The Ups and Downs of Assassin's Creed's Memory Corridor Confessions

[@acdragonduck]

Fun fact, Arno does technically have one memory corridor interaction at the end with his antagonist.

[@moonsets-on_you]

i think tht structure could have worked if tht final scene with Germaine gave you more answers than questions. it doesnt feel satisfying for the right reasons. Its just empty and we barely even know him. Ubisoft thought they could substitute a sage plot for deep character writing and it failed miraculously

[@safi6749]

I really liked memory corridors in AC4 Most of them effected Edward in many ways and helped him become a better person.

[@moonsets-on_you]

I agree. Syndicate tried to have Jacob's targets affect him in transformative and profound ways but like willis said the episodic structure cant carry any themes or drama. its just saturday morning bullsh*t. Sucks too bc i want the assassin brotherhood that Edward established to have depth. like say...ac3. better combat villians and such

[@genericeurasianwarlord9542]

You're on the money. Black Flag is a big high point in terms of writing, because all of Edward's main story assassinations in some form show his growth as a character *and* push him to change his own philosophy. >At the start, Edward is a self-interested pirate, bound by utopian dreams and interested only in a payday. Julien Du Casse's final words come to be prophetic later in the story as they forecast Edward's character fall being of his own making. >Laurence Prins haunts Edward as a reminder of the shriveled unscrupulous monster that profit-chasing without regard for morals can turn a man into. >Charles Vane marks Edward's disillusionment with Nassau, as the thieves he surrounds himself with either die or prove too short-sighted and greedy to build a better society than the empires they pillage. >Ben Hornigold, John Cockram and Josiah Burgess mark Edward's final detachment from his privateering old ways. Not only do some of the former firebrands of the pirate republic turn coat when tides turn, all remind him how alone he's become and how doomed his course is. >Woodes Rogers' and El Tiburon's corridors show Edward's growth. Not only does he treat fallen enemies with humility and dignity, he spares Rogers when their interests come to align in the face of a greater evil. >Bartholomew Roberts was the shadow that Edward could turn into had he fully given into his self-serving ways, with his death Edward overcomes that part of himself and finally sets focus on a greater good. >Finally, Loreano Torres serves to show Edward at his journey's end, a wiser, humbler assassin yet one with his own independent interpretation of the creed. His beliefs are founded not by fantasies but by experience, morals and a belief in something greater than himself, earning him even the respect of the Templar grandmaster.

[@BenthewildchildE750]

Johnson, pitcan and Haitham of AC three the way all three of them were so foreboding was fantastic.

[@WideOldDan]

My favourite is Garnier in AC1. For me, AC1 corridors were a close second after AC4. These two also have the best stories and are well ahead of the others.

[@Gu5A2]

I kinda fundamentally disagree on your stance on the ac1 corridors. The whole point of ac1 was at first you were a mindless drone, killing just because it was asked of you like in hit man. You learn about your target and how bad they are to make you sure they deserve to die, though when you kill them and hear them you hesitate; changing the way you think about your allies, your targets, the story, world and your place in it.

[@JustJebSchaffer]

This actually answered my question I’ve always wondered what these scenes were and confused My favorite are the revaluation-AC4

[@cloudrider9142]

Before I even watch the video, I gotta give some(!) credit to Valhalla! The philosophical arguments between Eivor and Odin about power, legacy and honor were pretty well done imo. Certainly better than any memory corridors since Black Flag, I felt!

[@xsamimuan4506]

so glad to be your 3000th sub keep up the great work!

[@willismakesmovies]

whoa! thank you so much

[@RawwkinGrimmie64]

"You are not my target. I will not take your life." "Requiescat in pace, you bastard." "I DON'T THINK SO!" "I am not yet dead." "I did not come here to kill you. He who is the cause of someone else becoming powerful is the agent of his own destruction." Despite the fact that not killing the target in the memory room was set in place from the very start of the franchise, and a common theme throughout, it almost always served a surprise twist if you aren't a history junkie who knows that historical figures aren't going to die.

[@jtlego1]

Visually speaking, I dig the Memory Corridors that have the more "Standing Eye To Eye" conversations (1 letting you initiate that via the optional cutscene glitches, Syndicate, Origins, Valhalla) more than the ones that just have the target dying on the ground, although there are exceptions (3, mainly because I *adore* the AC3 Animus aesthetic). 4's I have issue with just by the visuals of it just sorta *plops* you into the Memory Corridor when you deal the assassination/killing blow instead of having that windup of seeing the Animus/Helix un-render everything around you like the previous games did before it initiated the Corridor.

[@moonsets-on_you]

that was amazing how you mentioned the animus/helix rendering after kills bc it elevated the presentation of ac3, reminded you where you were, and was very cinematic. its small but when you pay attention to the glass-shattering and distorted transitions after poking someone with the hidden blade its euphoric. like you just planted a bunch of flower seeds into the ground, but like with bloodshed. ubisoft should deff bring that back

[@GuiltySpark-pl8mv]

I like AC1’s memory corridors the best because they make the player and Altaïr question if they’re doing the right thing and if you play through again you can see how they hint at Al mualim betraying the assassins. The confessions are very well written and I really like Garnier and Sibrand the most in those corridors. A lot of people can relate to Sibrand over the existence of god and Garnier over the free will of mentally sick people.

[@alphabet2238]

Another thing I'll add to the AC1 corridors is that afterwards you would talk to Al Mualim and hear the other side of things. In a way those conversations were a series of memory corridors in itself.

[@alphabet2238]

For me the best memory corridors overall would be AC4. Not because I think they had the best but because overall it was the best. AC3 had some of the best, but they were let down by Braddock, that British guy who worked from Johnson and the Templar naval captain (not Biddle). AC1 had some great ones as well but not the top. AC revelations had some decent ones, as did Syndicate. The real let down in the classic era is AC2 and Brotherhood. The Templars were little more than cartoon villains.

[@moonsets-on_you]

Arno being the only assassin that was raised by Templars as a boy and would by that intimate upbringing/subconscious indoctrination would yield the most interesting confession kills in the series is beyond me as to why he just has a crystal ball. Bring Shay back to send it all full circle and you have like the perfect AC game. The transition from the Kenway/Naval saga to the Industrial Revolution saga was sloppy. graphically, gameplay, stealth-wise its everything i wanted but narratively its one of the series' biggest mistakes--alongside no more trilogies for protagonists. unity corridors could have surpassed ac3's which would have been a major plus. sucks tht this series' most ambitious games have to drop the coolest concepts

[@ForeverTraitor]

A lot of AC has always been "vibes", a lot of style with little substance trying to trick you into thinking it's got something poignant to say. But occasionally there will be some good writing, though AC3 is the only time I can recall the assassin and templar ideologies actually being meaningfully discussed. Maybe one day we'll get a game worthy of AC's awesome concept, but it is a Ubisoft IP so probably not.

[@peculiar3529]

AC 1, AC 4 ?

[@ForeverTraitor]

@peculiar3529 I like 4 but the Assassin/Templar/Precursor subplots are honestly its worst parts. I haven't played 1.

[@blacksheep6415]

Origins had the best memory corridors

[@yousseftarek9015]

I agree

[@idfkwhatyouwantfromme]

I understand that the AC1 targets could have had more time devoted to them, but I wouldn't trade those conversations for anything. Memory corridors peaked in AC1, with only AC3 coming close behind.