400°

Ubisoft: WW2, Japan and Egypt are "the three worst settings for an Assassin's Creed game"

OXM writes: "Thanks to Mass Effect 3 and the Devil May Cry reboot, there's been a lot of talk lately about whether fans should have a say on the direction a videogame series takes. We're generally of the mind that the last word belongs with developers - but we will admit to sticking out our lower lips when Ubisoft's Alex Hutchinson, creative director of Assassin's Creed 3, told us that he'd hate to set an Assassin's Creed game in feudal Japan. What?"

Snookies124778d ago

Well that's him... I'd personally love to see feudal Japan Assassin's Creed. That would most likely be a day one buy for me, and that's considering I love the series for the most part, but have never bought one on release day. :\

360GamerFG4778d ago

Right?? What does the creative director of the game know anyway??

SilentNegotiator4778d ago

I don't care if he's a master wizard with clairvoyance of the future. Assassin's Creed set in Japan could absolutely work.

WW2 would be too cliché. It's not that it couldn't be done, it's just BEEN done.

hellzsupernova4777d ago

so assassins creed has been done set in ww2? when? i cannot think of a ww2 game even remotly similar i oculd be wrong

QuodEratDemonstrandm4777d ago

So WWII is too cliche but feudal Japan isn't?
The whole reason Assassin's Creed features Nizari Ismaili is that, as cool as they are, the Ninja have been Done To Death.
There are enough video games featuring at least one ninja that a list of them merits a separate wiki article. And, apparently, the cliche has progressed to the point that people think an Orange Jumpsuit is appropriate ninja attire (see Naruto).

PhantomT14124777d ago

It's his first Assassin's Creed...
Also, lead writter Corey May is thinking about feudal japan (near the end of the vid):
http://www.gameinformer.com...

VanillaBear4777d ago

Didn't someone at Ubisoft say a WW2 setting would be good. I'm sure it's when they were talking about a female Assassin years ago, saying how it would be set in London when all the men have went to war and the city is mostly women.

aCasualGamer4777d ago (Edited 4777d ago )

I would love to see an Egypt setting. Just imagine, the time when the pyramids and other monuments were built you could see a young Assassin parkouring his way through those wooden build stands. Maybe they could add a story surrounding the economy of that time and how the pharaohs managed to build these monuments without going bankrupt. Maybe we could see some ceremonies where mummification took place. The Pharaoh being the final boss battle, it would be a memorable game. The glyph puzzles could be to decifer hieroglyphs. Or imagine playing in this setting when Caesar and Cleopatra were still alive. Unlocking the mysteries surrounding all those events. Playing nearby the Nile river would be amazing!

Japan would also be a great setting considering the unique architectural design of ancient Japanese buildings, many parkour possibilities. Imagine being a samurai assassin or a ninja! Throwing knives, ninja style!

WW2 is a setting too close to modern warfare which basically means, without hardcore guns... you're fu**ed! And it would take away the parkour element of the game.

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Nimblest-Assassin4778d ago

WW2 has been done to death by shooters.

Egypt, although it sounds cool at first. Whats their to scale? Present day egypt would make more sense, but you would be moving through deserts and very small towns of low leveled builings... it would not work.

Not sure why he opposed Japan, because out of the 3, it would have worked pretty well.

But India does sound kinda cool...

Akiba964778d ago

WW2 has been done to death by shooters, but it is still a really cool setting.In stead of another shooter in WW2, I'd really love to see a more emotional take on the war. It would be kinda like heavy rain but set in WW2 on the front-lines. Your walking from foxhole to foxhole in the cold forests of Bastogne, shaking the dualshock to keep your character warm, then mortars start flying and you have to use the same Heavy Rain controls to remove some shrapnel from some guys chest while he's screaming in pain, and you really don't wanna let him die because you've grown attached to his character. Kinda like a video game version of band of brothers where you get emotionally attached to the characters and have to make decisions on the fly and execute to keep the various characters alive. But I digress lol.

Grap4778d ago

"low leveled buildings"
hahahahaha yah like USA have the tallest building in the world hahahaha

Nimblest-Assassin4777d ago

@grap

There are a lot of trees... their are low level buildings in America, but at least they thought around it by implementing trees.

What can you climb in egypt, pyramids and sphinx that are apart by a large distance?

Or would you like to parkour sand dunes?

arjman4778d ago

Katanas, Naginatas, Monks, Ninjas, Assassins, etc...

Assassins Creed in the times of the Samurai would be amazing.

GroundsKeeperJimbo4778d ago (Edited 4778d ago )

As cool as all that sounds, its an assassin game not a ninja game. I feel that is the main reason they don't want to do it.

In my mind: It would be awesome if the ninja's were opposed to the assassins cause, but that'd make no sense because, outside of the masters, most ninja's were farmers/peasants. That leaves the Samurai but them seem more Templar than anything. I guess they could be competing for the same targets, but then they'd be working together.

I guess what I'm saying is they want to stay separate from ninja themes and have there own lore fit better; hence a different setting.

ginsunuva4778d ago

At above^^

Ninjas are Japanese assassins.

White people culture has stereotyped them as retarded black-clothed monkeys.

GroundsKeeperJimbo4778d ago (Edited 4778d ago )

Yea... because that is what I said?

Here is a wiki article for you on arguing, please read and see how it applies to your comment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

SonyPS3604777d ago (Edited 4777d ago )

There's alot of things that fans don't take into consideration when it comes to games design.

The developers do, and know what they're talking about.

arjman4777d ago (Edited 4777d ago )

Ok get this, we know that the samurai were noblemen right? Some may say they were corrupt noblemen. What if the samurai were the templars of Japan, trying to seize control of the empire and the setting of the game took place during the Meiji period.
As an assassin or ninja (since they're both perfect assassins of their cultures) the emperor could task your order with the job of killing the remaining samurai 'templars' who have been inciting rebellion in the public. Which leads to the fall of the samurai and the unification of Japan, defeating the templars.

Or they could go for a last samurai type story where the assassins are samurai trying to fight off the western powers and the corrupt Japanese clan leaders. This fight could go on through the Boshin wars and Satsuma Rebellions leading to a massive war on the modernisation of Japan. The end result could be a desperate last stand by the assassins/samurai ending in defeat and a templar victory (I think the good guys have won too many times in this series).

I guess the moral of the story is that I want a video game (either Assassins Creed or a Red Dead style story) based on The Last Samurai and Feudal Japan :)

Think of an assassin fully kitted out in Japanese themed assassin gear (armor choices such as Samurai armor or Ninja clothes) with dual hidden wakizashis or tantos, a hidden matchlock gun, a katana as the melee weapon, a no dachi or naginata as the heavy weapon and throwing stars for thrown weapons. Tell me that doesn't sound amazing :)

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omi25p4778d ago

Id love Assassins creed Tudor times.

Nugan4778d ago

I think Hutchinson's point wasn't so much that you couldn't set an Assassin's Creed game in these setting, as it was that WWII, Egypt and Ancient Japan have been done to death by previous games.

Maybe we haven't had this type of game in those settings before, but there are a lot of places and times that video games haven't touched at all, and it would cool to be able to experience them.

I know the Revolutionary War setting has me a lot more interested in AC3 than I was before.

RayRay364777d ago

He's just sayin that because that's what conventional thinking points to. I remember an employing saying there might be feudal Japan in the future. Both Japan and Egypt would work and he knows that, idk about WW2 though.

Simon_Brezhnev4777d ago

I rather it be in warring states period China. Japan settings had been done a lot just not as much as WW2.

MostJadedGamer4777d ago

Totally agree with Ubisoft. Ubisoft wants, and needs to cover fresh settings that haven't been covered or that haven't been covered much.

Don't cover settings that have already been done to death, but keep cover ettings that haven't been done or rarely been done.

MostJadedGamer4777d ago (Edited 4777d ago )

Japan is one of the last historically settings I want to see in a AC game. That would not be good. We don't need another Samurai, or Ninja game

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GoldenAge4778d ago

I can think of worst settings than Japan, Egypt, and WW2.

dirigiblebill4778d ago

Shetland, Wisconsin and Milton Keynes.

Slient Knight 94778d ago

whats wrong with milton keynes

dirigiblebill4778d ago

Well for starters, it wasn't here 100 years ago. Any takers on the idea of a present-day AC? Set in a two-storey town?

Ness-Psi4778d ago

Add croydon to that.. oh and lower stowcroft.

SilentNegotiator4778d ago (Edited 4778d ago )

lol, Assassin's Creed: Wisconsin. I can see the back of the box already; "Make cheese, deliver phony doctor's notes, and assassinate the governor! Over 65,000 sq miles to explore!*

*(64,000 sq miles are voids and summer camps)"

Gazondaily4777d ago

lmao @ Milton Keynes. Ah you legend

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Son_Lee4778d ago

South America - Mayans. That would be a good setting. Roaming through jungles, climbing temples, etc.

DragonKnight4777d ago

Now that's something to get behind. But this creative director needs to shut up. The only reason a setting could be the worst is if the creative director sucks at making it good. Egypt I can see skipping only because it'd be similar to the Holy Land in AC1 and Constantinople in AC2. But thinking an era America is better than Japan is just stupid. Just because a setting hasn't been done much, doesn't mean it will be a good setting or refreshing. Hell, that's probably one of the reasons it hasn't been used.

This idea that you can't do a game in Japan because ninjas are apparently cliche is ignorant. For one, where is it stated ninjas couldn't be the Assassin's guild of Japan? The goals are compatible. The Assassin's Guilds of the world fight against corruption and tyranny. Ninjas were peasants fighting for the same reason. The artistry of Japanese architecture would be amazing to explore in an open world game and there is so much history there.

Or why not China with more history than that. Simply put, this creative director probably sucks and wouldn't know how to make the setting work. His idea is to bring the series closer to the Present day and place more emphasis on firearms that completely take away from the spirit of the gameplay the series began with. Slowly stalking and silent killing your pray. In this game, Connor's (hate that name) main weapons are a tomahawk and a pistol. What's next? Take away any melee altogether in favor of ranged?

This guy is a nutcase if he thinks Japan is a bad setting for an AC game.

-Gespenst-4778d ago

I agree WW2 and Japan would suck. They're done to death really.

Eygpt however could be cool. Perhaps a little too ancient though...

MrBeatdown4778d ago

I was going to say the exact opposite.

WW2 Germany in particular sounds great. I keep picturing Call of Duty: World At War's levels, but with an assassin jumping around in the background.

RememberThe3574778d ago

I agree with WW2 and Egypt was cool about 4000 years before the first AC. Egypt fell to the Roman Empire in the first century AD. I'd like to see a game of AC caliber take on Ancient Egypt but I don't think the AC lore goes back that far.

Japan on the other hand would be pretty cool. We've seen other games do feudal Japan but none that have captured to detail and authenticity that Ubi brings with AC. However it's probably precisely because other games have been set in feudal Japan that Hutchinson doesn't want the series to go there.

Bimkoblerutso4778d ago (Edited 4778d ago )

It kind of makes me think they wanted to avoid the backlash the setting would inevitably bring from the thriving weeaboo culture we have here in the West, complaining about "historical inaccuracy" this and "westernization" that. You know...typical otaku BS.

SolidSystem4777d ago

that's possibly true about the lore. The lore is pretty biblical. and without any real signs of things like "the ones who came before" and other Christian religious ties in Egypt, it would be hard to pull it together. (no apple of eden etc). while the assassins were world wide, I'm not sure how the greater story would carry on.

while the Japanese could be aiding, none of the cultural backdrop really fit.

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100°

Why Assassin's Creed 2 and 3 Had the Best Writing the Series Has Ever Seen

IGN - Assassin's Creed's focus on character-driven storytelling has been buried by its RPG sandbox features, and the series is weaker for it.

RaidenBlack50d ago

A rare W opinion piece from IGN.
IMO, Ubisoft needs to setup two primary AC dev teams. 1 would focus on and release character-driven OG-style AC games for OG fans and the other would continue the current RPG-ified AC style for current fans.
Release by them Bi-annually and alternatively. There'd less fatigue and a boost to quality.

ZeekQuattro50d ago

I definitely appreciate 3 more after playing it again in recent years along with the Liberation game. Back when 3 was new I was still riding high on AC2 and Brotherhood so when I played 3 I felt a bit let down. Even the ship battles grew on me.

-Foxtrot50d ago

AC2 - Yes

AC3 - Urm...I don't know

I feel they kind of dropped the ball with AC3 and with the way the story went it just didn't make sense to me at all. I felt it would have made more sense lore wise if they had it so the Red Coats were mostly Assassins and the Templars were mostly the Colonists who wanted this "new world" as a fresh start for their operations, to build a country up they'd have full control of from the start so they manufacture the war as something else while really it's just a front for the Templars vs Assassins.

It just meant that since the Red coats lose the war it explains how the Templars have gained full control of future America and how the Assassins have slowly died out by then. This entire event would have been the turning point of how things went to s**t for the Assassins and how there's not many of them left in the present.

Haythem was a lot more interesting than Connor and he should have been the main Assassin of AC3.

lucasnooker49d ago (Edited 49d ago )

I thought AC2 was the greatest of the series and it is but replaying it recently, I stared to see more flaws in the game. Basically every single mission is an assassination besides a few tailing missions lol. Still, the implementation of all the new mechanics were great. The smoke bombs, disarming guards, story, hidden tombs, swimming, flying machine, multiple locations, etc. it definitely felt a bit more special to me at the time of release though

isarai49d ago

Dunno about 3, the 1st act was cool, then i couldn't tell you what happens after that. But 2 was so good! The entire acts 1-3 were al memorable, whereas i really couldn't even tell you what happens in any other AC game

70°

Games with the dumbest NPCs

Non-playable characters in certain games are meme material, thanks to their foolish behavior. These are the big-budget games with the dumbest NPCs.

Read Full Story >>
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closed_account640d ago (Edited 640d ago )

Bethesda makes the most consistently stupid NPCs, like really bad... yet I still can't help but love playing their games. Guilty pleasure, I guess. *sigh* 😩

Flawlessmic639d ago

How did redfall not make the cut.

anast639d ago (Edited 639d ago )

Every Bethesda game and Every Halo game. This list needed to have Cyberpunk somewhere.

180°

10 Most Peaceful Areas in Games

Here are the most peaceful areas in games that are otherwise quite violent, offering players respite from chaos in the game world.

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gamefreaks365.com
Babadook7645d ago

My first thought was the safe rooms in the resident evil series. When you hear that enchanting music you know you’re safe.

Killer2020UK645d ago

I literally just came here to post this. That music in the Resi 1 safe rooms is playing in my head.

Rimeskeem644d ago

I was thinking TLOU work benches. Although I remember one time where it was a false security.

closed_account644d ago

Perfect. 👌👌

I'd add the top of my highrise apartment in GTA Online. That calm, quiet peace, just knowing as soon as I step out that door I will be bombarded by 8 and 12 year olds calling each other n**** and f****, trolled by combat jets and rocket launchers.

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henbayward644d ago

The entire map of SotC is peaceful as hell. Used to just ride around exploring it.

mastershredder644d ago (Edited 644d ago )

Afterlife in Cyberpunk 2077 is a peaceful area? Erm, hands down and very hard to miss, Misty Olszewski's Esoterica is the absolute epitome of peaceful areas in that game.

raiden_188644d ago

The "last of us" deer location i found to be a welcoming respite. It was nice to not have someone trying to eat me.

RPGer644d ago

Kingdom Hearts tend to present half peaceful areas and most of them are amazing.

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