My First Ever Steam Refund (and Egyptian Adventures)

The holidays offer up plenty of exciting gaming opportunities.  There are many holiday themed sales featuring deeply discounted games (and some fabulous deals) and it's very possible that you're flush with holiday cash (or gift cards).  It's the perfect storm for snagging some deals and padding your library (or your pile of shame).  I've been doing some gazing (and a little buying) at the Steam sale.

I've never had much cause to test out Steam's handy-dandy refund option.  Most of the games I buy I end up playing (and usually liking).  Recently I got to enjoy the magical experience of attempting to get a refund.  The crazy part about the whole thing was the game I was trying to return--Assassin's Creed:  Syndicate.  I had purchased Syndicate in a fit of post-Odyssey excitement during the Black Friday sale--I enjoyed Odyssey and wanted to get a broader picture of the series and the entire thing was heavily discounted.

I was very excited as I started up Syndicate and was introduced to the brother/sister combo of the Frye twins.  The setting--London during the Industrial Revolution--looked absolutely amazing.  The first tutorial missions saw the twins navigating the sooty factories filled with child laborers and loud, clanking machinery.  Sadly, I didn't get far beyond the tutorial when I started experiencing problems.  The game crashed suddenly after I had assassinated my first target--we're not talking a crash-to-desktop but a complete lock-up of my PC (screen went black, couldn't do anything, and had to power completely off).  I was a little perturbed, but figured it was a one-off.  I grudgingly restarted my PC and dove back in.  A few minutes later, while I was perusing the database, it crashed again (same thing--black screen, had to power off).  Now, I was more irritated, so I decided to Google some information about the crashing issues.  Since the screen was completely blacked out and I couldn't see any potential error messages, I had no idea what was causing it.  Some cursory searching revealed that many people had/have experienced crashing issues with Syndicate on PC.  I tried some of the recommended fixes (namely running Uplay in offline mode and disabling the overlay) and lowering my graphics settings with the hope that it would solve the issue.  Attempt #3 ended a few minutes after restarting--again, while doing nothing more strenuous than reading the database.  It was at this point that I decided Syndicate was a lost cause (I read about some other possible fixes, but find it a bit ridiculous that a triple A title--and one that was released several years ago--has these sort of issues.  Also the fact that one of the top known issues for the game is "ACS.exe has stopped working.").  I had only played for 97 minutes so I was under the 2 hour cutoff imposed by Steam.  I decided to put in for the refund, but was warned that my purchase had taken place more than 14 days ago.  Within a day I had received my notice--no refund for me.  I'm not terribly upset about it, I didn't pay full price, but I am bummed that a game that looked so awesome isn't playable for me (I mean, it might be, but I don't have the patience to have to figure out fixes).

The view of Alexandria from atop the lighthouse at Pharos is stunning.

On a happier note, I have started exploring the other Assassin's Creed title that I had purchased--Origins--and it's working like a charm.  It's blatantly obvious that Origins was the template for Odyssey and I am seeing how the systems were refined over the course of the games.  So far, here's what I'm liking and not liking:  (possible early game spoilers for Origins)

Liking👍
--Bayek's story is filled with tragedy and gives players the perfect basis for his assassination spree.  While playing as Kassandra in Odyssey, I didn't feel the same rationale for killing--I had times where it just felt a bit gratuitous and semi-pointless.

--Ubisoft does a great job of using children as important parts of the plot.  Bayek's relationship with his son is touching and the part of the story that portrays Khemnu's death is tearjerking.  I really like the exploration task of finding the stone circles scattered around Egypt (a variation of the Mayan stelae puzzles from Black Flag).  Matching the celestial patterns is very basic, but the added feature of listening to the voiceover of Bayek recalling discussions with his son makes the task more meaningful.

--The gear system seems to be like a hybrid to the full-RPG system in Odyssey.  There are pieces of loot that drop--namely weapons--but the rest of your armor functions on an upgrade system.  Materials for upgrades can be found in the world, hunted/scavenged, or acquired through dismantling old gear.  The appearance of Bayeks armor changes as you upgrade, but doesn't drastically change.  I suppose the downside would be the fact that there's not much variety.  I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to wade through oodles of drops.

--Bayek and Aya are great together.  The couple that assassinates together....stays together, I suppose.  I didn't especially enjoy the relationship aspect of Odyssey, so I am completely fine with Bayek being a married man.  It's all kinds of awesome that he's married to another assassin.

The Great Library in Alexandria.

--Ancient Egypt is gorgeous and engaging.  There's plenty of ancient history to nerd out to--the Library at Alexandria, the lighthouse at Pharos, and the freakin' Great Pyramids!  I haven't had time to mess with the discovery tour, but can completely appreciate the addition of a historical mode.

--Assassination targets feature their own storyline.  Odyssey simply slapped down a stunning array of faceless cultists who had to be revealed, tracked down, and then killed.  Bayeks targets get their own story and it makes killing them much more satisfactory.  I am really liking the fact that you are given a wide array of potential targets at differing levels that are positioned in a level appropriate zone.

Not Liking👎 
--Combat feels clunky.  It wasn't perfect in Odyssey either, but it felt much more responsive.  I am especially peeved by the weird blocking and countering system.  There's no simply mashing "E" at the right moment, but you have to be in "defensive stance" and time it in response to an enemy blow.  Thus far I haven't managed to figure it out.  Mostly I just try to dodge incoming attacks using spacebar, but even that doesn't work well at times.  I miss Kassandra :(

Even with the clunky combat, I'm happily going to be continuing my adventure through ancient Egypt.  My camel awaits!

Bayek made some feline friends.