After almost a year from my adventures with Geralt of Rivia, I decided to get back to gaming again.
This time, I was thinking between: Skyrim, GTA, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout. And randomly picked Assassin’s Creed.
My first memory of Assassin’s Creed goes back to my college library, reading Digit magazine. Reading how they portrayed the trailer scene, I was super impressed and it got stuck in my mind.
And after all these years, I thought, why not finally enter the Animus?
As always, SPOILER ALERT
Assassins vs Templars – The Philosophy
As a Bitcoiner, the conflict between Assassins and Templars immediately clicked for me and it maps to the real world very much:
- Assassins believe in peace through freedom.
- Individual choice, voluntary action, free markets, Private property, Bitcoin. -> Real world assasins in current date would have opted for this.
- Templars believe in peace through order and control.
- Central planning, fiat, top-down order, socialism. -> Real world templars in current date templars would have opted for this.
Real life is more messy and got 10 layers of nuances than a video game. But the philosophical line is clear: freedom vs control. This made Assassin’s Creed much more interesting for me.
Assassins Creed 1: Revist the memory of Altair
Story happens in 12th Century. Altair intro is not exactly heroic. In the first mission, he was a arrogant, egoistic master assassin who thinks rules are not for him. He disobeys the rules, fails the mission, loses the Apple of Eden (fatal failure) to templars and his actions results in death of fellow assassins.
His mentor, Al Mualim, humbles him. Removes all his weapons and status. Also down ranks Altair from Master Assasin to Novice.
AC1 is super repetitive:
Go to a city/district. Climb Eagle view points, save citizens, pickpocket, eavesdrop, interrogate, kill target, escape -> Repeat this 9 times.
Apart from the amazing Parkour moves, I started hating the fights (Prince of Persia fights are easily 10x better), the missions, etc., But the plot got me glued.
Each assassination slowly reveals that things are not black and white, as the mentor Al Mualim claims. The targets are not really power hungry villains. All of them believe they are creating a better world through order and control. Some of their stories:
- A doctor templar, believes he is healing broken people. But his version of healing is imprisonment, torture and control.
- Another templar, a slave trader, believes he is not destroying people’s lives. But saving them from chaos by giving them purpose.
- For another templar, fear is a tool for justice and obedience.
- Another templar burns books. Because he believes knowledge can mislead people. Very Templar logic. If ideas are dangerous, destroy the ideas.
Through all these assassinations, Templar’s final words make us question our own reality, our own beliefs, assumptions. They also want peace. But their peace comes through control. Assassins want peace through freedom.
A side note: I didn’t want to continue with AC2, once this game is over. Gameplay was not worth it. Too boring.
Then we follow Robert de Sable (the final templar in the list), and the game throws another twist. When Altair tries to kill Robert, it turns out the person under the helmet is not Robert at all. It is Maria, a woman and Templar agent acting as his decoy.
Altair spares her.
Then follow to kill Robert. With this, the repetitiveness is broken and the gameplay got interesting again. It’s a long and hard journey, with loads of (boring) fights and finally we get to defeat Robert in an intense fight. But Robert’s final words reveals the mother of all twists: An another hidden and main villain.
Then we defeat him as well and gets the Apple of Eden. After killing the final villan, Altair tries to destory the Apple of Eden, and failed only to realize there are more pieces of Eden, spread across the world. Some in US and Australia, which is un-discovered land back in 12th century.
And then happened the father of all twists, in the land of Desmond miles. The 2012 guy, in whose memory traces, we played the whole Altair’s life mission.
He wakes up in his bed and he gets Eagle vision! He could see random, cryptic scribling in blood in the wall behind his bed through the Eagle vision. And the credits started rolling. Fkkkkk Fk Fk!
Now I can’t wait to install AC2 to understand how in the hell Desmond got Eagle vision (Ubisoft scripted GoT ending style climax, way back in 2007).
Assassins Creed 2: Ezio Auditore da Firenze
AC2 was much better in gameplay and even environment than AC1. But still I didn’t like the sword fights. Missed Prince of persia style, rock solid sword fights.
Lucy rescues Desmond and takes him to the Assassin hideout. There, we enter the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze (15th Century). Ezio is where things becomes more connecting and emotional.
AC2 is all about Italy. Florence. Venice. Renaissance. Da Vinci. Family. Betrayal. Revenge. This game made me longing to visit Italy and see places showcased in the game.
Now to the plot:
Ezio starts as a charming young man, enjoying life, romance and family. Then everything collapses. His father and brothers are betrayed and executed, in front of eyes. From then, his life becomes one long road of revenge, discovery and transformation.
He starts with anger. Then he slowly understands the Creed, the conspiracy, the Templars, and the bigger century long war behind his personal tragedy.
And Da Vinci is a such a super-duper joy. Every time he appears, the game becomes lighter. Hidden blades, flying machine, inventions, Cart race/escape, friendship.
And Caterina deserves a special mention. When the Orsi brothers capture her children and demand the Apple of Eden. She refuses to trade it, pulls up her skirt and says: Bastards! Take my children, I have the instrument to make more. See the scene for yourself:
Absolute madwoman energy. And the look on the Orsi guys face!
The ending again goes full Assassin’s Creed madness.
Ezio reaches the vault and find the Gods (not actually gods). They tell a long message about a future planetary event, that might end all life on Earth. They also asks Ezio to stfu, his role as prophet is over and all them to communicate this message through him. Super confused Ezio (and ofc. us) stand there, listening to their amusing stories.
And in the end, they say. Our role is done, Now is your turn, Desmond miles!
Desmond says “What the fuck!” and exactly at the same time, same words, same emotion happens in our mind. What a fking sync. -> Magical moment is a true understatement!
அடேய் Ubisoft. எப்டி டா இப்டி லாம் யோசிக்கறீங்க!
And how they made us feel the same emotion as Desmond at the same time. It can never be explained, can only be played and experienced.
Both desmond and us sitting there thinking, what the hell is actually happening?
Just like AC1 ending (or more impactful), This is where I became more addicted to the plot than the gameplay.
The game leaves you pondering over what the fuck is happening, a strong sense of emptiness, that you start missing Ezio, Italy, Venice. AC2 is a perfection of what AC1 started.
Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember, nothing is true.
Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember, everything is permitted.
– Assassins Creed