@mogan: I would say that when Assassins vs (I even forgot!!) became tangential to the story, the series lost its track. Its sort of a walking historical simulator.
With Ezio (and perhaps even woth Connor) the ideas were there, and there was a sense that 'ok, well defeat the templars (I remembered!)"
Now it is pointless. There will be another. And another. And another. People looking for stories gave up. People NOT looking for stories stick with COD
@OrionMD: point taken, though anything dating back 200 years is already hard to ascertain, much less so 400 years or so. In any case, I think AC as a series should have ended with Ezio. Even Black Flag could have been something different, and a whole lot better. A boring series which only serves to sell notions of inclusivity (as long as the come from US/Canada anglocentrism)
@twelveoucer: actually, the story is real. You can check it out. I did.
But the fact that neither the Gamespot writer nor the Ubisoft dude mention it is impressive. Maybe even they are unaware. So righteous that historical accuracy doesn't matter. Very inclusive, as long as everyone speaks american english. US-centrism at its best.
@twelveoucer: why not? The industry was exploding before covid. Check numbers. Check data. Don't give your impressions or your feelings. Look the past 20 years (statista may help). The industry was going steady up, all brackets of society. Young, teenage, young adult, adult. All groups. All countries. Then identity politics becomes the driving force in all cultural productions, at around 2018 -- full force during covid. What happened? George Floyd, if you do not remember. Then more and more identity politics. Everywhere. News. Media. Tv. Cinema. And.... Videogames. Hollywood is denying it, and now so are the videogame producers. Look at hollywood. Bomb after bomb. Marvel, disney. Yeah, I wouldn't want to fly in a rocket developed by you :)
@mogan: indeed. Always radicals, left and right. But these games were great. Hence, made a huge success, in spite of the wails of the extreme minorities. The industry is catering to the extremes, and when it does, the result is usually a bad game. When the industry focuses on gameplay, narrative, character development, even when the identity politics gets dragged (or "found") by the fanatics, no one else cares, and most players buy and enjoy the game. Companies are to be blamed. The ones demanding quotas and certain things to be developed. Sequels, prequels, spin-offs. :)
It isn't rocket science, really. No need for a "venture capitalist" to analyze what most gamers can tell you for free. Companies such as EA (and Bioware), Ubisoft, Sony and Marvel Studios, and many others, focused on DEI before developing a good product, overpricing it, and hiding content behind paywalls. The result is an overwhelming amount of identity politics and poorly written crap (Horizon 2 comes to mind), and a few gems. Games (and companies) which did not, succeeded. Indie game developers have made wonderful games, even those with more explicit identitarian ideologies (focusing - or at least emphasizing race, gender, sexuality).
Look at Baldurs Gate 3. Hogwarts Legacy. Even Starfield (which bethesda very slickly left for modders to complete and fill in). Vastly different games, but which focused on delivering a complete adventure, no paywalls, no identity politics. You get what you pay for.
Dragon age: inquisition was a disgrace. Disconnected from other entries, borrowed the name and offered very few real choices, but forced you to, after completing the game, be OK with the game being an introduction to dragon age: elf dude.
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