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Hype Man

September 12, 2022 by Tim

I am so over these big developer “events” with nothing real to show. If you want to get me hyped, show me why I should be hyped. If your game is so early in the pipeline that it doesn’t even have a name yet, perhaps its too early for the whole dog and pony show.

This weekend’s big “Ubisoft Forward Showcase” made such a big deal about what’s happening with Assassin’s Creed, and all they had were snippets of pre-rendered cutscenes, and in most cases, logos. For games with tenuous “someday” release dates. Even Mirage’s general “2023” window doesn’t mean anything with the regularity games are getting delayed these days.

Look, Assassin’s Creed has an uphill battle with me regardless. Once a series I much looked forward to, I’ve become very lukewarm on the franchise over the past handful of iterations. I never even touched Valhalla. It’s not that I’m not open to being excited about the AC franchise again; I’d love to feel like I want to play another one. But a bunch of empty words about a “hub experience” tying the games together in “meaningful ways” isn’t going to do it. It’s all just noise.

Letting me know they’re finally taking the series to feudal Japan? That might have piqued my interest back before Ghosts of Tsushima blew them out of the water a couple years ago. Now it’s going to take more than a 2-second teaser to convince me I should be looking forward to 2024/2025 to play it.

Some of this ties into my wish that games would sit on their reveals longer, only pulling back the curtain closer to the release date. We now get game announcements so early, that even if you initially get excited, it’s then 4-5 years before the game comes out, and nobody wants to maintain anticipation for that long. So instead by the time it comes out you’re already sort of feeling like its old news.

I love a good logo. I love a good CGI cutscene. But gameplay or gtfo.


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foducool
foducool
2 years ago

wish the whole gaming community would just stop giving a damn altogether about games until they’re released don’t show the devs any inkling of what they’re doing is right or wrong, let them ponder, let them tremble with fear at the idea that their next triple A big game is going straight in a wall and maybe then they’ll stop and think about ways to refine it instead of serving it as a hot steamy pile of shit on a fancy platter this is why indie games are so good most of the time, they’re made by passionate people who… Read more »

Jack0r
Jack0r
2 years ago
Reply to  foducool

The last AAA game I bought was the original Watchdogs. That finally cured me from AAA titles. Indies now are what AAA was in the 90s. A comparatively small group, that mostly answers to themselves with the express goal of making the best game they can, that does one thing and that thing great.

JohnnyDevo
JohnnyDevo
2 years ago
Reply to  foducool

A lot of indie games are good because, partly that passion, but also partly that they involve the community a lot more.

Pal87
Pal87
2 years ago

Feeling like I will skip this one.

I didn’t like Valhalla.

Really liked odyssey and origins though.

So I don’t know why I didn’t like Valhalla.

Truth be told, might be tired of the series.

Sanquin
Sanquin
2 years ago
Reply to  Pal87

Valhalla, while a cool concept, is just more of the same. It’s the exact same Ubisoft formula and gameplay they’ve been doing for years now. Not only that, but every area is basically a copy/paste of the previous. Enter new area -> conflict -> fight to take over the area -> move to next area. No real variation.

So yea it’s understandable that you’d get tired of that. Just “Vikings and cool combat” alone can’t carry an entire game. Especially when the combat part is the same as what it’s been for many years in their games.

The Sad truth
The Sad truth
2 years ago
Reply to  Pal87

Odyssey was a total bore for me. but i quite enjoy valhalla, i think its cause its less pointless towns and more story content while still having the ability how to progress.
Then again, i am one of these weird people who pay attention to story and quests and are not just “Gameplay,Gameplay.gameplay”.

Nayrael
Nayrael
2 years ago

Ironically, it’s the audience which makes them announce it so early. Popular franchises are at the point where just releasing a logo does mean something: fans know it’s coming, and the media will advertise it with their pointless “What we expect”, “What the new game needs to have”, “What is your favorite game in the series”, yadayada articles (which are good for them as they keep the hype up and serve as free advertisements). At least they did mention the setting and what their general plans are for the games. And for both the fans and media that’s a lot… Read more »

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
2 years ago
Reply to  Nayrael

I think it’s a matter of faith.

I would flip shit if Valve released a game with the number “3” at the end of it.

Seeing Ubisoft make 4 more announcements to their 22 game and spin-off deep library – legitimately releasing on average more than 1 game a year – that just ain’t it.

Phaet
Phaet
2 years ago

Grumpy people like that always kill the mood.

no thanks nintendo
no thanks nintendo
2 years ago
Reply to  Phaet

DON’T ASK QUESTIONS, JUST CONSUME PRODUCT AND THEN GET EXCITED FOR NEXT PRODUCT

leduk
leduk
2 years ago

looks like the only one really caring about brand propaganda is you, no thanks nintendo. Who tf cares? You, not me.

Phaet
Phaet
2 years ago
Reply to  Phaet

I see I offended some grumpy people

PhobosRising
PhobosRising
2 years ago
Reply to  Phaet

“Exasperated” would be the better term.

evilleet
evilleet
2 years ago

It feels to me, that Ubisoft Montreal has run out of ideas and is trying to get the fanbase talking what each logo means and where it would be set.
They would probably then pick the one most people liked, steal… borrow some ideas from the fanbase and then publish the game and tell us its been the plan all along! (congratz to those who got it right).

No?
Just me?

evilleet
evilleet
2 years ago
Reply to  evilleet

“Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade
For those who want to take Assassin’s Creed with them everywhere they go, there’s Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, a AAA RPG action-adventure game for mobile devices set in ancient China. The free-to-play game will allow players to create their own character and discover a unique standalone storyline.”

Oh good…. Diablo Immortal now for the AC universe!

Jack0r
Jack0r
2 years ago
Reply to  evilleet

“… and spend €100k to max out their character.”

Crestlinger
Crestlinger
2 years ago

Mirage: it was never going to happen
Red: ring of death
Hexe: hax
Jade:-d fanbase.

There. All true statements for all we know about things.

HelloWorld
HelloWorld
2 years ago
Reply to  Crestlinger

Jade could relate to China’s Jade Emperor. Whatever it is, I am not interested until 6 months after release, and maybe not even then. I haven’t played AC since AC:Rogue, as I didn’t connect with the main character as much as Altair or Ezio. Rogue had a good spin and I liked seeing the other side’s point of view, but I just got fed up with the series as a whole once Desmond’s storyline was done.

Michael Delaney
Michael Delaney
2 years ago
Reply to  Crestlinger

Infinity: Now just finite. Was probably NFTs they abandoned, and will just be a bloatware launcher

Last edited 2 years ago by Michael Delaney
MasterofBalance
MasterofBalance
2 years ago

Preach brotha

Logan
Logan
2 years ago

And Mirage appears to only be like.. a side story to Origins? Exploring a ‘fan loved’ (not sure on that) character that was only introduced then.

I’d still love the feudal era Japan. Or if they’d kept progressing like they did from 4 – Syndicate, till we got to a modern age Assassins Creeding… would have been nice (Watchdogs has been fine, for similar, but still doesn’t quite scratch that itch).

Kaogen
Kaogen
2 years ago
Reply to  Logan

Mirage is about Basim, isnt it? Pre-valhalla story?

Logan
Logan
2 years ago
Reply to  Kaogen

Yes. And I may have mixed up my AC’s. (after reading the wiki) xD Durring his time in Baghdad(?).

Having recently been playing all of Origins (and currentlytrying to beat the boys fight for Nefertiti) , but a free play weekend of Valhalla weeks prior.

Soag
Soag
2 years ago

It feels to me like they drop whatever info about upcoming titles so early just for business reasons. Stock value and such. We all know damn well the higher-ups in those companies don’t care about the gaming community and I believe they’re the ones deciding whether someone from the team has to go and present something, even if there’s nothing to be presented, really.

KBABZ
KBABZ
2 years ago

What also bothered me was how outlets touted the Mirage teaser like we were seeing the game IN ACTION. No we’re not! That gives us the mood, sure, but there was ZERO gameplay in that!

Lily
Lily
2 years ago
Reply to  KBABZ

To be fair, the mood is the only thing that really matters. The game play is just going to be the same as all the other assassin creed games but in a different setting.

Saixak
Member
Saixak
2 years ago

Tell me about it, I hate it when devs announce games years before release.

no thanks nintendo
no thanks nintendo
2 years ago

It being Ubisoft, I’d be more interested in an announcement that they’ve finally cleaned up their company of the culture of sexual abuse and harassment.

More Assassin’s Creed? I wasn’t buying or playing those for years before the news that Ubisoft is a hive of scum and villainy came out.

Singulativ
Singulativ
2 years ago

AC is always a nice tech demo for a good game in that time period but fails to deliver interesting gameplay (the only real innovation being the ship combat which they exhausted with the pirates).

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
2 years ago
Reply to  Singulativ

The grappling hooks in London were kind of fun, despite the other failings of that game It felt like being a steampunk Spiderman in industrial era ” ‘orrible murder” England was kind of fun.

fullgoosepanda
fullgoosepanda
2 years ago

As someone who LOVED the first AC games, please tell me (don’t care about spoilers at this point): Are they ANY closer to actually finding other apples of Eden, or coming close to any sort of conclusion/closure?

Troy D Bird
Troy D Bird
2 years ago
Reply to  fullgoosepanda

Well, after Desmond saved the world in 3, it turns out…

spoiler
they saved the world TOO well, and have to figure out how to dial back the ancient mystery machine before it destroys the world!
Oh, and the big bad Juno, that everyone in the games was so worried about…?
spoiler
They killed her off in a comic!

Ubisoft’s management really doesn’t know how to deliver a story… and, unfortunately, they’re the ones in charge.

Last edited 2 years ago by Troy D Bird
fullgoosepanda
fullgoosepanda
2 years ago
Reply to  Troy D Bird

Thank you. So I’m not missing much? (How do you save the world *TOO* well?). I just checked, I played 1, 2 and 4, never even touched 3. It’s so sad to me that I simply do not have the time to play so many hours of one series just to find out how this ends. There’s 12 games at this point, 14 with Mirage and Infinity. I really enjoyed the story and mysteries of Abstergo, but, holy hell, talk about milking it for all it’s worth. It seems like I’ll just have to write this off and settle for… Read more »

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
2 years ago

“Look, It’s Assassins Creed with Ninjas!”

Look, Ubisoft, you’re a decade too late – we know the direction you’re going with these things is “Level gated Grind Fest” so being a Ninja in Japan simply no longer interests, and I’ve got Sekiro instead now anyways

Lily
Lily
2 years ago
Reply to  Kaitensatsuma

They should do assassin creed in space. Now that would be mixing it up.

GeorgeV
GeorgeV
2 years ago
Reply to  Lily

That’d still be tarnished from being made into a level gated grind fest.

Lack of interesting settings isn’t an issue with AC. Lack of interesting story and gameplay is.

Sanquin
Sanquin
2 years ago

I miss the days where I didn’t hear about a new game coming out until like 2~3 months max before it would come out. I also miss the days where trailers and the like actually had some truth to them. These days trailers and teasers are just CGI, things that are technically in the game but WAY overblown, or even outright lies. I’ve basically completely stopped caring about “teaser for a game that will come out in 2 years” announcements, and completely stopped believing trailers and developer promises. The way I get my info on new games these days is… Read more »

Kaogen
Kaogen
2 years ago

The only way they could know we would ‘like’ 4 games from now is if they planned to make them so damn similar we can’t tell the difference between them so liking one means you ‘like’ them all.

Lrbearclaw
Lrbearclaw
2 years ago

Ubi: “Hey look at the logos for these games we have coming out! See our CGI trailers!”
Me: Did you get rid of the rapists and sexual predators at the company yet?
Ubi: …
Me: Did you do anything to protect the victims?
Ubi: …
Me: Have you done ANYTHING to improve the culture and workplace so this shit that has gone on for over THIRTY YEARS will never happen again?
Ubi: “Did you see our trailers for all the games we have coming out yet?”

Meatballs21
Meatballs21
2 years ago

To this day, I still haven’t played an AC game. I found the whole “hoodie stabs historical figure in face and then backflips out the window” thing silly.

When it all got rebooted with Origins, my interested was piqued again with both it and Odyssey… but then I hear they’re vast games full of padding and I can’t stomach the idea of that much time, and end up buying or playing something instead. Hey, it meant I played Disco Elysium.

Axiomite
Axiomite
2 years ago
Reply to  Meatballs21

Granted I haven’t played many of them, but the one that had the most fun gameplay for me was Black Flag, only because it was the closest thing we had to a modernized Seadogs.

Meatballs21
Meatballs21
2 years ago
Reply to  Axiomite

A friend of mine who’s played the series from the beginning contended that Valhalla did away with all the stealthy assassination in favour of screaming charges, waving an axe.

The impression I get is that they want to make a Viking game, or an Ancient Greece game, or whatever, but are compelled by the execs to shoehorn in AC stuff.

Verdiekus
Verdiekus
2 years ago

I feel you Tim, really tired of half baked promises. I don’t want to be that old guy, but when I was a kid they advertised the game when it came out and was available to play. I really miss that.

Meatballs21
Meatballs21
2 years ago
Reply to  Verdiekus

That or a page of screenshots in EGM2 of stuff from Japan that might or might not be making its way west. At the very least, as you say, the game actually existed already. Seeing previews of stuff that was still a ways off was highly unusual, the only games I can think of where it really happened off the top of my head were Sonic 2 and Battletoads, and maybe some of the early PS1 stuff.

Axiomite
Axiomite
2 years ago

Ugh, i stopped playing the AC series a long time ago. Played the first one, played a handful of the AC2 games (I have no idea why we call them all AC2 when there are like 5 of them), and Black Flag.

What killed it for me was the constant break from the fun gameplay to a slow, plod through the ‘real world’. It just killed it for me for some reason; too jarring/sudden a transition I guess?

Ubi really needs to come up with something actually new that they can milk for a while.

VibrantEvolution
VibrantEvolution
2 years ago

wait is AC like the pokemon games? Red and blue, sword and shield. Announcing that many games at the same time sure feels like a pokemon game

Marth Koopa
Marth Koopa
2 years ago

Mainstream gamers will buy it anyway so they know they don’t have to try

Mr. Casual
Mr. Casual
2 years ago

Games like Ghosts of Tsushima, Nioh, and Sekiro have all been great, but they seem to borrow more from the samurai mythos than anything else, with a sprinkling of optional stealth. An actual ninja game, though? When was the last time we had one of those? Tenchu?

Unfortunately, Yves and his abuser lackeys have soured me to the nth degree on anything Ubi until some real reckoning happens at that company. That, and being slowly swallowed-up by Tencent.

Granted, the last AC game I played was Origins, and I didn’t even finish it.

Crestlinger
Crestlinger
2 years ago
Jack0r
Jack0r
2 years ago
Reply to  Crestlinger

I see what you mean. On the other hand, they could have invested a bit more in their logos/promo pictures, since it looks like some free-to-play nonsense game from the Google Play Store.

Might be unfair in the specific case, but images like this one (https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Asterigos-Curse-Of-The-Stars-Cover-Art-002-1280×720.jpg) just tell me to avoid this game…

Lily
Lily
2 years ago

To be fair, I think we know exactly what to expect with each of the game. It is just assassin creeds, in a different setting. Do we really need an in game trailer to know you can hide behind stuff, and jump off building?

PersonalC0ffee
PersonalC0ffee
2 years ago

Ain’t liked it since they hard pivoted away from narrative. That’s when AC died for me.

leduk
leduk
2 years ago

they do that for business reason and tbh I give absolutely 0 fuck, and so should you.

Pulse
Pulse
2 years ago

im still waiting on a full release date of botw2, if it hasnt already dropped and i just missed it.

Pulse
Pulse
2 years ago
Reply to  Pulse

i shoulda known they would make my comment mute in a matter of hours…

MRD
MRD
2 years ago

Amen, Brother.

Dizzy D.
Dizzy D.
2 years ago

At least it got a CGI cutscene. Nintendo just released another direct and still not even a mention of Metroid Prime 4, which was mentioned by name ONCE in 2017 and hasn’t been brought up by them since.