Shamelog #007 - Master of the American Revolution

Alright, straight up. I don't get the hate for Assassins Creed 3. Ok, I guess I kinda do - Connor can be a bit off-putting, the story feels like there were some context cuts made, and the actual Assassin part of the game was mostly a vessel for the modern day storyline. That last part is what leads me to understand why people rag on the modern day stuff so much. Still, as a fan of the Ezio trilogy, I really enjoyed myself with this one.

It was real good coming back to an AC game. It felt familiar, comforting. It was muscle memory to run along rooftops, jump into hay bales, and stab unsuspecting foes in the neck.

While it may not have been intentional, Connor being an off-putting character felt important to me. His reactions, his misunderstanding of western societal norms and culture, his almost juvenile approach to the revolution - it all makes perfect sense. His character is a native of the land - his people lived entirely different to the so-called "civilized" invaders.

As a non-US person, this was my first exposure to the American Revolution, and it was kinda great how it weaved in (presumably accurate?) important battles and events, as the AC series tends to do. I'm so unknowledgeable that I didn't even know the British were involved, for example.

One major part of this game that got completely looked over in its coverage and any talk I've heard about it is the representation and the honest look at racism and sexism of the time. Holy crap is building up the homestead a great part of that game! You get all sorts of folks from all walks of life coming together to form this community. No doubt it's inaccurate to the time as fuck, but I loved that about it. Even just for Connor alone - him getting treated as less because he is of Native American decent by both enemy and ally alike is quite well done.

After coming to the conclusion of the modern day arc starting with the first game (where it goes from here is high on my question list for Black Flag and beyond) I still don't understand the disdain. Yeah I get that people just want to play these games set in these time periods, but that meta layer stringing everything together was fascinating. I'm impressed they actually went whole hog and ended it too, considering there were going to make more.

Maybe it gets a bad wrap because the previous AC's are so highly regarded, or because series fatigue was starting to set in already, or because the modern day stuff just didn't click with them. For my money though, AC3 is a great game, and any fan of the series would enjoy it immensely.

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One side note - the completion of AC3 marks the fact that I've finally finished all the games that were included with the console when my partner gave it to me for Christmas. Her giving me an Xbox 360 was ultimately what kickstarted me back into loving games again, so to finally close that circle off feels like a milestone. I'm already so glad I started this adventure. Everyone has their own way of choosing and playing the games they do, but I feel like I've finally found the exact way I want to enjoy my time playing games. It's already been a blast - can't wait to see where the next few months take me.

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After a chat with Loren this week, we realized that the 3DS Zelda she bought for me was actually Ocarina of Time, not Majora's Mask, which I've already played. Majora is still on my pile, but that means it's no longer a part of this year's challenge! So for 2017, we now have left the following:

• Tales of Berseria
• Far Cry Primal
• Until Dawn
• Wolfenstein: The New Order
• The Witcher 3

I think I might actually make it!

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Games left to play: 117
Currently playing: Tales of Berseria, Until Dawn