Ending discussion (very spoilery)

Just finished the game, what a ride. I never imagined another Assassins Creed game could take me on an emotional roller coaster, not since Assassins Creed 2.

After starting the story I spent a lot of time doing random stuff, collecting this and that and upgrading the jackdaw. But around chapter 8 (I think) I got back into the story, story mission after story mission. Edwards story arc suddenly leaped forward, casting him from one storm to the next. After losing so many friends and (oh Mary, I miss you) I truly saw why he adopted the creed (which only happened in the end). Then meeting his daughter and having some father and daughter bonding aboard the jackdaw... Let's just say my eyes went teary.

So, what did you duders think? "Yarr!" or "narr..."? I know, that was a horrible pirate "yes" and "no", but you get the point.

@fetchfox: This story was quite amazing. After ac3 I didn't set my hopes high, but man oh man I was devastated when friend after friend died or betrayed me. Then in the end the gut kicker was his love of his life vanishing completely. This story was so good that I can't stop playing the game even after beating the story.

I do wonder though. What happened to that fancy merchant who became a pirate who did not fit the pirate personality type. I thought it would have been funny to see him come back with a missing leg and scars all over him and look like a total badass one day.

The story is really awesome right around the middle and stays that way for like 4-5 hours, then once you're officially an assassin it gets a little dry for an hour but the ending is great. Real world shit is so, so much better than anything else like it in the series.

Did you actually see him join the assassins? I thought even at the very end when we he was waiting for the ship from Britain he just said "I'll join you guys after I'm done with my stuff" or something to that effect.

I did really like it though, my play time was at 44 hours when I finished the main story and those 44 hours were spread between 4 days, that's probably the most time I've spent at once on a game after Mass Effect 2, which I thought was amazing.

@lord_xp If you read the database in the game it has his story in it. He ended up getting hanged (cried and begged for his life before the hanging), and later being known as the Gentleman Pirate for his demeanor. I think that's what happened to the actual historical figure but real sad if you associate it with the goofy character in the game.

The story didn't really do anything for me at all, to be honest - though that tug on the heartstrings at the end did hit me. I really enjoyed the characters, so that's probably why the little song and shot of everyone you'd lost gathered at the table managed to hit me in spite of not really enjoying the story itself. The game itself was fantastic.

What I enjoyed the most was how subtle the build up was, just Kenway having some fun being a pirate with his pirates bros and looking for some sick treasure. Every now and then a character may die and it hits a bit but he just keeps on going and going until Mary's death then it all hits Edward like a truck. That scene with Anne sitting under the tree was so well done and I loved it when she became the Jackdaw's quartermaster, although I had a hard time going out and being a pirate afterwards.

Also I started replaying the story and there are a lot of little things that I didn't noticed before, things like quick shots of Mary's wrist blades in some early scenes before it was revealed she was an Assassin.

@lord_xp: as @newhaap said, he was hanged. He was also a real world pirate, same story and title as the "gentleman pirate". Most of the other main characters are also real and even died the same way (Mary Ann and Blackbeard at least). Fun fact: Anne Bonny (your quartermaster at the end) is said to have moved back to Ireland, gotten married, had ten kids and died at eighty. That's quite the swan song compared to how the others died. That's whats so fun about these games. Using real characters and placing you in the middle of that eras biggest events (to some degree). My favorite so far has to be AC2. I love history, especially anything related to religion and fanaticism, so the story aspects of AC2 (and somewhat AC1) grabbed me completely. I found it the least interesting in AC3, having little interest in the setting or side characters.

@newhaap When Kenway comes back to the assassin island (the mission from Adéwalé), he helps them protect it and has a longer discussion with Ah Tabai, the assassin master. He might not explicitly join them there and then, but he finds some meaning in the creed and adopts it, giving him more of a purpose. He took the last advice Mary Ann gave him.

@bipa: Indeed, it turned into a great character arc.

@bipa: That scene with the characters at the table was definitely one of my favorite scenes out of all the assassins creed games.

@newhaap: Well I'll definitely be reading those database parts on the people at least. I forgot all about them. At least I have some closure on him now.

Anyone completing all those side quests such as the Templar keys and the Mayan tokens etc?

Kidd. KIDD. My favourite character in an Assassin's Creed game, methinks.

And the ship docking (with the flowers) at the end... I broke into tears--was not expecting that.

Did anybody for one second think that Kidd wasn't a woman? In a lot of British kids' shows they use women for kid voices and it's horrible - it was like that.

I absolutely loved it and the poignancy of the ending with him talking to the daughter was amazing. I watched the end again on youtube and it hit me even harder the second time.

I didn't play AC3 so didn't know that you're the grandfather of the main character in that, only found that out afterwards. So your boy who's with you in the theatre at the end is the dad of the main character in 3, and is a right dick from what I could gather from the youtube vids.

I ignored the story for ages and got all the keys - the outfit is alright. I didn't get the Mayan armour until post finishing it because I didn't realise I had all the stones. I thought I was one short. It's a great laugh running around being bullet proof when fools on towers are pumping away at you and nothing happens.

Upgrading your house is pointless, though I did it all. I didn't think I'd bother taking out the legendary ships as even with full hull and mortars it's still well hard. I did, though. On the twin boats somewhere it said even out the damage as the one left will go into a ramming frenzy making it do you loads of damage. I tried it like that for over an hour then on the first time I mortared one to ribbons leaving the other alone I also did for that one and had over half my health left.

In games like this sometimes it's hard to know when to say goodbye. After I did the legendary ships I listened/read all the notes in the past and the present and it took me five and a half hours. I wish I'd read some of it before that so I'd have known what the prophet was about, but it was nice knowing at the end, and was part of the crazy mystic crap that I really loved in 2 and Brotherhood. That's where I stopped. And it I was very satisfied.

And I didn't like having Anne as my quartermaster. I wanted Addy back. I don't think my crew would take orders seriously from a woman. Plus they're bad luck at sea.

I played Arkham Origins straight after and HATED it. What a shitpile to take me out of the lovely reverie of Black Flag.

@wickedfather: They did the "not a woman" bit long enough that it was mildly surprising, not that she was a woman but that they decided to out her in the first place.

@fetchfox: I'm actually really interest in the reason why you felt anything at all for mr. generic revenge playboy man in ACII. Because I did not feel anything remotely genuine about Ezio... and he was starred in three games.

I loved the Read twist. At first I thought him as an annoying brat with a terrible voice actor. Ended up being my favourite character and voice actor. I never thought a girl in boy's clothes could be pulled off without me suspecting one bit. I liked her so much I almost "fanshipped" Edward and her... but I guess really good friends cuts it for me too.

The ending scene at the theatre hit me pretty hard too. An adventurous inconsiderate young man trying hard to settle down and become a responsible father.

I really REALLY wished AC3 actually told a good story. The story dragged on a lot in unnecessary places, was very unfocused at times, when the premise was so perfect. The dialogue was really well-written too. I really didn't mind them having a generic "idealistic young man" growth story but there was just so much missed potential in elevating emotions.

This has by far been my favorite AC game, Edward is a great character, I friggin' love the time period, and Abstergo is a ridiculous mashup of Orwell and Huxley, a surveillance state that just wants you to play their shitty video game. I loved the pitch videos marking Altair, Enzio, and Connor as 'bad' characters.

@themangalist: This is a character I watched grow and develop over three main console games and one animated short. None of ACs other characters (excluding Desmond) has been given that kind of screen time. His character arc took him from an overconfident playboy to vengeful assassin to a master assassin, where the philosophy of the Creed trumped his own need for revenge. This change becomes clear when he decided not to kill Rodrigo Borgia at the end AC II. In Brotherhood his understanding of the Creed and choices made in Rome led him to become the guilds Mentor (leader).Toward his end (Revelations) he even accepts that he is simply a conduit for a message meant for someone ells and leaves behind his knowledge seeking journey. And in his final years, he passes on some of his knowledge to a young assassin in need of help. Shortly after he passed away.

In the beginning the order and creed was just a tool for Ezio (as it was for Connor and Kenway as well). But over time he embraced it for what it was, an order made to free the people from the oppressive philosophy and actions of the Templars. I love how he evolved over several games, how he learned from his mistakes and confronted his fears. He wasn't "mr. generic revenge playboy man" for long. Had he stayed that way I wouldn't have the same appreciation for him.

@elwoodan those little videos were just so great, and optional I think? You get a surprisingly interesting amount of backstory and cool little things when you hack computers in ACIV.

People have been complaining about the Desmond stuff for the last three games, but once Ubi started down the Ezio trilogy they couldn't kill him off without it feeling forced and silly. ACIII was clearly intended to close the Desmond chapter.

What was learned from ACIII was also that fans are much more receptive of an assassin who is a free spirit, instead of one that is ultra serious about his/her mission all of the time.

I'm sort of mixed on the ending personally. I loved it as the ending for that character. At the same time I thought it was only decent in terms of what it added to the AC fiction at large, but I'm completely okay with that. It's still leaps better than the way AC3 ended. It seemed sort of odd how they shoe horned in Haytham at the last possible second. At least it a paints the picture of Edward being free spirited and cultured enough to move on to a new love. The Assassins versus Templar thing was mostly uninteresting though I thought it melded brilliantly with the time period. I think the part I liked the most about the main plot is that it's basically giving away the way One Piece is going to end, except in a fraction of the time. Overall I think this is my favorite Assassin's Creed game in the franchise and hands down my favorite pirate video game of all time. Also the Abstergo game dev stuff was awesome.

I thought the ending was pretty good, but they never addressed the one thing that I was hoping to learn: How Haytham ended up with the Templars. I know it's Edward's story, not Haytham's, but I kept waiting for some kind of twist where the Assassins betray Edward, or for his experiences with guys like Rackham and Roberts to cause him to believe that maybe people DO need a stern master's hand, or even that the baby that the Templars (or just the British) took from Kidd before she died would turn out to be Haytham- and that he'd be raised and indoctrinated by the Templars. SOME sort of explanation.

Two things I did really like though were the "Market Analysis" segments and what I am wildly speculating to be hints that the next AC may be in China.

@bbalpert: I don't know where it actually pops up in the series (probably in a comic or something) but there is an explanation here if you're still interested.

http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Haytham_Kenway

Ah, thanks.

@bbalpert: @euandewar: FYI if you like the fiction there's a whole bunch of side stories on acinitiates.com. Plus you get some bonus items in AC4 if you login with your uplay account.

Really enjoyed it overall - the story is a bit hit and miss but some of the characters and acting are top notch. Thatch in particular is brilliantly executed, and I loved that his motivation for totally losing his shit was just wanting to find some medicine to help the people in Nassau. Hands down the star of the show for me.

I do think the game could have used a sequence at some point showing Thatch and Hornigold taking Kenway under their wing when he was a pirate noob and they sailed together. Their feud, the death scene and betrayal would have hit harder I think.

Oh, and you can tell when Edward becomes a legit assassin because his Leaps of Faith suddenly gain legit assassin eagle noises! When I noticed they were missing I kept wondering if they would add them when he eventually joined, and then they did and I was like *HIGH FIVES* developers!

I thought the story wrapped up well. Edward being so concentrated on himself, it made sense that the ending concentrates on him and not the Templars and Assassins.

I think the ending managed to not only do that, as befitted the game and giving us a break from the hugely weighty zillion-year battle of Assassins and Templars, but also made that ending poignant too. Because he is such a self-centered guy, we see his future as a bit of a lonely one. It doesn't involve many others because he doesn't involve many others in his life.

I also liked the market research videos, especially the one saying that Connor was boring as hell and spent too much time running through trees. "Recommend we not continue with this character." That's AC3 in a nutshell right there.

Also, the jokey "in a world..." Pirates video from marketing was hilarious.

Did anyone find a payoff (ending) from the Astergo Entertainment world in this game? I hacked everything and found every note and got nothing except the end credits. Not that I mind, but it is unusual for AC.

Finished it last night, pretty good stuff. It was a surprisingly subdued affair, I was expecting total bananas as is the series hallmark. It's really surprisingly self contained, focused pirating and science fiction, with just enough hooks to keep fans of the aformentioned 'bananas' ticking along. I really liked the wrap around story, and additional data and marketing material was really enjoyable. The whole your 'too dumb' for Connor audience was pretty amusing. I kind of like that the Desmond stuff is pretty much wrapped and leaves the series open to go anywhere. The third faction of 'The Sage' could be an interesting direction going forward.

When the "John from IT is Roberts reincarnated" twist was revealed, all I could think of moving forward was 'Man, that face does not work in modern times'. Maybe it's because I got used to Roberts being in full pirate swag, but something about it seemed off compared to all the other present day people.

well it seems now that the "end of world stuff was sorted" in AC3 they left the modern times stuff open so where is the video game made by abstergo set in? who know? but i think the modern day assasins will have to have a bigger role in ac5 and maybe the identity of you will be revealed.

Also did you see the Watch Dogs reference in AC4 i'm curios what that game will tell about abstergo maybe aiden will be contacted by the assasins at some point?

@alexgbro: Yeah, Ctos is right in there. Neat that the games take place in the same world, but how many evil corporations and and battles for supremacy can one world stand?

From what I remember his face changes upon death, implying that he somehow revealed his true mustachioed appearance to the player but not to the outside world? I might be crazy, though.

@kierkegaard: Nah mate, I just rechecked that part on youtube. He's all handlebars all the time.

@fetchfox: The real question is how Abstergo failed to recognize him, assuming they were going over your research.

Also I guess this means Abstergo now has access to his memories, not sure that is going to end well.

@hawkef16: True, but the real question is how they missed that fuckin' Shaun Hastings (ACs lovable cynical Brit) is making coffee in the lobby! They've got his face on file for god's sake (it's on one of the computers you can hack, pictures from Desmonds phone).

P.S: I don't think they know who he really was. It certainly didn't seem that way.

@fetchfox: Ha, okay then. Eh, Abstergo/Ubisoft is a very diverse company. Guess they don't discriminate on facial hair.

Overall this was my favorite game in the series since brotherhood, but I was a bit disappointed that they didn't explain the presence of Desmond's crew in the Abstergo office.

I finished 90% of the submissions, collectibles, upgrades, and battles before I even completed Chapter 9, that meant when I powered through the final chapters of the story "I" was psychologically ready for where Kenway was going as a character.

I too was tired of the loose & free lie of piracy/gain Kenway had been telling himself, so when the story swings him that way I was ahead of them for the change of heart. (Kenway's drunken delusion, or the player's Animus nightmare was actually a great way to convey that change of heart for the character there needs to be a rock bottom to believe the change woudl occur.)

I'm right on the last mission now with 96% of the collectibles and missions done, I'm sort of glad it worked out that way. When I end the game I want nothing else to do because I want the ending to be THE ENDING (Oh, I don't include shanties as part of the finished collectibles...I don't like jumping like a loon after flutter-by papers...or people.)

That only thing that might have been sub-optimal was that the last few chapters bring you to islands you APPARENTLY were not supposed to have discovered or that were presented in the story as "new" when in fact I (as the player & my Kenway) had been to those islands much much earlier. With that said, I think if I had powered through the main game and still had 1/2 the collectibles unclaimed the story's melancholy nature would have been at odds with continuing to raid the high-seas for booty.

I keep saying what this game needs, but I think AC IV was the most satisfying game I played this year. I hope Ubisoft is serious about spiting of a piracy game from the AC universe. There are fans of the AC fiction, but sadly I think AC's Templars vs Assassins through-line get more in the way than it helps. I'd like if they too what they made with Black Flag and just stripped out all the Templars, Assassins, Animus stuff; but then added Mass-Effect style dialogue trees, deeper stories involving sub-characters that are influenced by what you and and say with them. There are five women and five men in Black Flag who are major characters, they come in and out of you life, but no ROMANCE options for any of them? What? A pirate game with out romance is like a spy thriller without spying.

In 2014 what I would like to stop are game stories they TELL you who you love, but give you zero investment in why? Kenway loves Caroline Scott-Kenway, but only because the story/developer says so; I as a player have no investment in her or their relationship. On the other hand, Mary Reed, Ann Bonie, Rhona Dinsmore, and Opia Apito I could have been persuaded to get to know and like; because I got to interactive with them as Kenway. But, the same is true for the men in the game, there were more than enough male character to be used a romantic partners too...and all of them I would have preferred over being TOLD I like Caroline.

The story here, for me, is right up there with Mass Effect 2, and Bioshock Infinite.

I find it really odd that whenever the GB guys talk about the story in AC they jokingly suggest it's meaningless, and that even Ubisoft doesn't care. I didn't get the same impression from the 4th wall stuff in AC4... I thought it was humorous, but also a pretty great evolution of the modern timeline.

Also... from some of the market research stuff... I really hope to see some World War 2 AC action.

@confideration: I think the modern time story in ACIV was ridiculous just how it always was, but Kenway's story was actually compelling. There was an actual, significant character arc there.

I did finish last night. It was okay. I actully think Kenway's story, as told, was weaker than it could have been.

The basics are fine, I think the framework is very good, I think teh plot of who goes where when is just fine. But when it comes to teh telling of the story, the filling in the broad brush strokes with details they fail.

The game industry is very poor at writing, producing, editing and adding final editions to their games narratives. Games will always be very poor at story until editing and reworking becomes part of the final process. This is not about being more cinematic. Editing is parts of ALL art. The choreography of a dance is edited by practice, rehearsing, trying and adapting movements. Novels are edited, restructured , re-written and reedited. Staged theater productions are edited, dress rehearsed and re-edited. Even for paitings, the final dubs of paint are added to fulkl realize the vision. TV shows are written, read by cast, dress rehearsed on sound stages, and then even changed as they are filmed, and then peices toegether over weeks by professionals.

For games to move onto the next step of their evolution as art IS the editing editing process. Yes, thousands off dollars (if not millions) in coding, motion capture, voice acting, and everything else often will need to be tossed out and redone in some cases, but that is the way forward. The final result of that will be maybe a handful of games where you cna say, "There was not a wasted word; the story flowed very well in game play & cut scenes; and the delivery of 98% of the ten thousand lines of dialogue was spot for tone/delivery even when dialogue choices were offered."

Just finished the game. The ending was so beautiful. Then I did my hours of ending research.. Learned Jennifer becomes a concubine for the latter portion of her life. Also Edward dies fighting off the five men who kidnap her.. Way more disappointing then Ezio's death.

That song at the end though.. So awesome. Anne Bonny is one of my favorite characters now.

If you'd ask me halfway through the game if Edward was going to become a Templar I'd say "I don't know man, maybe!" Black Flag especially makes Templars out to be somewhat reasonable people trying to drag the world out of this state of debauchery and force some order on it. They do this through manipulation but the end goal doesn't seem all that bad. In complete contrast, the Assassins in this release appear as this crazy cult. They're all extremely intense and blood thirsty - always seeking to murder those who they don't agree with. Plenty of times when you do kill those "contracts" their transgressions don't appear that dire - or a threat to the assassin brotherhood - they're usually just bad people in a world that is full of them. In the past Templars were always made out to be these evil, conniving villains. Now the lines are blurred. The main "bad guy" is even against slavery as he deems it a disgusting practice. Almost all the Templars are a people of position, of nobility, government officials. In turn the assassins are quite literally savages living out in the jungle. I mean when you walked through Nassau, you kind of understood what the templars were all about. Streets full of drunkards and malcontents. It looked like a gigantic slum compared to big cities like Havana that looked like people lived in harmony and order.

Quite honestly I did not sympathize with the assassin cause at all and enjoyed Edward for not getting sucked into it and be his own man. So I was really disappointed when by the end of the game he suddenly does this character 180 and is "all-in" with the creed. Especially since the assassin cause was "make sure the other guys don't get the thing!" and when you achieve this goal they close the temple off and just go back to waiting I guess, while the world remains full of chaos and danger.

In addition, Haytham being Edwards son and then becoming a Templar is pretty silly and it's a copout that a book explains that whole convoluted affair.

I finish it last night. I enjoyed it. Hated all the story missions during the last half of the game, but I enjoyed the daughter stuff. I did not get any reaction out of the mother dieing because they do a shitty job in making us care about her, she was just an annoying house wife. But god DAME that girl was cute... and hot minutes latter. I wish Kenway's family was explore more, then maybe I would care about him as a character.

OH, and I was expecting shit for credits stuff, but what they did was the best since 2 and that escape fighting them dudes.

So do we know who Haytham's mother is? I'd like to assume it was Anne but just wondering if there was anything in the database about it.

Do they ever explain how his wife dies? It was just kinda like oh btw here's a letter your wife is dead. Then your daughter randomly shows up in the caribbean when you were supposed to go to england? I was a little iffy on the ending but there were definitely parts I liked about it. Great game.

I'm wondering if the Templars had anything to do with her death.

@tastyhouse: The main Templar guy did mention her at one point, saying that she hadn't been well.

@fetchfox: I really loved the game, and the ending was way more beautiful and sorta heartbreaking than I'd been expecting. The game is gonna stay in my memories for a long time to come.

I loved that they included small intimate moments that make a game so special (for me). That obviously includes all the ending parts, and other than that the scene with Anne Bonny just sitting under the tree etc. The detail in the world also went a long way. There is SO much detail at a random spot in a city, that it's just beautiful to stand there for a long while, or to wander aimlessly through the city streets.

The sea (graphically and mechanically) is a beautiful experience too. The sunlight that reflects on the dark blue waters in the deeper see, and the sunlight that shines through those waves, illuminating the water from within, is also something I could spend a long time appreciating. Sailing peacefully, bobbing up and down on the huge waves, high intensity battles with man o wars... oh man, I could go on and on about the things that I loved about this game.

The music, the atmosphere (major positive part about the game), the graphics and the intimate moments were all done beautifully, and it feels closer to a work of art than it does to mindlessly created annual big budget stuff, which it is often blamed of being. There is a LOT of conscious effort put into making it beautiful, and it shows if you're willing to look.

I really liked the story actually it gets heavy near the end. Have to say though I am so tired of "tail this guy" missions, I would be totally fine with never doing that again. The only reason to do the story missions is for the story, I had more fun doing side quests, wandering, finding chests, and being a pirate. The dual swords were cool but I miss my heavy weapons from previous games. More ship options such as rear cannons instead of firebarrels or different types of ship.

Anyone else feel really bad whaling? killing sharks was fine but I had to kill a humpback and that was rough. Through the game I only killed one killer whale and one humpback. It's just sad seeing all the blood and then hoisting its dead body up afterwards. Of course the dude you have to shoot to claim a fort I had no problem shooting in the face every time.

I felt bad whaling, but you don't have to do too much of it. I snagged one of everything, and then when it came to crafting I spent a little coin to buy supplies I would need.

I really enjoyed the ending, the real gut punch the game gave me though was the quick glance over the table of all his dead friends before going down to meet his daughter. I still get a little misty eyed thinking about it.

i thought it was a great story got abit sad at the end. though the stuff with the developer i could live without.

really might be my favorite game in the series, its definitely my favorite since brotherhood for sure. god damm they did an excellent job on this game.

I just finished the main story in ACIV. I really liked this game. I really liked the cast of characters. And I really loved the pirate setting/game play.
I think they might have won me back. If the next game is anywhere near as good as this. I had given up on it after III. But a few people urged me to play it. And I am now glad they did.

I might even go back and try to play III now to see the second half of that games story. Well, maybe I'll just youtube it.

Its really too bad there wont be another AC game with Kenway in it. I think he has been by far the best main character to date in any AC game. And the adaptations of some real names for the supporting cast was absolutely fantastic. I also like how his character arch was not heavy handed. It was subtle and felt real. And that he had women friends who were not love interests.

I have to say. Its my 2014's 2013 Game of the Year.

Just finished it last night. Great twist at the end with the daughter. Possibly my favorite in the series so far. Usually i hang up these types of games after i finish the story but i think i'll stick around and pick up the rest of the collectibles.

If you've played the rest of the series you might as well finish out the Desmond story line. Wont take too long if you just mainline the missions. There is some decent stuff in 3. Boat stuff might feel a bit stripped down after playing 4 though.