Finished Assassin's Creed 1
Times I used the throwing knives: 0
Times I used monks: 0
Times I used the praying/pretending to be a monk button: 1 (forced to do it in the tutorial)
Times I used the hidden blade: 2 (forced in the tutorial and the very first templar guard in the temple of Solomon/prologue)**
Basically, Assassin's Creed 1 is a game that you could easily get by with just the sword. The sword is literally the only thing you need. You occasionally need the your fists/bare hands for interrogations, but thats about it. Its a game that not only has very few tools (only four, 1-hidden blade, 2-sword, 3-throwing knives and 4-fists) but requires even less tools.
**about the hidden blade. As I said, I always used the sword and the direct approach, and this showed something strange. So, combat in the AC games is somewhat RNG-based, for example you have this counterattack mechanic, and and depending on the RNG, your character either kicks/throws away the enemy he countered against (non-lethal), or he kills them (lethal). When it comes to the nine targets, the "bosses" if you will, should you engage them in combat or chase after them and repeatedly hit them with the sword (some targets run away rather than fight, such as the slaver or the chubby rich guy), they will fall down on the ground, and Altair automatically, without any input from the player, uses the hidden blade on them.
In fact, "automatic" is a word that I'd use to describe AC 1 (and maybe later games). Parkour is automatic, stealth is automatic, Combat is mostly automatic, you only do two things: A-repeatedly mash the attack button, or B-use counterattacks. Because of A I never had to really use the dodge command since the enemies almost never had the chance to attack me because I was relentlessly bullying them with my sword. And on the off-chance they did attack me, counterattacking was the better option. Speaking of dodging....
Volteccer_Jack wrote: ↑Tue Jan 23, 2024 10:43 pm
And I had heard that the only unique thing that AC 1 has going for it, that is, the one and only thing that only AC 1 has and the other games don't, is a "praying" mechanic in which Altair, the protag, pretends to be a monk and makes a praying gesture so long as you hold the A button (or X in Sony consoles). This is supposedly the only unique trait of AC 1, and alongside this mechanic, AC 1 has one type of hiding place that the other games don't: monks.
It kinda depends on what we mean by "unique". The mechanic of pretending to be a monk was replaced in AC2 by blending--you can hide in any group of 3+ civilians, with no need for special gestures. Some later games like Valhalla do have groups of monks for you to hide in. I think every mechanic from AC1 has appeared in at least one other AC game, although every other AC game removes at least one or two mechanics that were present in AC1. For example Unity doesn't let you fight with the hidden blade as your weapon in open combat, and AC2 doesn't have the parkour "vaulting" ability from AC1.
Fists-only
You get the dodge and counter abilities at certain points in the story. I feel confident that it's possible to do fists-only before that, but it probably is something really dumb like "punch once, sprint away, repeat". Or maybe spamming the grab ability, like piss off the guards, lead them to a roof, throw them off it.
For some strange reason, Altair can dodge only and only when his sword is out. He can't dodge for some reason if he's in a fistfight stance. It might be possible to do a fists-only run the way you mentioned, but that feels very cheesy and video gamey, and it also seems tedious to do. Fighting normally against sword-wielding enemies using only the fists doesn't seem possible.
And speaking of unique things, I'm a few hours into Assassin's Creed 2, and so far there's nothing that AC 1 has that AC 2 doesn't. That is, everything from AC 1 returns to AC 2, the monk blending system has been evolved as you said.
I've researched a little bit and it seems that despite the overall similarities, each of the Ezio trilogy games have something unique going for them that the other two games don't, making each of them worth playing (can't say the same for AC 1).
AC 2 has a bunch of fun puzzles.
Brotherhood is 2 but with a lot of new weapons and mechanics and a structurally different city.
Revelations is Bro but with less weapons, but it instead has bomb crafting and a new hookblade traversal system.
3 has different systems (combat, parkour, stealth, etc), so it's different enough. 4 has more of a focus on seas and ships. Rogue is 4 but with less content but some new weapons and mechanics.
AC 1 has nothing going for it though, gameplay-wise that is. It obviously has a different setting and atmosphere than the other games, but aesthetics aside it's a lesser version of AC 2. I can't say I recommend AC 1 for the gameplay, play it only if you're interested in the story and/or the setting.
Speaking of stories, I dislike the Desmond sections, not because of the writing, but because of their gameplay. In AC 1 you can't even run as Desmond, you have a slow-ass walk, and everytime on the main menu when you want to continue the game, you have to sit through a somewhat long loading screen, but instead of being booted into the ancient Arabian setting, you're instead booted on the modern day setting with Desmond staring into the animus. You then select the continue option
of the Animus and then go through another loading screen, and only then are you booted into the ancient time setting.......why? Why did the director of the game thought this was a good idea? Desmond doesn't even have a different gameplay style or anything, he's just a lesser version of Altair/Ezio. In 1, all he can do is walk and talk to people, something you can also do as Altair.
In 2 all he can do is walk, talk, punch and do parkour. Thing is, the new additions, punching and doing parkour, is something that both Altair and Ezio can do too......Desmond doesn't even have a different fighting style or parkour style, so I fail to see the pragmatic value of the modern day setting.
Anyway, after AC 2 I think instead of continuing the AC series I'll start playing either Ephemeral Fantasia, or Panzer Dragoon Saga. A user here mentioned Sakura Taisen 1, and I'm interested in that too, especially because of my....strange personality, which should make the VN choices I'm presented with interesting.