I recently decided that I'd like to try playing through the mainline Assassin's Creed games - I'm a sucker for big stories and map checklists, so I'm really a prime candidate for this sort of series.

The first Assassin's Creed felt very much like a proof of concept: it was good, but the repetitive gameplay really started to become apparent by the time I hit the halfway point. I'd already beaten it years ago, so I decided I'd put it down and start on the second game, which is where the series REALLY finds its footing.

AC2 incorporated the feedback Ubisoft received wonderfully. The side quests are much more varied than the first, and the pacing is vastly improved.

What I like is how the game works in "open areas" rather than one giant map. So you've got maps for Florence, Venice, etc, that you can travel between. The maps expand outward as the game progresses, so the first time you're in Florence, you won't be able to go absolutely everywhere. This keeps things manageable and stops me from completely abandoning the main story to clear all of the errant icons.

It's not a perfect game - combat isn't all that engaging, with Ezio's parry being incredibly OP. The writing is very 2009, so you've got a QTE to take off a woman's dress, and lots of curse words in Italian. Desmond is the poster child for a bland protagonist (but we don't have to deal with him nearly as much as the first game). I also have to imagine that finding all 100 feathers is unbearable, so I doubt I'll be going for 100% completion.

Still, I'm really enjoying myself, and I like knowing I'll be done in 15-20 hours! Looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here. In the past, I have played AC2, and then put the series down until Origins, so we'll see what it all looks like in between.