Current Events > So im playing an Assassin's Creed game for the 1st time right now (Black Flag)..

(+) Yeah! (+)

......and is this sci-fi entertainment company behind every game in the AC series? Because i going in i thought it was just going to be the pirate story and this whole other aspect to it feels kind of unnecessary and im not liking it so far.

But im really early into it so that might change. Whats the general consensus on it?

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AC 1-3 had a more connected modern day story element. That got wrapped up (poorly) at the end of 3. I suppose by Black Flag, they thought the modern day connection was a staple of the franchise and felt the need to include it, even though it's entirely pointless now.
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So the newer ones don't have it?

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No, it's still there in newer titles.
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Ac 4's self-aware meta parody is one of the few times the modern day story was tolerable, just for the humor part. I had no idea they were so self aware

Antifar posted...

No, it's still there in newer titles.

Even though literally nobody cares.

It's even the basis for the stupid movie that also nobody cares about.
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Yeah, pretty much. They're not always an entertainment company though. They're basically like the bad guy in an old cartoon that has a new scheme every episode. Which they justify in-universe as they're just absurdly huge and have a division in every industry imaginable.

The video game thing was just their way of making it meta. It was kind of a cool way to incorporate the III spinoff, Liberation, into the series as a while even though it didn't have a modern-day story of its own.

It was pretty cool for the first several games (except Rev), but in III they kinda sorta not really ended the story and had nowhere to go with it, but rather than taking it out, they just slowed it to a massive aimless crawl and threw in a buttload of collectables nobody cared about.

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It's there in Odyssey/Origins, but just barely.

Black Flag is my favorite classic AC, but the modern sections are some of the worst. At least 1-3 had a story I actually somewhat cared about.

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Abstergo is a massive multinational conglomeration that produces everything from household cleaners to defense technologies.

You find out in the first or second game that it's actually a front for Templar operations as a way to generate revenue and expand influence on global markets.

SPOILERS OF VARYING DEGREES FOR 1, 2 TRILOGY AND 3:

In 1, 2, Brotherhood and Revelations and 3 you play as Desmond Miles in the modern day. Abstergo has just developed the Animus which lets you play through the genetic memories of your own ancestors - there *has* to be a familial bond there. Desmond Miles is a descendent of some of the most prominent Assassins which is why you've been kidnapped, because they're trying to find these ancient artifacts that your ancestors had control over at one point or another. In the original game you're stuck in a small laboratory and you spend your time in the Animus or exploring a small room and finding hints about what's going on.

In 2, Brotherhood and Revelations you've escaped and are on the run with a group of people who want to help you find these tools to help destroy the Templar. BUT another plot starts unfolding as you discover extremely high-tech structures - a "first civilization" entity (first civilization is the people who made the artifacts and everything, a very scientifically advanced peoples who IIRC created humans or enslaved humans for their purposes; basically if you read conspiracy theories about the origins of reptilians and humans you'll probably see a lot of parallels here) is feeding you (Desmond Miles) messages through your ancestor and starts warning you about the end of the world.

In 3, you're in a cave in North America that was developed by the first civilization people, and you have to find the artifacts that will enable you to stop the end of the world. As you activate more of the structure you learn more about how the first civilization tried to stop the end of the world but ultimately only found one way, which requires freeing one of the less moral first civilization scientists to do something or other (and requires sacrificing Desmond).

AFTER ALL THAT... They almost ditched it all entirely. The Animus suddenly enabled everyone to experience anyone's genetic memories as long as you could get a sample, so that's how you have stuff like 4 and Rogue where you're a random "game tester" tapping in to other peoples' memories.

It's really a shame because the modern day aspect was one of the more interesting parts of the game, and I feel like they put a lot more emphasis on writing the stories (both the past and present day stories) up until they got to 4. Some of the writing in the Ezio trilogy was really incredible for a video game I think, especially the ending to Revelations.

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