@@benjaminjuice1008 Damn the ezio trilogy just gave you a warm cozy feeling back in the day when you were a kid wish you experienced it like most of us
Here is a tipp for you. Go to Tuscany on a road trip. You can visit places like San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and Florence. Play the AC 2 soundtrack while you do. Enjoy the magic.
I'ts pretty cool to see the actual sites and be like "Yeah, I remember climbing that building and jumping off that roof, shouldn't there be a secret entrence somewhere around here?"
@Dod o Take from it what you want. He said he missed older AC and I said go play old AC. Didn't know I needed to insert a meaningful and impactful speech.
I know the combat was "too easy" but damn did it feel so bad ass taking out waves of Borgia soldiers using just the two hidden blades. The most "master Assassin" feeling of any game in the franchise.
It's better to be hard with a small reaction window in hidden blade counter attack than have sponge enemies that take so much time to kill just for the sake of being "hard". This is not hard, ACB can be seen as easy but was pure skill based and intended for style. The reward for killing an enemy was the execution cutscenes
@@davipenha exactly. Granted it didn't take a lot of skill to master it and make the game a cakewalk. But as I said in another comment, not everything needs to be hard to be FUN. And damage sponge enemies and neither hard or fun. Just tedious and boring
@@robertharris6092 assassin's aren't supposed to be warriors so it is stupid. Plus ezios sister wearing a dress killed those soldiers. A five year old could beat an army of them.
I don't think Brotherhood could have been as good as it is without Cesare's voice actor. He's easily the best performance in the entire game besides Roger Craig Smith
man, could you imagine if we had never had Brotherhood? And they had just moved straight onto Connor. Ezio’s story would be done and never concluded. Altair’s story would be done with ac1, never to be revisited or mentioned again. The fatigue most people feel now of never having a recurring protagonist would’ve happened so much sooner. I would never have fallen in love with these games if we’d never had a character to invest our time in over multiple games. the entire franchise owes its life to Brotherhood.
@@Caspianm2 Arno definitely did, Connor only needs one because we need to see some character development. That’s the sole reason we need a sequel to AC 3. Arnos story just wasn’t complete
These comments are so overdramatic man. The series owes it's success to a whole heap of different things, not least AC1. High points in a franchise don't exist in a vacuum.
I always thought Ezio needed the climb leap glove because he was older and couldn't do it without help (this aid to mobility is advanced in Revelations with the Hook Blade)
Was looking for this comment. I always wondered how people never got it, seeing as though the doctor tells us right from the start that Ezio couldnt heal completely at his age
Same with the combat System it makes storywise sense that in brotherhood & revolation enemys are way easier to kill because ezio matured into a way better assasin than his younger self in the Beginning stage of ac 2 where we as players could struggle against normal guards and in brotherhood it takes ezio 2 Buttons to finish of the normal guards.
@@Sumunuhriginal yes I know of the specific sub-sets of studios like Montreal, Quebec etc. I’m more so talking about Ubisoft as a whole. It doesn’t feel the same. That’s not necessarily entirely a bad thing, just an observation
@@Tobias_R exactly, I don't think there is any core lore team for ac at present ubisoft. Current employees must not be knowing what they are doing and what Assassin's creed was.
@@mrmeme2917 it’s still not as good as the Ezio trilogy and you aren’t even technically an assassin some random guys just have you a couple tools to pretend to be one. Also the combat is fucking atrocious and takes zero skill which also in turn makes the stealth pointless because you can just mow through 50 guys with no problem.
@@jacksondecora828 Bullshit. The Witcher 3 was great but other than RPGs what games have taken direct inspiration from The Witcher 3? Non RPG Open world games have barely anything in common with the Witcher 3. Also it IS a knockoff, there are so many similarities to the point where it’s obvious Ubisoft is just copying CDPR at this point. Even other RPGs like Zelda and Horizon do something unique whereas AC just takes what the Witcher does and does it far worse.
@@jacksondecora828 Well The Witcher 3 has been out for only 5 years so obviously not “every” game has taken inspiration from it. There’s also games like Red Dead 2, Spider-Man, and Ghost of Tsushima, just to name a few, which are amazing open world games which didn’t need to copy the Witcher 3. Same can’t be said about AC which straight up copied the Witcher 3. Shows how little YOU know.
@@splinterborn AC II has the best story in the franchise, but Brotherhood is the compete package, has the story, the setting, the side missions, the economy building, the multiplayer.
@Murderous Intent i think arno would have been amazing if he got a sequel. In the dlc he is so much more mature and it just makes me wish ubisoft gave sequels to their characters more. I also like the idea of what if conner was the one that like trained arno or they worked together. I think that would have greatly benefited both characters.
A little story about how I got to know this game: Brotherhood was my first game in the series. It was installed on the computer my dad brought for my birthday. Then I was 13. I played for the first time and did not understand what the game was about, then I improved my computer, replayed and realized how much I was addicted to this game. In terms of gameplay, the best game from the Ezio trilogy, but unfortunately it made less impression on me than Revelations (my favorite from the trilogy, surprisingly). I may be the only one, but I still like this game despite the flaws and confusion. We may never see this narrative path in the future, but I'm sure most players will always remember the moments associated with it.
I would mostly agree with you, but Brotherhood seriously lacks depth in it's combat system. It is just way to abusive of finishers and thus way to easy. There is absolutely no learning curve to it and it got a little bit boring after a while. But aesthetically its right up there, no question.
@@richardfreutel5002 yes on the surface it is really easy but i appreciated all the "special moves" you could do to kind of give combat a little flare. I think it is easy pick up and play but hard to master and actually feel like you are a master assassin. I get how some can feel the way you do tho
Now we are on VIKING ASSASSINS i dont think assassins were legit invented in scandinavia back then tbh next it will be assassins in the north pole with santa as the villian thats the only way it could be dumber
That Cristina death scene still brings me to the verge of tears even watching it here. One thing that AC did so well is making you feel the pain of the protagonist. When we had to kill Lucy, there was no choice and it was infuriating. When Cristina died in Ezio's arms, let's not forget that for a lot of us, that was the first "adult" content we had ever experienced in a game where we were already identifying with the protagonist. Not only was it Ezio's first love, in a way, it was ours as well. I love this because it also mirrors the idea of memory synching. It's not someone who matters to us as an individual, but when the memory becomes our own memory, seen through our eyes, we experience our own memory synch, kind of a real world bleeding effect. Powerful.
It was fun and rewarding which is all you could want for something of that nature, it had a purpose that was helpful and it was fun to attain that there is quite litterally no better thing than that thus why no new games can acheive it
The recruiting mechanics were wonderful and need to come back. It makes the brotherhood feel like a brotherhood and not one dude doing a bunch of fetch quests for someone.
back when "Ubisoft Presents" meant something to me . . . I don't know why but seeing that title card again gave me an intense feeling of longing. Sheesh back then I always laughed when someone was pining for the good ol' days but here I am, I understand that notion perfectly now. (and yes I realize memory is probably just playing tricks on me and those days weren't particularly great either, but eh, the longing is still there what can I say, I know I wasn't as completely cynical and jaded as I am now at least haha)
@@albertozalon8477totally disagree. Look at elden ring, BOTW, the Witcher 3, GOW, Starfield, etc. games are so much more epic now and play so much better.
@@joker6558 elden ring is phenomenal sure whats your point that good games still exist? Because i never said they don't . The witcher 3 while phenomenal has plenty of issues that all came to head in cp2077 which while incredible should have been given time to be the full experience. Gow had a great story shift but dear god is it loaded with a dumb gear system are terribly tuned level system and unnecessary random garbage. The gaming industry has become all about money. There is a long list of dead franchises and failed ideas. Cod has declined battlefield has declined dead space got killed assassin's creed, ghost recon, splinter cell, even companies like bethesda havent really dropped a serious masterpiece in over a decade. Etc.. Dont get me wrong great game still exist but unless people get picky main stream gaming will be fortnite/destiny battlepass slow drip low quality content for the next generation.
I'm Italian and I absolutely loved the original voice acting. The accent aren't stereotyped (yes, we speak more like Ezio than Super Mario) and the Italian words were a nice addition, sadly these ones became less and less present now, it would have been cool to hear more Egyptian or Norse words in the recent games
For reference Ezio Auditore da Firenze was born in 1459. AC Brotherhood starts right after AC2 in 1500, making Ezio 41. He finished Cesare off in 1507, and he sails for Masyaf 4 years later at the ripe-old age of 52.
Rewatching this video after deciding to replay the Ezio Trilogy and I realized something. We finally got our answer to the “there is another, she will accompany you” message from Juno. It was Layla, she’s the other one who accompanied Desmond on that tree of life thingy in Valhalla. She’s the one who was left to be found.
As far as I remember from philosophy classes at university, Machiavelli was fascinated by Cesare Borgia. He travelled with him for some time and observed him during his military campaigns. He also saw him as a perfect leader and even wrote a book inspired by him called "The prince". Perhaps, La Volpe thinking he's a traitor working with Cesare is a reference to it?
Brotherhood was my introduction to the franchise, and is probably still my favorite to this day. The music, the feel, everything about it is just so wonderful.
I hear ya, the feeling this game gives me is something I cannot explain. The music is so relaxing when exploring Rome. The vibe and atmosphere is so good. I'm going to Rome in april. Going to take a map of Brotherhood with me along with the OST and will be visiting many buildings we climb in that game 🙂 can't wait. Have my AC costume ready to go haha
there are many times when I play Ezio trilogy music to cheer myself up; hearing those amazing tracks all through this beautifully-executed retrospective gave me a much-needed happiness boost. I look forward to your Revelations retrospective someday and I have no doubt even now that that particular retrospective will probably be one of your finest videos ever!
Damn it really has been that long. This is still my favorite in the series. Post Black Flag I never played any game after it. They just stopped being interesting for me. Now it's so different it doesn't even look like Assassin's Creed anymore.
@@AZ-jd5cr I just lost interest and I am good at gauging what looks like something I would like and what I don't. Besides there's too damn many of them.
Same here. Because of the Black Flag I can't play open-world games anymore - playing through it felt like second work that led to legit burnout. Nowadays Assassin's Creed is basically made with the "second work" mentality in mind so I won't even touch them. Brotherhood was the most perfectly balanced game in the series for me - the longevity was perfect, missions were diverse, side quest were fun. It never overstayed it's welcome and that's something that a lot of modern games - to stop at the right time.
27:00 Bro you are not kidding, I remember that mission drove insane for so long trying to get 100% and then when I played it in the remaster I was prepared and got it first try 😂😂😂
The Ezio trilogy will always be the best Assassins Creed games, a lot of people like the exploration and freedom black flag gives. Black Flag the game changes pace you go from Ezio who was destined to lead the Assassins to Edward who wants to do what he thinks is right. It’s a complete Narrative change, from here is where you see the change in the Assassins Creed games from what they were to what they will become. You go from the Ezio trilogy which is a heavy story driven Narrative, everything you you do in the game leads to one individual place. In future games that isn’t the same, the worlds are bigger and filled with individual that’s have there own agenda. That’s what made the Ezio Trilogy enjoyable is every choice lead to the same outcome which Ezio and the Assassins were aiming for, this singular driven narrative is what’s missing from modern Assassin Creed games.
@AlCeeProd2.0 I played the first ac but didn't finish it because It was In a computer shop so I didn't really understand the story but then this year I thought I would give it shot and the enjoyed it
This game changed my life forever.....Being one of the first AC game I ever played and one of the first games I ever played on the ps3... And Ezio remains for me , the best character in all of gaming...
Despite being introduced to the franchise with Bloodlines, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood was my first ever AC and to this day I consider it the most representative game of the series. Everything that defined AC was represented by this game, it had the soul of the series. It's a shame that soul never continued to this day, and as much as they try to go back to the roots I feel like it will never be as good as it used to be. It still pisses me off that the narrative nuances and mysteries were never continued past Revelations. Sometimes when I finish Brotherhood, I have that feeling like I'm still waiting for the proper sequel after the Ezio trilogy, as if the series never truly continued.
I have to say that Origins for me at least really recaptures the lore and other worldly aspect from these games. I’d give it a go if you haven’t already along with the dlc. People just say it’s bad because it’s the first RPG type of ac yet I consider Bayek to be the best protagonist since ezio.
Still my favorite Assassin's Creed game till this day, I always play it almost every day. Ac Brotherhood is one of the best Assassin's Creed games, the story, the fighting, the parkour, ect......was ahead of its time.
I cant wait to see the 10 year retrospective of revelations. These videos are extremely interesting and you put so much time and effort in these videos. Absolutely amazing keep up the content 🔥
I remember playing assassin's Creed for the first time and falling in love with the story. The conspiracies the mysterious apples and their even more mysterious creators whenever they appeared it felt like I was meeting a god and then 'the truth' which were annoying for a while were fun and uncovering the secrets felt awesome and I had goosebumps through out the story. After a while it started to lose its shine in later titles mostly the precursors became known and understood destroying the mystery which I know was going to happen but none the less. All in all the older games were incredible despite whatever flaws there were the story drew me in and the mystery kept me.
I believe you're talking about the part where ezio met Cristina after he had been to Venezia. Ezio acquired the gun in Venzeia. Correct me if I'm wrong please.
This video made me realize that assassins creed only consisted of a 5 game series. (AC1 AC2 ACB ACR AC3) AC3 gets alot of flack and criticism but it still oozed Assassins creed throughout. Other games that deviated from desmonds story are fun but just not the same.. its sad tbh that Desmonds arc ended the way it did. I miss the old days..😔
Brotherhood is the AC game that I've put by far the most hours into. It's truly magnificent. I really hope the Ezio Trilogy gets a remaster on PC maybe along with the new console generation. It hasn't aged well on PC and some of the controls are ported poorly. Great video mate 👌
Personally, I’m still hoping that Ezio and Altair join the Kenways on the switch. It’s been enough time, and it’d be cool to potentially bring these games to more people to try after all these years.
I play this game every year since my first run in 2010. It's my favorite Assassins Creed Game. After the yearly playthrough I'm sad about what happened to this franchise.
The crouch button is not needed in the older AC games because they focused on the social stealth. The 'Blend' button in AC1 where you act like a Scholar, IS your 'Crouch' button.
@@bloodymares This game has you infiltrate the castello 3 times, and there are tons of restricted area with nothing to blend where there's waist high walls and Ezio insists on just being seen instead. You're argument would be valid if social stealth was all the games expected from you, but it's not.
@@zenbrown7144 In restricted areas it's easy to avoid guards by hiding behind corners and timing your movement/assassinations. And I was mainly talking about AC1, where there aren't any restricted areas but only informed guards that you can bypass by blending.
i actually played all the assassins creed games for the first time this year. ac ezio trilogy was great, but here’s my very brief opinion ac2: didn’t enjoy it personally ac brotherhood: definitely underrated. enjoyed it a lot and loved it all around ac revelations: amazing. just amazing. absolutely loved it
@@50srldn54 yeah a lot of people say they whenever i mention my opinion kn ac2. personally i didn’t feel intrigued, and the gameplay was decent. it’s by no means a bad game, i think it’s pretty good, i just didn’t enjoy it as much as i thought i would
I definitely agree with you on ac 2, a lot of people in the community consider it the best, but honestly, combat was such a turn off for me. It just felt so tedious and boring in my opinion.
@@heritotdd7595 i didn’t know if i should call it overrated or not, but i had to drag myself through the game. i didn’t have fun at all. brotherhood needs more love tho
Herito TDD I mean combat didn’t change until origins all they did was add more ranged weapons and new animations, I may just be biased due to it being the first ac game I played
This was my first ever xbox 360 game. I was ten years old and I remember just playing this non stop for months. The story was amazing, gameplay captivating and had so much variety (from my perspective) With the multiplayer added onto it... This game was practically perfect.
wow, full body chils for those first 5 minutes... so many memories flooding back...i have to replay it. its time. i haven't since i had it on the xbox 360. I have replayed AC2 on pc though. Shit. It's time. just wow
am i the only one that, as a child, played it only for the action? but then come back years later and fell in love with the story too? jesus, i was so innocent at that time that i tought AC Brotherhood invented 3rd pearson ganra
Now, i haven’t played the Ezio trilogy fully until recently, but I’m glad that I’ve 100% them on my first playthroughs, so when I replay I don’t have to worry too much of going full sync, or hours ‘grinding’ to buy everything.
@@spoodurmin9742 yeah, you’re playing AC3 now, right? Yeah, looking through the trophy list, it seems like a lot more than the other two. But I’m somewhat a completionist, so I probably still will lol
Can’t wait for all the retrospectives in the future!!! Love these so much thank you for putting so much effort in these❤️ Ubisoft can learn something from the passion you have. Thank you again!
I am just on the finishing stages of brotherhood and you explained so much to mee about those Leonardo and his former girlfriend missions. I didn't knew one of those was DLC.
Love the video James, btw, in the brotherhood novel, they kill the lady that sounds like a spy so it’s unlikely they she’s a spy cause why’d they kill their own people yk? Anyway just wanted to let you know :D
Does Quebec know anything about Assassin's Creed? Jokes aside, amazing video James, made me feel very nostalgic. Especially since I watched your gameplay series on brotherhood before I got the game years ago.
Replay ezio’s story every year. This video made me even more nostalgic. I remember when I played the games for the first time and the excitement I felt when a new game game out. It’s kinda sad I don’t get the same feeling with all the new games. But I am happy I got to experience all these great games and getting people like you making beautiful videos about it and sharing the love. Even if AC doesn’t return to what it once was, I am so grateful for the time we had with it and the people we know and follow thanks to it.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that the "her" that Juno wants Desmond to find is Layla Hassan from the mythology trilogy. I feel like the ending of AC Valhalla confirms this.
He’s an assassin in the sense that he acts unseen, he hides in plain sight, he’s a regular mercenary, a soldier, nobody would suspect he’s actually fighting for an ancient order of assassins.
@@LazerzZ Hides in plain sight, yes. Acts unseen... a little bit less😅 But it’s not a critique, it’s just that I’ve always found it weird. All the other buddies of Ezio are mysterious and charming, the ideal Assassins for their time (thieves, courtesans, fallen noblemen, and so on), but Bartolomeo looks like he doesn’t give a shit and just wants to fight all the time😂
I find it so amazing that James made Brotherhood now his favorite Assassin's Creed game ever when it used to be AC2 all because of this retrospective and damn, Brotherhood really is for me truly amazing and will always be one of the best Assassin's Creed games ever. :)
As for this video, the music transition you were talking about on stream. FUCK!! it was so good, absolutely loved it. The video is done to perfection and does absolute BITS.
