Finally, my real first impressions with AC: Shadows

By some miracle, my nerve issues have calmed down enough to the point to where I could grab a controller and play for more than 5-10 minutes.. And thanks to patch sales kicking ass (another great way to support me - and also get some great pride merch/HAPPY FUCKING PRIIIIIIIDE - is to check out my morale patch shop) I decided to re-buy AC Shadows and give it a real go.

So far? The game is pretty good.. When I'm not having performance issues.

I haven't been able to isolate the cause, and Ubisoft's support seems to have gone severely down hill lately (I will most assuredly be writing about that in a separate piece, believe me), but I have managed to play around it for the most part. Specifically, I'm getting MASSIVE framerate drops that are USUALLY tied to actions taken in-game, but aren't fully consistent. For example, it would almost always happen when I assassinated someone, or hit them, or got hit myself.. And then it wouldn't. And then it would happen when I had a perfect parry, and then it wouldn't.. Or when I'm parkouring up a wall, or something else that just makes no damned sense.. And then it'll be fine!

I even monitored the CPU & GPU usage during these episodes, and each time it happened both would drop to effectively nothing.. And I couldn't find anybody else who was having the same issue.

Graphics settings didn't matter; I can run on Very High and get 70+ FPS, or even drop it down to Low, and it will still stutter worse than a glitchcore album.

The more I think about it, the more I wonder.. Is it my goddamned controller? I don't have these issues on games where I'm using mouse/keyboard or my flight sticks.. Just my freakin' 8bitdo SN30+ Pro whateverthefuckitis. JFC, hang on, let me test it..

.. I don't believe it. I've wasted paragraphs bitching about the game's performance, and it's not even Ubisoft's fault! That's a phrase that I never expected to utter.. Ever. At all. Fuck, am I dead? Is this Sartre's No Exit? Am I in hell?

Friends, here's a tip: If you've got a bluetooth game controller, make sure you're holding it without too many things blocking it's signal or you may get actual frame drops in-game. I've been holding mine between my knees under my desk (because it's fucking comfortable, you pervert), which apparently the receiver on my desktop machine doesn't like.

Anyway..

The game? It's actually pretty damned good. Now that I was able to enjoy some of the Naoe portions, I've felt right at home in my stealthy-stabby-chic robes.

There's a lot of familiarity here, but it's the good kind, for the most part.. I still don't like that they kept the gear upgrade system; I don't like being forced to grind resources/currency to upgrade my gear to match my level. I can understand having 4-5 tiers of upgrades, but tying it to my level? No. This isn't The Division; this is Assassin's Creed.

Parkour was updated in a previous patch, and while I didn't get to really compare it to what it was at launch, it does feel pretty acceptable if you come from at least AC Origins or newer.

There are a few things here and there that make me sadface a bit, but we'll do a full review later on after I get more of the game under my belt.

One thing I will say is this: There is a lot that reminds me of Ghost of Tsushima.. Especially the grappling hook.