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Other Essays: • Video Essays
- Chapters -
Intro: 0:00
A New Tone: 2:14
Shifting Focus: 10:25
Upping The Ante: 19:25
An Idea & Nothing More: 24:42
P.S.: 41:45
Legacy: 45:24
To say the first Watch Dogs game was received poorly would be an understatement. Its finished product was nothing like what was shown in previews, and the game, to many, was disappointing. Aidan Pearce was a well written character, but Ubisoft were too afraid to put the spotlight on him. Instead, only allowing his most unlikable qualities to shine through. One such quality was his hacking ability, which for a game all about hacking was barebones, leaving Watch Dogs to function better as a John Wick simulator rather than a hacking game. Despite this, the general public came back around to Aidan, with even myself making a video talking about how great the game is in spite of its release. What further aided Watch Dogs was that it released in 2014, just months before Assassin’s Creed Unity, causing many to look back at Watch_Dogs and consider that it may have been treated too harshly, but it was too little too late. No amount of retrospective praise could save Ubisoft from looking at the state of their heavy hitters in 2014, and deciding to make a drastic change.
One such change was in Watch Dogs 2. When we first got a look at this game you’d be right to think it was a reboot of the series. The tone had entirely changed, its world much brighter, its characters had character, and its hacking took centre stage. But this shift, and the success that came from it, caused irreparable damage to the franchise. We now had two entries in a series that were worlds apart, and two fanbases sitting on either extreme. We can talk theoretically about how this would affect the series moving forward, but there's no need, look at Watch_Dogs Legion. A game that feels like the worst of both the first and second game. Now, there is plenty to enjoy about Legion still, and eventually I will dive into that, but for now I want to look at Watch Dogs 2 and see how it is in many ways the antithesis of the first game, and how it, to the series own detriment, redefined what a Watch_Dogs game is and could be. This is Watch_Dogs 2, and the irreparable damage it did to the series.
Watch Dogs was released to a lot of disappointment, but Watch Dogs 2 released to general praise. So, how Watch Dogs 2 ruined the series, especially when Watch Dogs Legion exists, seems hard to explain. This Watch Dogs 2 eeview will answer that question, and through this Watch Dogs 2 analysis and general Watch Dogs 2 critique we will analyse how this game changed what a Watch Dogs game could be. This Watch Dogs 2 retrospective is part of a larger Watch Dogs retrospective that will end in a Watch Dogs Legion critique, but let's focus on Watch Dogs 2 for now, and the issues surrounding it. Said issues are obvious when searching RU-vid for any Watch Dogs 2 cringe compilation, and any new Watch Dogs game, be that another spin off or Watch Dogs 3 will be compared to the lows of this games writing. Watch Dogs Wrench is the posterboy for said cringe writing, but I argue that Watch Dogs 2 Wrench is, while cringe, fun enough to justify the cringe. This is not a Watch Dogs 2 explained video, nor will it explain the Watch Dogs 2 DLC. Also I don't want to hear anyone saying I am not spelling "Watch_Dogs" right, the underscore is a pain.
9 июн 2024
