Poll: Yay or Nay on Assassin Creed's Desmond.
- Thread starter Nomanslander
- Start date
Recommended Videos
It's not that I don't like him. It's that Ubisoft never gave him a chance to become a likeable character. I see Desmond as a missed opportunity.
The games he has been in hes never really been the focus of the story, I don't think hes a bad character but hes dishwater, his own game could change that though.
It's a great concept and I'd like to see more gameplay in the presence, and more emphasis on the animus & gene technology (all as optional stuff), just without Desmond as the main character. Playing something to do with Sean's character or as him would be great, as he probably has the most interesting personality of the lot (although there isn't much choice between Desmond, Desmond's boring love interest, person who is good with computers, and sarcastic historian who points out how ridiculous the whole series is).
Wow, that poll pretty much encapsulates what's wrong with the internet. I think Desmond works well as a framing device for more interesting characters, but that's about it. I'm still holding out for the plot twist where it turns out the ENTIRE series has actually just been one of Desmond's ancestor's viewing his memories in ANOTHER Animus sometime in the future.
You know I thought about that. And I don't think I'd like it very much.Frozen Donkey Wheel2 said:
I personally don't find Desmond to be all that interesting, though I have enjoyed parts of the games where you actually get to play as modern-day Desmond (like the Colosseum run at the end of Brotherhood).
For those that would like to see him go though, I'm wondering what they think the alternative is? The whole series doesn't really work without him, or someone just like him...
For those that would like to see him go though, I'm wondering what they think the alternative is? The whole series doesn't really work without him, or someone just like him...
I don't get why so many people hate Desmond. Like what's been said, he's no Ezio/Altair, but he's not a bad character. We just haven't been given much reason to care about him yet.
Desmond is the glue that holds what would otherwise be a fairly random series together.
He is integral to the story, it wouldn't be the same without him, and i've actually really enjoyed his growth over the series.
He is integral to the story, it wouldn't be the same without him, and i've actually really enjoyed his growth over the series.
Well, you're in luck. Ubisoft has confirmed that, while they still have plans for the wider franchise, Desmond's story ends with AC3.
As for my opinions on him? Well, I don't hate him, but that really is damning with faint praise because the only reason I don't hate him is because he's just too bland for any emotion as strong as 'hate' to be associated with him. I feel nothing for him, but him being there doesn't ruin the experience for me either. I guess I kind of see him more as just a plot device than an actual personality.
As for my opinions on him? Well, I don't hate him, but that really is damning with faint praise because the only reason I don't hate him is because he's just too bland for any emotion as strong as 'hate' to be associated with him. I feel nothing for him, but him being there doesn't ruin the experience for me either. I guess I kind of see him more as just a plot device than an actual personality.
If you like Assassin's Creed and don't like Desmond, I pity you. When AC1 got tedious, I kept playing to learn more about Desmond's story. AC2's animus story was much more engaging, but I still loved every single bit that I learned about the Modern Day times of Assassin's Creed. From what I've seen about people complaining, they see Desmond as a glorified framing device. If you want to enjoy the modern portion of the story, cut that shit out. Stop looking at stories so technically. Sure, Desmond is a way to hop between different times, but if you look at ANY element of ANY story that cynically and coldly, you will hate it.
Treat it like part of the story. Dig through all the emails in all the games. Trigger all the conversations with lucy and shaun and rebecca. Trawl through all the glyph puzzles, and begin to see the depths of the centuries-old conspiracy, and the implications it has on all of history. Jesus, aided by a peice of eden taking the form of a travellers hood. Moses, wielding the Staff of Eden. George Bush, a Templar lackey. Hitler, faked his death only to be taken out by an enterprising assassin and have his apple stolen. Edison, conspiring with hitler and other templars the start the war in the first place.
The futuristic, sprawling conspiracy is the best part of AC's story. It can make up for even a lackluster Ezio story like Brotherhood, with the glyphs in that game which told the story of how the Templars engineered systems of control and how the people fought back over the years.
No-one's ever enjoyed a story they went through with one eyebrow raised.
Treat it like part of the story. Dig through all the emails in all the games. Trigger all the conversations with lucy and shaun and rebecca. Trawl through all the glyph puzzles, and begin to see the depths of the centuries-old conspiracy, and the implications it has on all of history. Jesus, aided by a peice of eden taking the form of a travellers hood. Moses, wielding the Staff of Eden. George Bush, a Templar lackey. Hitler, faked his death only to be taken out by an enterprising assassin and have his apple stolen. Edison, conspiring with hitler and other templars the start the war in the first place.
The futuristic, sprawling conspiracy is the best part of AC's story. It can make up for even a lackluster Ezio story like Brotherhood, with the glyphs in that game which told the story of how the Templars engineered systems of control and how the people fought back over the years.
No-one's ever enjoyed a story they went through with one eyebrow raised.
This is where I have to concede that Desmond is, if nothing else, useful. Yeah, the story could probably work without him and all the animus stuff. It would be fine as just 'An ancient order fighting another ancient order behind the scenes of major historical events'. Fine, but nothing particularly special or unique. Stuff like this shows the potential that having the Desmond element provides.Zaik said:
If only they just could have made him half as likable as Ezio.
Everything you say is true (in my opinion) and my complete lack of interest in Desmond as a personality doesn't stop me from finding all this stuff interesting. However, you fail to address the main complaint that people have about Desmond. Not the wider universe that he opens up for you, but as I said, he as a character is just dull. Unrelentingly, unbelievably dull on every single conceivable level. He even transcends what I thought possible in dull characters, in that, the more the writers try to give him a personality and a background, the duller he becomes. He's like a black hole. He pulls everything together, but get to close and he'll suck all the fun out and crush it out of existence (that's actually a pretty fucking good analogy to come up with off the top of my head when it's this late even if I do say so myself).Calvar Draveir said:
Bear in mind, this is coming from someone who absolutely loves Assassin's Creed as a whole. If anything, his dullness is exacerbated by how likable Ezio and friends were.
woops, didn't play revelations, so missed out on that bit. oh well, either way, it seems like that's where the final game (or final part of the story) is leading up to, if they took it out then the over-arching story across all the games wouldn't make sense/would be stupid to have done it all that time.imahobbit4062 said:
I think he's about as interesting as a patch of mud caked on your shoe, and only slightly less annoying.
It's not hate; really. It's the the fact we don't see any reason why he's there to begin with. It's like the example I brought with Indy 4, aliens didn't belong in the Indy series, and up til then the series was being remembered fine without it. With AC it's a more tricky matter. Desmond has obviously been there from the beginning, and in my opinion has never worked.JasonKaotic said:
When I look at AC, I see a genre of games that delve into cloak & daggers set in historic period pieces. With the addition of Desmond and that silly gene-moemory reading thingamajigger, you're mixing the themes I explained with sci-fi crap that just don't mix well together. It's also like the movie Cowboys & Aliens; they just don't mix!
You know you have a problem when you can take out a giant portion of a game and its story and they won't be missed. And in this case even go so far as improve the overall pace.
Future Desmond, at least for me, is just THAT bad! >>