Day 325, Game 325 - Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

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To round out my first week with my PS4, I decided to play one of my newest favorites franchises, which I only recently discovered about a year ago. As I was talking about with my Killzone write-up, sometimes it is hard to dive in to a franchise after missing several games before your plunge, but it's then that you have to decide whether to start from the beginning and catch up first, or just start with the newest. 

Well, last year when the ridiculously hyped Assassin's Creed III came out, I had to check it out and see what the series was all about. I knew about the previous Assassin's Creed games, as many people had tried to get me in to them before, but nothing about the games ever grabbed me. As bad and narrow-minded as it may sound or come across, the setting for the Assassin's Creed games turned me off, as Europe just didn't do anything for me in context with what the game series was all about. But once AC III was shown to feature American History around the time of the revolution, coupled with the Native American folklore and perspective of the main character, I knew AC III was a game for me. 

I didn't know at the time whether or not the series would be up my alley or not, but I didn't care or worry about the franchise as a whole. But after playing the game to near 100% completion, and even buying in to the added DLC stories that I actually wrote about for this blog way back in the second month of this year long project, I knew I was hooked on the series forever. 

Actually, forever is a long time. Let's just say, until they do me wrong, I'm all in. 

So when Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag was initially released, I was so tempted to pick it up. Naturally, PS3 was my go-to system for all the biggest and best games, which is what I was considering getting the game for. But with only a few weeks wait until the PS4 launch and subsequently, AC IV along with it on launch day, I decided to hold off for a couple of weeks. It was a hard decision, because I was overly anxious to get back into the franchise and play what appeared to be an awesome pirate game, but alas, I held out. At one point I even considered the upgrade program, where you buy the game for the PS3, and then when you get your PS4, you can digitally upgrade to the PS4 for ten bucks more. Ultimately, though, I knew I wouldn't get enough playtime in with AC IV before the new console came out to justify the extra money for the upgrade plan. So I waited. 

I'm glad I did, because while I would have enjoyed it on the PS3 I'm sure, it is quite clear that this game was built for the new consoles. It is breathtakingly gorgeous, in every aspect. It's almost scary how beautiful this game is, and I can easily say the wait was worth it. Unfortunately, this is the type of game that demands your full attention in order to fully enjoy the experience, so I question how much time I will put in to this game for the time being, at least with all the other games I have to play and this blog to maintain. 

I can not wait for what's to come with this game, however, and see how this new franchise to me will continue to strengthen it's bond with me. For now, however, I need to step away from the PS4 for a brief moment, as another console is on the horizon to grace this year long blog project of mine. 

Overall, my first week with the PS4 was a magical one, as I feel it delivered everything promised to me as a Day One adopter of the system. It has it's quirks and kinks to work out, but overall, the first week with it was a smooth transition into the next-gen for Sony consoles. If this is the lowest point for this system, as is the case for launches with every new system, then we as gamers and owners of PS4s have a lot to look forward to in the years ahead. 

But first, the Xbox One launch is upon us.  

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