I'm currently in between finishing my Mass Effect 2 play through and waiting for my copy of Dragon Age: Origins to get here, so this weekend I decided to go to my backlog of games and make some progress in ones that I'd shelved. Now Assassins Creed was a game I didn't enjoy, for the reasons that many have mentioned - the repetition, pacing, and a combat system that I just never mastered. That said, Assassins Creed II was possibly my favorite game of 2009, so I thought it was time to give it another chance.  
 
And so I dove into the shoes of Altair once more.... and I found that I liked it much more than before. I still think ACII is an all around better game, but spending so much time with it had allowed me to master the controls, and understand how the game wants me to play in the world. No longer was I bumbling around the city causing fights with each and every guard I came across. I was utilizing the tools in my arsenal to be stealthy and achieve my objectives correctly. 
 
That said, the game still shows its flaws. The need to walk at a snails pace in order to not arouse suspicion, as well as the lack of variety in the world stand out even more now that I've played its successor. What I missed most was some of the interface elements - most importantly the locations of enemies marked on my HUD and map - something which is arguably even more important to be aware of in the original with its "shoot-on-sight" guards. 
 
Will I finish the game? Who knows, especially with Dragon Age on my horizon, but this is the first time I've gone back to a game I didn't like after enjoying its sequel and I was happy to see it in a new light after being "trained" by the better of the two games.