So I'm about 3 hours into this game (No spoilers, don't worry), and I just want to say that the fact that this game is again about Ezio shouldn't have anyone up in arms. Yes, on the surface it seems like a cheap cash grab, but in the actual game there is so little to do with the previous that it feels all new. Yes, Ezio's still Italian and he writes letters to Claudia, but apart from that I haven't seen any other character from the previous games (apart from the Desmond story stuff, obviously). On top of that, having Ezio be a well known and skilled Assassin makes this game start much more quickly and elegantly; rather than introduce a new character (even if he was already fully trained) and show his place in the world would really bog down the first few hours of the game. Instead, the second Ezio gets to Constantinople he is recognized and starts learning new things, like the hookblade and bomb making, instead of retreading the things he already has.
 
In other news, the hookblade is totally kickass. It definitely seems like Ubisoft was trying to make the traversal even faster, and with the hook you can move vertically in significantly less time than before, and things like ziplines go a long way to cover long distances without fast travelling.
 
Again, I'm still in the early stages of the game, and for all I know the next ten hours will take place in Rome. But at this point, I'm really liking what I'm playing and have no issues with the reuse of Ezio.

Wait. People had issues with Ezio being in this one? Huh. Those people must have been dropped on their heads repeatedly at birth, because the story they've been unfolding with Ezio's games has been fan-fucking-tastic.

Wait. People had issues with Ezio being in this one? Huh. Those people must have been dropped on their heads repeatedly at birth, because the story they've been unfolding with Ezio's games has been fan-fucking-tastic.

@Waffles13 said:

Instead, the second Ezio gets to Constantinople he is recognized and starts learning new things.

...I don't think that's a good thing considering he's an assassin. Anyway I'm glad Ezio's back, I've loved him as a character and his story since two.

I don't mind playing as Ezio again, especially when he's an old badass assassin.

I'm still tired of Ezio, I get people like him, but frankly I haven't cared about his since the end of Assassin's Creed 2.

I'm still tired of Ezio, I get people like him, but frankly I haven't cared about his since the end of Assassin's Creed 2.

I'm not worried because Ezio died 460 years ago.

Unless the ending is Ezio getting frozen in a stasis container until Assassin's Creed 3, along with Altair, and then AC3 is three player co-op with Altair, Ezio and Desmond. Fuck, that would be awesome.

@Brodehouse said:

I'm not worried because Ezio died 460 years ago. Unless the ending is Ezio getting frozen in a stasis container until Assassin's Creed 3, along with Altair, and then AC3 is three player co-op with Altair, Ezio and Desmond. Fuck, that would be awesome.

Damn it. No matter what Ubisoft does with Assassin's Creed 3, it will never be as awesome as this.

Anyone else getting really distracted by the changes to Desmond/Ezio's facial structure? The new textures and animations are fine, but I much prefer the old models. The new face just doesn't look like the characters we've connected with for the past 2-3 games.

@jakob187 said:

Wait. People had issues with Ezio being in this one? Huh. Those people must have been dropped on their heads repeatedly at birth, because the story they've been unfolding with Ezio's games has been fan-fucking-tastic.

Yeah but the problem is in Assassin's Creed II, they flat out state that Ezio is no longer important as a character, his purpose was served in delivering the message to desmond in the future. Then they go and make two more games starring someone who has supposedly played his part, so there's no real stakes there. You know the templar have taken over in the future, so what's the fun in playing a losing war? The borgia stuff in brotherhood was fine as a personal revenge story or whatever, but Ezio's personal stakes in revelations is little-to-none. Could have been any assassin that stumbled into Masyaf and set off to find the keys.