I started playing this game for the first time last week and was really blown away when I started on the glyph puzzles. These games can say there’s a global history-spanning conspiracy war all they want, but it be presented to us like this, through clues hidden inside of famous paintings and photos, in the shadows of real historic figures, feels so cool and so mysterious!
The Joan of Arc one legitimately frightened me my first time playing the game, but those side quests made the conflict feel so real in a way not many other games before or since have. As I’ve studied much more history since then, I’ve grown to appreciate the series in a new way.
It was such a wild trip, I played it through with a friend, both in our late 20's having been fans of computer games and couldn't believe how far they had come, it felt like a whole new way to tell a story.
For real. The dude was so friggin slick we use his name as an adjective for being a conniving bastard, and here he's just...gobsmacked at a plan more subtle than charging at them while screaming bloody murder.
Machiavelli should have been a Templar leader or something, it feels like he wasted here. Or someone playing both sides or something. You really don't learn much about him despite his absolutely huge involvement in Florentine politics Of course there are a bunch of other Renaissance characters missing here, but you cannot include them all. Cannot figure out what Marcello Ficino or Pico della Mirandola could do here.
@@tj-co9goyeah Machiavelli in 2 and especially brotherhood just doesnt feel like machiavelli. It would’ve made so much more sense for him to have been a high ranking Templar, his ideology was so much more in line with them and not the Assassins
Correct me if I'm wrong as it's been a couple years since I've played II and Brotherhood, but isn't the in-game justification because Ezio inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince?
I don't think you should be so down on your work here. The Lord of the Rings is great and all, but I love video games, I love dissecting them, and I love hearing others do the same. I learn so much about storytelling through this style of content, and your work in particular is incredible. So many game critique channels are comfortable just summarizing the plot and providing no commentary or criticism on HOW a game tells its story. You actually have shit to say, and that's why I'll watch your essays every time. Cheers.
I think the assassination of Uberto being easy is sorta part of the point. He's easy to kill, because as it turns out he doesn't actually matter that much. Ezio is just lashing out at him out of vengence. Maybe he's powerful in Florence, but not in Italy at large.
Borgia definitely strikes me as someone who would consider living in shame a harsher punishment than to be killed outright. To go on after having (what he believes to be) the power to tame God stripped away from him, knowing that his life’s work and the singular reason he became Pope, to open the vault, is the destiny of another man might be a greater cruelty to him than just having his throat opened up. Probably not what Ezio was going for, but it’s a reading.
My god, why tf don't you have more subs? This content is insane. Almost SIX HOURS? You're the absolute maddest of lads, I look forward to 10 years in the future when we get a 30 hour long video on Baldur's Gate 3.
I’m only 45 mins in, but I want to say I’m glad a channel like yours exists, most long form video game critiques usually only take surface level looks at narratives, even when praising them, so to focus on so deep on everything narrative, especially for a video game isn’t very common, it’s appreciated and it adds extra appreciation to the games you cover
Agree with all here. FYI if you're looking for another long-form narrative critique RUclipsr, then check out Noah Gervais if you haven't already. He is in my view the #1 for long form narrative/thematic video game critique (Duke of Whales is rapidly joining that tier as well!). Like Duke, Noah is all about story, character, themes. He has been going for 10 years and has hundreds of hours of top tier content, all with exceedingly good narration. He falls down a bit on technical aspects - you won't see any memes or clever editing - but his video game narrative analysis is, in my opinion, second to none on RUclips. His 9.5-hour Fallout series video is a standout, for example.
While this is new, I want to thank you for taking the time, care, and dedication to make a video on this game of this length. Showing love for these older games shows me and the community that the love for these games is still there, and still shared by the community. These games can and will be discussed on any and every level and it will never be enough to sum up all of the feelings shared by the collective community. These games are actually timeless. They will live forever. How blessed are we? To share our stories across generations.
FIVE. MONTHS. You vanish for five months, no word of any return and with so much left unsaid. I myself begun to fear you had died. And you return with *THIS?* My friend, this was well worth the wait, and well worth the time it took to watch. Welcome back!
I think Giovanni wanted to prosecute Francesco de' Pazzi for "scandal value". Directly killing him would have meant just one more templar out of the picture, but condemning him would have discredited all of his familiy and all his collaborators; striking a more significant blow to the templar order. It was not uncommon for powerful man to sue a member of a rival family, especially in the city-states of ancient Greece and of reinassance Italy. Anyway, so far, I've loved this video. Much love form Italy.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense for the Assassins to evolve like this, because the nature of political power was evolving. For Altair to run around literally assassinating powerful figures makes a lot of sense in the context of a war zone. These men's power is a martial one. But for Giovanni, his enemies power lies in the realms of politics and social life. Killing them raises eyebrows and suspicion, but if you "assassinate" their character, show conclusively that they're untrustworthy, their power collapses
Okay I rarely comment but I have to disagree with your point about its-a-me Mario! It happens right after the tension dies down and it positively killed me laughing. Mario has a ton of development later on, so this one joke is honestly 100% worth it and it would be a lesser game without it. The fact that you personally don't like a joke doesn't make it "not worth it". Assuming that "nobody would laugh at this" is ridiculous when this one moment is iconic and well known and loved. Otherwise great video!
Yeah. I think Duke's complaint might be because the line is very obviously a video game reference so it might be immersion breaking in a story that up to that point was taking itself seriously and so it leans a bit too hard on being a sudden shock moment where you notice the writer's presence, but it's not aggravating to the point of saying that it's completely unfunny. Maybe with a small tweak it could've worked so that everyone could be happy, but it's fine as-is in my opinion too. One thing I think Duke has not realized yet is the many parallels Assassin's Creed starts having to Metal Gear Solid ever since this installment, where I think Ubisoft have been more and more influenced by MGS' directing and writing, but tweaking it so to be more appealing to a western demographic by focusing on other kinds of humor. Everything from the way you have an entire cast of different and specialized secondary characters to a story that has an entire passage of time and some rather eccentric side characters plus the game design itself seem very inspired from Metal Gear. Heck, Brotherhood literally has VR missions and the overall design of the stealth gameplay prioritizes speed and concealment more than patience and caution like Splinter Cell and Thief. Metal Gear and Assassin's Creed from that point is all about running towards enemies and stabbing them in the face or hiding in plain sight in order to approach them directly in a stealthy way instead of sneaking slowly around them. This is a design philosophy that's seldom seen in stealth games. My point with this long ass paragraph is that the "it's-a-me, Mario!" line is the first indication that Assassin's Creed was undergoing a Metal Gear solidification (heh) that, to be honest, I'm mostly fine with. Really the only issue of AC2 is the lack of overall character depth in comparison to the first game because of the truncated narrative that purposefully wants to be more like a traditional action movie instead of a slow thriller film. What is ironic about my statement is that this aspect of the franchise was dropped ever since AC3 released, which ditched most of the Metal Gear influences in favor of trying to go back to being a bit more like the first game, but I feel like there were some missteps and Ubisoft kinda missed the point here or there and didn't actually learn any of the right lessons that could be learned from the Ezio trilogy, both the things it succeeds at and the things it's flawed at that could have been improved upon. Oh well.
I always thought assassins creed is fundamentally a story about existentialism versus external morality. I interpret the "nothing is true, everything is permitted" line as the idea of "existence precedes essence". With the idea is that if nothing is true (existence precedes essence), then humanity is free to define its own essence (everything is permitted).
3:21:30 If it helps assuage your horribly guilty conscience, the English dialogue isn't any more consistent than you with its pronunciations. I kind of like it, though. The script definitely made some _choices,_ being full of historical jargon, randomly waffling between languages, giving you double subtitles, etc. It all muddies the translation in a way where it isn't seamless - you're always noticing it... Much like a New York bartender would. On the other hand, the Italian dub is in (ahistorical) modern standard Italian. It's a shame; Florentine and Venetian are still extant, very distinctive, and mutually intelligible enough to not be foreign to the average Italian speaker. It's a good dub, but it removes that friction (and its accompanying texture) that's always present in the English VO.
Finding your channel and watching your vids recently has been an absolute delight. You clearly put a lot of time and effort into your research and analysis of the games you decide to cover, and it shows! Lookin forward to more stuff in the future!
I was thinking about replaying the early AC games, so now I have the conundrum of replying the games and reexperiancing the story that I haven't seen in over a decade, or watching this awesome video and loosing a lot the point of replaying them. So thank you for making this awesome video, but curse you for making this awesome video!
I've been waiting a long time for this one. Loved the first assassin's creed video - I think so few people take these games seriously as a narrative or art. There's genuinely some interesting stuff in there and I'm glad there's someone out there going through the series to pick that stuff out.
If you want more of stuff like this, Whitelight is an amazing creator who takes very deep dives and critiques at AC games and other popular franchises and titles
When I was younger, the first game I bought for the PS3 was AC1 (because I liked the cover lol), and I simply fell in love with the concept-the freedom of movement, the implied philosophy, the sci-fi aspect, and all the mystery. But when I got to AC2, I felt something was missing. It was prettier, bigger, lighter, but where had the ambiguity, the philosophy, and even the investigations that made the assassinations feel earned gone? The targets looked and acted like inherently bad guys most of the time. I love Ezio's charisma and journey as much as the next person, but the revenge story felt a bit short for me. The things I liked the most were the little pieces of lore scattered around the world. I must be one of the few who prefers Altair's arc overall, not because it's better or more enjoyable, but because it's bold, provocative and unique. The problem isn't Ezio himself, but that his journey became the template for subsequent entries, to the point that revenge became a regular theme in Assassin's Creed. Ezio's family somehow became the theme of the franchise in overused remixes. When Unity last tried (and failed) to bring some ambiguity to the characters, this "formula" was abandoned in favor of a much more generic RPG style that undermines a focused narrative. Origins was again a revenge-for-family plot, with little to no introspection from the protagonist, and somehow this was meant to instigate the birth of the Brotherhood. After that, there were almost no themes related to the Assassins, their creed, or beliefs. Instead, we are playing through Isu mythology and ending important modern-day plots in comics. It's sad that AC1's potential was rarely revisited in future entries, and somehow it became the ugly duckling of the series.
Watching you cover this and AC1 so far has reminded me of why I loved these games growing up, and how far the series has fallen. I even enjoyed AC3 more than I did Black Flag. But nothing compares to the feels I got in Revelations with Altair's death, I legit wept. Cannot wait for you to get to the Altair missions in Revelations. I remember being so obsessed with him as I'd always had a fascination with the Knights Templar even before discovering Assassin's Creed, which I think is why AC1 sticks with me, finding those Red helmet Templar Basterds I spent so many hours trying to find them all.. I also just found Altair so mysterious and cool, I even bought all the books that expanded his stories. I am of the same opinions with the majority of your cons, I love that you made sure to make a big deal out of this games AC title drop as it's probably my favourite in the series. Looking forward to the Brotherhood video, which I hope is minimum 10 hours long, I've been listening to "Ezio Family" and "Echoes of Roman Ruins" from the soundtracks on repeat since watching your AC1 video. I'm fighting the urge to watch your Skyrim videos because I know it'll make me want to play it and I'm trying to do a min max Oblivion playthrough currently. Keep up the awesome work bro
Only an hour and 25 minutes in, but dude, you’re nailing it on the head for my thoughts about this game. I literally clipped the moment where Ezio is just repeating “I don’t know” to his family’s questions. Such a gem. Also, concerning Vieri: I feel no one has taken such a sympathetic view of his character as you have. People in general fail to see the deeper dimensions of his character, and I’ve always seen him as a, as you put it, “dark mirror” to Ezio’s character; he wasn’t some inherently evil monster, but a kid, just like Ezio, set on a different path due to factors outside of his control. I also wish that AC2 touched more on the religious philosophy that was so heavily present in AC1, with the Renaissance being the perfect time period in which to do this. In short, you’re taking the words out of my mouth. Great video and I’ll probably come back when I’m done just to lay more praise on you.
María Auditore was obviously SAed. She looks unharmed, she's catatonic, and she's a woman. And I do think the game should've addressed that with more seriousness. I mean, I understand not wanting to name the deed, but at least she should've been avenged somehow.
Okay but seriously I really love the fact that you call your videos narrative critiques and then actually deliver narrative critique. So many channels on RUclips think ALL they have to do is rehash the story with some commentary thrown in here and there and that that counts as a critique, but the fact you actually go in-depth and explain what's going on to make the story tick and provide extra information, little nuggets on historical references and such, that's what elevates something to an actual critique. Love your shit, can't wait for the next video on a game I've never played.
1:05:54 They are calling Abstergo Animus primitive because in a technical view it is old and wasn't as advanced, for example, because of it Altair couldnt swim, climb fast, etc. It isn't explaining why he's so "boring" in the first game but actually explaining why the first game is so primitive
I really appreciate you taking the time to give your informed thoughts on this story. The assassin's creed games mean a lot me (especially the Desmond games) and I really get a lot out of your videos and analyses to bolster the depth of my connection to these stories. I especially liked your video comparing Beowulf to the story of Skyrim.
Gods, I love these narrative analysis videos. The AC1 video was great but I really saw what makes your videos shine in the Gollum one; the amount of consideration and insight you put into it makes these videos such enjoyable and thought-provoking watches. My memory of AC2 is very rusty, but I'm sure I wouldn't have considered half of these details without this analysis.
I'm at like the 2 and half hour mark and I really think that the choice to have Ezio spare Rodrigo gets more bizarre gets more bizarre when you realize there was a really good alternative beat if you wanted to show the character development that they're trying to. Final mission: your objective is to kill Rodrigo Borgia without harming anybody else. Ezios seen the same characterization of these henchman that we have through the course of the game. Most of these guysbarent villains, they're not stone cold killers, they're just people caught in the Templars web and they're SCARED. The real conclusion should be, yes Rodrigo Borgia has to die, but nobody else does.
I don't know if it's intentional in the text, but I think Ezio deciding to fistfight Rodrigo can work thematically when you take Altair's "I have no answers to our apparent hypocrisy" into account. For all the philosophizing and ideological waxing that Assassins do over the centuries, for all their high-minded ideals and Ezio's speech, at the end of the day, his journey comes down to a contest of violence, and he seems to recognize that. In a more tightly written third act, I think we would have more explicit wondering by Ezio if that is the way to go about things, and his shedding of every pretense to just beat Rodrigo half to death and then spit the Assassin's Creed in his face and walk away to claim Rodrigo's life's prize in front of him could be him rejecting the idea he's anything other than a murderer when it comes down to it. That would be a much, MUCH darker direction for Ezio, and it doesn't really work with Brotherhood and Revelation but, y'know, it could have been interesting... I also completely forgot about Teodora's "sex as love and sex as religious liberation" thing... Looking back on it, I saw it as a joke on her part, a sort of wink and nod about her dressing as a nun, but seeing how much they flesh it out knowing how the company was for women at the time is a little disgusting.
Sorry to be this guy in a room, but about this probability thingy with keypad: the number of all possible tries of three different combinations is 24*23*22 (Desmond wouldn't pick the same combination twice). The number of all wrong triples of combinations is 23*22*21 (we choose only from 23 wrong combinations). So the chance that he wouldn't guess it in three tries is 21/24=7/8. He has 12.5% chance of succes. Still pretty low, but better than 4.5%. 1/22 would be the chance of guessing correct combination, assuming you've already tested two combinations before and were incorrect. But you need to multiply this by the chance of not guessing these two previous combinations (23*22)/(24*23)=11/12 and add the chance of getting it right in two tries (1/12) which yields 1/8. Putting that aside, it's great that you've made such extensive analysis. Though they is plenty of AC content on youtube, they rarely dwelled on narrative in an interesting way.
I forget where I read this but Rosa's voice actress passed away during or towards the end of development. Which explains her very truncated presence towards the back half of the game.
Dude. Holy shit. I stumbled on your channel when I found your Firewatch video and loved it. I’ve since watched all your other vids save for the first one on Oblivion since I’ve never played it. Now, I remember your channel and come to check if you have any new videos just to find a 6 hr long vid on one of my favorite games of all time. Keep doing what you’re doing man. Idc what the numbers say, this shit is gold.
Hey man, have you thought about making a Patreon, or at least adding youtube memberships? I know now you dont have a lot of followers so you probably wont have a lot of subscriptions, but I'd still love to support your work in some financial way I know how long videos like this take, I waste 6-12 hours on movie review, and thats not counting the editing... :D
So glad youtube reconmended me your channel right after you posted your first video. Love the content, absolutley top tier stuff to play in the background whilst I'm doing other things, keep up the good work my guy
02:38:52 - I think you missed an important detail about AC lore. It doesn't matter that Desmond sees the memory of Altair in Acre without the Animus. AC1 established that the memories of ancestors are stored in the DNA. The moment the camera pulls away from Altair, and focuses on Maria's stomach, is a moment their son was conceived! Desmond is PHYSICALLY incapable of reliving any of Altair's memories from that point onward, because the DNA HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED to Altair's son. Because memories are stored in DNA, you can only have the memories of your ancestor that were recorded BEFORE they passed their DNA to their child (your next direct ancestor). After the love scene with Altair and Maria, Desmond would have the genetic memories of their son, not Altair. This is exactly why AC Revelations had to invent these memory discs that Altair used to pass his later memories to Ezio. This technology allowed Ubisoft to work around the limitation of DNA and show us glimpses of Altair's life AFTER he had a child, for example, when he was an old man. This is also a reason why AC Revelation's doesn't end with Ezio's death. It ends when Ezio settles down with Sofia. Within AC lore, you can NEVER see the memories of your ancestor's death. Why? Because the DNA with these memories could not possibly be passed on! A dead guy can no longer make a kid who could inherit the memories of dad's death.
43:00 You're absolutely right. Killing these 2 guards always felt wrong to me. In my playthroughs, I would always block their attacks until the dialogue is exhausted and then run away without killing them. I think it makes more sense story-wise.
I watched all six hours of this video and I loved every minute. I hope you keep up your videos because they get me through my 10 hour shifts and the way you articulate your thoughts and analyze various sections of this game REALLY made me want to play them again!
With regards to Rosa and Ezio's relationship, I believe the voice actress has sadly passed away during or after the recording of this game. Which explains why they couldn't add more scenes and dialogue with her and went with more depth being addednto her in the novel. Edit: I see you mentioned it later, well done, great research. 👌
I rarely hit the “like” button on RUclips. But you absolutely deserve it. You 100% deserve a million + subs, & I have no doubt given a little more time & a few more videos you’ll get there. Your voice, speech, analysis & quality are all already on the level of a MASSIVE channel. Keep going man, whatever goals you have I’m certain you’re gonna smash them.
I feel pretty vindicated by this video. When I played the game more than a decade ago the story beyond the first act just kinda slid off my brain, and the time skips annoyed the fuck out of me. But people kept telling me the story was great and, I thought this was my fault and I wasn't engaging properly with the story. To see this, more than a decade later, tells me my assessment back then was right. The gameplay is a ton of fun, but the story is simply a mess.
Agreed as well. I feel like there's a lot of people who did think that the story was flawed, but unfortunately, mainstream media is the way it is; something gets critically acclaimed or hated and then it's immune to any sort of dissertation for quite a while until the noise dials down, and even then, it's not always that people can set aside their bias, due to either nostalgia or refusal to change a status quo. AC2 really is fine, but I think the first game, Brotherhood, Revelations and even Origins had much better writing, even if Revelations also has some jank too and a kind of weak antagonist. I think the worst part about this game however isn't even the fact that it's flawed, it's the fact that the massive popularity of it has taught Ubisoft all the wrong lessons later on, such as pretty much copypasting plot beats wholesale in quite a lot of their games (AC Unity, even Origins as much as I like it, even games outside of AC such as Watch Dogs 1 with the whole dead niece thing) and didn't manage to improve any of it's flaws because Ubisoft think that players *liked* the flaws, if that makes sense.
@@SolidStateSimulationsAC2 has things on paper that work well with its nuance on a surface level but ultimately don't delve in or interrogate those aspects within the story; maybe there's an underlying subject thag is the matter of perspective when it comes to Ezio's 'growth' throughout the years in AC2 but despite this Ezio feels tired since he never chose this life himself, then this is the matter to which Ezio's speech might arguably work in the bonfires, since he's able to gain an outlook onto different perspectives based on the violence, depravity etc. that his teachers went through despite never stranding him away from the path that Ezio was pursuing & it's why he said those things but that doesn't mean that it validates Ezio's teachers with not offing the Borgia nor Ezio himself. to me, AC: Origins is a drawn in parallel with AC2 since both utilise the same ordeal that transpired for their own presentation that Ubisoft utilised in for the games especially the backlash from the consumers that certain AC games received with AC2 being the subset of the backlash from AC1 & Origins with AC: Unity/Syndicate... one more thing, Revelations doesn't really have an 'antagonist' that plays or serves a re-enacment of a being such as Cesare Borgia, to which was a creative choice to make for how Ezio's characterisation transpired throughout the years in Brotherhood (even AC2) to Revelations. I'd also like to look at your thoughts regarding how Revelations' antagonist is 'weak'.
@@godzillazfriction I did say "kind of" weak in Revelations, but I didn't elaborate on it because I don't think it's necessarily an issue. Revelations is focused on other things in the story and I think it does a tremendously good job at that, in fact I want to even say it has a lot of my favorite scenes in the series. I just think Ahmet is kind of unremarkable, but not necessarily "BAD" either. And you're correct; it feels like it's done on purpose. I feel like there *is* the possibility they could have done a better job (by which I mean having a more remarkable antagonist that opposes the things Ezio has learned and matured over the years), but if the choice is between having a "weak" antagonist and yet another clone of Rodrigo Borgia or Cesare, then I prefer things the way they are. I don't really have much to even complain about Revelations other than vaulting still being missing and no horses lol, because in a lot of other areas, I like it as-is to a degree that other people disagree with me, and that's fine. And you're also right about Origins as well, although to be fair, Origins was not the first time that Ubisoft pulled the "let's do something like AC2 again" after receiving backlash as with AC1. The first time that happened was with AC3 and Black Flag (even if the latter has it's fans) because a lot of people at the time accused AC3 of being boring because Connor isn't as charismatic or likable as Ezio was (and it's not helped that his most interesting scenes are cut content, fuck you Ubisoft), and some also said AC4 wasn't a "real Assassin's Creed game" because it had a bigger focus on ship combat and you didn't play as an assassin proper until Edward becomes one much later. So to me at least, Unity felt like the first time Ubisoft said "okay so people are not liking the direction we've went with the story, so let's do something more similar to AC2 again". But to give Origins credit, I think Origins did a better job than Unity at creating a coherent and interesting story despite using established formulas because while the events that happen are "similar" in a superficial way, they differ because of the characterization. Ezio and Arno share similarities at the start of their stories where they're both young and naive jackasses who are more interested in vaginas than anything else, while Bayek is more notably a warrior that, at the start of the story, is already a sworn protector of Egypt. The roles are also reversed as well when it comes to the "family member dies" bit because in the case of AC2 and Unity, it's a parent (plus brothers in AC2), and in the case of Origins, Bayek loses his son, and so he grieves and deals with it and perceives that loss in a different manner. Ezio wants to immediately run away and deny the call to action while Bayek *wants* revenge, but then he grows to want to *understand* what happened. In AC2, Ezio and Arno still takes some convincing for them to join the assassins, while Bayek doesn't undergo the regular hero's journey formula (call to action and refusal of the call, etc). In the case of Arno, this is fast tracked by the plot because he conveniently falls in a prison right alongside an assassin who knew his father. Unity also has a lot of contrivances that are better covered in an interesting video that I'll link here : ruclips.net/video/JNmOrmXGn0E/видео.htmlfeature=shared I still like Origins' plot quite a lot despite some of their superficial similarities to AC2 (dead parents, going to Rome for a bit for the final act, etc etc) because it's what they do with the actual characters within the frame of the story that matters to me the most. Bayek and Ezio and everyone else in Origins are so fundamentally different and yet equally interesting that I think Origins is one of the strongest stories in the series *since* Revelations. Not that some of the other ones in between are bad, I just found Origins specifically to be pretty remarkable. It might play it safe in some areas, but I definitely don't think it played TOO safe either because it has a lot of unique elements and this raw energy that only it seems to have that's hard for me to describe. Bayek interrogating people he kills is often raw where he often loses his temper because he's overwhelmed with emotion due to a strong sense of *want* to punish and enact justice and revenge and gradually learns to control it, whereas the interrogation scenes in the rest of the series is often more calm and collected because the assassins have learned the lessons and wisdom that Bayek and his successors passed on to them. This is a pretty long comment, but not only you give me the impression that you might be interested in a longer more detailed answer, I don't think I could make this shorter even if I wanted. You raised some interesting points, so they demand interesting answers.
As a military guy and and uncle, when at 1:08:40 would be something I would do to my nephew if my name was Mario. It encapsulates the fun uncles are but we can be serious when we need to be. Also i believe this scene was to reassure Ezio that he's with family and he shouldn't be treated as a hostile. You could also say it allows a little bit of levity for the player after being bombarded by death and destruction ala Saul Goodman. I think you overanalyzed this tbh.
Would love to hear your thoughts on: Wolf Among us Last of us part 2 Witcher 3 (Understand thats a v long game) tails noir (shorter game, I think it started off well but lost me completely in the ending) walking dead games would be cool actually of course the god of war games life is strange would be fun disco elysium would be wild maybe the quarry or until dawn? Those games really try (mixed results) to transcend the medium and attract the 'non gamers' Oxenfree is one of my fav games of all time so excited for that one. I hope you are able to pace yourself as it's crazy how fast these are coming out, wouldn't want your life outside of yt to suffer but im sure you all good :)
I watched the AC1 video and 2 hours of this while I built a Lego project before settling in to watch the rest with my full attention and I really enjoyed your talks about the actual real life history and other more mythological/religious additions since when I played 1 and the Ezio trilogy originally I was a young kid who didn't fully grasp the full context for things besides 'traveling through history is fun' and having not replayed them in full since then, it was really interesting to hear all those added bits of context to the large whole. Totally earned my sub from these two videos and I will watch the rest of your work in due time!
Much of this game and its legacy as a mark in pop culture stems from how much more appealing it is than its predecessor, regardless of critical analysis. A fun, romantic, somewhat educational (with the Animus Codex entries) tale of revenge and uncovering a conspiracy throughout Renaissance Italy was something of a blockbuster in its own merit (just not as WAY POPULAR than a certain Modern Warfare 2, out in the same year, mind you...). Looking back at it, it certainly has its flaws, but I fondly remember how it had me glued to my screen enamored with its universe, and funnily enough caught the attention of my mother, one not very familiar with video games, enamored as well with the vistas of Italy the game had in it. She got curious enough that borrowed the novelization from me to get to know a little bit more about it (she wouldn't conceive how to operate a gamepad, so reading about its story would be the closest best thing to do). She even took it upon herself to learn some italian while at it, and dreamed of visiting Italy inspired by it! As for me, the passion for this universe and its historical fiction was enough that a mere quick study of its Codex gave me knowledge that got enrolled in College, as one the questions for the test required to enroll was about the importance of the port of Venice during the Renaissance, something NO HISTORY LESSON while in High School ever adressed in my classes. It will always have a place in my heart as one of those experiences that are hard to top years on and always good to reminisce... what a game, man...
I’ve been a fan for a while, and I’d like to say that these videos are so well crafted and thoughtful. Good video game story analysis is so hard to find, and it’s great to see people having in depth discussions about a genre of storytelling many have dismissed
Really excited to see you covering these games. I played assassin's creed 2 so many times as a kid and was so excited to see Desmond and Ezio's story progress in brotherhood and revelations (played assassin's creed 1 afterwards and 3 on release). Unfortunately, some circumstances led to me stopping part way through blackflag, and after all of the quality issues with newer games I never really picked the series back up or had a chance to dive deep into all the lore and narratives. Your analysis is so thoughtful and I can tell you also hold a special place in your heart for them as well as the historical background they draw from. Perfect excuse to get back into the series, can't wait for the next one!
I always thought Ezio should have wound up with Rosa. Apparently, it was meant to happen but they dropped the character when the voice actor sadly died. Seems like a crap thing to do in my opinion, for the actress and the game.
@@Drums_of_Liberation unfortunate, I think they would work well. They have some things in common but she's also challenging for him. The other women he was acquainted with are fairly boring in comparison. She's also a close parallel to Maria, I think that's her name, whom Altaïr wound up with.
Absolutely adored every second of this. Fantastic work and effort and incredibly thought provoking. Really made me want to replay with your analysis in mind. Excited for your next video!
Just got recommend your videos by RUclips, Hoping I see more from your channel and that you continue to cover Assassin's Creed serious. I enjoyed this video alot you got some great stuff going here
Before I watch, I have replayed all of the games up until AC3 around a year ago, and from what I can remember... The thing I hated the most were timeskips. AC2 was the worst offender. It seriously distracted me just how often years pass. Brotherhood, instead, has this whole ridiculous ending sequence where we just follow Cesare around throughout the years The only game where I could tolerate that was AC3, cause, at least to me, it was noticeable how much Connor changed in between those timeskips
I always interpreted the second act as Ezio growing detached and depressed. He's learned so much, about what was kept from him, why, and how much he's lost. He's not gained anything back, either, and the taste of revenge has grown... Sour. I interpret this bout of depressed tedium as a foreground that leads to his decision to spare his final target at the end of the game. He's just going through the motions, here, and even when he wasn't he gained none of what he lost. So, in the third act start, he's ruminating on that - and, eventually, wants to try and do something else. Something different. This depression also feeds into why they would imply killing is taking that weight, AND why Leonardo notices him changing. He's depressed, worn by it all, and exhausted mentally. And Leonardo is perceptive enough as an artist and creator to catch that This is just my interpretation, though, for why he feels so distant
I've never been a big AC fan and it took me a month to get through this video in many small sittings, but let me say that your breakdown was very thorough and thoughtful and I greatly enjoyed it
10:40 You are incorrect. Yes, the chance of getting the right combination on the first try is 1/24, but the propability for it on the third attempt is 23/24 * 22/23 * 1/22 or 4.2% as you also have to factor in the chance of choosing the wrong combination on the first two tries. With your method, you would determine that there is a 100% chance of getting it at the 24th attempt, even though getting it exactly 23 times wrong in a row is really unlikely.
This was great. Some of my random thoughts: I was way too young to understand the plot and the deeper meanings of the story when I played AC1 and the Ezio trilogy games for the first time. I adored AC2 and had a lot of fun (yes) running around and being a cool assassin and basically ignored all the modern day Desmond stuff. I am still somewhat lukewarm about it, but I can now kinda appreciate what they were going for originally. And yet, the ending for Ezio in Revelations still stuck out to me. While the game itself is not that great in my opinion, it was worth it to see Ezio in the library with Altair. Really looking forward to you discussing that moment, as I enjoyed a lot of your thoughts here. Great work, and thanks for making this. Cheers.
Odyssey is the first game I’ve really liked in the AC franchise in a while. I never got the charm of Black Flag that everyone else seems to, and I can’t say I understand the weird cultural retcon in the fandom that Unity is “actually good.” There’s something compelling in Odyssey that reminds me of ACII and Brotherhood. The teenager who played those games and desperately wanted to go see Italy bc it was beautiful and interesting and had a dumb little video game to inspire them, really came back to life all these years later because Greece and Kassandra were that compelling. I can’t say the same for Valhalla, a game so dour and unpleasant that I almost didn’t finish it. When AC does something right, it almost feels like an accident.
I went to your channel page to look through the rest of your videos, and saw your comment about "second monitor" content, as I am watching this on my second monitor while working. I felt very seen by this. Good stuff, carry on.
Are you reading too much into these games? Most definitely. However, as a wise man once said, who give a fuck This is amazing. I love this series, I love the lore and the themes and I often wish it examined them deeper or, well, at all. Your videos are almost a glimpse into an alternative world, where Ubisoft is a more creatively focused and better managed company. Will be patiently awaiting the next videos while I chip away at this one during my lunch breaks (my work productivity may suffer, but the things we do for love)
Finally a channel doing long-form plot analysis that's actually ANALYSIS and not just summary. The mix of history, critique and reflection is excellent. instant sub
Honestly the pacing of the game gets a lot more interesting when you consider that (at least in terms of narrative understanding), The player and Desmond himself are basically experiencing the plot from the same perspective. So what if the reason why the game doesn't really cover Ezio's mental struggle with being a professional killer is because Rebecca and Co. don't want to discourage desmond from shirking his duties as an assassin because of him witnessing ezio's struggle with the role. Definitely not what ubisoft intended. But i think that the assassin's being unreliable narrators really leans into the whole overarching ideological war between them and the templars.
I think there is a solution to the problems with the ending, that they didn't take. Instead of the prophecy and Ezio letting Borgia escape, how about this? Ezio has stabbed Rodrigo who survives, if he makes his way to a doctor and if he makes it he will survive, but his men are on the way to the vault, if they get there then the next Templar leader to move in (Cesare) will have the power within the vault. Ezio when given this choice, decides that stopping the Templars from having even more supernatural power is more important than his revenge and lets him escape.
I know it'll be a bit of a wait but I'm looking forward to the video on Revelations. Despite it's flaws in terms of gameplay, I really think it brings the Altair and Ezio storilines to a satisfying conclusion.
This was incredible. I appreciate the time and effort it took to make this possible. Please take your time, enjoy the process as much as you can, and reward yourself for taking the risk of exposing aspects of your work to possible scrutiny. It takes courage to post anything online. To post something which took a lot of time and effort to craft is very commendable. I hope you appreciate how far you've progressed. It's healthy to take a step back and see that distance ventured :)
Whilst the Prince isn't satire, it can be seen as more than just a book going over the realities of politics at the time contrasting what he believes politics should be with The Discourses. He states in The Prince that: "It is my intention to write a book that will be useful, at least to those who read it intelligently, so it appears to me more appropriate to follow up the real truth of the matter than the imagination of it." If we also take into consideration the historical time when Machiavelli wrote the Prince, directly following the Italian Wars and his exile from Florence, a lot of the advice in the Prince is more sound than "The ends justify the means.", It falls closer to "Desperate times call for desperate measures". The Prince is a way for Machiavelli to both expose what it is that keeps tyrants in power, showing the public what tricks princes use behind the scenes, as well as a way for him to give his ideas on what an ideal prince should be in as he believes they still have a place in society and politics. The assassins aren't exactly the most moral of people, they take the lives of people in power occasionally leading to much worse tyrants to take over (Venice), but those are desperate measures in order to keep the population free to take their own path, in direct adherence to the Creed, something that Machiavelli also seems to believe given one of the quotes in The Discourses: "A Republic is more prudent, more stable, and of better judgement than a prince.", a quote stemming from the chapter "That a Multitude is wiser and more constant than a Prince." anyways rant over, fucking phenomenal video and a channel i'll come back to again without fail
Pro-tip as someone who also makes RUclips videos and feels the exact same impulse (I'm not actually a pro ignore me): The audience is much less conscious of minor errors like slightly weird delivery or slightly different audio quality than you are as someone who is listening to your own video over and over during the editing process, so putting little notes apologizing for those kinds of things actually just draw attention to them, very few people will notice otherwise lol
Agreed. It's one thing to keep yourself to a certain level of standard to avoid the mistake that other amateur creators do of not bothering to check their video on post and not bothering to tweak their audio settings or microphone and hastily publishing things haphazardly on RUclips to the point of being unwatchable (which is just terrible and I've seen that too many times), but it's another thing to scrutinize yourself ad nauseum over the slightest mistakes and over compensating for them. Both can be jarring. The middle ground is always better and just saying things without trying too hard to achieve a "perfect delivery" also sounds more sincere and honest if you ask me. It's good to take a second take when a delivery is *REALLY* bad, but these are essays, not really some kind of acting gig for an anime, lol. When people also try way too hard to achieve some kind of dramatic delivery on every line, it can sound too theatrical to downright manipulative when the purpose is to convey a certain emotion that the audience has to somehow feel too, regardless if they agree with the words actually being spoken or not. (cough cough In Defense Of Dark Souls 2 by hbomberguy cough cough, no offense to hbomb he's otherwise a great creator but that video's just ughhhhh)
Just found your channel and wanted to say your videos are superb! Please continue with the Assassin's Creed series! Your analysis has shown me so much nuance and understanding that I never picked up on when playing these games as a kid.
TL;DW -- It’s fun. It’s fine. A much shorter video on Oxenfree is coming up next and then the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim!
My notification bell will be on 😂
Oxenfree is a great game, Unique dialogue system too.
I’m excited for that! Also hoping you one day get to AC4 black flag lol
Very excited for Oxenfree!
Id' love to hear your thoughts/ analysis on the Oxenfree sequel too.
Pumping out a 6 hour video as a a 30k sub channel, you’re insane
Insane and goated
It’s amazing.
I'm a sucker for looong video essays to have in the background, surely I'm not the only one
Insane? I think it's a godlike move.
Thats why he wont stay at 30k!
So much effort and passion
Whenever you cut to it I have laugh at how funny it is that in this game of historic drama the finale has you fist-fighting the pope
Peak gaming right there
My kind of holy war.
I hope whoever came up with that idea got a promotion back then
I think that was when the series really jumped the shark and am 100% here for it.
I will never forget the insanely creepy puzzles telling the backstory and all of the stuff regarding the Apple and stuff. Gave me chills.
Absolutely, and I played the game without touching the first. So I was actually trying to piece together the implications of every little tidbit
I started playing this game for the first time last week and was really blown away when I started on the glyph puzzles. These games can say there’s a global history-spanning conspiracy war all they want, but it be presented to us like this, through clues hidden inside of famous paintings and photos, in the shadows of real historic figures, feels so cool and so mysterious!
This Stuff was so good
That Potential...but man how they wasted it
The Joan of Arc one legitimately frightened me my first time playing the game, but those side quests made the conflict feel so real in a way not many other games before or since have. As I’ve studied much more history since then, I’ve grown to appreciate the series in a new way.
It was such a wild trip, I played it through with a friend, both in our late 20's having been fans of computer games and couldn't believe how far they had come, it felt like a whole new way to tell a story.
Including literal Machiavelli in a game and having him be surprised by the idea of not attacking someone directly is so funny to me
For real. The dude was so friggin slick we use his name as an adjective for being a conniving bastard, and here he's just...gobsmacked at a plan more subtle than charging at them while screaming bloody murder.
Machiavelli should have been a Templar leader or something, it feels like he wasted here. Or someone playing both sides or something. You really don't learn much about him despite his absolutely huge involvement in Florentine politics
Of course there are a bunch of other Renaissance characters missing here, but you cannot include them all. Cannot figure out what Marcello Ficino or Pico della Mirandola could do here.
@@tj-co9goyeah Machiavelli in 2 and especially brotherhood just doesnt feel like machiavelli. It would’ve made so much more sense for him to have been a high ranking Templar, his ideology was so much more in line with them and not the Assassins
Correct me if I'm wrong as it's been a couple years since I've played II and Brotherhood, but isn't the in-game justification because Ezio inspired Machiavelli to write The Prince?
@@BoZoiD57 yes
I don't think you should be so down on your work here. The Lord of the Rings is great and all, but I love video games, I love dissecting them, and I love hearing others do the same. I learn so much about storytelling through this style of content, and your work in particular is incredible. So many game critique channels are comfortable just summarizing the plot and providing no commentary or criticism on HOW a game tells its story. You actually have shit to say, and that's why I'll watch your essays every time. Cheers.
Main monitor channel + comment.
I'm surprised DukeofWhales hasn't made a patreon, this the kind of channel and deep analysis I'd love to support.
I think the assassination of Uberto being easy is sorta part of the point. He's easy to kill, because as it turns out he doesn't actually matter that much. Ezio is just lashing out at him out of vengence. Maybe he's powerful in Florence, but not in Italy at large.
Borgia definitely strikes me as someone who would consider living in shame a harsher punishment than to be killed outright. To go on after having (what he believes to be) the power to tame God stripped away from him, knowing that his life’s work and the singular reason he became Pope, to open the vault, is the destiny of another man might be a greater cruelty to him than just having his throat opened up.
Probably not what Ezio was going for, but it’s a reading.
Yeah that's exactly what I thought too, that to just kill him is the fate Borgia would prefer over being kept alive to stew in his failure and shame.
I also read this as the last time Ezio ever spares a major enemy precisely over what happens immediately after this in brotherhood 😂
My god, why tf don't you have more subs? This content is insane. Almost SIX HOURS? You're the absolute maddest of lads, I look forward to 10 years in the future when we get a 30 hour long video on Baldur's Gate 3.
I'll be there, comrade
I’m only 45 mins in, but I want to say I’m glad a channel like yours exists, most long form video game critiques usually only take surface level looks at narratives, even when praising them, so to focus on so deep on everything narrative, especially for a video game isn’t very common, it’s appreciated and it adds extra appreciation to the games you cover
Agree with all here. FYI if you're looking for another long-form narrative critique RUclipsr, then check out Noah Gervais if you haven't already. He is in my view the #1 for long form narrative/thematic video game critique (Duke of Whales is rapidly joining that tier as well!). Like Duke, Noah is all about story, character, themes. He has been going for 10 years and has hundreds of hours of top tier content, all with exceedingly good narration. He falls down a bit on technical aspects - you won't see any memes or clever editing - but his video game narrative analysis is, in my opinion, second to none on RUclips. His 9.5-hour Fallout series video is a standout, for example.
While this is new, I want to thank you for taking the time, care, and dedication to make a video on this game of this length. Showing love for these older games shows me and the community that the love for these games is still there, and still shared by the community. These games can and will be discussed on any and every level and it will never be enough to sum up all of the feelings shared by the collective community.
These games are actually timeless. They will live forever. How blessed are we? To share our stories across generations.
the crappy flute noises really enhance the overall quality of the video
FIVE. MONTHS. You vanish for five months, no word of any return and with so much left unsaid. I myself begun to fear you had died. And you return with *THIS?*
My friend, this was well worth the wait, and well worth the time it took to watch. Welcome back!
I think Giovanni wanted to prosecute Francesco de' Pazzi for "scandal value". Directly killing him would have meant just one more templar out of the picture, but condemning him would have discredited all of his familiy and all his collaborators; striking a more significant blow to the templar order. It was not uncommon for powerful man to sue a member of a rival family, especially in the city-states of ancient Greece and of reinassance Italy.
Anyway, so far, I've loved this video. Much love form Italy.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense for the Assassins to evolve like this, because the nature of political power was evolving.
For Altair to run around literally assassinating powerful figures makes a lot of sense in the context of a war zone. These men's power is a martial one. But for Giovanni, his enemies power lies in the realms of politics and social life. Killing them raises eyebrows and suspicion, but if you "assassinate" their character, show conclusively that they're untrustworthy, their power collapses
I can't wait to watch almost 6 hours video about a game i've only seen walkthroughs of.
Okay I rarely comment but I have to disagree with your point about its-a-me Mario! It happens right after the tension dies down and it positively killed me laughing. Mario has a ton of development later on, so this one joke is honestly 100% worth it and it would be a lesser game without it. The fact that you personally don't like a joke doesn't make it "not worth it".
Assuming that "nobody would laugh at this" is ridiculous when this one moment is iconic and well known and loved. Otherwise great video!
Yeah. I think Duke's complaint might be because the line is very obviously a video game reference so it might be immersion breaking in a story that up to that point was taking itself seriously and so it leans a bit too hard on being a sudden shock moment where you notice the writer's presence, but it's not aggravating to the point of saying that it's completely unfunny. Maybe with a small tweak it could've worked so that everyone could be happy, but it's fine as-is in my opinion too.
One thing I think Duke has not realized yet is the many parallels Assassin's Creed starts having to Metal Gear Solid ever since this installment, where I think Ubisoft have been more and more influenced by MGS' directing and writing, but tweaking it so to be more appealing to a western demographic by focusing on other kinds of humor. Everything from the way you have an entire cast of different and specialized secondary characters to a story that has an entire passage of time and some rather eccentric side characters plus the game design itself seem very inspired from Metal Gear. Heck, Brotherhood literally has VR missions and the overall design of the stealth gameplay prioritizes speed and concealment more than patience and caution like Splinter Cell and Thief. Metal Gear and Assassin's Creed from that point is all about running towards enemies and stabbing them in the face or hiding in plain sight in order to approach them directly in a stealthy way instead of sneaking slowly around them. This is a design philosophy that's seldom seen in stealth games.
My point with this long ass paragraph is that the "it's-a-me, Mario!" line is the first indication that Assassin's Creed was undergoing a Metal Gear solidification (heh) that, to be honest, I'm mostly fine with. Really the only issue of AC2 is the lack of overall character depth in comparison to the first game because of the truncated narrative that purposefully wants to be more like a traditional action movie instead of a slow thriller film. What is ironic about my statement is that this aspect of the franchise was dropped ever since AC3 released, which ditched most of the Metal Gear influences in favor of trying to go back to being a bit more like the first game, but I feel like there were some missteps and Ubisoft kinda missed the point here or there and didn't actually learn any of the right lessons that could be learned from the Ezio trilogy, both the things it succeeds at and the things it's flawed at that could have been improved upon. Oh well.
LETS FUCKING GOOOOO
I just rewatched the first one last week and was definitely hoping more was to come. love ya duke
I always thought assassins creed is fundamentally a story about existentialism versus external morality. I interpret the "nothing is true, everything is permitted" line as the idea of "existence precedes essence". With the idea is that if nothing is true (existence precedes essence), then humanity is free to define its own essence (everything is permitted).
3:21:30 If it helps assuage your horribly guilty conscience, the English dialogue isn't any more consistent than you with its pronunciations. I kind of like it, though. The script definitely made some _choices,_ being full of historical jargon, randomly waffling between languages, giving you double subtitles, etc. It all muddies the translation in a way where it isn't seamless - you're always noticing it... Much like a New York bartender would.
On the other hand, the Italian dub is in (ahistorical) modern standard Italian. It's a shame; Florentine and Venetian are still extant, very distinctive, and mutually intelligible enough to not be foreign to the average Italian speaker. It's a good dub, but it removes that friction (and its accompanying texture) that's always present in the English VO.
Finding your channel and watching your vids recently has been an absolute delight. You clearly put a lot of time and effort into your research and analysis of the games you decide to cover, and it shows! Lookin forward to more stuff in the future!
In this house, we pretend Ubisoft didn't make Lucy a templar.
Been waiting for your next video and finally here. 💪🏻
Loved the Skyrim Dawnguard essay and would really like to see one of the Dragonborn dlc.
He says in the Pin it's the one after the next!
I was thinking about replaying the early AC games, so now I have the conundrum of replying the games and reexperiancing the story that I haven't seen in over a decade, or watching this awesome video and loosing a lot the point of replaying them. So thank you for making this awesome video, but curse you for making this awesome video!
I've been waiting a long time for this one. Loved the first assassin's creed video - I think so few people take these games seriously as a narrative or art. There's genuinely some interesting stuff in there and I'm glad there's someone out there going through the series to pick that stuff out.
If you want more of stuff like this, Whitelight is an amazing creator who takes very deep dives and critiques at AC games and other popular franchises and titles
You know a video is good when you happily sit through every advert due to wanting that creator to have all of the revenue possible.
Three days ago I was remembering your comment during your AC1 hinting at making more and wondered when those were coming. Thankyou for this. Well done
That's why I love your videos. You give so much of context for a simple phrase "Typical of Sixtus" that it's really interesting to watch.
Jesus dude I i was gonna go to sleep but OK I'll stay up another 5 hours
When I was younger, the first game I bought for the PS3 was AC1 (because I liked the cover lol), and I simply fell in love with the concept-the freedom of movement, the implied philosophy, the sci-fi aspect, and all the mystery.
But when I got to AC2, I felt something was missing. It was prettier, bigger, lighter, but where had the ambiguity, the philosophy, and even the investigations that made the assassinations feel earned gone? The targets looked and acted like inherently bad guys most of the time. I love Ezio's charisma and journey as much as the next person, but the revenge story felt a bit short for me. The things I liked the most were the little pieces of lore scattered around the world.
I must be one of the few who prefers Altair's arc overall, not because it's better or more enjoyable, but because it's bold, provocative and unique. The problem isn't Ezio himself, but that his journey became the template for subsequent entries, to the point that revenge became a regular theme in Assassin's Creed. Ezio's family somehow became the theme of the franchise in overused remixes.
When Unity last tried (and failed) to bring some ambiguity to the characters, this "formula" was abandoned in favor of a much more generic RPG style that undermines a focused narrative. Origins was again a revenge-for-family plot, with little to no introspection from the protagonist, and somehow this was meant to instigate the birth of the Brotherhood. After that, there were almost no themes related to the Assassins, their creed, or beliefs. Instead, we are playing through Isu mythology and ending important modern-day plots in comics.
It's sad that AC1's potential was rarely revisited in future entries, and somehow it became the ugly duckling of the series.
Watching you cover this and AC1 so far has reminded me of why I loved these games growing up, and how far the series has fallen. I even enjoyed AC3 more than I did Black Flag. But nothing compares to the feels I got in Revelations with Altair's death, I legit wept. Cannot wait for you to get to the Altair missions in Revelations. I remember being so obsessed with him as I'd always had a fascination with the Knights Templar even before discovering Assassin's Creed, which I think is why AC1 sticks with me, finding those Red helmet Templar Basterds I spent so many hours trying to find them all.. I also just found Altair so mysterious and cool, I even bought all the books that expanded his stories. I am of the same opinions with the majority of your cons, I love that you made sure to make a big deal out of this games AC title drop as it's probably my favourite in the series. Looking forward to the Brotherhood video, which I hope is minimum 10 hours long, I've been listening to "Ezio Family" and "Echoes of Roman Ruins" from the soundtracks on repeat since watching your AC1 video. I'm fighting the urge to watch your Skyrim videos because I know it'll make me want to play it and I'm trying to do a min max Oblivion playthrough currently.
Keep up the awesome work bro
Only an hour and 25 minutes in, but dude, you’re nailing it on the head for my thoughts about this game. I literally clipped the moment where Ezio is just repeating “I don’t know” to his family’s questions. Such a gem. Also, concerning Vieri: I feel no one has taken such a sympathetic view of his character as you have. People in general fail to see the deeper dimensions of his character, and I’ve always seen him as a, as you put it, “dark mirror” to Ezio’s character; he wasn’t some inherently evil monster, but a kid, just like Ezio, set on a different path due to factors outside of his control. I also wish that AC2 touched more on the religious philosophy that was so heavily present in AC1, with the Renaissance being the perfect time period in which to do this. In short, you’re taking the words out of my mouth. Great video and I’ll probably come back when I’m done just to lay more praise on you.
My afternoon is cooked
Casually drops a near 6 hour video about one of my favorite games? My man, keep it coming.
Been waiting for this one.
five hour duke of wales vid dropped!!! Oh buddy we sleepin good tonight
María Auditore was obviously SAed. She looks unharmed, she's catatonic, and she's a woman. And I do think the game should've addressed that with more seriousness. I mean, I understand not wanting to name the deed, but at least she should've been avenged somehow.
I’m gonna have to lock in for this
I audibly shouted "LETS GO!" when I saw this video was up, and I'm not kidding. I love your essays man and I cant wait for the next one!!!
Babe wake up Duke of Whales dropped a 6-hour video on a game I've never played
Okay but seriously I really love the fact that you call your videos narrative critiques and then actually deliver narrative critique. So many channels on RUclips think ALL they have to do is rehash the story with some commentary thrown in here and there and that that counts as a critique, but the fact you actually go in-depth and explain what's going on to make the story tick and provide extra information, little nuggets on historical references and such, that's what elevates something to an actual critique. Love your shit, can't wait for the next video on a game I've never played.
1:05:54 They are calling Abstergo Animus primitive because in a technical view it is old and wasn't as advanced, for example, because of it Altair couldnt swim, climb fast, etc. It isn't explaining why he's so "boring" in the first game but actually explaining why the first game is so primitive
I really appreciate you taking the time to give your informed thoughts on this story. The assassin's creed games mean a lot me (especially the Desmond games) and I really get a lot out of your videos and analyses to bolster the depth of my connection to these stories. I especially liked your video comparing Beowulf to the story of Skyrim.
Gods, I love these narrative analysis videos. The AC1 video was great but I really saw what makes your videos shine in the Gollum one; the amount of consideration and insight you put into it makes these videos such enjoyable and thought-provoking watches.
My memory of AC2 is very rusty, but I'm sure I wouldn't have considered half of these details without this analysis.
I'm at like the 2 and half hour mark and I really think that the choice to have Ezio spare Rodrigo gets more bizarre gets more bizarre when you realize there was a really good alternative beat if you wanted to show the character development that they're trying to. Final mission: your objective is to kill Rodrigo Borgia without harming anybody else. Ezios seen the same characterization of these henchman that we have through the course of the game. Most of these guysbarent villains, they're not stone cold killers, they're just people caught in the Templars web and they're SCARED.
The real conclusion should be, yes Rodrigo Borgia has to die, but nobody else does.
Loving your content! keep diving into, critiquing, and analyzing my guy! You make some of the best video essays on the site
I am aware that this is a weird thing to say but I wish you would write fanfiction
I get that 😂😂
He would do a fantastic job
40:13
What an Abysmal Ranking of the Robes
Like Damn
AC 2 is S Tier
I don't know if it's intentional in the text, but I think Ezio deciding to fistfight Rodrigo can work thematically when you take Altair's "I have no answers to our apparent hypocrisy" into account. For all the philosophizing and ideological waxing that Assassins do over the centuries, for all their high-minded ideals and Ezio's speech, at the end of the day, his journey comes down to a contest of violence, and he seems to recognize that. In a more tightly written third act, I think we would have more explicit wondering by Ezio if that is the way to go about things, and his shedding of every pretense to just beat Rodrigo half to death and then spit the Assassin's Creed in his face and walk away to claim Rodrigo's life's prize in front of him could be him rejecting the idea he's anything other than a murderer when it comes down to it. That would be a much, MUCH darker direction for Ezio, and it doesn't really work with Brotherhood and Revelation but, y'know, it could have been interesting...
I also completely forgot about Teodora's "sex as love and sex as religious liberation" thing... Looking back on it, I saw it as a joke on her part, a sort of wink and nod about her dressing as a nun, but seeing how much they flesh it out knowing how the company was for women at the time is a little disgusting.
4:25 Jedi stuck in a pee prison
Sorry to be this guy in a room, but about this probability thingy with keypad: the number of all possible tries of three different combinations is 24*23*22 (Desmond wouldn't pick the same combination twice). The number of all wrong triples of combinations is 23*22*21 (we choose only from 23 wrong combinations). So the chance that he wouldn't guess it in three tries is 21/24=7/8. He has 12.5% chance of succes. Still pretty low, but better than 4.5%.
1/22 would be the chance of guessing correct combination, assuming you've already tested two combinations before and were incorrect. But you need to multiply this by the chance of not guessing these two previous combinations (23*22)/(24*23)=11/12 and add the chance of getting it right in two tries (1/12) which yields 1/8.
Putting that aside, it's great that you've made such extensive analysis. Though they is plenty of AC content on youtube, they rarely dwelled on narrative in an interesting way.
I forget where I read this but Rosa's voice actress passed away during or towards the end of development. Which explains her very truncated presence towards the back half of the game.
Awesome work, loved your AC1 video, really good analysis and not just recapping of plot. Can't wait to dig into this one.
Dude. Holy shit. I stumbled on your channel when I found your Firewatch video and loved it. I’ve since watched all your other vids save for the first one on Oblivion since I’ve never played it. Now, I remember your channel and come to check if you have any new videos just to find a 6 hr long vid on one of my favorite games of all time. Keep doing what you’re doing man. Idc what the numbers say, this shit is gold.
Your video on the first game is one of my all time favourite video essays, can't wait to dive into this one!!
Hey man, have you thought about making a Patreon, or at least adding youtube memberships?
I know now you dont have a lot of followers so you probably wont have a lot of subscriptions, but I'd still love to support your work in some financial way
I know how long videos like this take, I waste 6-12 hours on movie review, and thats not counting the editing... :D
Hell yeah! New video!
So glad youtube reconmended me your channel right after you posted your first video. Love the content, absolutley top tier stuff to play in the background whilst I'm doing other things, keep up the good work my guy
02:38:52 - I think you missed an important detail about AC lore. It doesn't matter that Desmond sees the memory of Altair in Acre without the Animus. AC1 established that the memories of ancestors are stored in the DNA. The moment the camera pulls away from Altair, and focuses on Maria's stomach, is a moment their son was conceived! Desmond is PHYSICALLY incapable of reliving any of Altair's memories from that point onward, because the DNA HAS BEEN TRANSMITTED to Altair's son. Because memories are stored in DNA, you can only have the memories of your ancestor that were recorded BEFORE they passed their DNA to their child (your next direct ancestor). After the love scene with Altair and Maria, Desmond would have the genetic memories of their son, not Altair.
This is exactly why AC Revelations had to invent these memory discs that Altair used to pass his later memories to Ezio. This technology allowed Ubisoft to work around the limitation of DNA and show us glimpses of Altair's life AFTER he had a child, for example, when he was an old man. This is also a reason why AC Revelation's doesn't end with Ezio's death. It ends when Ezio settles down with Sofia. Within AC lore, you can NEVER see the memories of your ancestor's death. Why? Because the DNA with these memories could not possibly be passed on! A dead guy can no longer make a kid who could inherit the memories of dad's death.
43:00 You're absolutely right. Killing these 2 guards always felt wrong to me. In my playthroughs, I would always block their attacks until the dialogue is exhausted and then run away without killing them. I think it makes more sense story-wise.
I watched all six hours of this video and I loved every minute. I hope you keep up your videos because they get me through my 10 hour shifts and the way you articulate your thoughts and analyze various sections of this game REALLY made me want to play them again!
With regards to Rosa and Ezio's relationship, I believe the voice actress has sadly passed away during or after the recording of this game. Which explains why they couldn't add more scenes and dialogue with her and went with more depth being addednto her in the novel.
Edit: I see you mentioned it later, well done, great research. 👌
I rarely hit the “like” button on RUclips. But you absolutely deserve it. You 100% deserve a million + subs, & I have no doubt given a little more time & a few more videos you’ll get there. Your voice, speech, analysis & quality are all already on the level of a MASSIVE channel. Keep going man, whatever goals you have I’m certain you’re gonna smash them.
I feel pretty vindicated by this video. When I played the game more than a decade ago the story beyond the first act just kinda slid off my brain, and the time skips annoyed the fuck out of me. But people kept telling me the story was great and, I thought this was my fault and I wasn't engaging properly with the story. To see this, more than a decade later, tells me my assessment back then was right. The gameplay is a ton of fun, but the story is simply a mess.
Agreed as well. I feel like there's a lot of people who did think that the story was flawed, but unfortunately, mainstream media is the way it is; something gets critically acclaimed or hated and then it's immune to any sort of dissertation for quite a while until the noise dials down, and even then, it's not always that people can set aside their bias, due to either nostalgia or refusal to change a status quo. AC2 really is fine, but I think the first game, Brotherhood, Revelations and even Origins had much better writing, even if Revelations also has some jank too and a kind of weak antagonist. I think the worst part about this game however isn't even the fact that it's flawed, it's the fact that the massive popularity of it has taught Ubisoft all the wrong lessons later on, such as pretty much copypasting plot beats wholesale in quite a lot of their games (AC Unity, even Origins as much as I like it, even games outside of AC such as Watch Dogs 1 with the whole dead niece thing) and didn't manage to improve any of it's flaws because Ubisoft think that players *liked* the flaws, if that makes sense.
@@SolidStateSimulationsAC2 has things on paper that work well with its nuance on a surface level but ultimately don't delve in or interrogate those aspects within the story; maybe there's an underlying subject thag is the matter of perspective when it comes to Ezio's 'growth' throughout the years in AC2 but despite this Ezio feels tired since he never chose this life himself, then this is the matter to which Ezio's speech might arguably work in the bonfires, since he's able to gain an outlook onto different perspectives based on the violence, depravity etc. that his teachers went through despite never stranding him away from the path that Ezio was pursuing & it's why he said those things but that doesn't mean that it validates Ezio's teachers with not offing the Borgia nor Ezio himself.
to me, AC: Origins is a drawn in parallel with AC2 since both utilise the same ordeal that transpired for their own presentation that Ubisoft utilised in for the games especially the backlash from the consumers that certain AC games received with AC2 being the subset of the backlash from AC1 & Origins with AC: Unity/Syndicate...
one more thing, Revelations doesn't really have an 'antagonist' that plays or serves a re-enacment of a being such as Cesare Borgia, to which was a creative choice to make for how Ezio's characterisation transpired throughout the years in Brotherhood (even AC2) to Revelations. I'd also like to look at your thoughts regarding how Revelations' antagonist is 'weak'.
@@godzillazfriction I did say "kind of" weak in Revelations, but I didn't elaborate on it because I don't think it's necessarily an issue. Revelations is focused on other things in the story and I think it does a tremendously good job at that, in fact I want to even say it has a lot of my favorite scenes in the series. I just think Ahmet is kind of unremarkable, but not necessarily "BAD" either. And you're correct; it feels like it's done on purpose. I feel like there *is* the possibility they could have done a better job (by which I mean having a more remarkable antagonist that opposes the things Ezio has learned and matured over the years), but if the choice is between having a "weak" antagonist and yet another clone of Rodrigo Borgia or Cesare, then I prefer things the way they are. I don't really have much to even complain about Revelations other than vaulting still being missing and no horses lol, because in a lot of other areas, I like it as-is to a degree that other people disagree with me, and that's fine.
And you're also right about Origins as well, although to be fair, Origins was not the first time that Ubisoft pulled the "let's do something like AC2 again" after receiving backlash as with AC1. The first time that happened was with AC3 and Black Flag (even if the latter has it's fans) because a lot of people at the time accused AC3 of being boring because Connor isn't as charismatic or likable as Ezio was (and it's not helped that his most interesting scenes are cut content, fuck you Ubisoft), and some also said AC4 wasn't a "real Assassin's Creed game" because it had a bigger focus on ship combat and you didn't play as an assassin proper until Edward becomes one much later. So to me at least, Unity felt like the first time Ubisoft said "okay so people are not liking the direction we've went with the story, so let's do something more similar to AC2 again".
But to give Origins credit, I think Origins did a better job than Unity at creating a coherent and interesting story despite using established formulas because while the events that happen are "similar" in a superficial way, they differ because of the characterization.
Ezio and Arno share similarities at the start of their stories where they're both young and naive jackasses who are more interested in vaginas than anything else, while Bayek is more notably a warrior that, at the start of the story, is already a sworn protector of Egypt. The roles are also reversed as well when it comes to the "family member dies" bit because in the case of AC2 and Unity, it's a parent (plus brothers in AC2), and in the case of Origins, Bayek loses his son, and so he grieves and deals with it and perceives that loss in a different manner. Ezio wants to immediately run away and deny the call to action while Bayek *wants* revenge, but then he grows to want to *understand* what happened. In AC2, Ezio and Arno still takes some convincing for them to join the assassins, while Bayek doesn't undergo the regular hero's journey formula (call to action and refusal of the call, etc). In the case of Arno, this is fast tracked by the plot because he conveniently falls in a prison right alongside an assassin who knew his father. Unity also has a lot of contrivances that are better covered in an interesting video that I'll link here :
ruclips.net/video/JNmOrmXGn0E/видео.htmlfeature=shared
I still like Origins' plot quite a lot despite some of their superficial similarities to AC2 (dead parents, going to Rome for a bit for the final act, etc etc) because it's what they do with the actual characters within the frame of the story that matters to me the most. Bayek and Ezio and everyone else in Origins are so fundamentally different and yet equally interesting that I think Origins is one of the strongest stories in the series *since* Revelations. Not that some of the other ones in between are bad, I just found Origins specifically to be pretty remarkable. It might play it safe in some areas, but I definitely don't think it played TOO safe either because it has a lot of unique elements and this raw energy that only it seems to have that's hard for me to describe. Bayek interrogating people he kills is often raw where he often loses his temper because he's overwhelmed with emotion due to a strong sense of *want* to punish and enact justice and revenge and gradually learns to control it, whereas the interrogation scenes in the rest of the series is often more calm and collected because the assassins have learned the lessons and wisdom that Bayek and his successors passed on to them.
This is a pretty long comment, but not only you give me the impression that you might be interested in a longer more detailed answer, I don't think I could make this shorter even if I wanted. You raised some interesting points, so they demand interesting answers.
As a military guy and and uncle, when at 1:08:40 would be something I would do to my nephew if my name was Mario. It encapsulates the fun uncles are but we can be serious when we need to be. Also i believe this scene was to reassure Ezio that he's with family and he shouldn't be treated as a hostile. You could also say it allows a little bit of levity for the player after being bombarded by death and destruction ala Saul Goodman. I think you overanalyzed this tbh.
Exactly what I thought. Bro overanalyzed way too much stuff that is meant to just be funny to ease us a bit after so much action and violence
I recommend your stuff to everyone I know. To date, you have some of the most succinct narrative critiques I've ever heard.
Ok, now I'm really forward to the AC3 video
I wonder if Silvio and Dante are a Sopranos reference
It's crazy how much this series was derailed because they didn't want to give an actress a pay raise.
Would love to hear your thoughts on:
Wolf Among us
Last of us part 2
Witcher 3 (Understand thats a v long game)
tails noir (shorter game, I think it started off well but lost me completely in the ending)
walking dead games would be cool actually
of course the god of war games
life is strange would be fun
disco elysium would be wild
maybe the quarry or until dawn? Those games really try (mixed results) to transcend the medium and attract the 'non gamers'
Oxenfree is one of my fav games of all time so excited for that one. I hope you are able to pace yourself as it's crazy how fast these are coming out, wouldn't want your life outside of yt to suffer but im sure you all good :)
I watched the AC1 video and 2 hours of this while I built a Lego project before settling in to watch the rest with my full attention and I really enjoyed your talks about the actual real life history and other more mythological/religious additions since when I played 1 and the Ezio trilogy originally I was a young kid who didn't fully grasp the full context for things besides 'traveling through history is fun' and having not replayed them in full since then, it was really interesting to hear all those added bits of context to the large whole.
Totally earned my sub from these two videos and I will watch the rest of your work in due time!
Peak
Much of this game and its legacy as a mark in pop culture stems from how much more appealing it is than its predecessor, regardless of critical analysis. A fun, romantic, somewhat educational (with the Animus Codex entries) tale of revenge and uncovering a conspiracy throughout Renaissance Italy was something of a blockbuster in its own merit (just not as WAY POPULAR than a certain Modern Warfare 2, out in the same year, mind you...).
Looking back at it, it certainly has its flaws, but I fondly remember how it had me glued to my screen enamored with its universe, and funnily enough caught the attention of my mother, one not very familiar with video games, enamored as well with the vistas of Italy the game had in it. She got curious enough that borrowed the novelization from me to get to know a little bit more about it (she wouldn't conceive how to operate a gamepad, so reading about its story would be the closest best thing to do). She even took it upon herself to learn some italian while at it, and dreamed of visiting Italy inspired by it!
As for me, the passion for this universe and its historical fiction was enough that a mere quick study of its Codex gave me knowledge that got enrolled in College, as one the questions for the test required to enroll was about the importance of the port of Venice during the Renaissance, something NO HISTORY LESSON while in High School ever adressed in my classes.
It will always have a place in my heart as one of those experiences that are hard to top years on and always good to reminisce... what a game, man...
I’ve been a fan for a while, and I’d like to say that these videos are so well crafted and thoughtful. Good video game story analysis is so hard to find, and it’s great to see people having in depth discussions about a genre of storytelling many have dismissed
Really excited to see you covering these games. I played assassin's creed 2 so many times as a kid and was so excited to see Desmond and Ezio's story progress in brotherhood and revelations (played assassin's creed 1 afterwards and 3 on release). Unfortunately, some circumstances led to me stopping part way through blackflag, and after all of the quality issues with newer games I never really picked the series back up or had a chance to dive deep into all the lore and narratives. Your analysis is so thoughtful and I can tell you also hold a special place in your heart for them as well as the historical background they draw from. Perfect excuse to get back into the series, can't wait for the next one!
I always thought Ezio should have wound up with Rosa. Apparently, it was meant to happen but they dropped the character when the voice actor sadly died. Seems like a crap thing to do in my opinion, for the actress and the game.
I don't think he would have. Even in the novel where Rosa gets more development, she's more or less just a friend with benefits.
@@Drums_of_Liberation unfortunate, I think they would work well. They have some things in common but she's also challenging for him. The other women he was acquainted with are fairly boring in comparison. She's also a close parallel to Maria, I think that's her name, whom Altaïr wound up with.
Hey man - I have just watched both of your AC videos in full. I cannot commend your work ethic/quality enough. Instant rewatches and sub!!
Hey I totally called Ezio's first kill being a guard! Awesome. My 100% completion of this game was not in vain.
Man, you're touching on what I've always felt about the first one-third of AC2's story. It's amazing. Then afterwards, it just falls apart.
Absolutely adored every second of this. Fantastic work and effort and incredibly thought provoking. Really made me want to replay with your analysis in mind. Excited for your next video!
Just got recommend your videos by RUclips, Hoping I see more from your channel and that you continue to cover Assassin's Creed serious. I enjoyed this video alot you got some great stuff going here
2 hr video on AS1. 6 hr video on AS2. Time for an 18 hr video on brotherhood. A 54 hr video on revelations, and a 162 hr video on AS3.
Cant wait!
Before I watch, I have replayed all of the games up until AC3 around a year ago, and from what I can remember... The thing I hated the most were timeskips. AC2 was the worst offender. It seriously distracted me just how often years pass. Brotherhood, instead, has this whole ridiculous ending sequence where we just follow Cesare around throughout the years
The only game where I could tolerate that was AC3, cause, at least to me, it was noticeable how much Connor changed in between those timeskips
I always interpreted the second act as Ezio growing detached and depressed. He's learned so much, about what was kept from him, why, and how much he's lost. He's not gained anything back, either, and the taste of revenge has grown... Sour. I interpret this bout of depressed tedium as a foreground that leads to his decision to spare his final target at the end of the game. He's just going through the motions, here, and even when he wasn't he gained none of what he lost. So, in the third act start, he's ruminating on that - and, eventually, wants to try and do something else. Something different.
This depression also feeds into why they would imply killing is taking that weight, AND why Leonardo notices him changing. He's depressed, worn by it all, and exhausted mentally. And Leonardo is perceptive enough as an artist and creator to catch that
This is just my interpretation, though, for why he feels so distant
I've never been a big AC fan and it took me a month to get through this video in many small sittings, but let me say that your breakdown was very thorough and thoughtful and I greatly enjoyed it
This level of quality is so, SO good. I absolutely adore how much you examine the real history that inspired the events and figures in this game.
Realized this is the 3rd video I'm watching without subscribing.
Mistake Rectified 👍
Yooo i just started playing through the ac series from the start and i loved your ac1 video after i finished the game myself. This vid is just in time
10:40 You are incorrect. Yes, the chance of getting the right combination on the first try is 1/24, but the propability for it on the third attempt is 23/24 * 22/23 * 1/22 or 4.2% as you also have to factor in the chance of choosing the wrong combination on the first two tries. With your method, you would determine that there is a 100% chance of getting it at the 24th attempt, even though getting it exactly 23 times wrong in a row is really unlikely.
This was great. Some of my random thoughts: I was way too young to understand the plot and the deeper meanings of the story when I played AC1 and the Ezio trilogy games for the first time. I adored AC2 and had a lot of fun (yes) running around and being a cool assassin and basically ignored all the modern day Desmond stuff. I am still somewhat lukewarm about it, but I can now kinda appreciate what they were going for originally. And yet, the ending for Ezio in Revelations still stuck out to me. While the game itself is not that great in my opinion, it was worth it to see Ezio in the library with Altair. Really looking forward to you discussing that moment, as I enjoyed a lot of your thoughts here.
Great work, and thanks for making this. Cheers.
Odyssey is the first game I’ve really liked in the AC franchise in a while. I never got the charm of Black Flag that everyone else seems to, and I can’t say I understand the weird cultural retcon in the fandom that Unity is “actually good.” There’s something compelling in Odyssey that reminds me of ACII and Brotherhood. The teenager who played those games and desperately wanted to go see Italy bc it was beautiful and interesting and had a dumb little video game to inspire them, really came back to life all these years later because Greece and Kassandra were that compelling.
I can’t say the same for Valhalla, a game so dour and unpleasant that I almost didn’t finish it.
When AC does something right, it almost feels like an accident.
I went to your channel page to look through the rest of your videos, and saw your comment about "second monitor" content, as I am watching this on my second monitor while working. I felt very seen by this. Good stuff, carry on.
Are you reading too much into these games? Most definitely. However, as a wise man once said, who give a fuck
This is amazing. I love this series, I love the lore and the themes and I often wish it examined them deeper or, well, at all. Your videos are almost a glimpse into an alternative world, where Ubisoft is a more creatively focused and better managed company.
Will be patiently awaiting the next videos while I chip away at this one during my lunch breaks (my work productivity may suffer, but the things we do for love)
Finally a channel doing long-form plot analysis that's actually ANALYSIS and not just summary. The mix of history, critique and reflection is excellent. instant sub
Honestly the pacing of the game gets a lot more interesting when you consider that (at least in terms of narrative understanding), The player and Desmond himself are basically experiencing the plot from the same perspective. So what if the reason why the game doesn't really cover Ezio's mental struggle with being a professional killer is because Rebecca and Co. don't want to discourage desmond from shirking his duties as an assassin because of him witnessing ezio's struggle with the role. Definitely not what ubisoft intended. But i think that the assassin's being unreliable narrators really leans into the whole overarching ideological war between them and the templars.
I think there is a solution to the problems with the ending, that they didn't take. Instead of the prophecy and Ezio letting Borgia escape, how about this? Ezio has stabbed Rodrigo who survives, if he makes his way to a doctor and if he makes it he will survive, but his men are on the way to the vault, if they get there then the next Templar leader to move in (Cesare) will have the power within the vault. Ezio when given this choice, decides that stopping the Templars from having even more supernatural power is more important than his revenge and lets him escape.
I know it'll be a bit of a wait but I'm looking forward to the video on Revelations. Despite it's flaws in terms of gameplay, I really think it brings the Altair and Ezio storilines to a satisfying conclusion.
This was incredible. I appreciate the time and effort it took to make this possible. Please take your time, enjoy the process as much as you can, and reward yourself for taking the risk of exposing aspects of your work to possible scrutiny. It takes courage to post anything online. To post something which took a lot of time and effort to craft is very commendable. I hope you appreciate how far you've progressed. It's healthy to take a step back and see that distance ventured :)
I've seen the newest 4-hour Jenny Nicholson vid 3 times already, you can't scare me! Let's gooooooo!
Whilst the Prince isn't satire, it can be seen as more than just a book going over the realities of politics at the time contrasting what he believes politics should be with The Discourses. He states in The Prince that:
"It is my intention to write a book that will be useful, at least to those who read it intelligently, so it appears to me more appropriate to follow up the real truth of the matter than the imagination of it."
If we also take into consideration the historical time when Machiavelli wrote the Prince, directly following the Italian Wars and his exile from Florence, a lot of the advice in the Prince is more sound than "The ends justify the means.", It falls closer to "Desperate times call for desperate measures". The Prince is a way for Machiavelli to both expose what it is that keeps tyrants in power, showing the public what tricks princes use behind the scenes, as well as a way for him to give his ideas on what an ideal prince should be in as he believes they still have a place in society and politics. The assassins aren't exactly the most moral of people, they take the lives of people in power occasionally leading to much worse tyrants to take over (Venice), but those are desperate measures in order to keep the population free to take their own path, in direct adherence to the Creed, something that Machiavelli also seems to believe given one of the quotes in The Discourses:
"A Republic is more prudent, more stable, and of better judgement than a prince.", a quote stemming from the chapter "That a Multitude is wiser and more constant than a Prince."
anyways rant over, fucking phenomenal video and a channel i'll come back to again without fail
Pro-tip as someone who also makes RUclips videos and feels the exact same impulse (I'm not actually a pro ignore me): The audience is much less conscious of minor errors like slightly weird delivery or slightly different audio quality than you are as someone who is listening to your own video over and over during the editing process, so putting little notes apologizing for those kinds of things actually just draw attention to them, very few people will notice otherwise lol
Agreed. It's one thing to keep yourself to a certain level of standard to avoid the mistake that other amateur creators do of not bothering to check their video on post and not bothering to tweak their audio settings or microphone and hastily publishing things haphazardly on RUclips to the point of being unwatchable (which is just terrible and I've seen that too many times), but it's another thing to scrutinize yourself ad nauseum over the slightest mistakes and over compensating for them. Both can be jarring. The middle ground is always better and just saying things without trying too hard to achieve a "perfect delivery" also sounds more sincere and honest if you ask me. It's good to take a second take when a delivery is *REALLY* bad, but these are essays, not really some kind of acting gig for an anime, lol.
When people also try way too hard to achieve some kind of dramatic delivery on every line, it can sound too theatrical to downright manipulative when the purpose is to convey a certain emotion that the audience has to somehow feel too, regardless if they agree with the words actually being spoken or not. (cough cough In Defense Of Dark Souls 2 by hbomberguy cough cough, no offense to hbomb he's otherwise a great creator but that video's just ughhhhh)
Just found your channel and wanted to say your videos are superb! Please continue with the Assassin's Creed series! Your analysis has shown me so much nuance and understanding that I never picked up on when playing these games as a kid.