 What's up everybody? I'm the hook and I'm the blade and I'm the wreck and together we're together We always forget who's supposed to do that part and together we're you know Welcome to the Rookblade podcast a show about all things Assassin's Creed Syndicate. We do have a special guest today She's a moderator of the official Assassin's Creed discord. She's a member of the mentors guild She's the host of the Rookery's archives podcast. She is nerdy. She is an archer She is the nerdy archer. How are you doing? Glad to hear it. We're so psyched you can join us. Thank you for having me on Louise is the first person to be on the show that has an accent since Noah What do you mean I have an accent? You're the ones with the accent. I Guess that's that's a good way of looking at it I think I think I think Louise is the first to make hookblade history our first guest from across the pond What better episode to have me on than the one about syndicate. Hey, I know can you believe I didn't even think about that until justice moment? I mean I also do love syndicate Well, you know, it's funny about that as I was before I came into into the to start I was pouring some water and I was like, wait a second Louise is is also from the UK and syndicate takes place in the UK Holy shit No wonder she likes syndicate so much. What's the water the thing that tipped you off there? That's So I water I do I do my best thinking when I'm when I'm drinking water Um, hey, I've got a like a dumb thing to talk to you guys about this week. Okay. Mm-hmm I'm a pop socket guy. I'm a ride or die pop socket guy. I love pop sockets on my yeah I'm aware because I just love, you know having that sort of grip assistance with with these with these big-ass phones Louise, do you use the pop socket or a similar implement the one time? I did I broke it? So I've never trusted them I Thought they were like the dumbest goofiest things ever until I tried one and I was like whoa I'm I'll never go back. I've also noticed with you at least in the times I'm around you whenever you're finished with your phone It's just like a part of the ritual to just you know slap it closed It's like a second screen lock, you know Yeah 100% you know similar to what happened to poor Louise's pop socket mine mine started a break recently No, I thought you know what it's time to make a change. It's time to do something different I did some research. What is some of the other technologies available to us right now? What's something that's like thinner, you know less of a thing. I found this little product Little-known product called the oh snap grip and it is like a whole paradigm shift for how to grip your phone To be to be clear I Only bring this up cuz like I don't know I I had a problem where I was like I feel like I'm supposed to be able to rotate this thing. I won't rotate so I emailed their support I was like hey guys you advertise I could rotate the grip, but I'm not able to do such a thing and Then they responded like in the in the most polite way possible and I Is no understatement here to be like They said this thing that is maybe not super flattering to me But said it in a way that I felt like comforted and helped by they were like Your grip is probably not defective. It's just hard to figure out how to rotate it at first and then they explained You have to you have to apply some force to it They didn't want it rotating willy-nilly while you're holding the phone And I tried I was like they were right and they also said in their support email like oh, we're really small startup company So if you could leave us a review that'd be nice, so I did and I wanted this This is the review because it's a really it's a review now for the oh snap grip. They've not sponsored this But it's like an awesome little thing. It's like super like low-key. It's like really thin on the back of the phone It's magnetic so you can like stick it to car mounts and put it on your refrigerator If you want why you'd stick in your front of the fridge. I don't know but Do it sometimes because I can I can think of a reason if you're following a recipe You just slap that baby onto the fridge and you're done. You're done. So that's not where I went I went 3 am snacks feast. Yeah, when you're still watching Netflix and it's like I don't want to leave this I don't want to pause it. It's coming with me. Mm-hmm It's it's this weird design where essentially it's like this little piece of plastic in a circular ring and That plastic is attached to the ring by like a stretchy silicone band so you slide your finger under the Plastic piece and it like essentially elasticizes the phone to your hand You can like flip it into various positions to make it a kickstand at various angles So it's like it's kind of a technological marvel. So are you saying it's better than the pop socket for now? Yes, until it like betrays me. I'm gonna say it's better than the pop socket So, yeah, there you go, but we spent entirely too long talking about this So Any other dumb things before we move on not to just hone in the fact that I'm completely precious I just found a completely random tea bag in my pocket For no particular reason What the hell how does that happen? I don't know Don't know that's a great answer that happens to me sometimes but with Frigo string cheese I'll like put one in my pocket intending to have it as a snack shortly after I'd never put anything in my pocket I don't know what is going on here and then hours later. I'm like, why is there a lukewarm cheese But I don't just randomly just munch on teabags, right You were like I'm gonna have this tea later I Better keep this on me You never know the emergency situation where you might need in case of a team urgency. Okay. Well, let me ask you this Let me ask you this Let's say if you had if you were just carrying a teabag on you because you might want some tea like how Possible is it as a tea drinker if you're on the go like would you is it as simple as just just keeping a thermos of hot water? Do they make products that help you with getting tea on the go? Except for just going to Starbucks or just putting the tea in a thermos and taking it somewhere Every Brit has it like an inner homing signal for teabags and kettles You can see any in a 10 mile radius There are sink points where you restore your health and syndicate by drinking tea Speaking of syndicate Speaking of tea So, all right, you love syndicate. We figured as much given that your podcast is titled the Rookery's archives. Yeah What what what is it about syndicate that makes it is is your favorite AC game full stop? Or is it just one you like more? Oh good. Um, Well syndicate was the game that was coming out when I got into the franchise. Okay It was that summer after e3 and the guy you introduced it to me was like, oh There's these super antagonists in it and the woman reminds me of you Like and then we watched the trailer immediately pre-ordered the game And then he proceeded to call me Evie for the next two years. You still will message me stuff like hey Evie check Is that something you like? It's called Connor so That that's interesting that makes sense. I think everybody has like a soft spot for what was coming out when they got into it Yeah, for sure for sure. I have Like I love boat like pretty much all the games in the franchise and like syndicate isn't perfect We'll get on to that but syndicate isn't perfect, but definitely not. Yeah Um, I know loads of people have it lower down on their like rankings of the game's lists Which one out But um No, I just it's just the one that I keep coming back to and like picking up at the law and like the ascetic and the music I think it's the big thing. Oh, I love the music That's that's my first note is like the music and syndicate is underrated. Yeah I think it's pretty good. Austin Wintry is a genius. Austin Wintry is a is a G there was a solid like six months where like Ambient music when I was out walking on the train or something was just the syndicate soundtrack on shuffle There's something about the ambient music in syndicate that I feel like is Somehow different than previous games. I feel like it the way it comes in and out is just somehow more fitting I don't know. It's yeah describe like works really well. Yeah, there's also the great I don't know if you I don't know if I'm pretty sure this is The intention is when you do a viewpoint a certain song will start to play and then if you just sit On top of the viewpoint the song will still kind of go through the motions But if you jump and then somehow it cuts to where it still sounds seamless But it's to where the song will end once you hit the haystack and yeah every time I did it this it always cut between the song that was playing and In skipping to the end before I hit the haystack seamlessly I never could identify like with where the cut was made. I don't know where the moment was. That's awesome Yeah, I don't think I ever noticed that but that's crazy. I relate to your appreciation of syndicate I've always been kind of a syndicate apologist. You know, I It was my number three game for a while I think my replay of revelations dethroned it and that took the number three spot But syndicate still number four. It's still in my top five I think I have a an appreciation for it for mainly two reasons one is because I have a twin sister so like that feels like I feel represented by this game and And the other thing is I've always like an advocate of Like when it comes to assassin's creed the more modern the better for me Like I want a World War two game or you know Russian Revolution game Like I'm all about shit happening in the last century and even though syndicate doesn't do that It's still you know, 1868 or whatever like there is the World War one rift. Yeah. Yeah, and that's my like period of history, too So, yeah, that's what it's that's that's like I love I love the World War one rift. We could talk about it later I love it so much But syndicate itself it's like the most modern full AC game we've gotten and that alone earns it some major points for me Tim what's what's been your general syndicate feeling? Well, I don't think it's moved on the rankings at all because it's kind of just stuck where it is because there's no way It's surpassing black flag, but there's right no way It's worse than unity or three or rogue or anything like that, you know, yeah, that's very much stuck where it's at I wanted to move it lower after this, but I just There was no way to do it. So I I always kind of looking back like I had the same sentiment as most at the very least that like syndicate is it's more functional than unity It's better than unity, you know, it has it has a fine story, you know, there's some there's some gameplay You know, there's some major gameplay issues, but this time around I that kind of just Moderate opinion of it was turned into a more negative opinion of it. And so I guess I can explore that Yeah, because Louise and I are gonna bully you about it. So it's gonna be like black flag again Some people have really strong opinions about syndicate I found it's either yeah, it's like Mama and Vegemite you either love it or you hate it and I was what what do you not have mama? It's in America. Yeah, what what is that? Oh my god? It's like Oh Taco Bell in America It's like a condiment you put on toast. It's sort of Made from toast. Yeah. What else do you put on toast besides butter beans Marmite Vegemite bovril? Maybe oh Beans on toast come on Classic British I don't I don't understand what Marmite and Vegemite are fully, but I understand that there are things that the taste bad that British people like yeah Beans about it like they either love it or they hate it and I was reading through the comments of your unity video And there was someone being like oh, I can't wait for them to deconstruct and rip syndicate shreds and I'm sitting here like oh Like is that what I'm signed on They're just gonna bully me Whatever that was I forget must must not have Heard our ranking episode because I was right there. I had syndicate at number three at that point Like syndicate and I think that the differences between syndicate and unity are like they highlight a very interesting Sort of difference in people's taste because I can understand why someone prefers unity to syndicate and it's a simple matter of Unity has this this very strong vision It has this really clear and concise and focused idea of what it wants to be what that tone is what that world is like that experience and It's very cinematic. It's very moody and it's it's just it's very specific But they have like really kind of fucked up the execution of that vision in a lot of places syndicate is executed pretty beautifully as far as The actual moments a moment gameplay experience goes it's well-designed. It's cohesive. It's not broken The systems play together nicely. The experience is enjoyable But it just feels like the vision that they've executed on is a very Confusing one like okay It's Victorian London, but it's bright and happy and it's like they're twins and it's like a buddy cop thing And there's a gang like it's not even remotely approaching the kind of like singular vision that unity had And I I do maintain that like if neither of these games existed and what we got instead was one of the vision of unity executed with the confidence and and Quality of syndicates gameplay it would be the best assassin's creed game ever made But instead we have these two games that are just not perfect on their own. They're missing something I think for most people if you care about that vision more than you care about the execution That's gonna make unity your favorite and vice versa. I I do I agree with you I think the only part where I start to disagree is just at the where you say it was it's like the vision like the vision Is realized beautifully like on like on the moment-to-moment stuff you mean I'm not saying that like oh syndicate does such a great job at realizing its vision because its vision is confusing to me I don't love its vision. My point is that sure experience. Yeah, it's like I think it's on a gameplay level really well executed and It's just that like the story that's powering that gameplay and the aesthetic and the premise and all that Visionary stuff is like just not super compelling. I think because it doesn't feel like it is yeah You can definitely feel like they might have had a different plan for what the story is gonna be right and then It's been thrown out the window or adjusted or like say they've shunted in the other twin So right wasn't that that thing that Evie was meant to be the main character and then they just introduced Jacob Because when you look at like some of the other comics, I think it's locus Yeah, it's set in 1872. So it's just after But there's only Evie and Henry. There's no hint at all about Jacob interesting I never knew that it's really easy to assume that you know with especially with those Those shots and whatnot that we saw very early on It's it's I was always easy to assume that that this game was going to be different either tonally or different main character Or rather a lack of a main character Evie only whatever it is But you'll hail him like as as last he's talked about it likes to suggest that nothing was changed And he got to realize his exact vision for this and if that is the case Then yeah, it's a weird one I guess to it's a weird hill to die on because I don't know if you know I don't know if it's gonna be proud It's weird cuz like I've definitely noticed in various Assassin's Creed games that like There's a tonal balancing act in all of them where They want to indulge in like sort of fun pop-cultury like, you know goofy stuff And they also want to be sometimes more serious and grounded and the the games that people tend to to crowd around as They're shining like examples of great ac storytelling like think of ac2 and ac4 They're both games that are serious stories that are grounded in reality, but they have these like humorous and Light-hearted moments and characters and weaved beautifully through them And then syndicate is like on the other end of that spectrum where there's not a lot of groundedness or Seriousness to it. It's kind of just a let's save London for the clout. It's like fun wish fulfillment in a way Yeah, yeah London totally isn't grimy and disgusting go swim in the Thames I wouldn't recommend it. I would not I'll keep that in mind if I ever go to London. It's an interesting point, right? Because consider the tone of syndicate as it stands like it is very much. Let's save London for the cloud Let's go and start a gang and call the Rooks and it's it's very light-hearted And I and I feel like that detracts slightly from You're playing as assassins again. Yeah, not so much again I guess because unity right after unity was you know was Arnaw was an assassin But to me, you know a lot of what people say about syndicate is like well At least you play as a set as an assassin at least you are part of the Creed and all that and it's like I don't know if that's a hundred percent because You are you are technically assassins, but you're you're you're kind of rogue. Yeah at this point And your targets they just by George at the beginning they went AWOL Yeah, exactly, and they don't they don't feel like targets the people who you were going after They just kind of feel like people who you need to get rid of they it always confuses me how after every kill Even Jacob does this he he uses a Hankerchief and he kind of you know any and he wipes the blood on it similar to a feather Who is he doing that for is Henry checking these is he is he delivering And so While I think it's it's it's technically true that you play as assassins I don't think any of that is necessarily present and what little of it is with Evie You don't play as Evie for all the game So I don't know if it necessarily counts in some of those other examples like FCO or or even Edward But we know that the twins were brought up as assassins like yeah Ethan only collected them and raisin from when they were six years old because he was in Amaristar in India during that time when they were with their grandmother But they still have like the childhood and the grounding of knowing that they were assassins that they grew up with a father Who was an assassin and also a school teacher? so it would have been a really great opportunity to have like a Way of having a foot in the door from childhood because we from what we saw of like Ezio who? Grew up with an assassin family We don't know what his childhood really was like like yeah Right how much did the twins know about the brother had growing up? What was their training like how different was their life? Did they know that they were going to be assassins? Did they get the choice in the training and would have been a really good way of even if it wasn't through flashbacks maybe just like offhand comments or something of Introducing something to world build that piece. We don't see before Yeah, I yeah, I think that's that that would have been really interesting Like we have not really seen the perspective of like what a kid in an assassin family that is an outright hiding their Assassins from their kids would actually look like but Tim you raise an interesting point because I think I think you're completely Right in the sense that Syndicate is very clearly the next step after a black flag in the process of of Saying this is an assassin's creed game, but the primary fantasy of the game is not to be an assassin. I think that The name it's right there in the name. It's called Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which is a terrible name for this game because It's focusing on the gang element that really isn't material to the story in almost any way It's it feels like a side mechanic that's been elevated Graduated to title status because black flag being so successful must have told the Ubisoft brass that fans are Welcoming to games where the assassin stuff is second fiddle to a different kind of fantasy and now of course years later We've seen that played out to like the most outrageous possible extent But I definitely think syndicate counts for that I think it's it's on that spectrum of the point is not to be an assassin the point is to be a in London with a gang Right and and there's still some of those like residual assassins assassin elements because probably just because of your halin Yeah, but you know when I'm when I'm doing things even as Evie who is like a stickler for the creed I don't feel like I'm being an assassin necessarily mm-hmm Just for whatever reason it it could be because of the lack of the council You know, maybe the council should have been in this game I'm not sure you know I I think from a tonal aspect that makes sense to why like Jacob and Evie are like kind of fish out of water They they weren't raised in London or anything. They've never been there Yeah, and so and you know now that I'm thinking about that not to jump all over the place But I did want to mention how there's something about Jacob's character in this game where I think there's I feel like there's Something compelling about a character who's kind of in over his head It was kind of like a fish out of water and who's innocent enough You know, but he keeps messing up and I think they could have really played into that with Jacob You know coming from this small place outside of London and now he's playing with the big boys and he just can't handle it However, I don't know if that's the effect. I perceived I think he's just more reckless and Endangering things more than he is just kind of like he seems less over in over his head and more like he just doesn't he doesn't care It's not it's not interesting to him. He just wants to yeah start a gang and whatnot And so that I I don't care for so much So so that is that's part of why I feel like the there's there's this disconnect between the assassin stuff is because there is a tonal Justification for it. I just think it would have been more interesting had the council been present and Jacob and Evie had been sent to London because that that aspect doesn't necessarily serve the story in a positive way Then being there without the say of the council because is the council corrupt? Do they not know what they're doing? You know what I mean? Anyway, I know I think Jacob has like a character arc if you squint at it Yeah, it felt very much like the character arc was Nothing at all and then you get to meet in Roth and sequence 8 and it's skyrockets and it's like oh, yeah character development And it does have an interesting relationship with the like I think the Pearl Attaway mission and the Maxwell Roth sequence like play together really well because in both he has to like You know, he's kind of fucking up by trusting these people who are not on his side And like there is like an naivete to Jacob an innocence that that makes him I think he has slightly more depth than just being this like brash fuck it I do what I want like he is that guy But there is the naivete an innocence there that plays off in those in those sequences My only like real issue is that I think that final sequence when they're finally taking on steric Should have done more to like cement a change for him Should have given him a choice to make that would have shown like he's ready to do things the right way He's ready to be smarter. He's ready to follow Evie a little bit Yeah, just because they're in their relationship and that sequence they're working together now And they're they're kind of like they've made up after this fight that they've had that Would have worked better if it involved them making any sort of choices or changes about who they are as people Like if Jacob and Evie had to not just say, oh, we're best friends again But also we're best friends again And we see the points that the other was trying to make and like Evie is ready to be a bit more reckless And that's what she has to do for this mission and Jacob has to be a bit more Thoughtful and that's what he has to do for this mission and see they're a perfect team And they bring out the best in each other their their brother and sister Hurray right off into the sunset like that would have been amazing The crate escape shows that really really well. It's the only mission where you get to see both of them On a mission together. Yeah, it goes haywire, but It's Evie being slightly chaotic and I think it's really nice to see them like working which one is that I think it's sequence four where they have to With the carriage in the trunk box. That's why you get I was going to I was just gonna point out I was just gonna point to that mission as an aspect of Jacob's character. That's not like naive He after that has gone haywire because of him. He's like, well, sorry, sis Sorry, you didn't get everything you wanted. See you later. You know, he's like that was fun Let's do it again. He's not like even sorry. He's about him messing up her mission Yeah, so that's me like he's not he's he's never Remorseful after he realizes that Roth is not who he thought he was He just he just throws in the towel and he gives up and that to me isn't Jacob feeling depressed and is just like, I don't want to I don't want to bother anymore He's like let's Derek have the shroud because I'm not really interested and that to me is not compelling I didn't get that vibe after for the cutscene after ross assassination Okay, especially considering with That in that like 12 hour period between the penultimate and the last mission in sequence eight Which is the one where he nearly blows up children and then the alhambra I it's it's been a hell of a day for him and Then you have that that whole that, you know kiss thing that happened I think because it was pretty much the same evening. I don't think his head's in the right space Yeah, okay. He doesn't really hold himself to the creed as much as his sister, but Like this guy's just gone through a lot. Okay Can I say something that I noted that because I'm always like remembered and appreciated the Maxwell Roth mission and I still do But I kind of appreciate it less on this playthrough Just because I feel like that turn that like hairpin turn of like Wait, you don't want to kill some kids like that's just it's a little aggressive And it's kind of cut down by the fact that like I mean if you remember how that plays out, right? Maxwell says we're gonna kill them kids. Fuck them kids. Jacob says no Save the kids And then two minutes later he gets that like box from Like with a letter in it and you just have to imagine Maxwell Roth. He's like hold on I'm gonna write Jacob a letter. Tell him a matter. I think I think you already had that plan though like from walking into the Alhambra for the first time at the beginning of the sequence You can see them getting ready for the play and then Roth gets the quote-unquote pet bird Which you could use as an allegor for Jacob says pet bird. I don't know. Um And then you look like corvus the trickster is the name of the play that they're putting on and Rooks are a corvus um So I think that Roth I think we have had this planned No, you're totally right. Well, here's 100 percent. No, here's the only thing that here's the only thing that could make that not so Is when Jacob is like we're not playing games anymore. Roth Roth seems surprised He seems like he's I mean you could imagine it's theatrical, right? Like he's playing this part Maybe it's like he wanted it to be more public Or he expected it after the firestorm when people can witness the Quote the breakup as it were So they can have this because he's a theatrical man at heart. He wants people to witness this That's why he had that thing at the Alhambra. That's why he set it on fire. He wanted People to see and he wanted people to know like he wouldn't do things quietly Right, I think that's fair. That's a good point. You know what? I take back everything I said, uh Maxwell Rossi, which is perfect I'm on team team Roth it is it is a little unfortunate though that that for a lot of the For a lot of the Jacob stuff. It just kind of oh, I trusted the wrong person great You know that that happens maybe one too many times You know what I don't know because I was gonna say that that that in the Roth sequence he's making this choice of like I'm not going to go along with this and You know, that's not really something he does in the pearl instance Like he's pretty much on board until he just happens to eavesdrop on daddy steric making making his entrance you know so like so I don't know does it count as an arc? It feels like one it feels like one but maybe mechanically. It's not I think as a player it doesn't feel like one because When you look at like the reveal trailers they spoiled the what should have been a dramatic thing of It's pearl at away. Who's the Templar? But yeah, no in you actually see It being spelled out for you very very clearly That's a good point So I feel like it could have had more of an impact and I think they have learned Because in later games and later reveal trailers, you don't have that like with the reveal of Deimos and who they are Being like Cassandra's sibling or alexis depending on who you picked You never got a word of that in the trailers. It was just Here they are. It was a cool moment And you know what? I'm glad you brought up odyssey because I want to draw some parallels I think between cynic and odyssey in terms of the storyline You know, we talked last episode about how quibac has handled historical characters similarly between the two games But also something that I think is true of both games Tim and I actually argued with her friend white wolf whispers about this. She she disagrees with me, but I feel like Like between cynic and odyssey both of those stories are like well structured They are well built they have like A solid progression of plot and character that the like works works really well and motivates the gameplay There's there's there's a bit more meat to it than you know, just like say go to unity story and it's like Things are just happening for the sake of that's what needs to happen Like I appreciate in syndicate that like that some of the best assassin's creed games Are ones where they take the time to make you care about Whether or not a target dies before you have to kill them like think about ac2 you you know all those bad guys before you kill them Same with pretty much Same with syndicate syndicate you you get to like no, I disagree I With what part of that? It's pretty much unity where you're just going between people and like you meet I feel like you meet them almost instantly and kill them It's it just feels like unity where you're just stabbing people You're just going through a ladder of people just stabbing them in without I disagree and let me kind of or louis can See, I'm kind of agree with both of you, but I kind of just agree with both of you at the same time Oh Because like you said there are missions where you can get to instantly know these players like you know pearl and Roth extremely well you kind of Get the hints of brood and al if you're paying attention and know your history like I did Which spoil that reveal um, but on the other hand Ferris and elliottson elliottson gets a bit of characterization We'd like yeah the whole stuff with lucy thorn But ferris is just done as soon as jacob climbs out the window and do rails a train and that's it Brutah tupini is just there to be assassinated. He isn't really introduced as no There's just one shot of him walking past at the beginning of the sequence And then you don't see him again until you're breaking into the bank of england Let me let me amend my statement because I think we agree more than you might think I'm not saying that like all of these games do this for every target. I'm just saying they do this for you know A good number of targets because Like there are definitely targets in ac2 and ac4 that don't matter. That's that's what happens in these games There are people you kill that you find out about in that sequence I do give syndicate some bonus points for because I think even in those cases Even though it's a little bit on the nose and obvious Like they at least try to give you like one scene even though and that's the easiest thing to do You know, why is this person bad? Why do I want to kill them? You know for ferris, he tells a little injured kid to fuck off That's that's not a whole hell of a lot to go on but it makes me want to kill him Or like I love the doctor who's like it appears. I've ruined the organ Like that's like that in real life though. Yeah, I mean it's a historical character and it was like that in real life That's yeah, exactly Yeah, it works like that stuff works for me and and a lot of these newer games, you know You're you're killing people before you know anything about them and in unity to some extent You're killing somebody before you know why they're why they're bad or if they're bad You just know they're related to this conspiracy. So I think my point holds that water. Okay. Yeah I do appreciate crawford star rick as a villain though like he doesn't he doesn't do much but From the cutscenes we see of him before sequence nine you get a pretty good handling of his character and his ability and Oh my god It's he's just he's a scene chewing kind of aggressive villain and he's not very deep Yeah, if we use like a dnd alignment system, he's like lawful evil. He thinks he's doing the right thing by like Reflectively like oh inflation's happening. I'll raise wages. I make sure people like me enough to keep me safe Sort of thing. I used to think there's a there's a very Viable read of this game that is like a low key critique on capitalism I mean they have Karl Marx. They say as much in the trailer They say as much in the trailer jacob is like to promote capitalism and and like I don't they don't always say explicitly in the game But I mean, yeah, definitely Is there it's definitely mentioned the trailer and and and that's the thing is the industrial revolution Generally speaking as as an historical moment is always used as a this is capitalism gone wrong. Yeah, so I think yeah, if you're doing a story in industrial revolution, that's probably it's the easiest thing to fall back on especially when you've got like You start the game off in the east end. You've got Charles Dickens who you know all of a twist and all and hard times and stuff like that and They say fair politics and if anything this game doesn't go hard enough on that because ubisoft is generally as a company very committed to Not ruffling any political feathers You can watch fucking like far cry five and it's about like You know this evil religious cult and they still not to get us into like really dodgy territory here, you know But like it's less about what you agree with politically or ideologically in this case I think it's just more about I think we have more respect for stories that commit to a particular point And I don't think syndicate can get credit for committing to like any sort of anti capitalist message. It's just sort of there It's not really integrated into the story. It's not motivating anything. That's the ubisoft demo It just definitely makes me wonder like Considering that's true because I I agree with you for the most part on that considering that's true. Why even bother putting Karl If if you're not trying to make a political statement or what have you that's I and I'm not saying ubisoft is making a political statement with having Karl Marx. He's he's a he's a figure in a story history He's a popular figure, but It is it is still a little curious As to why you know for ubisoft that's for sure But but you know and and like I mentioned to to you before it is interesting though because Apparently some of our Karl Marx fans in the ac community don't like his representation because he's not Karl Marx Right enough, which is kind of very ubisoft. Exactly. Yes. It's like the thing with unity and the whole politics behind the french revolution thing Some people thought they weren't going hard enough and some people thought that Maybe they shouldn't have done it in the first place. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's fair Like it's politics. Everyone has a different perception of it. Right. Yeah might always be some backlash going going back to steric I Used to think Kind of where you guys are at where it's like the scenes that we get of him after each target killing or whatever you like That's cool. It's kind of Fixes the chesere problem where you don't really see him very much unless you up until where you see him with etzio and it's kind of like rushed and Uh, there there need to be more build up. I do appreciate being able to see steric, you know interact with things and having Jacob and evie completely separate to him My issue still remains though kind of what I had an issue with in terms of chesere is I feel like the meeting of steric and evie and like should be this Louise have you seen spider-man homecoming? I have it should be like Uh, michael keaton and tom haaland and that scene where he shows up to take Oh god It should be that and I don't know if it is because There's a something about perhaps it's perhaps it's the game's length I don't think it succeeded though because As we have that moment, you know, i'm not i'm not i'm not going i'm not losing my mind like holy shit It's it's steric and evie in the same room. Yeah, I get I understand It's always hard to make me care about a villain that I don't get to interact with in the video game I think the games are starting to figure that out more and more But it's something that ac games have always struggled with and sometimes they do it well like I mean You can say charles lee at least you get to interact with him a few times, you know And that makes him a more interesting villain, you know, uh, obviously red regal borja is a great example of doing it right But also like there's this whole slate of ac games, especially recently pretty much counting every single one since syndicate at least where Like the villain is treated as like a surprise reveal, but it's no one that's that you care about or was interested in at all Yeah, german is that origins is that odyssey does that valhalla Kind of does that I guess with alfred. So not really villain, but you know and and and folka. Yeah, and folka I thought I did folka. I like folka, but but my point is like because yeah, she's very much a surprise villain Yeah Steric gets half credit for the fact that we see him at all like we get to those cut scenes That's more than some that's more legwork into characterizing the villain than some ac games are willing to do But we still never get the relationship between the hero and the villain that makes us care about beating them He hasn't kicked our ass at any point It's also infinitely Harder even not even that you and don't get to interact with the villain But that is the first time that steric has even seen yeah, yeah He's at the ball that bucking your palace and suddenly. Oh god. Evie's trapped. I didn't feel stressed It's supposed to be a high octane moment of yeah, like when the mazuka ends on mazuka. However you pronounce When this song ends people will die a coup will happen you just Nothing really comes of it. Yeah, it's not as tense as it should be Yeah, if if you played a bit as evil as that point maybe Having a point where you have to try and weave your way through this and trying I don't know signal jacob from where you are or Something on the other hand like play as crawford in the lead up Yeah, you know and also what I think I think kind of on that same line of thinking what you're saying is It would have been neat if instead of crawford being like after the song ends Everyone will die and then you just switch to jacob and it's like, okay, clean it up What was neat is if is if perhaps like you play as jacob and then like suddenly your screen goes black And then steric is like, yeah, we already accounted for for your brother doing something. So we also have him now like that would have been That would have been tense, but instead it's just okay. Well while evie's dancing with steric I'm going to kill all the snipers and save the day. Yeah, it would have been neat if it actually took Them two to get yeah, exactly what I think's interesting is if you read through starix database entry It mentioned he it mentions that he's the younger brother. So there's an older staric brother kicking around somewhere in london Wow Cool, which I think is quite an interesting loose thread that they could have weaved in somewhere like Is he like he has a twin he has a twin brother Is he the one that's Intercepting the letters to give to henry or something. Is he a turnco? Is he a mole? Yeah, steric doesn't for as smart and kind of steric as he at first I really appreciate the scene where he's like I have people working in factories for me that are going to be working for the rest of their lives They are oh my god. I love the tea and you're telling me of this. Yeah, it's great And he's like you're and you're telling me about jacob fry. No, thanks. Get out of here But and then but then the rest of the game It's somehow, you know steric is still being fucked with by jacob and evie and so For as cunning and as smart as he is he he doesn't ever pull one over on on our characters Except when he has the shroud and even then he's still he's still overpowered. Yeah, I think that's fair Also, this game takes place in one year and there's no like it seems like it takes place in a day Yeah, there's no like clear time frame. Like we know it's 1868 We know it stays 1868 and if you read through some of the other stuff, it's like Okay, so eth and their father dies around the beginning of february Supposedly in some of the stuff they get the rucks at the end of february march, which is the end of sequence three, but And then sequence eight and nine the last five or so missions of the game take place in 24 hours Beyond that. Yeah Who knows? Yeah, wow It's also equally confusing because there's never a clear delineation between When the rucks become the rucks because they're not they're not the rucks at the beginning And then they become the rucks suddenly they're called the clinkers the clinkers Let's shine these clinkers up then shall we? And that's it. Let's shine this clinkers up They're called that once but even as you're walking down that road with henry There's still the ruck symbol the database entry never changes from clinkers to rucks I love your tweet, uh a little while ago where you're like, what is up with that guy in the carriage? Oh my gosh. Yes gang conflicts like who is he? Yeah, where does it come from? He's steric's older brother He's called Percy now. I love him. I was is that we've we've named him. I'm gonna call him Percy I think that's a Percy the adjudicator We need to get a uh a Percy fan fiction going The life of the adjudicator Louise hello, how do you feel about henry? Have I think you've read the um underworld mobilization. Nope not at all Okay So tell us does it does it make him a great character because we love we love arba's mirror We love that comic so then you will hate it Okay, so slight spoilers of the book. Arba's is kind of a dick Interest well, so Henry's backstory is see a bad father. He sentence Henry to death for failing his blooding So Henry's about six years older than the twins and around 1862 he did his first assassination But he botched it because he he doesn't have the heart of a killer I think there's a quote from his mum later on saying Um, you can be a great assassin without being a killer, but at that point Arba's is so intent on no you are going to be an assassin You are going to get this kill you are going to be a good man like this way and Like this is around the time the ethans was also still training him and had warned arba's several times that you know Henry isn't a killer. Maybe he should do something else and be an assassin like I don't like we see um hyphen or matlock like he's the archivist guy He's sweet heart and nice. Yeah, he's the bureau dude. He would be the bureau dude and he's the rafik Yeah, but the thing but because he botched it so badly and he Did it in a way that nearly compromised the brotherhood that they were going to sentence him to death Until ethan fry saved him and she sent him to london because his name's not henry. It's gyrodict mere Yeah, right But he's never once called that you would never know that unless you read the book Under if henry's whole point is of his character is that he's the non killer assassin Does syndicate kind of undermine that inherently by like having him Participate and join in on field work and beat up people and stuff Because eb does say you belong in the field with me. Yeah, that's how it ends You know like his arc in the game is like I fucked up a field mission I've lost my confidence and then by the end he did that You know, he kind of regains that confidence saves the day saves the day. What are you on about? Not saves the night and gets knocked out immediately. No, but you know what I mean like this opportunity It's a lot whatever You know what I mean like he's just showing up. He's a good boy and he's participating Dude, I I could not help but just like I just I was so I was so fabricated that henry shows up. I forgot this how it went down There was his knife and he just gets clobbered immediately. I was like, oh great. Henry's gonna show some moves He doesn't Maybe it would have been better if he'd had but I'm just saying like I I'm not saying his arc is good Last thing I'll say about story is you have always said that you like the dynamic of jaco Fucking stuff up and then evie coming to fix it. Yeah, then this playthrough I found that less charming because it just felt like evie was just Delegated to clean up and not actually being able to do her own thing besides lucy Like everything else is just let me fix jaco's mistake And I don't know if that's the most interesting place for her character And so I definitely just like them in this in this go around I think we're coming at it now from like a more evolved lens of We know like what the situation was with development We know that like evie was probably meant to be the true protagonist So I think it hits us harder that she is so clearly relegated to second fiddle to jaco in this game Whereas before when we were playing it as 15 year olds and we didn't know any of that It was more like oh, this is cool. He's fucking things up. She's fixing it. That's cool But but even even from a even just from a like her like just from a character progression It's it's this kind of boring for evie to that's her thing, you know And even when I played it for the first time I sort of got Why the hell is evie even fixing his mistakes? You know, she has Like she could be doing so much more and I loved evie in this playthrough though. Yeah Like I like evie. I wanted to see more of evie. You just had to look in the mirror I mean, I do have an annoying younger brother. Sorry Sorry jack, but you're probably not listening. It's fine. Sorry jackab. Fuck you jack Game as far as gameplay goes. All right, here's the obvious gameplay thing. I'm not gonna accept if anyone on this call Tim Disagrees with the statement that the black box missions in this game are superb. They are excellent They are perfect They are the zenith of assassin's creed gameplay and no one can tell me any differently So don't even try we all good. That's the tea Tim I I I I like the roth one until the fire starts. Okay until I can live with that Yeah, the fire starting kind of just it kind of just turns it It feels like all of your preparation just became for nothing because then the fire comes to set piece But we can appreciate a good fire set piece every once in a while every assassin's creed game or two gets a good fire set piece And I I'm here for and I my favorite one was the lucy thorn one. I just loved this big This big area to play with and I Ironically, I had a technical issue with it and I had to replay it like two or three times But I still loved it because you can kind of get It's just there's so much to do and You just feel like you're using the opportunities even though It's kind of guiding you more than I think the original design of the black box mission wanted you to be guided With with unity's implementation It still is like satisfying to know that like I could run through and just kill this person As I frequently did the first time I played the game Like I only took advantage of those opportunities some of the time But to know that like you get this sort of cool more immersive more handcrafted experience by following up on those opportunities just It sings I love it Yes Because I really enjoyed them for the fact that you could also just go and do it But the way that like you have the options some of them stack up on one another to kind of give a vibe of You can do this one part. You can do this other aspect But if you're going for like what feels like the full vibe I think I got this particularly with the Houses of parliament mission with the assassination of janes broodnell If you do all three of the options like you steal the key you get the password Do you infiltrate that way? It feels like exactly like they would have done like it's steps Yeah, rather than just guiding lucy thorn ironically is the only one I didn't get that vibe from interesting because they were So stretched apart that you could have done anything That's I think I like the open-endedness of it But I also like in those I mean I like it all I think It's it's a testament to the system that you can have certain assassin missions play out that feel more sandboxy Do whatever you want and missions that feel like you're following a progression While still adhering to the same design philosophy Whereas usually assassins creed games have like picked one or the other usually every mission is this guided Handcrafted experience where you don't have a lot of freedom Or it's like a big open sandbox where there's so much freedom that there's no possibility for distinction or uniqueness between those missions So syndicate is like the only game in my opinion to nail it Though I do think that like there are ways to evolve syndicate's approach in a future game That would be better than what syndicate does in terms of gameplay with syndicate. I You know, this is this this kind of position has been echoed many times It's you know, this isn't the first or last time someone will say something like this But it really feels like syndicate was the turning point for the series part of why it bothers me out of the play It is because it's very much the the the the singular point where they started to value Marketability over functionality and it seemed like a lot of the times in the previous games Those things overlapped in a way and that and that could maybe speak to what a good assassin's creed game is but You know, you see ac2 and italian renaissance probably the most marketable setting ever you could do for a video game It also matches the functionality of an ac game because the tall buildings and architecture and whatnot Uh, I I would even argue ac3 is is in that case because it's functional Not so much with the colonial architecture, but there's this there's this frontier tree running Mountain climbing system that's implemented to make it work So an american revolution is also a marketable setting But they did something you they did something with syndicate that most people hate And they said victorian london very marketable. We're not going to make it functional and if we if we can't make a functional too bad and That has been the case for the rest of the series Are you speaking purely about the parkour experience? Well, what I mean is is by functional victorian london being marketable, uh, you know because it's a very popular time period a lot of literature It was inspired by that time and people know about it But they literally gave they they give you a mechanic that's that like supersedes parkour because They couldn't make it work or perhaps didn't want to or take on that job And I feel that is also, you know, what you always refer to with how You know the assassin these assassin fantasy will come second I think these are two sides of that coin is now also the gameplay is it's it's the same thing with vahala with it being Vikings is super marketable, but it's not functional for an ac game I would love to know exactly what motivated the decision of like let's have these really wide streets and this rope launcher I really wonder like if it changed because it had to or if it changed because they wanted it to Ultimately, like I mostly have the same feelings as you on the rope launcher I also just don't really love the parkour experience in syndicate But I do think that I hold syndicate's navigation experience in a higher regard than a lot of these later games Not because like oh, there's some parkour. It's better than no parkour But just that I find that it manages to be fun for me in just a different way Whereas like running around on a horse in origins odyssey of vahala is never going to be like a fun engaging traversal experience But in syndicate, you know, if you get a big old zipline and you're just Zooming across the rooftops or you're climbing a really high, you know viewpoint really fast Obviously, it's not the parkour experience. I want from an assassin's creed game But I am having fun like I'm having a different kind of I agree. Yeah, you know, it's more of that will It's more of that wish fulfillment thing again, isn't it? Yeah, it's a romanticized version of Victorian london and the games mechanic of what you would want. Yeah, it's very it's really weird though The rope launcher is probably, you know, including the pieces of eden the most just Unbelievable piece of technology that's in the series. Yeah, what is propelling it? Where's the rub? No, that's true. How do they not dislocate their shoulders every time they use it? Well, the hook blade you could say something about the hook blade Yeah, and and I mean the the hidden blade itself is barely like possible to emulate in real life So it it is only if you don't take the secret the the secret crusade version of it The secret crusade version of it could very well happen There's people that people have made versions of it that work just with the ring But yeah, but I'm just saying with the pinky thing 90% of hidden blades you see in assassin's creed are Not physically possible. So like I agree with you I just think they had it to where it could have been physically possible and they just didn't I I think that with the rope launcher the bigger disappointment I mean, obviously I would have loved to swing around victorian london like a victorian spider man But But uh, it's more disappointing that there's no combat functionality It doesn't feel quite as well integrated to the game when you know, you contrast it with the hook blade frequently Uh, and we've talked about this before but like there's no universe that I can imagine Where an assassin is given a tool that lets them shoot ropes hundreds of yards away And they never use it to kill anybody. They never tie it around someone's neck There's no there's no rope dart like functionality that uses it I I can't tell you how many times in syndicate. I was hovering over a crowd of enemies wishing I could just Pluck one up Like how is that not the most obvious thing to do with this game so much fun though I will never see that as anything other than a complete failure that they did not do that It's also just a shame that just at the bare minimum. You can't aim the thing. Yeah I can't I aim the rope launcher. I can aim everything else If I want to go through a tree then dammit. I'm going through a tree. Hell. Yeah As far as other gameplay stuff goes I really enjoy combat sucks You know, you know Well, that's just all right. Let me ask you this ac4 combat versus syndicate combat. What would you rather have ac4? Yeah, I think I think I think I think I think I think I might say syndicate and let me and hear me out hear me out ac4 combat always felt more prompty than syndicates did I appreciate that they're like health bars because health bars let you make slightly more strategic decisions about which enemy to focus on that adds a bit of depth The tool combos and stuff you can do in syndicate look kind of cool The multi finishers also had a bit of strategy where you have to like get a few enemies at that low health level in the same place So for me, there's more to do and think about in syndicate combat than there is an ac4 also I find that syndicate combat can be somewhat challenging Either when you're mobbed by enemies or when you're just not fully upgraded like Every time I replayed syndicate if I was just jumping back into the game after already completing it Yeah, the combat is piss easy once you have everything upgraded You can literally fight any number of enemies with no risk whatsoever But when you're starting out and you're level one little new blit fuck boy Uh, you can get your ass kicked. I think maybe I just suck at the game Yeah, I know I agree. No, I agree. No, yeah, I totally agree with you So I think I hate the combat less than I did before on these grounds I just I don't like the the close ranged aspect of it. I don't like the speed. I don't like the animations It's also really strange how There's this kind of disconnect with the controller that you have because you press x at least I pressed x And that doesn't hit once it hits twice So you hit x and it like punches twice and so one hit isn't one hit And so or you get like a punch or a kick and something as well. Yeah Yeah, it just feels a bit button masher rather than Let's wait for the counter sign For earlier titles I think it was walshie who said in his like ac combat video that syndicate is like beating someone to death with the car keys Yeah, and I think that's a that's a perfect way to put it because it very much is it's very death by thousand cuts It's so slow and obnoxious And I wish the sword cane operated like a sword that you just put back into the cane afterwards instead It's just a dagger and I don't like that. Yeah, that's fair. I yeah, no for sure. I think that Yeah, the combat is it is kind of piss But there there there are things that like it's not like unity where there's just like Where it's slow and clunky and there's just no mechanical depth like it's there's some mechanical depth here It's just also really fast kind of goofy looking and not super satisfying or juicy to play I've got the same vibe with the gangs as well. Yeah, it's just it was sort of looking back on things like you've got the falakita you've got the um mercenary system you've got uh yams viking now like you've there's more of like this Connectability of like you're gonna put more strategy and care into stuff like this Rather than just go to a map or go to the menu and click and upgrade The they feel more like cannon fodder. Yeah, I think when you compare to some of the earlier titles with like the brotherhood mechanic For instance, it was interesting that like I think part of the problem is you have to like deliberately recruit rooks and then you have to manage them If it was like the brotherhood system where I could summon them with a button press and they would do an action for me I think I would use them all the time because I love that system in the older games I think that would be quite cool Because I have to consciously like approach a rook press l1 to recruit and then and then they have to follow me around Like that just gets really uh Frustrating to think about when I'm like trying to parkour somewhere There's a lot of layers between you and using exactly and so even though I've tried like My philosophy when I replace syndicate is I'll try to just recruit a rook whenever I see them And then not think about them too much and then if they can help me in a particular thing that happens then yeah But it removes you from the act of having to choose When and how you use them which you can do with the recruits And it feels like sort of an attachment because it's like if it's that much of an effort to go and find them Why am I going to find them right right and then on the other side? It's like When a rook dies in a fight, it's like who cares Okay, and then move along rather than like when it was a recruit in a brotherhood mission and it's like They have a name they're named and it's saying they didn't come back from the mission And you feel like that little twinge of regret or something Yeah, it's not like emotional stakes with it. It's just an mpc There's an interesting relationship between how dynamic the open world is and how Dynamic or responsive the this sort of system has to be to it So like, you know, you can see in origins with the with the falakas Falakatai. Yeah, they what are you saying? What is that? What are you? What's that word? It's they're like the they're like the bounty hunters in origins. Oh, okay. Yeah, I I was like horrendously over leveled ones. Yeah There's ten of them. So you get that part of it, but they're also this randomness They can hunt you and stuff like that It's a very dynamic system for a very dynamic open world and then in syndicate, you know The rooks because they're placed deliberately in certain areas That is the designers trying to say, okay well We want there to be like a design to where Oh, if we put a bunch of rooks near the opening to this area Then it's going to tell the player like I can recruit the rooks and use them to my advantage in this scenario So it's like almost a little bit more handcrafted, but It kind of just yeah for all the other reasons we've said earlier Like it just doesn't come together and I've also had it like the opposite way We're all I'll see deliberately positioned rooks and I recruit them and then they ruin everything for me Like they just fuck things up, you know, it's also interesting because I completely agree with you. I also think that if there were characters that were rooks and that you had as like lieutenants like you were saying or just Characters that you would go and do things for to help your rooks I feel like as Louise was saying it's it's really a Frustrating just to open up a menu and hit gang upgrades And I always felt like when I would upgrade my assassins in previous games So it would be nice to see that reflected in like how well they do in fights and how well they do the missions and The new weapons and armor that they were wearing Similar to revelations where you have certain assassins who you can do master assassin missions with They could have had rooks that you could do that with and yeah Sure, some could be cannon fodder But there I think there should have been rooks that were characters And the cover of the game implies as much because there's a bunch of people on the cover of the game That are no one that you ever meet in the game. Anyway, yeah, the only like named rook blighted You get is in the driving mrs. Disraeli mission. Yeah, john the tosser. That is all we get I think they could have split the difference like maybe there could have been Named rook lieutenants that you could summon that were more powerful and combat But you could do one at a time But if you needed an all-out brawl, that's when you'd run around the corner and recruit three rooks and send them to your bidding but Ultimately, yeah, it's it's similar to the rope launcher in that Syndicate has the problem that many assassins creed games have probably all of them out of outside of the first handful have Of the systems being so separate from each other that they rarely come together in a cohesive way As far as other like we've talked about combat. We've talked about parkour I think we do have to talk about stealth because I I consider syndicate to have some of the most satisfying stealth gameplay in the series personally Yeah, like there are some games that have come after it that I really don't like for stealth and will prefer the stealth from syndicate One or two like other franchisee games. I've liked Stealth from but no syndicate's still one of my top first stealth excluding like that believability element of when Evie unlocks that special ability where she turns invisible Yeah, like it's in universe explained of she's lowering her heart rate. She's holding her breath, but Nope, she's invisible It's it's yeah, it sucks But we've always considered ac4 to have a good stealth because the rules are so clear You know staying the bushes you can see where people are pointing and They gives you tools and rules and you can sort of play with them as you need to to get A thing done syndicate. I feel like steps that up a level by also being That way, you know, there are clear rules. There are clear tools Just that it's not as simple as staying the bushes You don't just have half of your terrain be hiding spot that you can just move through uninterrupted You have to think about cover It's just I feel like it works really well the cover system like isn't stupid and broken altogether. It's just it works Best stealth I think in an assassin's creed game. I still think black flag is the best stealth that I've played I still think you're wrong and stupid. So it's definitely better than syndicates. There's something about syndicates. That's just Kind of frustrates me I do think you're complaint in unity about how you're Visible to other guards when you do a cover kill That's still frustrated me in this game I think they probably did it that way because I think if it were the opposite There are a number of times in stealth instances Where you could just one by one whistle cover kill whistle cover kill whistle cover kill and then never have to leave the spot So I kind of get it more but it still is frustrating still feels like you're being thrown into combat Against your will. It's also strange how in syndicate. I always felt like when I would whistle I would attract way more than I wanted to I just want one garden and sometimes I would get to get fine as in rogue the the whistle is perfect The rogue, you know the the the whistle. It's just here's exactly how far your whistle is going Yeah, I'm still I'm surprised they never brought that back with whistling I also don't know if the if the little sound Circle around Evie or Jacob is ever useful. I feel like it always just gets in the way. That's fair But it's it's just kind of it's always annoying when you just have a big There's just something about syndicate stealth, which is definitely an improvement on unities, but I don't I never I didn't fall in love with it or anything. Well That's okay It's allowed So where is Remind me again where on what number is syndicate has on your rankings tim? It is Number six I mean like mine's number four. I guess we're not that far off Is that too low for you Louise? I was so frustrated with syndicate when I was finishing it. I was just I think I like unity more than this I was so mad at it. And I you know, and we'll see we'll see how origins fares in terms of moving that list around You know, I'm so excited for to hear your thoughts on origins. It's in some ways It's what the whole podcast has been building up to Now I think we've played the dlcs yet. Have you for which game either? Uh, well syndicate, I definitely played jack the ripper, but I didn't replay it for this I will give a one summary review on my opinion of that. I like it, but I am terrified. I am not a horror gamer Is it is it is it horror? It's too spooky for you. It's too dark. It's too spooky for me Aw two spooky for louise two spooky three spooky five louise. Yeah, I first time I played it I got to mission four Like just bomb straight to mission four and then stopped and I haven't picked it up since Yeah, so I think uh all in all syndicate, you know, this playthrough didn't really change my opinion of it too much ultimately I I just will always have a soft spot for syndicate like if revelations wasn't so goddamn good In a way that I could only appreciate now because I rushed the hell through it the first time to get to ac3 It would I think syndicate I still want syndicate to be in my top three Like I almost just want to elevate it because I feel like it deserves more credit I feel like it's fun and it's it's tightly designed as far as the gameplay goes and it's One of the better assassin's creed experiences. I've had it's just Yeah, it's not all there. It's not perfect. It's got some it's got some issues all these games kind of do Yeah, but only thing I have noted in my notes that I uh that I wrote down for this episode that I haven't gotten to bring up And I I know there was some reason I wrote this down, but I can't remember why I wrote this down Uh, but I wrote can't spell cookery without cuck What I feel like there was a specific reason that I did that and I don't remember I wrote the only note I wrote down is playing politics is a well-directed and acted mission Show some good Jacob character And It's true that it's it's a really good Paul Amos performed mission and I and I think it was where I was like jaco's pretty cool Um, you know in the sea of worthless person he is Yeah Oh god, we haven't even Like touched on the world war one mission yet. Oh my god It's true But I don't know I don't have much to say about world war one other than I love it And I want a full lydia fry game I I want it to be more than it is because of course I do I it is a little like silly that she's powering around with Winston Churchill and he's like maybe if you do this for me I'll give women the the vote Like Wait, no, that's not what he said. That's not what he said. It's it's a joke. I get it But but it is a little goofy right but on the same frame If you had that linked back in with evie you could have had like john stewart mill in parliament. So Right. Yeah, so like The story is pretty thin, but I like I appreciate the ambition of it I think that about does it for this chat about syndicate. Thank you so much louise aka the nerdy archer For for joining us. It's been a lot of fun. Thanks for having my chaos Are you actually an archer? I am yeah Really? I'm on my archery team at uni at uni at university. Are you actually nerdy? Very nerdy I'm nerdy enough to get an assassin's creed tattoo. So yeah, oh, which would you have one already? I've got it planned Like in the next couple of weeks. Oh, what is it? What is it gonna be exactly? It's gonna be a ruck No, that's that's kind of brilliant because because no one has to know it's an assassin's creed tattoo Yeah, people just think oh cool bird Burb cool burb That's genius I want to get a tattoo of nothing is true. Everything is permitted, but it's all misspelled Just just to like really encapsulate how ubisoft has treated the franchise My ultimate assassin's creed reference is going to be rick rea scott and pache on my tombstone So yeah, I guess that about does it. Thank you so much louise and thank you for Listening those of you out there listening to this If you enjoy the show there are a number of ways you can support us that don't cost you anything You can subscribe to our youtube channel if you haven't already you can like us on facebook You can follow us on twitter at hookblade And uh all that stuff goes a long way to uh feeding our egos and encouraging us to keep doing more of this So we appreciate all of that. I guess that does it. Thank you louise. Thank you for having me I've been the ruck and I've been the blade and together we've been you know We'll see you next time I'm the blade so you can use one or the other An elegant design