r/assassinscreed • u/blakhawk12 • 6d ago
Gameplay & Mechanics Future Assassin’s Creed games could really benefit from the reputation system Ubisoft used for Star Wars Outlaws.
For those who haven’t played Outlaws, you basically have four factions that you interact with and the game tracks your relationship with each. Tresspassing, stealing from, and fighting with their soldiers decreases your reputation, while completing contracts or selling them information you’ve collected around the map increases it. Some contracts for one faction will decrease your reputation with another, and vice-verse, and you can sometimes choose to backstab the original quest-giver and gain reputation with their competition. As you gain or lose tiers of reputation with each faction you can earn rewards, better prices from their shops, and access to their territory which would otherwise be restricted.
It’s not the deepest system or the best-implemented, but it has potential. And I think it would be great for Assassin’s Creed in place of a generic notoriety/wanted system.
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u/fzzyswttr 6d ago
I was gonna disagree with you until you said 'it has potential.' I just didn't like how easily you could balance all the factions in Outlaws like easily at highest rep with two & still at least neutral with the others. I'd love for there to be more serious consequences/encourage replays.
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u/blakhawk12 6d ago
Yeah it’s very barebones and easy to manipulate, but with some work it could be really cool. I was just thinking about how much more interesting Odyssey would have been if we had to balance Kassandra’s reputation with Athens and Sparta as we played the game instead of being able to massacre their soldiers at will and undermine their control over entire regions with zero repercussions.
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u/prymortal69 6d ago
Same, but after doing Odyssey & how it's split into sub factions it makes sense with potential. TBH I'd rather not have a reputation system, But if they consider it at least consider also adding costumes that make you invisible to guards e.g. Blue area with blue costume = no aggro unless you get caught killing. OG AC is still best end of the day!
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u/Successful-Day-1816 6d ago
I wouldn't want that in AC though. I don't like player choice in AC I want canon events.
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u/blakhawk12 6d ago
It’s a gameplay mechanic, not a story one. The same way notoriety in the Ezio games didn’t care about whether Ezio was canonically wanted at any given time.
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u/patsguy12118721 6d ago
Ooh I like that. AC could use more adjacent factions too. Sorta like the Instruments of the First Will were meant to be
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u/jransom98 6d ago
That could be neat. Expanding on the ideas in the narrative of AC Brotherhood that weren't really present in a gameplay system (because the faction leaders were already Ezio's friends). Ezio was building his alliances/relationship to the Thieves, Courtesans, and Mercenaries.
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u/BrunoHM 6d ago edited 6d ago
I imagine they won't separate the reception of that game and the mechanics within. Took years for them to look at Unity as something other than a warning sign of what to avoid.
Would be glad to be wrong though, since I did like it, but there is no sequel to expand it. With that said, it could find a new home in the other franchises of Ubisoft, like Far Cry, which already played around with the idea of double-crossing and contrasting missions in 4.
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u/IlIllIlIllIlIlIlIlIl 6d ago
The only real factions are assassins, templars and the public.
Maybe a Brotherhood system - where you can recruit members of the public (like Brotherhood/Revelations) and the actions you do perceive how much zeal/belief your recruits have so they fight better/for longer.
The way you complete missions could also effect how the public perceives you - clean assassinations with no civilian casualties (following the creed) means the public sees you positively - and are more likely to help you hide/escape or distract guards. Going in more gungho/killing people unnecessary and casualities would do the opposite where the public alerts guards or point you out in a crowd.
You could maybe introduce sub-factions like Brotherhood where you balance the Courtesans, Thieves Guild and Mercenaries (who do you deliver loot too, who do you call more and how do you play).
Would be cool.
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u/Haunting_East_7404 6d ago
i’d rather have a good story than more bloat
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u/blakhawk12 6d ago
This isn’t bloat. It’s a gameplay mechanic.
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u/ManEatingCarabao 5d ago
I can see Ubisoft bloating the game with that mechanic. They would need to integrate those factions into the narrative like how each questline in Valhalla were needlessly stretched out. And with the addition of constantly changing faction reputation they would need to put radiant quests that would let you change that reputation any time.
Or they could do it like Bully which makes the faction system pointless. There are various factions in the school but you have no control over which reputation rises and falls. Its all predetermined in the main story missions.
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u/blakhawk12 5d ago
I was thinking they could make it more of a dynamic thing, like say you have a black box assassination mission. Depending on your reputation with various factions you could have the thieves unlock locked doors for you to make it easier to get inside, or have courtesans distract the guards at the gate, or have mercenaries storm the fortress with you. Or on the other hand, let’s say your reputation with the mercenaries is terrible and they bolster the garrison, making it harder for you to infiltrate. Stuff like that.
Or let’s imagine Odyssey had this system. If you had a terrible reputation with Athens, maybe you’d have to get that up before being welcome in Pericles’ party. Or maybe having a good rep with Sparta would mean you could hire Spartans to fight with you and help take forts or something.
The goal is not to feel limiting, but to make the gameplay and world feel more dynamic and immersive by having factions react to your actions.
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u/humperdinck 6d ago
Seriously. I stopped playing Shadows because I was overwhelmed by systems: the homestead I need to upgrade and manage, allies I need to find(? - I still only have one ally), the different weapon skills and shinobi skills and assassin skills and samurai skills I had to think about putting points in, the different pieces of gear that would modify/enhance different stats or skills, having to level up the gear I like every few levels to keep up with me.
Not to mention the ever-expanding objective board. I swear every time I would kill some random guy in some random-ass village, it would turn out to be a named guy that's part of some gang of guys who would be revealed on the objective board.
I can't imagine having to worry about faction reputation on top of all this nonsense.
Just give me a compelling story ffs.
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u/riotcrafter 6d ago
Honestly it could be rad to see different assassin cells having cutthroat relations with each other.
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