I plan on getting in on Assassin's Creed. And I want to play all the main games. What do any of you recommend for me catching up? Collections? Individual games?

 

I recommend you play ACII and Black Flag and call it a day.

 

I'm the guy like to fill all the gaps. So no.

 

Trying to stop ya from wasting your money, as someone who actually has played them all.

 

Now THAT I can respect. I find little interest in playing a game with a story that I don't know the full picture.

That being said, the series has its ups and downs. But, its solid.

 

Honestly, to be able to enjoy the games, you must play all three Ezio games.

AC
ACII
AC Brotherhood
AC Revelations
ACIII

After that, the story is done.

 

For Desmond anyway.

 

that why playing it from the first game is best...

 

Black Flag is amazing. I like III for the historical stuff, as the American Revolution is my favorite portion of history to study. III is also my first AC game, so I have that nostalgia and attachment to it.

 

I think what I'll wind up getting is AC, The Ezio Trilogy, and ACIII. I'll get Black Flag when I get an Xbox One.

 

:: The Crusades ::

Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Arc 1 --- Assassins Creed 1191
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Arc 2 --- Assassins Creed Bloodlines 1191
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Final Arc --- Assassins Creed 2 Revelations 1221

:: The Renaissance ::
Ezio Auditore da Firenze Arc 1 ------ Assassins Creed 2 1476
Ezio Auditore da Firenze Arc 2 ------ Assassins Creed 2 Brotherhood 1499
Ezio Auditore da Firenze Final Arc -------- Assassins Creed 2 Revelations 1511

:: Colonial America ::

Aveline de Grandpré ---- Assassins Creed Liberation 1765
Edward James Kenway ---- Assassins Creed IV Black Flag 1715
Connor ---- Assassins Creed III 1775
Shay Cormac ---- Assassins Creed Rogue ...

:: French Revolution ::

Arno Dorian --- Assassins Creed UNITY ....

*

The Assassins Creed 2 Trilogy is available as a collected edition
The Americas Collection includes everything except Rogue

 

That. Plot has never been a strong point of the series. I is awfully repetitive, II was definitive, all games beyond II are awfully repetitive and reiterative, and IV was a breath of fresh air.

If you decide to get the whole series, you're just playing the same game over and over again with a couple new tools thrown in each game. I would never buy 5 games of a series at once without even knowing if I'd like it unless all 5 were part of a collection for the price of a single game. That's a lot of blind faith.

 

I've always been interested in stealth games. While the story isn't much, the different settings will keep it fresh in my mind.

 

And while not all of the games are critically acclaimed, they are still GOOD games. Especially AC and Revelations.

 

Sorry, but AC and ACIII sucked.

Desmond was the whole point of the series. Without Desmond there is no purpose.

 

I started with 4, thinking it was a new storyline... turns out it does kind of tie in to the ones before it and to truly understand certain easter eggs in 4, you should play the ones before it. After playing 4 I wanted to try the past games to get the full storyline (much like you're thinking) and as I am playing along, things I saw in 4 which seemed out of place, just clicked. Anyway... I was able to get the entire series from Gamestop (AC, ACII, Brotherhood, Revelations and ACIII) for $25 so I couldn't pass it up.

As others have said, it can get very repetitious after awhile, but it does follow a full storyline. ACIII kind of follows it's own path, but still uses the main character of Desmond from the previous titles.

I say go for it, especially if you can get a good price for the entire set.

 

I actually thought he held it back. I've always wanted an Assassin's Creed somewhere in Asia, or maybe London, with Jack the Ripper running about (or you're actually Jack the Ripper and that's why he was never caught), or a WWII Assassin's Creed. Do cool stuff with the historical angle of the games. But because we have to follow a specific character and the goofy cliche modern day storyline narrowing what the series could do, they can't do stuff like that.

 

The original AC was a diamond in the rough. First game in the series, buggy as hell, pretty difficult near the end of the game.

AC3 is a divisive game. Many fans dislike it, I actually loved it. Don't make up your mind based on what others say. Give it a try and see if YOU like it. The game is readily available used for dirt cheap anyway.

 

Been a fan of this series from its inception - the original game was even the very first I played on my Xbox 360.

For a complete story, AC, ACII, ACB, ACR, and ACIII are musts.

The original Assassin's Creed was horribly repetitive and hard to replay, but if you just do what you need to in order to get through the game instead of doing everything (unless you want, of course), it's still manageable. Plus it's still pretty darn important for establishing the modern day stage, and without it you'll not understand a lot of what happens later.

ACII and ACB are both solid games, with ACB easily my favorite. And of course Ezio is just eeeeveryone's favorite Assassin... He is pretty interesting and we literally get his whole life story once you throw in ACR. But that's my personal least favorite of the main games. The playable area felt too small and the story not as good as the previous installments of the Ezio trilogy. Though, since they're all available as a set, why not go for them all?

ACIII most regard as the worst game, and I definitely see where they're coming from. Connor wasn't the most likable guy, which made it hard to follow him... But feel you should make your own conclusions on that. Plus, it does resolve the primary present day story up to that point.

Bloodlines I actually haven't played, but don't consider it really too important unless you really end up liking Altair. I was fine just reading a synopsis of its events Liberation is... interesting and not bad for a different take (plus female Assassin whoo!), so it's unfortunate that it ultimately doesn't really matter all that much within the franchise's lore. I'd recommend it, but only after playing the others and if you really, really get hooked.

Black Flag is where it gets debatable... Fantastic freaking pirate game. Not so much an Assassin's Creed story to me. But since you seem to plan to get an Xbox One, totally go for it.

This is all assuming you care a lick about the story. While I don't normally agree with cutting stuff and think they should all be played (I'm a big story guy), if you just want solid games, AC2 and Black Flag alone really are the way to go.