AC3 - JRD's first impressions

[PZ]

Those convoy missions weren't fun for me in the long run so I hardly did any because of exactly what you guys describe.

Cool outfit though; makes me nostalgic for AC2  ;)

[JRD]

All trading is incredibly overcomplicated in this game. You need recipies plus material plus artisans to craft stuff and the interface is just  not user friendly at all.

I managed to send convoys carrying pelts and other goods and crafted one item... arrows, I guess... which I can purchase from the shops at low cost.

I believe you can even experiment with materials + artisans and have unique objects or weapons but since it is so trial and error on the said overcomplicated non user friendly inerface.... I dropped it.

Same for Assassins... if it weren't for mandru's dvise on how to send your recruits on missions I'd never found them..... now I am sending them regularly and hope to see some improvements in the near future but mostly I am focusing in developing Homestead for the fun of it and doing main missions

[JRD]

Found the best way to build money:

Hunt bears, elks and deers... as many as you can. (There is a spot in SW Frontier called Packanack thats is a bear colony... just follow up the river...  great for hunting or being hunted if you hate QTEs). Then do some naval missions on a single trade route to lower the risk on that particular route. If you already have some cash, upgrade the Aquila and make your life simple. Then craft naval convoys and send them full of pelts through the low risk route.

Each naval convoy I send on a single, low risk trade route gets me 12,000+ pounds. I easily built 70,000 pounds after a couple hunting trips.

After lowering the risk on those routes I didn't lose any ship. Land convoys, on the other hand, will eventually be attacked, even if the risk is low, and you will either have to get to the convoy to save it or lose your income 

[PZ]

Great tips JRD!  :-X +1

[JRD]

Ok, Lee is dead... game over!  >:D

Killing Lee

Spoiler

You find Lee at the Boston harbor. As you approach him a chase sequence start...  :D
Not a long one and not hard too but boring. He is always ahead of you and you have to keep up or desynch. Soldiers will stay on your way and try to stop you. You follow Lee into the shipyard and into a ship being built. A fire starts thats makes you change your route to intercept Lee... again, if you don't keep up, desynch.  >:((
As you reach Lee a cutscene takes all the fun out of killing him... you don't do anything but watch as Connor shoot him in the stomach.  :D
He ain't dead though... you are hurt, but follow him (or rather drag your injured mohawk body after him) to a canteen where, again, a cut scene takes all the fun in killing your most wanted enemy in AC3 out. Connor stab him to death as you just watch...  :D :D :D
Just can't believe they didn't let you kill Lee but instead force you to watch... what's the fun in that?  In all previous games you actually face your last opponet, you play, you do it... that was the most stupid final battle ever... poor, poor lvel design    :D

The "end"

Spoiler

Sure thing Connor gets the necklace with the amulet Haytham finds in the beginning of the game and gives to Lee. He is told by Achilles to hide it and buries it in Connor Davenport's grave. Desmod finds it and, after having all three power sources in place, opens the door to reveal the final secret left behind by the first civilization.

There is Juno, eloquent as ever, and also Minerva. In the end it seems Desmod have to choose between listening to Minerva or Juno. In a nutshell, it goes like this: Minerva believes the world must end and the survivors shall rebuild it from scratch and make it a better place for future generations... she doesn't seem to care about billions of deaths as long as people are free again. Juno wants the world to be saved so she can regain power over mankind and take over the Earth for herself. Desmond can't handle billions of corpses over his shoulders and chooses Juno!  ???

Juno says something along the lines "I'm glad you played your role so now I can play mine" over a fainted Desmond. Now the rest of the saga can avolve into trying to free mankind from the first civilization uprise. The whole sequence is pretty short and straightforward as if the rushed through the end.

After game

Spoiler

You get back to Homestead and can free roam again and finish all you left behind like Homestead and naval missions, forts, chests, feathers etc.... but there's also aftergame missions to be played. I saw the exclamation mark on the map and there's also an achievement for completing all aftergame missions. Didn't try any yet but there may be nice to have "main" missions left to be played instead of just side quests and collectables!

[mandru]

Gee, that's exactly how my play through ended too.

We must have been on the same railroad.  ;)

[JRD]

I have to say I'm truly disappointed. There was absolutely no climax in the end. 

I bought a graphic card back in 2008 and AC1 came in the box. I installed it and was stunned by the graphics and annoyed by gameplay. The story behind it was so, so convoluted and truncated I almost dropped it. Somehow I was also curious to understand it better. I dug the net and found several great references to the story. And so came AC2... and everything changed. All I wanted to see in AC1 was there... and much more. Needless to sat how I felt when playing AC:B and AC:R, how much I anticipated each game. Desmond's story arc was usually full of unfolds and new mysteries.

It all converged to a climax in this game. Nothing could change the date, December 21st, 2012, when the game should link real world "events", the Mayan armaggedon, which you could help preventing in game... quite neat from Ubi... well played... AC3 should connect all dots laid in the last five years even if it meant leaving more questions unanswered... and then I opened the gate... I even paused the game and went for a cold beer... left my wife mumbling about the cat's medicine..."just hold on, my dear, I'm saving the world now, be back with ya when I'm done"

And then... that...  ????

I could be pretty satisfied with another good cliffhanger. I was even prepared to have to choose between Minerva and Juno and replay the end of the game again to see the other outcome. I was prepared to play another good couple hours with Desmond using other artifacts... fighting modern day Templars... all he did was a quick chat with both girls and bang... the end....  :D  :D

What the f@#k??  ????

[PZ]

I feel exactly the same, JRD;  I haven't even played to the end, but after reading your spoilers, I already know how I will appreciate what they've done.  Games seem to be adding cut scenes while diluting game play.  One of these days a game will be nothing but cut scenes and they'll call it an interactive video  \:/

I'm to the point where I am even questioning going back into AC3, but going instead back into AC2 or perhaps AC:B.  I'm thinking likely AC2 to relive the entire series (the good parts) again.

[JRD]

I was half way through another play in AC:B and will return to it and continue to AC:R when I'm done with AC3.

The series is just too good to stay away for too long!  8)

[PZ]

Yeah, those three in the middle are certainly gems, and are definitely among my favorites of all video games.  ^-^