few months ago when it was on sale. Although it's not my favorite in the series, I still absolutely love this game, Victorian London is one of my favorite settings and one of the most immersive. I don't mind the less serious story and jacob is one of my favorite assassins. And I think it has some of the best stealth in the entire series despite the lack of almost any social stealth.

[@HYDRARMOR]

What a great new year gift from you! Big thanks brother and happy holidays!

[@HoodedShadowBrand]

I’ve enjoyed watching your videos about Assassin’s Creed this year. Each video is very well done and thought out and I tend to agree with just about every sentiment or opinion you have on each game. Looking forward to more next year, and have a great holiday

[@malcolmcooke7131]

Always click on your videos as soon as I see them! Only really have a passing interest in AC nowadays but your videos are always well and thoughtfully written and I love to get your take on things.

[@sosaysjay]

That means a lot, thank you

[@gorditacrunch5168]

So glad I found this channel. Funnily enough I starting watching from your first video and it’s crazy how consistently good your content has been since!

[@sosaysjay]

That is very kind of you to say, thank you

[@mgiebus1869]

Heck yeah dude. Favorite in the series for me. Such a well crafted world, full of movement and life

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I want to go back to it and earn the platinum trophy for the game, since I got it for both Valhalla and Mirage

[@Choubok4]

you said pretty much all i think about this game, and i love to see your channel growing as it does, love

[@evilFlipman]

Neat and dope vid. My favorite part about this franchise is comparing and contrasting which games nail and fail at different types of gameplays this series offers. No game is perfect (besides ac1) but each will excel in something different. There is no other series where I will memorize a set of animations and compare it to the direct sequel and geek and gawk at the slight differences.

[@sosaysjay]

Thanks for watching!

[@benjamindittmann7431]

I like Syndicate a lot. For me, Victorian London is one of the best settings AC ever ventured into. Then again, I very much love the literature of that era and detective novels like Sherlock Holmes. The only gripes I had with Syndicate were Jacob - he was just insufferable and I would have enjoyed having more time with Evie - and the grindy Conquer-System. Nonetheless, it's still one of the better AC games I'd probably play again. Congratz on your first yt-year. I do enjoy your content and I think that your videos are well-written and high quality. Keep up the good work and merry christmas to you.

[@krotonval]

Great and wonderful analysis... Happy new year and see you with the next AC videos man !

[@sosaysjay]

Thank you, happy new year

[@oscarjenkins7505]

Wow. What an amazing video. I agree with almost every point made, and it was all explained perfectly. I was expecting to see millions of subscribers after I finished watching, the production is great. Syndicate is my favourite AC game so far (I’ve played up to Origins, which I’m half way through). I love many things about it, but especially just how fun it is to play. The characters are some of the best in the series for me, as I like the more sarcastic tone. Starrick is my favourite antagonist of the series so far, too. Sure, he lacks depth, but the voice actor did an unbelievable job. By far the most intimidating AC villain for me. Add to this the crazy number of historical figures that you get to meet, which is always fun. I also love the stealth. The best in the series by a mile imo. It’s so smooth and easy to control. I also enjoyed the fast-paced combat. It’s not great, but AC combat is never great, so I didn’t mind. Plus, I suck at combat, so I didn’t find it boring lmao. The parkour sucked for me. The gaps between the buildings and the toned down animations from Unity made it boring and quite difficult. You’re the first person that I’ve heard actually give a reason for why they changed it from Unity’s system, which I can now understand. I still preferred Unity’s by a long way, tho, and I think a lot of people would’ve liked them to keep Unity’s parkour system, even if they didn’t improve on it. Maybe I’m wrong, but I know a lot of people do miss it, me included. That’s the only real negative that I can give this game, tho. I really enjoyed everything else.

[@thegamingrex7753]

I got this game for free with the recent giveaway and it is my 2nd ac game (ac 2 being the 1st) and I love the game for what it is, it´s not the prime and serious ac game that most might want but it was so charming and enjoyable to me that I fail to understand the hate for syndicate. It´s complete with content however repetitive, it has amazing stealth, a wonderful setting and just makes you happy playing it above all. It doesn´t try to take itself seriously and thus it succeeds in being fun. It ´s such a hidden gem. I appreciate this review for acknowledging such a game and for the consistent quality, keep up the great work man ❤

[@FutureExitsMedia]

This was my first time playing an AC game. I'd just come back to gaming after an almost 20 year hiatus from it in 2017 and Syndicate was one of Xbox gold free games. It honestly blew me away; the gameplay, world and graphics were so impressive, and I loved the characters, and still do - Evie is in my top AC protagonists. I've played through it a few times and it always gives me such a vibe and a feeling of rediscovering games after so long away. Before this the last game I remembered playing properly was Ocarina of Time in 98! Got an Xbox in 2017 and played this, GTA V, and Skyrim in quick succession - quite the contrast from the N64 days!

[@chrismoore5333]

I am curious. I really dislike evie, so I want to know why is it you and many people say they love her so much? I can't imagine there's much to her to love? Maybe I'm missing something?

[@FutureExitsMedia]

​​​​@@chrismoore5333she's smart, capable, an absolute badass in combat, and there's a real sincerity to her character and her drive for knowledge of the Isu and their artifacts - her sense of wonder and discovery and thirst for knowledge is infectious. All of which is a nice contrast to Jacob's cynical snark about the whole thing. As an Assassin Evie is a believer and she's also got the skills and smarts to get shit done. She's just cool, man. But with all that said, if you can't even imagine why anyone likes her then I can't imagine anything I say will convince you otherwise.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@FutureExitsMedia well I can see that she does have a love for the ISU, but I don't think she is very nice, as you say. She would've allowed Robert topping to die in her first level, and only saved him because she learned he could aid her. Even then, she left him tied up and surrounded by his enemies. She broke the creed almost right away. "Do not harm an innocent." Jacob does have his flaws, but he learns from them. And that's where I think evie failed. She doesn't learn. She even abandoned Jacob to fight the assassins and templars war in London, all alone, so she could live with Henry in India. And that's fine, but after all her complaining about Jacob's commitment in the main story!? God, it's hypocritical. Jacob is a character who has to wrestle between being an honourable assassin and a ruthless gang leader. He grows so much through that inner conflict and he has to contend with being a bisexual man in a time where that wasn't considered ok or even spoken about. I think I love Jacob's character because he is so complex, even though bis personality isn't that complex. Where as, evie likes complex things, but she is so simple. I used to just be ok with evie. But the more time passed and the more Jacob was misrepresented and misunderstood all to benefit evie's reputation, I've grown to realise I dislike evie a fair amount. And given that Henry is the guy who gives Jacob his targets and basic plans, it isn't right that evie always blames Jacob for things. Especially when you think evie destroyed a chunk out of Croydon, lost the shroud key twice, struggled to defeat one templar over the entire story, and nearly got shot in the final level almost straight away. Anyway, I actually wish both twins had their own separate storylines set after the main story. I hate the ripper dlc as it ruins Jacob's story and spits on all his accomplishments just to make a story out of nothing for evie. What we should've gotten is a story for Jacob set in late 1800s london, surrounding the real life cult, the hermetic order of the golden dawn, and include the ripper as a side plot. That or give Jacob a story in late 1800s paris and show the birth of modern terror, with the workers revolts and of course Vincent Van Gogh. Evie should've had 1870s India, with the revolutions that took place in that time. The twins suffer as characters all the time, because of the other twin. It's ridiculous. I guess as well, I know that the original plan for Syndicate only featured Jacob, and evie was a none playable mentor character for most the story. (Leaked development info, images and artworks, you can find online.) Because of this, I dislike evie more as her being added actually changed the story for the worse and was a similar point to when the tone changed in development. Finally the "inclusive gaming" point that upsets me. Syndicate was written by a gay man, and Jacob was supposed to be bisexual right from the beginning of his creation. He still is the first and only canon gay/bisexual man as a main protagonist, but he is forced to share with the second and one of many canon female protagonists!? It's such a double standard and a kick in the teeth for me as a gay man who loves assassin's creed. Evie is a symptom of ubisoft saying they value other people more than fans like me, essentially. So there is a lot that goes into my feelings of distaste for evie, both in the real world and in the assassins creed world. Anyway, thank you for explaining your own thinking. I understand some of it, at least.

[@FutureExitsMedia]

​@@chrismoore5333 thanks for the comprehensive reply. Given all that, I can definitely see why you're not a fan of Evie, and you've definitely given me some food for thought, though I still have a soft spot for her. Secondly, and most importantly, I had no idea that Jacob is bisexual - your comment is the first time I've heard this info, so thank you for bringing it to my attention. I definitely got some vibes from his interactions with Roth - that kiss! But I never put 2 and 2 together. I'm bi myself, and this completely changes my view on him as a character. I've always liked him but this makes him even more compelling, and I wish it was something that was explored more in the game, but I guess for obvious reasons it wasn't at the forefront of his characterisation - hard to sell games to straight white dudes who will kick off if there's even a hint of lgbtq themes. The recent furore over a gay character in Spider-Man 2 is a sad indication of how far we still have to go. Cos there are no gay people in New York, right? Those ignorant cretins should see that city during Pride; it's absolutely wild, I loved it. I suppose Ubisoft being run by old rich white dudes doesn't help matters too much either, so it's no surprise Jacob's sexuality was buried so much.

[@chrismoore5333]

@@FutureExitsMedia I'm a gay man from South London. Croydon specifically. So I entirely get what you mean there! Similar homophobia exists in England to America. That said my boyfriend actually owned a property in New York, and I hear a lot about the city through him. So it's nice to meet someone with some common ground on here! Anyway, yeah, Jacob and his story were written by a gay man, who was also the same gay man who wrote assassin's creed brotherhood! Evie actually had a different lead writer for her story. Some of Jacob's early black and white concept art clearly show him in a more stereotypically bisexual or gay guy look and stance, so it was probably the plan from the get go on this project. Jacob actually has many moments relating subtlety to his sexuality. He is warm to Ned, when no one else is. Jacob says and I quote "we will unite a group of disenfranchised outsiders under one banner." This relates to so many people, but also is something Jacob knows about as a bisexual man and a man who lived harshly on the streets for a time. Roth and Jacob discuss how "a man lime Starrick, builds a world around his own desires." So the pair don't think Starrick is evil, but rather that he is ignorant to others. Partly, evie's know it all attitude paired with her ignorance towards her brothers status as an oppressed bisexual man, is another frustration I have with her. And Jacob being the frist lgbtq protagonist, getting blamed for the ripper and then being locked up in a victorian asylum, feels so homophobic, even if it wasn't intended. Another reason I dislike the ripper dlc. Now on the bright side, we do have Jacob as a canon main protagonist. Even if he is extremely misunderstood and underrepresented. He is such an interesting and complex character underneath the fun and in your face exterior of his personality. Jacob let's go of his own personal fight for his own freedom as a bisexual man. Roth tells Jacob "soon you will know what it is to be free as I am" and Jacob declines, choosing to protect london and its people instead of furthering his own personal quest for liberation. This is somewhat shown in a symbolic way in the ending. Jacob who has now abandoned his own personal goals, stands alone. Just Jacob the assassin, because he lives in a world that won't allow him to love, or to freely express himself. Evie however, has Henry by her side. There is a moment of focus on that fact in the final cinimatic. Fortunately for Jacob, there is hope. He does have a granddaughter, so perhaps be falls in love with a woman after all, or even if he doesn't, (which is likely considering the frye family tree is shown in a modern day cinimatic if you look closely, and it show Jacob, evie, the twins parents, and Emmet frye, who is probably Jacob's son, but no wife.) Jacob could some day visit Paris which was a bit more relaxed for bisexual and gay people at that time in history. Anyway, you are right that straight audiences are far less likely to want to buy a game about a gay/bisexual man. This is so frustrating because those same straight buyers often talk about social progress in gaming. Regardless, I'm glad I asked about your views on these characters, because I think this has been a constructive conversation so far.

[@22slice]

I played AC: Brotherhood at my friend's house when I was like 8-10 and was enthralled and when I was older and got Black Flag, I was enamored. I absolutely loved AC4 on my Xbox 360, easily sinking hundreds of hours into it and when I was in my early teens on the Xbox One I got Syndicate and MGSV for my birthday. Syndicate, while not AC4 (which didn't work on my Xbox One because it hadn't been patched and wouldn't for a long time) filled the AC hole in my heart and I very much loved the game while not being obligated to compare it to Unity and the only other AC I played just so happened to share so much in common with it. Syndicate, despite its apparent mid-ness, will remain my second favorite AC game. Easily one of the most professional and realistic reviews I've watched in a long while, hope you had a Happy New Year!

[@MelyssaHawes]

i always say ac syndicate is not my favorite storyline but it's my favorite in terms of gameplay. i have so many fond memories with syndicate and the gameplay of it is always the most fun i have playing a game like it just feels so good to play and evie and jacob are such fun characters to me

[@unicorntomboy9736]

This will be an unpopular opinion in the AC community, but i think AC Syndicate is better than Unity in most regards. I have played both games, years ago now, and Unity was so unpolished, so unrefined and often felt unenjoyable a lot of the time, especially during stealth gameplay. Syndicate, on the other hand, felt like Unity should have been, if it wasn't rushed out of the door half-baked, and with less superfluous excess like a medieval prologue mission, and co-op multiplayer. Not to mention its nonsensically written narrative and unlikable characters. Unrelated, but a few years ago for a university project, i came up with the concept for an AC game set in 1920s Chicago during the probation era, centered around two protagonists, two rookie mafia gangsters - born and raised as members of the american mafia - who are childhood friends turned lovers (similar to the stories of Bonnie and Clyde). One of them was named Elsa Cormac (the focus character who is most prominent in the narrative), while the other was called Samuel Fei (both born in 1902) The narrative synopsis is similar to AC Unity, but much better in my opinion, with one eventually joining an assassins, while the other joins the templars

[@MelyssaHawes]

@@unicorntomboy9736 no i 100% agree !! i remember one of the most frustrating parts of unity to me too was the lack of a save button. i played for hours one day and logged on the next and all of my progress was gone :( i also loveee the historical aspect of ac like history's always been my favorite subject so the way syndicate is able to incorporate it as such a fascinating backdrop versus ac unity never touching on it and even having a story that makes no sense and the way elise was such an interesting character that they severely under-utilized makes me so sad for how the game could've been. and the parkour in ac unity and even the detection system has never worked for me :( that ac game sounds so interesting that would be so fun to play

[@unicorntomboy9736]

@@MelyssaHawes I even thought about incorporating Lydia Frye in the narrative, that the two protagonists (more so Elsa) meet early on In addition, Al Capone would be an ally to the protagonists and the american assassin brotherhood

[@tyranniccubone8259]

I definitely loved Syndicate just for how fun it was to play most of the time, the combat was really bad both in how it looked and how you couldn't feel the impact of your hits, but it had the best stealth in the entire series, probably the best black box assassinations, some surprisingly good villains even if they were dragged down by the unserious tone and the WW1 section was peak. I also really enjoyed the Jack the Ripper DLC to.

[@schattenbanane267]

First Ac game I ever played, I just had fun. Waiting for your return next year Jay

[@jwhittaker4852]

i would argue that the reason there is much less texture pop-in in syndicate is that there is very little texture TO pop-in

[@briantorres9791]

Your videos are great Jay. Keep it up pls

[@BlackHermit]

I also replayed it recently, as Ubisoft gave it for free, and I really enjoyed it. Such a cozy atmosphere, perfect for late autumn / early winter!

[@Argacyan]

I think one of my biggest points of issue with Syndicate is during the section about combat, exactly the fact that it does take turning somebody into Caesar Salad until they die. Having to hit an enemy so many times.

[@S.Gaston]

The wildest thing about the combat in Syndicate is it's absolutely the worst and least fun at the start of the game. Eventually, when you're level 6 or so the combat can become a lot of fun. But at level 1 it's such a boring slog.

[@Cyrus_T_Laserpunch]

This is a great video, I never played Unity so this helped me appreciate what Syndicate improved on, and gave me a better look at what it did wrong, worse, or just not too well. Syndicate is my favourite of the pre-Origins Assassins Creed games, and I appreciate the balanced review, one can love a game in spite of its flaws rather than try to ignore them.

[@hadiiskk]

The one thing I enjoyed a lot about Syndicate when it came out was actually the Jack The Ripper DLC. The idea of an assassin using fear and terror is antithetical to their whole philosophy on stealth, yet that contrast somehow aligns so much with how the original Assassins (Levantine Era) used to operate, killing their targets in broad daylight to inspire and spark rebellion during its time. It is such a callback to those old methods with its own dark twist and I was all about it.

[@Sohbek]

4 months late but grats on your first year, Jay. As someone who does a lot of analysis of the AC games I really really enjoy your input. I find we agree on *most* things with a couple of divergences that honestly surprise me. Unity is in the top half of my AC rankings despite its flaws and it surprised me how many issues you had with the story. It also surprised me the issues you took with combat in Syndicate. But you're always really well thought out and even where we might disagree on the conclusion, i find myself granting and agreeing with the points that lead you to that conclusion, even if we might conclude differently. Your channel has me wanting to make a channel of my own for various games, AC series being a big part of it. Also Watch Dogs and Red Dead. Open world games in general I think. Anyway, big congrats! Glad you've been so popular, cause I think your videos are excellent!

[@sosaysjay]

I really appreciate that, and I’m glad you can watch the videos even when you don’t agree on everything. I find making videos fun, and if you could too then I think it could be great to start yourself a channel and talk about that stuff!

[@elganzandere]

Gave up on series before this release. Is it worth it, now - & does it support 32:9?

[@h3nder]

After playing the first few games (1, 2 and 3) as a kid this was my first game that I got back into, and honestly I enjoyed it.

[@MiniUchiha]

I found it the parkour so incredibly dumbed down and boring that i couldn't even finish the game :( The way the rope launcher just destroyed parkour along with the removal of so many parkour elements from unity really killed the game for me.

[@sykora9526]

AC Syndicate is one of my favorite AC games and it feels like the most complete game to me. It has the best parkour in the series, with AC: Unity's style of parkour up/down but without a lot of the jank. It has the best stealth and most complete stealth in a series where it's hard to even label some of them as stealth games. Jacob and Evie are fun characters. The combat, while not nearly as flashy or as fun as other entries in the series, is at the very least responsive and feels fair. And I like how the weapons you use aren't gigantic swords or axes, they're street weapons that make sense for the setting. My only real complaints with Syndicate is that the mutli-kill system with the combat basically doesn't work at all (which is a shame cus the multikill animations are really cool but they almost never happen organically and trying to force them to happen is still super difficult). The HP sponge approach to difficulty/progression is a little lame. No transmog system, so you have to choose between aesthetics and stats, but at least most of the equipment in the game actually looks good in comparison to all the hot garbage in AC Unity. And the writing/voice acting of side content in the game can be atrocious at times. I don't have a problem with Syndicate's lighter tone, I thought it was a refreshing change of pace, but some of the side content was silly to the point of being annoying. Like the hypnotist that hypnotises you into doing crimes, the gag is funny, but his voice acting is so terrible that I can't play that mission on repeat playthroughs because the voice is so cringe lol. Overall a great and complete game, with some minor issues here and there but definitely deserved more credit than it got.

[@diegeticfridge9167]

This was the first one I was ever allowed to play. Got me into the series. Loved Jacob and Evie, never forgot about them after playing all the other games.

[@aaronmiller1009]

Your channel has reintroduced me to assassin’s creed in such an interesting way, I wasn’t allowed to play them as a kid but I was always fascinated by them, and you looking at them through an honest and critical lens while still being genuinely passionate about them has helped me get past the current somewhat negative reputation of the series. I played black flag for the first time recently because of you and absolutely loved it, thanks for making twelve year old me happy

[@k1w1_yes]

I remember that I purchased Syndicate a few months after its release on PS4. I unfortunately never actually finished it, mostly because at that time, I was tired of the usual AC formula. But this year, I gave it another try, this time, finishing it and getting 100% on it too. I must say, I don't regret it at all. I loved the game and also enjoyed the main protagonists, although I preferred Jacob over Evie, mostly because he was more lighthearted, which was a nice change from the usual, rather serious AC protagonists.

[@maddenboseroy4074]

Either you need to review all of the Assassin's Creed games or have a ranking video of them, with focus on adherence to the original vision, your own personal biases, and the most historical accuracy; I essentially want a recommended list.

[@Macapta]

Same, I never say it's the best but i just like it. It's solid and had some nice additions to the formula while still being in the same style as the previous entries. Also being English probably helps, don't get too many big budget games set here.

[@unicorntomboy9736]

The British accents in this game actually feel appropriate, unlike in Unity, which used them on supposedly french characters, which baffles me to this very day

[@TheArisenLegacy]

I got this game when it launched and never finished it and when I replayed it 2 years ago I enjoyed it way more and also felt like it was underrated.

[@yerainavarretea.393]

Great video, I was waiting for you to cover Syndicate, just one request, can you write down the pieces of music you used at the start of each chapter? Please

[@sosaysjay]

Yes, I just put them in the description in order of where they appear in the video

[@yerainavarretea.393]

Thank you!! :D​@@sosaysjay

[@HEKVT]

It was fine, I liked some missions, the theme and setting surprisingly worked well enough and the music was great. Sure the story could be better in places but overall it's enjoyable, I especially liked clearing the boroughs and using different playstyles for Evie and Jacob where for infiltrating the outposts I'd go stealth but for the child labour I'd go as Jacob and use max level Rooks to open with a devastating volley.

[@kemby9037]

I have grown to love this channel after binging most of the AC videos ; Jay, keep it up, man! It's so refreshing to see this format (honest, JUSTIFIED arguments in video essay form) becoming more popular, and you do it very well. Each one of your points is not only backed up, but also perfectly respectable even if one disagrees. I don't watch jay's two cents, but I far prefer your ten cents on these subjects over anyone else's, lol.

[@sosaysjay]

That means a lot, thank you

[@kemby9037]

Of course, man. Excited to see what the future holds for the channel! An interesting topic to research could be, especially in the same light as your other video on what makes a "Real" AC game, the importance of the left ring finger's removal pre-Altaïr - this mark of commitment being lost to future generations could be a background/unstated cause (read: retcon) as to why the Brotherhood has such little importance to protagonists after AC1; To an aspiring Assassin after Altaïr stops that initiation ritual, there's no physical pledge, no drastic mark, just 3 pretty flexible rules and silly hoods. Oh, and murder, but most of them do that anyway. . .

[@dreamergirl4vr]

Really awesome video, you really articulated why it's one of my faves in the series. Another small thing - syndicate came out during the height of gamergate...when the gaming world online was unbelievably toxic to anyone not cis het male. I remember at the time, with the diverse cast of characters and narrative, this game felt like an olive branch, showing me as a woman in the space that i am still seen and welcome, so for that aspect it always leaves me feeling warm inside and will always have a special place in my library for me. Then again, as you said, the female presence in this game was so largely policed and reduced due to executive meddling...but the bar was in hell during gamergate lol, Evie felt like peak rep for Assassins Creed at the time. Thanks for posting, really enjoyed this!

[@ezekielcoronado700]

I think my favorite thing about syndicate is how free it felt, with stealth I felt like I could do just about anything

[@greatthodric2936]

Syndicate is probably my favorite AC game. There’s really only two things I dislike about it and that’s Jacobs “humor” and the rope launcher. And I can honestly say that if you just unbind the rope launcher and forget about it, it becomes a much better game. It’s the one AC game I also come back to a lot because of the setting, the mechanics, and the length. In love to just liberate the burrows with Evie. Kidnapping, assassinations, gang hideout, are all just fantastic fun every time.

[@etney9076]

U should do a video on ac odyssey, I am really intrigued on ur opinion of the game

[@mikhaelgribkov4117]

Thinking about it, combine city gang mechanic from this game and information control in Watchdogs 2, there's a potential for definitive social stealth game, but the issue is that Ubisoft either too safe or too bold to see the true potential of the systems. Which is sad, considering Watchdogs 2 had some really dope ideas on display.

[@JamesSmith-ny2gb]

When people say unity is a great game but hate syndicate I just don’t get it. Syndicate isn’t the best game in the series in a long run but it’s a much more well rounded and stable game out the 2

[@MaydayAggro]

I hated Syndicate the first time I played it after launch. When I decided to go back and play the games in order, I LOVED it. It might be my favorite.

[@enzoapacible1083]

Finally some love for Syndicate! It’s one of my favorites! I never understood the Frye twins hate, I found their dynamic charming.

[@georgeetboom7719]

Syndicate is one of my favourite. Had so much fun in the open world. Loved the stealth!!!! Plus I’m from London is was cool running around familiar places

[@TheRealOzWookiee]

Just finished Unity and just purchased Syndicated. Keep making these great essays!

[@TheRealOzWookiee]

OK just played through to meeting Mr Green and already it's a better game than Unity.

[@mrmadmatt3533]

I remember playing unity on launch, and was so frustrated by the poor performance and boring plot and characters that I swore off the series. Then I played syndicate and remembered what a good game with fun characters that was within its scope. I’d rather have a game that functions and has a fun gameplay loop and plot than an overly ambitious project that fails

[@unicorntomboy9736]

I think it's soundtrack is fantastic too, better than Unitys in my opinion

[@unicorntomboy9736]

Also I think that the murder mysteries side content from Unity would have been far more suited to this game and its setting than Unity, so it's baffling why they were not carried over to Syndicate.

[@LadyRaeona]

I never played this one but you really made it sound interesting. It's a shame they didn't fully commit to dickensian london with all the social complexities therein because it's an honestly a great concept.

[@dangerousjGD]

Hey man you’re a talented script writer. I hope you get more success

[@sosaysjay]

That means a lot, thank you

[@screwkingsisle6459]

I have always loved this series as an idea but never played it. Valhalla was my first AC I played. Because of channels like this I am now playing through all of the games in order and can not wait to get to Unity and Syndicate.

[@pekar43]

Certainly the most underrated game in the Assassins' Creed franchise. The graphics are not modest, and the game mechanics are enjoyable and imaginative. The setting was portrayed brilliantly and I love this game to bits...

[@Littlebigun99]

For me, Jacob as a character and the traversal system were too much and I couldn’t enjoy the game. I found myself frustrated by being forced to play as a character I found genuinely unlikeable for most of the game when Evie should have been an option, and movement is so much of an AC game for me, so to not enjoy it was to not enjoy a huge portion of the overall experience. However, I do recognise a lot of your points regarding good stealth/black boxes. I never finished Syndicate (only AC game I have owned but not finished) but, even all these years later, I still vividly remember the asylum mission and how much I enjoyed it.

[@steeleofman9483]

Honestly I think syndicate is my third favourite ac game

[@louislam369]

Jumping back into it now. Feels great when playing with a modern pc. Can't believe I played this game in 30fps.

[@FirestormMk3]

As someone who played from the beginning, early enough to experience the Animus surprise of AC 1 first had (from reading the manual, and actual physical manual, before I even put the disc in no less) and has statues from 2, 3, Unity, Syndicate, and Odyssey, Syndicate is my absolute favorite outside of the original trilogy, and it was in many, many ways way more fun to play than 3. I only don't jump to rate Syndicate even higher because I'm still a sucker for when both the genetic memory and present day meta narrative were still both compelling.

[@TrevortheTrainFan]

I couldn’t agree with you more! In fact, this was my very first Assassin’s Creed game; and the biggest reason I bought this was that you can ride the trains 🚂 all around London! After all, I am a huge train fanatic!!!

[@blakebilling2249]

Great vid!

[@dergroebiertrinkendebar562]

For me, unity and syndicate are the top games out of the series. But they fulfill very different purposes. While Syndicate is a game in which i can sit back and enjoy an immersive, charming beautiful London and a at times Whimsical Storyline with incredibly dark sections, Unity feels gritty to me, like a chaotic city gripped by the turmoil of revolution. Though i must admit i haven't played unitys story in a few years, i play coop with my brother basically once a week, getting familiar with its quirks and bugs, learning to skirt past them and getting frustrated when one catches me anyway is so enjoyable. Often times we still notice animations or mechanics we hadn't found in the hundreds of playhours. I feel unity oozes with potential it sadly will never fulfill, it shows love and hope from developers that weren't given enough time to complete their ambition or were simply dreaming beyond their times.

[@Mahadi_190]

In ac syndicate how to complete the last mission now after the update

[@memoxxi]

I liked Syndicate. It was one of the first few AC game I played, right after the Ezio trilogy. I got it when Epic Games gave it away and the graphics was great (probably bc I primarily played older games). I liked a lot of things it did. I feel like fixing the grappling hooks and the toned down parkour would make the game better tho if you compares it with Ezio parkour then ofc it's a big step up.

[@S.Gaston]

I've been playing through the entire AC series for the first time, after falling in love with Origins when I finally picked it up a year ago. I'm nearly done with Syndicate and there's a lot that frustrates me, but a lot I really enjoy. I'm a big Main Quest Avoider (I'll get there eventually), so Syndicate's London was really great for me. I'm almost done with Jack the Ripper, and I like parts of it but honestly I'd have loved another 5 hours of Lydia Frye much more.

[@dxjjw]

Always nice to see Syndicate appreciation

[@ricardocontreras5155]

So when are you gonna do a ranking of all the assassin's creed games youve played? would love to see thatt

[@sosaysjay]

Personally I’d like to make more individual videos going over the games in depth first, which could take a while

[@ricardocontreras5155]

@@sosaysjay okay, do your thing man, I love your videos and as long as you are making videos like these with this amount of care and passion it's all that matters and I'll stay watching. No point in pumping out ranking videos for the algo if you hate it

[@francisnowak11]

I think Black box missions are incredible in this game, I only wish that we had to discover the alternate opportunities with eagle vision or listening to npcs.

[@Genyuine]

I remember picking up syndicate thinking it was unity(i was 14 and just saw cool moves, and didnt do research)i still enjoyed syndicate and despite what people say, i never experienced a single bug. I wouldve preferred the darker tones of what syndicate was originally gonna be (ac victory), but i dtill enjoyed it for what it was. The buildings sre nice and the rooftops are dtill okay to treveese(even if alot of it is the same valuable obstacle copy pasted),either way the game holds a special place in my heart, i still come back to it from time to time

[@jordannewitt]

I did enjoy this one. Like all Assassins Creed (Ubisoft in general) games, it really felt like they needed more time to really iron things out and develop their ideas. Still in the top half of the ranking for me. I like Evie and Jacob and the black box missions were great.

I do think Syndicate is more fun to play than Unity. I actually appreciate how it's trying to be a way smaller game. But at the end of the day I don't have much fun playing it. The open world feels almost devoided of content, what is there is incredibly repetitive and doesn't generally adds of affects the world at all. People shit on AC1 for being repetitive but hell, at least there the repetitive activities were second to key or unique information that would inform your approach to the assassination mission. And I know I'm kinda right because otherwise the devs wouldn't have made conquering three districts mandatory to access sequences 8. Also the traversing system is the whole reason I got into this franchise and it sucks when they mess that up. The grappling hook works way to well (better than Gotham Knights) but that's kinda the problem for me. Navigating through the city is kinda mindless and not too fun. And lastly I wish the narrative was way more focused on what it wants to be. Because it has a light tone overall, but at times I don't know if this is supposed to be a street gang Peaky Blinders/Gangs of New York type story, a spooky victorian mistery or a social comentary "Downton Abbey but fun" type story. I feel like it's trying to reach to all of this subjects and it doesn't really explores any of them.

[@zbeatza9910]

The combat in 2 was really good, no counter kill, you had a larger variety to approach combat, fist, hidden blade, sword, knife, grab -headbut/kick/punch, throwing dust, disarming and using any weapon from the enemy, two types of dodging. As for syndicate i was counting how many hits i need to kill 1 guy, it was very similar to batman arkham but way worse in animations and flow, the animations were so fast that it looked like fights from charlie chaplin movies.

[@cerulliman99]

Syndicate was very enjoyable, my favorite of the series is AC2 but Syndicates story was very enriching and felt very unique with the way the assassinations worked

[@Kevin-tl1zs]

I feel very lucky. I love Syndicate as much as I love any Assassin's creed. And my worst AC game is unity (excluding RPGs). Syndicate was a very good AC game. I gave a solid 20-25 hours and found it a very good AC game. Don't know why it gets so much hate

[@harristhesecondcomin]

My favorite things about Syndicate are the underground fights and the gang wars

[@francisnowak11]

I think the invisibility perk was a mistake. I think they gave Jacob the black box missions due to this, as well as Evie being the only character in Jack the Ripper DLC

[@solosick4172]

I've been playing unity on my PS5 for the first time and I've only came across one glitch and that was just a dead enemy shaking but other than that's it's been perfect

[@leeroynaggins]

I played my first ever AC game last year. I bought the Odyssey- AC III bundle and just got lost in Odyssey. I hadn’t played video games in years and had just gotten an Xbox to play the Arkham series which I really enjoyed. I was very disappointed with Gotham Knights and saw some videos comparing it to AC games which I had never heard of. I got intrigued by the historical aspect of these games and really wanted to play the American Revolution one which I finally got around to after completing both Odyssey and Valhalla and playing a good bit of Origins. I found the older AC III very clunky and frustrating compared to the rpg titles but I finished the story and some of the side content. It was okay, but now I’m on to Black Flag which is much better. I feel like I’m inside a Pirates of the Caribbean film with Indiana Jones sprinkled on top. It’s really great. I also have Unity and Syndicate installed and waiting in the wings, and I’m looking forward to them. This very well done video has me looking forward to Syndicate as the kind of wrap up of this AC experience. It built up and tempered my expectations without spoilers. I think out of all these games, I might be looking forward to that game the most because of the Victorian era setting and costumes. So glad I got into these games. They really fit the experience I was looking for of walking around in these historical settings not exactly as they were but as they are in our literature and fantasy…

[@kitkat4892]

LETS GOOOOO only started playing this recently and its such a joy

[@caesarbarwary8620]

I enjoyed syndicate a lot, the murder mysteries were also a nice addition. it is crazy i got a used ps4 disc for it and there was the dlc code inside it unused 😂

[@SuperBallani]

I totally agree that the stealth and the main black box missions are some of the absolute best in the serie, truely what makes this game shines.

[@adonisvillain]

ULTRA BASED. My favorite ac right after brotherhood. 🎩🇬🇧Certified brutish accent , Temza rubber parkour, polished gameplay. Soundtrack just perfect. Love 😘

[@Xpzilla]

Unity fanboy here, loved this vid and channel in general