[Syndicate] A Spoonful of Syrup - Pacifist and Reaper (Stealth)
Game: Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Memory: A Spoonful of Syrup
Style: Ghost / Pacifist / Non-Lethal
Ability is governed by Knowledge. This mission is one of many I've played throughout my life as a gamer that further cements this in my mind. A player's first time playing this mission, this section will probably give them some trouble because they lack knowledge and have no idea what the best or easiest approach is. That was my experience. After playing with it a few more times I discovered a method that makes this trivially easy. Entering from above and waiting for the distribution boss to come up to the top floor, then kidnapping him there and walking him out through the right side of the warehouse is maybe the easiest thing I've done in Syndicate so far.
Game: Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Memory: A Spoonful of Syrup (Kidnap the Distribution Boss)
Style: Lethal / Reaper / Stealth Kills
This one has a slightly different feel, mostly due to the challenge of not killing the Distribution Boss while also not letting him detect me. Essentially the "game" here is to murder all of his guards when he's not looking, and then to nab him afterwards.
It's nice to see someone is having fun with Syndicate. I'm gonna be honest. I try not to beat an Assassins Creed game too soon, usually aim for four weeks. But in the case of this game I've found I don't seem to care if I even beat it.
The main problem is the missions are a bunch of boring chores. Even some of the assassinations. Like the one with the doctor. It was hard enough just to find the doors to get to him, and when I wanted to do the unique kill I eventually gave up looking for the right doors.
And it's too bad. Finally an AC game gets a grapple hook, one that's not too overpowered and somewhat realistic. The kidnap ability is a nice replacement for grab. Being able to freely crouch and whistle are also great additions.
I've heard people say Syndicate is better than Unity, but at least Unity doesn't feel like a chore and it's an Assassin game through and through. Syndicate on the other hand spends most of it's time trying to be a completely different kind of game.
I hear ya. Unity and Syndicate are both sub-par gaming experiences, the reason I can have fun with them is that I enjoy Stealth sections that I can bolt my own personal challenge onto. The one thing they are almost completely identical with regards to is their Stealth gameplay, so I've effectively been playing the same Stealth game with a bunch more levels added on, with some different characters. (AC Unity to AC Syndicate.) Because of that, I've reached a point where I now enjoy both games about equally.
Now, when it comes to missions that force me into combat, that have me just chasing people around, or have me doing other stuff like solving Mysteries or Investigating (yes, I'm not much a fan of those either) I struggle to care very much because the systems built for these are either not very interesting to me, or they're too similar to what I've already experienced a hundred times.
You could say the same for Stealth but evidently my brain really loves sneaking around because it still hasn't gotten bored of doing it over and over and over and over again.
Another way to look at it is the difference between whether a mission will allow me to make my own fun, or whether it will be so scripted and one-note that I never feel a need to play it more than once.
Syndicate is more enjoyable on a second run than on a first because I already know everything. I also don't care about Full Syncs on a second run because I've risen to the challenge of grabbing them all on my first playthrough. So I am completely Free to play however the hell I want. I don't go for Unique Kills or Opportunities, I just play it like AC1 - kill the target however I wish, by any means necessary. That makes a huge difference too, because I really resonated with what you said about struggling to find the proper entrances and doors. Going for optional objectives exasperates this issue in an extreme way. That is a particular problem AC has that really rips me out of the experience and makes it feel like the negative kind of "game-y". This door can open but that one with the exact same texture, placed in a reasonable spot for an openable door, cannot. Stop doing that, Ubisoft. Please.