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The Inevitable "Is It Worth It?" Thread


Satnamji

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Someone had to start one. :devil:

 

At any rate, as I've just started the SP (I'm at the end of sequence 3 and have done only one Desmond sequence), I don't want to read any of the existing threads for fear of catching spoilers, but I can't help noticing complaints about this DLC in the thread titles. So here are my specific questions:

 

Is this DLC at all fun?

Does it add anything to the story (backstory or continuing story of Desmond and his ancestors)?

Is it short and are the trophies fairly easy?

Is it a must for a big fan of the series?

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Is this DLC at all fun?

Depends on how much you liked or disliked the Desmond sequences in the retail game. If you really detested those, you won't like the DLC, because the gameplay is almost exactly the same.

 

Does it add anything to the story (backstory or continuing story of Desmond and his ancestors)?

It adds quite a bit of backstory for Subject 16. It's not anything that you'd miss if you never played the DLC, but it gives some very interesting details that will enrich the world of Assassin's Creed. Moreso than the Desmond sequences in the retail game, I feel.

 

Is it short and are the trophies fairly easy?

The DLC is longer than the Desmond sequences in the retail game. The trophies are generally easy, except for two that will require you to do parts of a level without failing at all. Depending on your skill with those parts, these trophies could be the hardest in the entire game.

 

Is it a must for a big fan of the series?

For a big fan? Yes, of course. It's Subject 16, after all. ;)

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Depends on how much you liked or disliked the Desmond sequences in the retail game. If you really detested those, you won't like the DLC, because the gameplay is almost exactly the same.

 

 

It adds quite a bit of backstory for Subject 16. It's not anything that you'd miss if you never played the DLC, but it gives some very interesting details that will enrich the world of Assassin's Creed. Moreso than the Desmond sequences in the retail game, I feel.

 

 

The DLC is longer than the Desmond sequences in the retail game. The trophies are generally easy, except for two that will require you to do parts of a level without failing at all. Depending on your skill with those parts, these trophies could be the hardest in the entire game.

 

 

For a big fan? Yes, of course. It's Subject 16, after all. ;)

 

Thanks for the detailed response. But now that I've finally done Desmond sequence 2, I don't know that I'll be jumping on Lost Archive unless there's a sale. I normally like puzzle/platforming gameplay, but apparently not when it's from a first person perspective. Hopefully I'll get more accustomed to it in the other sequences, and it will start to come easier. There just seemed to be such a huge difficulty spike from sequence 1 to 2.

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Thanks for the detailed response. But now that I've finally done Desmond sequence 2, I don't know that I'll be jumping on Lost Archive unless there's a sale. I normally like puzzle/platforming gameplay, but apparently not when it's from a first person perspective. Hopefully I'll get more accustomed to it in the other sequences, and it will start to come easier. There just seemed to be such a huge difficulty spike from sequence 1 to 2.

 

I found sequence 2 to be the hardest one out of all of them. After they seemed fairly simple.

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I found sequence 2 to be the hardest one out of all of them. After they seemed fairly simple.

 

Good to know. Though I've unlocked all of them, I still haven't been able to bring myself to do the last three.

 

EDIT: OK, knocked of sequences 3, 4, and 5 last night without too much difficulty. Not so many of those WTF? moments I had in 2. Amazing how much the main game holds your hand in every mission, but in the Desmond Sequences doesn't offer much help.

 

If Lost Archive sheds light on Lucy, I'm in!

Edited by Satnamji
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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I have a question that leads into my decision about getting this or not:

When do you do the first Desmond sequence? Is it a certain part in the story that you can't miss, or do you have to do something (like collect a certain # of something or return to the island at certain points, etc)?

I know the DLC is the same as the Desmond sequences, so I want to wait to play at least one of those before thinking about getting this, but the only thing I have done as Desmond is walk around the island in between missions, but there is nothing to do or see at those points (at least, not that I found).

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I have a question that leads into my decision about getting this or not:

When do you do the first Desmond sequence? Is it a certain part in the story that you can't miss, or do you have to do something (like collect a certain # of something or return to the island at certain points, etc)?

I know the DLC is the same as the Desmond sequences, so I want to wait to play at least one of those before thinking about getting this, but the only thing I have done as Desmond is walk around the island in between missions, but there is nothing to do or see at those points (at least, not that I found).

 

The Desmond sequences are actually entirely voluntary (though the story makes them absolutely worth doing IMHO), but you'll unlock and get access to the first one once you've collected 5 data fragments within the Animus as Ezio. After that, you'll keep unlocking the rest by collecting more fragments.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I honestly don't believe this was worth it. Sure it answered a few questions and showed some insight, but truthfully they could of either done this in the original Desmond missions or not at all and just made an effort somewhere to reveal what they reveal. I could not stand these type of levels in the main part of the game, which is why I had put off playing this dlc til now. I think it was one of the worst dlc ive ever played. just my opinion.

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I didnt much care for the missions in the regular game but after playing the fifth and final one and genuinely enjoying it, and then hearing that big info on lucy comes out I decided I will be getting it

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  • 2 months later...

Heh, I didn't find the DLC to be too painful, but decided to knock it out of the way before starting Revelations (I thought it might have been more of a headache trying to do it after just to reach the 100%). Like Barrndawg, I ended up picking it up mainly for the 100% and other content (Doctor, Crusader, Jester and Vlad single player mission).

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  • 2 months later...

Only played this cos i got the ottoman edition its exactly the same kind of gameplay as the desmond sequences except this time your subject 16 ( not that it matters from that perspective).

 

Unless you really enjoyed the desmond sequences i would avoid it like the plague. After the Da Vinci DLC this is a real let down.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Personally, the Desmond sequences were the only thing in the game that wasnt a letdown. I loved them, no idea why though and I only played this DLC because I got it in the Ottoman Edition. Unless you got that don't bother because its like an hour and a half long and I think it took less than 4 hours to get all the trophies and that was doing an extra playthrough for the cubes which you could do first time around.

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  • 1 month later...

I quite liked the Desmond Sequences in the main story so i decided to get The Lost Archive. I'm playing through it now (just about to start memory 4) and it's quite painless. I must be in the minority that actually likes them, they are a change of pace. Of course i'm doing it for the eventual 100% too but i do agree it should have been a bit cheaper. Enjoying it nonetheless.

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  • 4 months later...
To be perfectly honest, I got this mostly for the Ottoman Doctor and Crusader characters for multiplayer....

 

Aside from that, it was ok. it was cool to finally see something for subject 16. Although I finished it and got it 100% completed, I probably won't play it again.

 

I got it only for the SP extras mostly... Wanted the story, but this 1st person perspective sucks really bad...

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  • 6 months later...
this 1st person perspective sucks really bad...

 

Nightmares of Mirror's Edge all over again.

 

This DLC is definitely NOT worth $10 dollars US. The gameplay sequences, environments, and first person controls feel nothing like the rest of the Assassin's Creed, which could have been a good thing... if The Lost Archives hadn't taken one step forward and faceplanted into concrete. After the first level, 99% of players are already thinking, "When will this be over? I want to get my trophies, leave, and go play something fun that doesn't look like it belongs in 2002."

 

However, the psychological weight of the character backstories is surprisingly well-developed; more on that here:

 

http://www.ps3trophies.org/forum/lost-archive/215889-thoughts-assassins-creed-lost-archives.html#post4028414

 

 

Horrible graphics, controls & environment design aside, the Lost Archives delves deeply into the motives of Lucy Stillman and Clay Krankowisz (whatever his last name is - the Subject 16 man). On that note, the psychology of TLA is brilliant. The conversation snapshots, letters, emails, and memories of these two characters truly explains how they became the people they are.

 

After all the philosophical, "quasi-religious while pretending not to be" mumbo jumbo the series had become bogged down in with ACB and ACR, The Lost Archives diverted to something that actually makes sense: family, a loving but misunderstanding father with high expectations, Bill's mentoring of a young Clay while simultaneously "abandoning" Lucy, Lucy's loneliness and perception of abandonment, Abstergo playing mind games with both Lucy and Clay, and finally

 

[spoiler=kk]Lucy's abandonment issues leading to her betrayal of Desmond and purposely trapping Clay in the Animus.

 

 

This DLC, storywise (and only in terms of story, not gameplay) was a much needed breath of fresh air for the overarching plotline of the AC universe. It's sad the $10 price tag is so high and the gameplay controls are so sub-par; The Lost Archives is simultaneously one of the best developments in the AC story and the worst idea to bear the Assassin's Creed label (Ubisoft's best bet in 2011-2012 would have been to either sell it for $4 or give it away for free. With the release of the PS4 in less than two weeks, TLA will be pushed into the back of the warehouse and forgotten. The Lost Archives will truly live up to its name).

 

A workaround solution that costs $0 is that if you are interested in the story, look it up on YouTube. Don't buy and play the game to get the story; The Lost Archives simply isn't worth your time or money. Other than completists or AC die-hards (I'm the former, and partially thanks to this DLC's gameplay, no longer the latter), there is simply nothing in The Lost Archives to warrant a second glance.

Edited by poetic_justice_
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  • 10 months later...

I have multiple PSN accounts, and for some reason I don't know why, all the DLCs for AC Revelation showed up as free of charge on my Hong Kong PSN account. Originally my copy of AC Revelations is from the UK, so I had to buy another copy of AC Revelations which is Hong Kong version to play the DLCs, I only had to spent half the amount of money of all 3 DLCs combined on the second hand copy of AC:R, and after I'm done with the DLC trophies I'm gonna sell it off so arguably I could potentially unlock all the DLC trophies by a quarter of it's full price :D

 

Only thing that comes up to my mind as to why it's free, is I've bought a physical copy of AC3 Washington Edition, which comes with a PSN voucher that gives you all 3 episodes of Tyranny of King Washington and Battle Hardened Pack for free, and I've redeemed it using the same Hong Kong account.

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