The best "Assassin's Creed" to play on NS

In the entire development process of the "Assassin's Creed" series, the "Egio" trilogy that starts with "Assassin's Creed 2" to the end of "Assassin's Creed: Revelation", undoubtedly has an extremely special status. On the one hand, for many old players in the series, the "Egio" trilogy is the beginning of their trapped series, and is still regarded as a classic that countless people can't surpass. On the other hand, it also laid a basic gameplay framework for all subsequent "Assassin's Creed" games. Although each work in the series will more or less undergo some gameplay innovations, in terms of basic gameplay such as open world exploration and stealth assassin's assassin's" trilogy can be said to have determined a clear direction for the entire subsequent series.

It is precisely because of the extremely popular "Egio" trilogy that Ubisoft released a collection of three works and two independent short films in the past few years - "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection". The collection re-optimized the graphics effects of the original game and landed on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One X and PC platforms at that time. Recently, this collection has finally arrived at Nintendo's Switch platform. Although the content is not different from the previous versions that have been logged on to other platforms, considering the Switch's not powerful functions and the convenience of being able to play anytime and anywhere, the Switch version of "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" is somewhat exciting.

The biggest concern of players about the Switch's "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" is nothing more than whether the Switch's functions can support the smooth operation of the game. In fact, after I've been using the Switch, I can tell you with certainty that the experience of playing Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection is no worse than on other platforms. Thanks to Ubisoft's excellent optimization capabilities this time, the overall operation of "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" on the Switch is very smooth. Although the game is forced to run at 30 frames, players can get relatively stable frame performance, and there are few frame drop problems that can be seen visible to the naked eye, whether in handheld mode or connected to the monitor.

What surprised me especially was that compared to the PlayStation 4 version I had experienced before, the Switch version of "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" has shown certain advantages in terms of picture effects. Thanks to the smaller screen in handheld mode and Ubisoft's optimization of game graphics, "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" in handheld mode still presents rich details, and the overall clarity of the picture is far beyond that of other Switch ported games. After connecting to the monitor, the difference between the Switch version of the game's screen effect and other platformsIt has also been further reduced. Although the game removes some shadows and material details compared to the PlayStation 4 version, the picture clarity is better than that of the PlayStation 4 version and the viewing feel is more comfortable.

The picture quality differences between different versions of the game compared to YouTube blogger @Cycu1

In addition, the difference between the Switch version of Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection compared to other platform versions is simply the addition of HD vibration and touch screen operation. These two functions do not have a strong presence during play. Considering that the game itself does not have much content that can adapt to the Switch's functional characteristics in terms of gameplay, it is understandable to handle this.

In all aspects, this Switch version of "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" is a work that is very suitable for old players to choose for their feelings and convenience. New players can of course use it to further understand the history of the "Assassin's Creed" series. It tells the players in a complete life from beginning to end, and its many gameplay has also laid a solid foundation for the subsequent "Assassin's Creed" series of works.

Since Assassin's Creed 2, Ubisoft has shown outstanding strength in open world game design. Although the subsequent "Assassin's Creed" game was often criticized by players as a formulaic open world, in that era, when you first entered the game in Renaissance Florence, you had to admit that its open world design was ahead of the times at the time.

In the first generation of Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft adopted the design of an open map, but in the real-time game at that time, players had very limited interaction with the entire open map except for synchronizing bird's eye view points and finding items to collect. And in Assassin's Creed 2, this situation has improved a lot. Open World Map Exploration has since become one of the fixed labels of Ubisoft Games, and through the "Egio" trilogy, Ubisoft has also accumulated rich experience in the road of open world game design.

In Assassin's Creed 2, players can explore the various cities that the protagonist Egio has arrived in more freedom. Not only do they have their own unique scenery, players can also take on side missions such as sending letters, racing, assassinating fixed targets, and exploring ancient tombs on the map, greatly enriching the playability of the open world map. In "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" and "Assassin's Creed: Apocalypse", the competition for strongholds, training Assassin's Brotherhood, and stronghold tower defense have also been added one after another, allowing players to experience a little freshness when playing each new work. These contents have also roughly constructed the gameplay framework of many subsequent "Assassin's Creed" series of works.

To some extent, the "Egio" trilogy is the work in the series that best interprets Ubisoft's understanding of the identity of "Assassin". Whether in terms of gameplay or the spiritual core of the story,They all fully interpret the assassin's creed of "working in the darkness and serving the light." There will be levels that force players to track targets and stealth assassination in the game. Once the player reveals his traces in front of the enemy, the mission will be declared to have failed. Most main tasks will have additional "perfect synchronization" conditions, requiring players to think more carefully about the level-passing strategy. These difficulty settings, coupled with the sense of interweaving of the story itself and real history, can easily make players feel stronger inclusion. Compared to the protagonist who abandons these mechanisms in the subsequent works of the series, he can experience the game like a berserker all the way, which is indeed nostalgic.

Of course, for new players in the series who have not experienced the original "Egio" trilogy, it will be difficult to accept its outdated graphics and inhumane gameplay design. The "Assassin's Creed" series has been developed for so many years, and the gameplay will be renovated every once in a while, resulting in the current "Assassin's Creed" vs. the "Egio" trilogy, which has completely become two different games. Although core gameplay such as stealth assassination and parkour have been retained, today's players will be somewhat difficult to adapt to when experiencing the not-smooth parkour operation during the "Egio" trilogy, and then carefully tracking and assassinating the target. For most fans of the "Assassin's Creed" series, the only reason that can encourage you to play this collection is the convenience of the Switch and the only feelings for the old works in the series.

At least for me personally, the Switch version of "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" will be sincere. It has good graphics on the handheld console and also includes three of my favorite works in the series. The most important thing is that now I can open the game anytime, anywhere, no longer be restricted by the equipment and venue. Although the collection does not add more functions to the game, this is already very satisfying.

Of course, if Ubisoft is willing to remake "Assassin's Creed: Egio Collection" with current technology, there will be no regrets.