I'm currently playing
Assassin's Creed II: Discovery on Nintendo DS. I should clarify that Assassin's Creed is one of the 'no excuses' series that I enjoy; meaning I won't attempt to make excuses about
why I enjoy it. Is it a series guilty of many of the issues it's accused of? Probably. Does my enjoyment of it mean that I have terrible taste in games? Maybe. Do I really GaF? Nope.
Maybe it's just a guilty pleasure.
At any rate, ACII: Discovery is simultaneously better and worse than I thought it would be. The story is actually quite interesting insofar as it sees Ezio traveling to renaissance Spain where he interacts with principle figures in the court of Queen Isabella I, as well as members of the Catholic Church involved in the Spanish Inquisition (which one obviously never expects
). It also makes reference to Christopher Columbus which in turn provides some interesting foreshadowing of AC games taking place in the 'New World'.
The gameplay is
such a mixed bag though. Unfortunately it's also more bad than good. It's a 2D side-scroller that emphasizes speed and momentum to the point that it almost feels like a Sonic game at certain points (if you can believe that!). That part can be a lot of fun once you're dialed in, but the momentum is
so touchy that it also leads to a whole host of other issues that are decidedly
not fun. Furthermore it's
extremely strict about requirements for full synchronization. One could
probably achieve full synchronization if you were to spend significant time memorizing level layouts, but unfortunately the game just isn't good or fun enough to make that seem tempting. Ultimately I'm just charging through this one so I can chalk it up in the 'beaten' column and move on without looking back.
