I've already mentioned about how odd Connor's assassin's training is when narrative meets gameplay and while that main part left me thinking like 'eh, whatever', I do want to mention that I actually took Connor's training into my own hands and I think it gave me a much more fulfilling experience in training Connor to be an assassin.
After
you're given an option to fast travel, either directly back to the homestead and continue with the next mission, or back to the frontier. I chose the latter. I thought it would be cool to not only explore some of it, because I hadn't done much before then, but also built this story in my own head, that as part of Connor's training he is asked to make his way back to the homestead by travelling across the frontier on his own. It takes a while too, like maybe 20-30 mins of travel on foot to reach the homestead. But honestly, doing that gave me some greater experiences than following the main storyline progression.
Like I found a synchronisation point that was this massive tree. And I had difficulty climbing up it, I would get so far and then mess up and slide back down the tree or just fall like a stone to the snowy ground below.I eventually made it and found it really satisfying that Connor would take multiple attempts to climb it, thinking that it would increase his knowledge, his physique and test his determination. I learned of the dangers of the frontier while running across the trees as I saw a guard run for his life from a wolf before getting mauled by it. I would hunt for food in the harsh winter setting, get to learn more about how those mechanics work. I saw a camp of redcoats and avoided them by running along the trees above. I saw a smaller group of guards protect a treasure chest in a barn and through planning and entering through the roof, I was able to dispatch them quickly, not shedding much blood.
All of those things were pretty satisfying to me as part of the character development. It wasn't necessary and it just added more game time for me than anything, but I thought it was cool that those things happened to me and I consider it as part of my experience of getting to know Assassin's Creed 3 better and serve as some kind of development for Connor.
by OL » Sat Dec 22, 2012 5:28 pm 
