i want to put this game at the top of this list based on principle alone if i look at acNUMBER_TOKEN in a vacuum i can't help but give it all the praise in the world it's such a unique video game that feels like it wasn't made with any sort of marketing research or metrics designed to sell the experience to the largest group of people otherwise known as the way the games are made now it's not trying to wow you with the setting it's not filled with side activities everything that exists here serves the identity of the game a bartender is kidnapped and forced into this creepy machine to relive his ancestors memories from there you're plunged into a whole new world where everything you thought you knew is a lie there are shadowy organizations fighting for the fate of the world and you're caught in the middle it's almost more sci-fi than action adventure you're introduced to the series first assassin altair he wields a single hidden blade like an instrument of justice doling out swift and brutal assassinations while wearing his signature white assassin robes his transformation from brash young recruit to savior of the brotherhood is quick but satisfying the mission structure in this game gets called out for repetition but not only is that unfair it's actually a dumb point to make considering what we do in the modern games the fact is it simply doesn't stick around long enough to feel repetitive you're bouncing from city to city doing similar things but never for too long and everything you're doing serves the main mission you're investigating your targets in a microcosm sure maybe if you take a magnifying glass it's repetitive but dude doing the same stuff in valhalla for like NUMBER_TOKEN hours is way more repetitive to me the original game doesn't waste my time it focuses on modern day more than any other game and my god it's just unapologetically authentic i love acNUMBER_TOKEN it should be ranked higher but outside of the vacuum it feels too much like a product of its time for me to bump it higher the controls can feel stiff and while this is where the original assassin fantasy started it's hard to argue that it wasn't improved on very shortly after if assassin's creed stopped right here it would be one hell of a one-off game number seven assassin's creed iii this should totally be higher and it would be if not for how amazing the next six games are acNUMBER_TOKEN has a special place in my heart it came out when i was in high school studying american history you can't make this stuff up i loved experiencing that in this game and i think it weaves the assassins templars conflict within historical events better than most of the games in the series but i also loved the philosophical debates and the father-son dynamic between conor and hatham you get so many incredible moments like this rooftop scene where hatham made all of us question whether the assassins were really the good guys and then you had that classic reveal where it's like you're playing as hate them but oh my gosh he's actually a templar it's a little rickety technically and the cutscenes just didn't
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