@Dark_Knightmare2

Remember when Assassins Creed wasnt a very difficult game? If you wanted to get 100% sync then there'd be a bit of a challenge but the general gameplay was very easy. I remember completing the games with the worst weapons a few times and it wasnt at all challenging. But all of a sudden they introduce a levelling system and MT's that allow you to level faster and buy powerful weapons and the game SOMEHOW has some challenge to it. You don't think they may have bumped the difficulty up to make someone more likely to buy some better gear when they start the game do you?

Let's not bullshit. AC's current level system, skill system and equipment is all put together to increase the likelihood of someone throwing money at the game to advance faster. If we defend things like this we take ourselves a step further towards another market crash.

Ac is def harder now but that’s a good thing and let’s not kid ourselves it’s not even that hard and def isn’t souls like hard. I platinumed origins with no problems and didn’t ever feel the need to spend a dime because the fancy weapons and armor you can get from the mts aren’t more powerful than anything in the main game and the same is true for odyssey. I respect your opinion and I hate mts myself when they are pay to win but you can do everything in odyssey without spending a dime just like origins so I’m not going to hate just because they are there as an option for other people who either don’t have the time or aren’t very good at games to see the game through.

remember when Assasins Creed wasnt an RPG? is probably what you are trying to say.

Since when is doing side quests and exploring in an RPG "grinding"? my god, just because Jim Sterling complains about something (god knows no one takes Polygon seriously for anything else, dont see why we should start now), it doesnt mean its suddenly the unmistakable truth.

Just as you say that the leveling system is balaced to promote MT, there are just as many people, if not more, who say they actually had to move the game to Hard to make it challenging. Can you explain to me how exactly can those 2 things happen at the same time?

Even The Witcher had the story missions level gated, its what happens in pretty much any Open World RPG.
Its no different than pushing only for the story in a JRPG and then suddenly reaching a boss or area where you are completely underleveled and cant progress. At least the leveling here is through activities and not endlessly defeating monsters.

If you dont want or have time to sink into an RPG, then dont buy it, but stop comparing it to previous AC games when those were clearly not RPGs and this one (and Origins) clearly are.

Also, the MT armor isnt even better than the in game armor, its just themed gear, so not even in that regard is the gameplay balanced towards MTs

Any RPG or other genre that forces you to do sidequests to progress instatly puts me off. The Witcher 3 was a pain in the ass for that.

That XP boost is about as necessary as cosmetic gear. It's not at all "clear" that the leveling system is balanced to promote it. You will overlevel any area easily. Heck, you can see that just on the starting area when you leave at least 2 levels higher than the original 'max' intended level.

Stop parroting youtubers and kotaku, experienec it yourself.

***Any RPG or other genre that forces you to do sidequests to progress instatly puts me off. The Witcher 3 was a pain in the ass for that.***

It doesn't do that, though... There are multiple lines of mainstory quests, though. You have your main Odyssey quests, which branch out later. Then there's your 'hitlist' for assasination. Then there are things like Athena's hunts and the like. They're all main story quests, but they run parallel. Then, on top of that, there are quests that add to the main storyline (gold diamonds on the map). Then, that's when you get to your completely unnecessary side quests, from message board quests, timed quests, and the like.

Just doing the main stuff will level you up enough, but it will also likely be harder since you're not overleveled. And that's where people really have the issue. They want their cake and they want to eat it too. You can't become all powerful, have all the coolest gear, and have all the skills without working towards it. But people don't want that, they want it to be handed to them without effort.

That's not how games in general work, let alone RPGs.

Imagine these sort of complaints about a dark souls game, where the whole concept is to die repeatedly and to earn souls to grow in power to make it easier to take on enemies.