"Modern Parkour Optimist" Reflects on Assassin's Creed Mirage: One Year Later

[@TheSpaniardAssassin]

Phenomenal video. Also the guy who spoke about the story had some decent points

[@Ropotopolous]

@@TheSpaniardAssassin Was that you? Or the other guy?

[@LeoKRogue]

I was looking forward to this one.

[@Ropotopolous]

@@LeoKRogue hope it doesn't disappoint. I want a Leo K review of my Mirage review. Oh yeah, I also mention your name once in this video. Now you have to watch the whole thing to find it >:)

[@DirtCobaine]

I’ll admit that I liked Mirage far more than I ever thought I would. I’m a fan and have been a fan since the beginning of the assassins creed games. Unlike other fans I liked the last 3 a lot. Not without criticism but I like the new things they tried. I like choice for me that’s the most important part of a game. So I loved all the new freedom the new games offered. All the countless weapons, all the really cool armor or clothing and how you can mix and match. I like valhallas character customization. Hair/facial hair and tattoos. Even dialogue choices. I know they are usually an illusion of choice but I rather have that illusion than not at all. So when I saw that Mirage was just to please those Nostlagia trippers I thought I was going to hate it because there is nothing worse than nostalgia addicts in my mind. Why? Because what they remember is far from the truth. They create something in their head that never existed in the first place. So I predicted that Ubisoft trying to appease to those people will fail. Like anyone else who’s ever tried to sell nostalgia. It’s a novelty and no more. Thankfully Mirage isn’t that. At least beyond the surface. There is less choice, less rpg elements sure but there was just enough to keep me engaged. But one thing I didn’t anticipate really liking is the big urban area. And the parkour that comes with it. I forgot how fun it was to navigate a concrete jungle through parkour. I spent a lot of time just doing that:

[@BenchandBaleStealth12]

Love this video! Awesome hearing 2 pros share some praise for a game thats really fun and I put way too much time into with no regret lol.

[@chrisc9487]

You're a true gem in the world of AC Parkour and Stealth, a great addition to other awesome AC streamers. Don't stop, Keep moving. This review is very grounded and honest. Mirage is definitely in my top 5 as well, I can see and acknowledge the drawbacks but understand it was such an amazing accomplishment from a studio with the very minimum to work with seeing as it was originally meant to be a DLC of Valhalla, and yet we got a work of passion and love dedicated to the original experience. Bordeaux is probably my favorite Ubi studio because of this game.

[@Ropotopolous]

@chrisc9487 thank you for the kind words my friend. I appreciate that

[@kinography9085]

Hey Ropotopolous, just got around to watching this, finally. Excellent video with a lot of really strong points in general. I appreciate you taking the time to discuss social stealth and for crediting me. Also, I relate to the Jcers stuff, his channel was a big impetus for me starting my own channel and messing around with stealth in these games

[@Ropotopolous]

@kinography9085 thanks Kino! And thank you for pointing out the differences in crowd blending in classic games vs mirage. I think the ability to use it offensively is a great quick explanation of how much less effective it is now.

[@Ropotopolous]

@kinography9085 sorry for making you sit through 40 minutes of mirage yip yap 😪

[@Ligmaballin]

The most people that disliked the game were your regular joes that weren't good in stealth or parkour in the first place, a lot of people wanted an entirely different thing and didn't accept what the game was trying to be. Some people expected it to be Valhalla 2.0 and some people expected it to be Unity 2.0 when in reality it's kinda it's own thing. Basim is a thief in his early 20's turned into a Assassin, he's not supposed to fight 10 enemies like Connor at once as many fans wanted, but i think it's a good thing. It's more rewarding to be slow and tactical than trying to take the whole outpost brute force. The game was originally made as a Valhalla DLC with the same animations and assets so i give credit where it's due, the devs made the best they could with what they had.

[@Ropotopolous]

I think the majority of people who disliked the game are the ones who miss mechanical depth.

[@Ligmaballin]

@@Ropotopolous Maybe, but the most popular reviews weren't from hardcore or old school AC fans. And each time i saw the gameplay footage in their reviews i was like "what are you doing, are you trying to be bad on purpose?" I'm no supporter of Ubisoft, but Ubi Bordeaux seems to get shit on for things they didn't control, and i fully believe their studio could save AC franchise and make it as great as it was, so I hope they don't take it in the wrong way and go back to the whole RPG thing entirely. If Ubi Quebec or montreal does it's thing with new RPG's and Bordeaux focuses more on the classic original AC then I don't mind.

[@Ropotopolous]

@@Ligmaballin yeah, that's the route I'm praying they take.

[@3pleFly]

Nice job man I admire your passion. I don't have much hope for this series which was the flagship for me and many others, I think Ubisoft chose long ago a profitable and less risky route for AC and thus we I don't believe we will receive what AC could really be.

[@Ropotopolous]

I'm holding onto hope

[@DamianMariani-c1r]

your becoming my favorite assasin's creed parkour yutuber. Great job on the video.

[@Ropotopolous]

You still got 36 minutes left to watch! And thank you.

[@DamianMariani-c1r]

@@Ropotopolous only need a min to convince me

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

i wish he did more classic parkour videos but clearly he prefers modern parkour much more. Then again, not liking Venice is Heresy by classic parkour standard

[@Ropotopolous]

@btchiaintkidding7837 this man is trolling

[@white6505]

feels like an important milestone for the ropotopolous show, a completing of a cycle, if you will

[@Ropotopolous]

@@white6505 full circle. One lap completed.

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

With each video we get a lil closer to the Ropotopolous apocalypse

[@mastergame1311]

Combating community hate by deeper appreciation of game's elements via well-choreographed montages is something I appreciate.

[@capsule2323]

"absolute cinema" - marty scorcese but seriously, its crazy how its been like a year since i started following your channel lmao, your videos have always been great and kept me entertained while discovering my love for this game as well

[@Kryonis1]

I mean, Mirage certainly isn’t my favourite instalment in the franchise, but I can appreciate the atmosphere, refreshened parkour(considering the Valhalla engine) and the stealth which is very tool reliant(not a bad thing).

[@Bax365]

I think I'm finally ready to play Mirage. Thnx 🙏

[@Ropotopolous]

@@Bax365 good luck

[@TruePhoque]

Awesome video. I watched that WhiteLight video earlier too and you guys both did a fantastic job. I might have to revisit Mirage later and see if my thoughts on the game have changed or not. Keep up the great work, love your content!

[@Ropotopolous]

@@TruePhoque hell yeah, thank you 😎

[@Ligmaballin]

Whitelight seems to have this love/hate relationship with AC, and i'm kinda on the same boat. Most recent AC game's aren't that good (mediocre writing and characters, inconsistent parkour and stealth, bloated maps, bugs and glitches, basically Ubisoft being ubisoft), but they still are fun when they shine.

[@TruePhoque]

@@Ligmaballin Aren't most of us in the same boat when it comes to AC? lol. I've been loving the series to the core since the first game and yet I'm extremely critical about it at the same time.

[@Prorock23Rus]

Great video, thanks. I bought the Mirage myself a few days ago after the release on Steam, already played almost 23 hours in a row without even really touching the storyline. Despite minor bugs from time to time, almost no visual impact when attacking in fights, unfortunately, the RPG feeling is still present in the movements and parkour - despite all this, it is played like Assassin's Creed. Three pillars of the series ("Fight, Navigation, Social Stealth" (c) "Designing Assassin's Creed 2" by Patrick Plourde on GDCVault (because youtube video on their channel become "unlisted", don't know why), but only Stealth mostly has shifted from Social to regular sadly) are present and function as they should. The entire gameplay cycle has acquired a familiar old heartbeat, despite the noticeable budget sores and an alien foundation, for which success I can only thank Ubisoft Bordeaux and Stéphane Boudon for the work they have done and hope for possible continuation on that path.

[@Ropotopolous]

Yep, seems like you're on the same page as me. The most reasonable conclusion to draw.

[@LeFilmMatrice101]

Hey Ropotopolous! Love your Passion for Mirage and AC Parkour. You wouldn't believe me but I was Coming up with you last year in the parkour space(my channels name was Assassin's Matrix but got taken down). I still intend to get back into it and will be making a "The World Of: Assassin's Creed Mirage" walking Tour to show just how Polished they made the game.....as well as A 1 Hour Parkour video showing you don't need Choreography in Mirage to have fun. Love U my AC Brother.❤️‍🔥💯🥶

[@Ropotopolous]

Dang, sorry about your channel man, that hurts 😔

[@memorexdrc]

I cannot get over how hilarious it is that the throwing knives spin the wrong direction

[@Ropotopolous]

Or are they spinning so fast they appear to be moving in the wrong direction 🤔

[@Snacks256]

Basim is just very talented.

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

20:18 i love the ass&ssin focus. it pleases my inner dishonored fanboi portion slow-mo kniv&ng couple guy mudair, drop k&ll&ng one , then finishing another with ledge k&ll in a single "blink" will never get old. it is just kinetically satisfying, to mix various instak&ll animation like drop kll, ledge kll or just being faster than your projectile. balance be dammed if i am having a blast doing cool sht. i love dis

[@xandercogan5521]

joined in 16 seconds love ur vids man

[@Ropotopolous]

Thank you my friend

[@xandercogan5521]

@@Ropotopolous np man ill watch it later when I got a bit more free time but can't wait for the shadows vids also we both missed mirages birthday

[@skadiawakening]

Just starting the video but really looking forward to it! Hope you're doing good buddy! 🙌🏼🙏🏻

[@cystol]

i have been blessed with answers for all the questions i had about this game noice 100

[@thehiddencryptid]

Well spoken Mr ropotopolous, well spoken. It was sick seeing Mr the Spaniard/mr altair stealth give his opinion on the story as well. What a lovely video, I love this show

[@Ropotopolous]

@@thehiddencryptid glad you liked it 😎

[@NightWatch652]

Hey, this is a great video! While it does have it's problems this game is really fun. I hope the delay is worth it for AC Shadows. I really want that game to be good, but we'll see. It's hard not to be skeptical sometimes.

[@Ropotopolous]

@NightWatch652 thank you! Yeah I think shadows will be... troubled but I am excited for it

[@Pixelgon404]

video essay from Dr Ropotopolous👌looking forward to listen later

[@Ropotopolous]

You better come back 🔫

[@UserNot_Known]

I love this show also i was the 200th like :)

[@Ropotopolous]

Thank you very much

[@megaevolution1161]

BROOOOOO cannot wait to strrap in , this boutta be FUN ASF!!! I love this game and video essays and IM BOUTTA EAT THIS SHI- UP!!!!!

[@Ropotopolous]

@@megaevolution1161 haha this one was made for you then.

[@Cod-w1s]

commenting for the algorithm, great vid

[@Ropotopolous]

Thank you friend!

[@tozkal96]

i agree with what you said in the end about the games needing to be built with a parkour system that has depth, but there is one thing in particular that needs to be done well in addition to a solid system with player freedom. being good at the parkour system needs to be incentivised like in the old games. for a comparison lets take mirage. it has some depth but it actively slows you down if you are utalising your skills, the fastest way is pretty much always run straight towards your goal. in the original games there where a natural incentive to utalise the skills you have to find the fastest way up a building or where ever you where going. going straight was always possible but also the slowest alternative, being good at pathinding and knowladgable of the games different systems rewarded you with getting to where you wanted to go faster. in some cases multiple times faster.

[@shira_yone]

I don't think I'll ever play Mirage, but watching peoples' opinions on it are always welcomed. Modded ACU has already filled most of what I look for from the series, the tools activation at any time (from jumps in particular) is especially a game changer, providing more or less the same stylish and seamless transition from parkour to stealth that you've pointed out as the biggest strength of Mirage. I've been tolerating unironically bad controls in Unity for years because the end result does (sometimes) looks marvelous, I don't think I can do the same with Mirage; it doesn't provide anything of value personally, and I'm not under any illusion that Ubi will make a game with engaging parkour again just because Mirage, potentially, does well (which is something some people seems to believe).

[@PLAYSTATIONUNIVERSE-sj4ij]

Literaly every ac game has better parkour thn unity cope 🥺🐑

[@shira_yone]

​@@PLAYSTATIONUNIVERSE-sj4ij bait used to be believable

[@Sirekofi]

I played it by changing the voice language to Arabic, and then the voices of Basim, Nehal, Roshan and others became very cool. So far I'm enjoying it, the AC game I've been looking forward to since Syndicate, since the last 3 were God of War not AC games. I don't understand why some fans like it less. Appreciation for Ubisoft Bordeaux. 8.5/10 from me for Mirage

[@The.medjay.shadow]

Man i really liked your video, i hope that my videos will become like yours in the futuro

[@Ropotopolous]

@The.medjay.shadow thank you, friend. You can do it, dude.

[@The.medjay.shadow]

​@@Ropotopolous thanks man, if you want to just say your opinion about my last parkour video i would be very happy i would really appreciate that

[@greyboundry]

Ah yes ropo popo strikes again! You literally have the same exact same point of view that i have had with this game. It's not perfect, but it understands that it isn't. It just trys to be the best that it can be and 90 percent of the time, it does that.

[@theburningphantom1]

How did I have no clue that Altair Stealth and the Spaniard were the same person

[@Ropotopolous]

@theburningphantom1 he had us all fooled. Tbf he did a pretty good job keeping it a secret for quite a while.

[@liquiddrone650]

Absolute legend

[@Ropotopolous]

@@liquiddrone650 yo drone! What's up buddy

[@liquiddrone650]

@@Ropotopolous you Made me think about getting back to stealth runs

[@Ropotopolous]

@@liquiddrone650 you should dude. Maybe we can figure out that thing we talked about 🤔

[@liquiddrone650]

@@Ropotopolous Im down, it needs a bit of thinking though. I’ll dm you at some point

[@woodearthdvd]

Was hoping you would make a video now that it is out on Steam. What is your build for basim? Weapons, outift and tools customization. Also what is your controller layout?

[@Ropotopolous]

@woodearthdvd oh man, for weapons and tools and all that I'd have to look and get back to you. I don't pay much attention to the outfit perks, but since the update that made it so you can apply any costume to any outfit I just use the initiate outfit. Makes you quieter I believe. My controller layout is default but tool wheel and sprint are swapped.

[@Snacks256]

Have you ever tried ghost stealth? I usually play stealth games that way and Peter Stratford/ Strat was the first channel I saw doing it for Assassin's Creed. TheMaudeth has been doing it for every game in the series no matter how painful (even Odyssey). I felt it's not very well-suited for Mirage, which seemingly wants you to kill lots of people in interesting ways rather than sneak past them. I never really thought much about the story, but Basim as a teenager was this wide-eyed little brat fixated on joining the Assassins only to end up deciding that the Assassins and the Creed didn't fill the void. Most other protagonists other than Altair and the Fryes had no idea the Assassins existed, and ended up joining them either because they needed them for some goal, they were trying to set their life straight, or both. I think it makes Basim's disillusionment a little more nuanced than somebody like Connor or Arno who never seemed particularly interested in the Creed, but as a character arc it's a little unsatisfying; he was basically tricked by a ghost, and Roshan's stubbornness while refusing to explain anything to him didn't help.

[@namerdwsry1300]

❤

[@Maclues]

Assassins Creed is like Call of Duty. They're all the same, but not really.

[@reality_is_sin]

I agree with everything, but man origins is great

[@flycosis]

unity defiantly still has the most fluid parkour the 45 degree spins and flare is genuinely better as well as being able to jump from a standstill

[@Ropotopolous]

@flycosis unity is...not the vibe

[@darkmaster450]

But why are the assassinations so slow? 🥺

[@wolwostv914]

I would love a Basim sequel

[@Ropotopolous]

Me too. Unfortunately they're in kind of a weird place because i don't want to see the rpg parkour mechanics return in a basim sequel, but it would be weird to see him with a whole new set of movement animations. And Bordeaux wants to move on from him and create a character of their own instead of having to work within the realm of a character who's storyline already had a conclusion

[@thebulletkin8393]

Mirage is such a strange game, cause I view it as the best game since Black Flag, it's public reception is just meh, but to those who have been with the franchise longer it feels like a decent take on 'back to roots', that I can thoroughly appreciate. With many flaws, but it's the first time in a long while where my interest for the franchise picked up after streaks of games I just didn't care about

[@chriscolombie4135]

To me assassins focus is more an animation problem than an ability problem, if the game conveyed more the speed aspect of the ability than just straight up teleportation, I wouldn’t mind, mirage for me gets good at the end once you get the tools and it’s also where the story really picks up, The combat is ass though

[@Ropotopolous]

@chriscolombie4135 yeah, that could help. But I think people would still dislike it for being unrealistic.

[@bwhitewhblack6905]

Can you play the new Parkour games and tell us how it compares to Assassin’s Creed?

[@Ropotopolous]

@@bwhitewhblack6905 which games are you talking about? Rooftops and alleways?

[@bwhitewhblack6905]

@@RopotopolousYesss and the Storror Parkour game

[@Ropotopolous]

@bwhitewhblack6905 storror? Never heard of that...

[@bwhitewhblack6905]

@@Ropotopolous Simply the best Parkour team and they are now developing a video game, they have more than 10M subscribers. Highly recommend

[@ashdonsimmons01]

I enjoyed the game a lot, felt like it leaned closer to the originals. I wish it was a full game though, it felt too short. (I hate the new AC’s)

[@coolspyder686]

I bought it then refunded it because it wasn't better than kunitsugami maybe if a heavy sale comes along I'll buy it again

[@coolspyder686]

Recently played AC 1 and that one is truly the most underrated title Everyone just talks about the ezio games or the worst one which is unity

[@AdamFreefall69]

I do want to like this game, I can see the criticism & inevitable shortcomings of this game & I agree that a lot of it isn't all the fault of the dev's & can be attributed too most of what's been highlighted in this video but I can't really give tis game a proper chance myself as I can't even get it to run consistently enough to actually enjoy the game. PC Master Race only applies when the PC port of a game is optimized to actually run consistently on that platform otherwise it become a game of RNG on weather your rig can run the game before you even get the chance to play it forcing you to have to bey an overpriced modern console to play it on. (& like hell I'm buying a whole console for just one game) Sadly that just doesn't help instil trust in this very rocky modern age of gaming.

[@Ropotopolous]

Yeah they need to get all that porting stuff sorted out huh

[@NuggetMan420alt]

Do you think Mirage has he best stealth?

[@Ropotopolous]

@NuggetMan420alt I'd say it probably has the best tool based traditional stealth. Not the best social stealth, for sure.

[@NuggetMan420alt]

@@Ropotopolous Overall

[@brightblackgrouse6236]

Boring story and setting imo. Pretty fun gameplay.

[@Ropotopolous]

@@brightblackgrouse6236 I absolutely love the setting myself.

[@brightblackgrouse6236]

@@Ropotopolous You're so fucking wrong then. You couldn't be more fucking wrong lmfaoooo brooo.

[@The_world_is_not_worthy_of_Him]

if mirage was good it wouldn't have dropped out of public view less than a month in. 🤷 *Mirage is trash.* Just like every other game after Black Flag ( _maybe_ Rogue), it's fucking garbage in an Assassin's Creed skinsuit. The last 6-7 games to come out do not have the essence that made Assassin's Creed what it was.

[@Ropotopolous]

@@The_world_is_not_worthy_of_Him ok

[@btchiaintkidding7837]

🤓

[@Bax365]

Explain yourself? Just saying it's trash doesn't give much to work with.

[@shira_yone]

@@Bax365 if you genuinely want to hear a more thorough explanation, I think Whitelight did a great job articulating why most people aren't very receptive to Mirage, or to say it in a reductive way, why they think it's trash. It's quite a balanced retrospective but it's a pretty long video so you might have to prepare some popcorns.

[@CertifiedSunset]

Ok lil bro

[@Royaltly-Tank]

I literally have the same laptop my guy how did you mess the screen up that bad what's the lore did you 1v1 your screen

[@Ropotopolous]

Nah I'm pretty sure it got stepped on lol