Fortunately, all five games are available on GameStop. But I've never purchased games this way before. I've always purchased games at the store. Oh well, first time for everything. I'll be sure to update this as soon as I have and play the first game:

 

I liked ACIII for taking a look at the people who weren't benefitted by the Revolution, and for the beautiful frontier to hunt in. Haytham felt like a pretty likable antagonist, and sometimes I sympathized with him more than I did with Connor, who had to be forced to grow up the hard way in a hard world after leaving the safety of his village (whose number was up, anyway). Oh, and we had Ben Franklin lecturing you on the advantages of older women. Shit had me ROFLMAO.

Black Flag was an incredibly pirates game. Incredibly open sandbox of the Caribbean, accurate portrayal of Blackbeard, and a protagonist who didn't immediately buy into the Creed and all. The modern day plot was just mini-games, which were fine, since you wanted to get back into the Animus. But in the background of both the modern and historical setting, the plot regarding Juno and Aita started to dip into cosmic horror story feels which had me very intrigued. The modern day section was also a pretty lengthy, meta ripping into modern culture and how some companies see viewers as morons (looking at you, Man of Action).

On top of that, there was the refreshing atmosphere of the beautiful Caribbean (that water! Those falls!). So much to do. The shanties and tavern songs - several of which are now on my iPod. I can gush on and on about Black Flag.

 

If ACIII was not so glitchy and the targets were not just scripted QTE events, it would have been a really good game.

 

My priority is getting the first five games. Black Flag, Unity, and Rogue aren't going anywhere, so i'll have plenty of time to get those. And besides, I need to get an Xbox One first.

 

AC I looks great but you kind of have to get through it. I initially gave up until a colleague recommended finishing it and starting II, glad I did. The missions are repetitive and annoying, but luckily you can skip most of the steps (finding clues to track down your target).

AC II is amazing. One of the best games I've ever played.
Brotherhood and Revelations are considered 'sidestories' but are really good games and expand on 1 and 2 greatly. I highly recommend playing them as they tie up Altair and Ezio's stories quite beautifully.


Then get ready for extreme disappointment as Ubisoft fumbles what great franchise they had with AC III, a game that throws all the buildup of the previous games (both story and game mechanics) out of the window and introduces a dumbed down, vaguely connected 'story' and error-loaden experience featuring an unlikable protagonist.

 

Really? Juno? Templars vs. Assassin's? Clay? Lucy? The Sage? The First Civilization?

Yeah, the reason I keep playing Assassin's Creed is to find out what happens next. Though the gameplay is also fun as hell.

OP, I play Assassin's Creed from I to the current installment over again every summer in anticipation for the new game. They have their ups and downs but the story is amazing and while there are plotholes it's still a coherent story that can be followed and understood.

No, it's "Assassin's Creed" not "Desmond's Story." The purpose is the Templar/Assassin war, which is still going on, even with Vidic and Desmond dead.

Juno is also still out and about. That's the big deal for me.

-------------------

OP,
I absolutely love this series and am a "huge fanboy." If I were you, I'd at least rent them or borrow them from a friend. It's true that some mechanics are repetitive, but each game adds something interesting to it to keep it fresh. I also tend to immerse myself into the games, so I do everything, like the investigations from ACI to their completion instead of just the required number to start the Assassination contract. It's interesting reading the letters from other people that you pickpocket or looking at the maps or information Altair gets from the people he investigates/helps.

If you do play them, play them in order. The stories and subplots will keep you wondering what happens next!

 

No, the whole point was for Desmond to use the knowledge of the past to save the world on Dec 21st. That was the whole purpose of the series. That was the main plot. Without the main plot, and the main character, the games are just pointless.

 

Spoilers OP





No, the original purpose was to stop the Eye of Abstergo launch that was going to happen on Dec. 21st. It wasn't until 2 that the whole idea of "being wrong this entire time" was touched on by Lucy and reintroduced in 3, being the solar flare. That was using the knowledge of the past to save the world.

Desmond was kidnapped to find another PoE after the first one was destroyed in Denver. Without the PoE the Eye of Abstergo could never launch. Since they couldn't find a second one in time, the project was cancelled.

Regardless, the Assassin's discussed the possibilities of the Templars wanting the solar flare to happen, and that they were waiting for it. This was another possible Templar uprising, which is also one of the reasons why Desmond sacrificed himself.

The next plot point was the Templars wanting to know where the Observatory was, to use as a tool in their attempt to rule the world through control.

All these plots are still the bigger Assassin versus Templar war. Just because the protag of one splinter group of Assassin's and the head of Abstergo's Lineage and Genetic Memory Research Team doesn't mean there aren't others to take their places and continue the war, like Alan Rikkin for example.

So yes, the entire purpose is the war against the Assassins and Templars and the First Civ is a background story as to how the Templar and Assassin war started.

 

Nah, I also loved ACIII. There was something... Magical about running around in the forest in the winter, it was soothing. Connor wasn't the most charismatic guy, but his lack of emotion was justified in the story.

The series of DLC set in an alternate univers were great fun, albeit bug-laden.

Black Flag - I won't lie, I loved it. did every single side mission and would have loved some more. I'll admit I turned off the sea shanties after a while.

 

I never bothered with Black Flag. After III was done with the middle finger from Ubisoft.

 

Yeah, same here. Only shanty I really like is Darby Ram.

Can you expound on this? How did Ubisoft give the finger for AC3?

 

Spoiler

I spent 6 years playing through Desmond's journey only to have him just die without letting me choose it and then when he did it, it is some half assed picture of the Earth with just a news report explaining what is going on, and then we see Juno walking over Desmond's body. It was cheaply made, worse than the ending to Mass Effect 3, yet nobody made a big deal about it. It was one of the worst endings I have ever had in a video game, and that is saying something. Hell, it might as well just been a Castlevania ending from the SNES.

 

Because no one cares about Desmond or the snarky, whiny people he's forced to be with.

 

Well, start playing from the 1st game, and then go to the recent ones. If you don't understand something, you can always go to The Assassin's Creed wiki or use the animus database.

 

AC3 is the best in my opinion, but Black Flag had the benefit of not being rush to meet the December 21st deadline, and thus was more polished. I've yet to encounter any significant glitches in Black Flag. From a technical aspect, Black Flag may count as a better game. You don't have to reload the game to find the corpse to flush out the man-eating bear. I also like AC3's story better than Black Flag.

 

Well personally I've always felt the Desmond stuff was just a framing devise to tie the various historical periods together. And frankly the more that was revealed for the present day story line, the less I liked it. When it shifted from vague mysterious plot to "We have to stop the meteor from blowing up the planet!" I just could never bring myself to care. That's why I love ACIV basically resetting the present day plot and doing away with the parts of it I hated. But again this is just my opinion.

 

^ We've got a new mysterious plot involving a quasi-Satanic cult and Juno's plans. Hell it felt like something out of Lovecraft, reading some secret messages in a bottle during Black Flag.

 

Two and Brotherhood are the best, Revelations is above average, three was crap, and Black Flag has more glitches than Sonic 06