moonscented's review of Assassin's Creed II.

what a treat to go back to, it’s jarring to say the least to see what this series is now compared to its roots, it’s also very depressing. The level design of Florence and Tuscany and Venice are so well done. It took me a decade but I feel like I have an actual understanding that these games cared A LOT about free running, it’s not just some throwaway mechanic they threw in these games. My favorite parts of this replay were going though the dungeon esque catacomb parkour challenge levels, the atmosphere was so strange and unsettling, and genuinely required you to be good at the free running mechanics. This story and characters too are so fun, it’s great to re experience Ezios intro. It feels really well paced to start as a young rich shit in Florence and see the character grow and understand more around him. The historical aspect is great too, the architecture of each location is diverse and specific, Venice especially is still such a fuckin LOOKER. Definitely old, but as a long time fan I still adore it. It’s fascinating to play this especially, considering how much I shit on this franchise, because now it’s telling me that I love this series for a reason, and I can’t explain it to anyone. This series never reached its full potential, but god damn it, I still want it to. also I’m gonna get into this more in the next ones but omfg I hate the ending to this game. As a kid I loved this weird sci-fi ancient alien shit but my god through the lens of an adult it’s so lame. Just let me kill the pope in a video game.