Doing the Things You Hate--Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

There are certain sidetasks in many video games that I tell myself that I don't need to do...but then I end up doing them anyway!  Currently, I'm still working my way through Assassin's Creed:  Syndicate and, as I've stated several times before, I'm a shameless completionist.  The idea of speeding through the main storyline in a matter of a few paltry hours is completely unacceptable to me.  I...must...do...all...the...things (even if they annoy the crap out of me).  I've made it my personal goal to at least try to find all the collectibles (which includes several different categories--chests, illustrations, helix glitches, and pressed flowers).  I was feeling good about my progress with this task until I realized that there was an entirely separate class of collectibles--music boxes!  I had accidentally stumbled upon a few of the items and had no idea what they were--then I made a visit to the hidden vault and discovered that they are a more challenging type of collectible; the kind that is intentionally meant to be hidden and puzzled out by players.

A visual music box clue--there are some helpful details.

Generally, I don't like looking things up unless I'm absolutely stumped, so doing the search for the music boxes requires some powers of deduction.  Once you reach the hidden vault, a new series of clues appears in your game progression log--each music box location is accompanied by a short poem (that seems to be completely useless) and a visual clue that is more helpful, but can still include frustratingly little information.  I've managed to puzzle out the locations of several boxes by looking for large, prominent landmarks to use as visual references--a large church steeple or towering chimney can offer an convenient place to begin your search.  From there, it's usually a matter of using the rope launcher to traverse rooftops and keeping your ears open to the tinkling, musical notes of a nearby music box.

There's also a part of me that absolutely hates wasting time doing these searches--wandering around feels fruitless and like I could just look it up and save some valuable time.  I find that looking things up completely ruins the reward of working things out for yourself though, so I am usually able to avoid it (I did have to look up one box last night though--the clues for it were very vague and I had already looked for about 30 minutes).

I'm a little torn on some of the other sidetasks--there are several characters who you randomly meet as you explore the city (some are important historical figures and others are just interesting people) and they offer up a series of tasks that you can choose to perform to raise your reputation with them.  Robert Topping offers activities of the more recreational type--a "fight club" series of battles scattered around the various zones of London or carriage races.  Ned Wynert's activities include doing anything to interfere with rival gang activities and economic interests--hijacking guarded carriages, sabotaging goods on barges, or robbing trains.  I've found Ned's activities to be the most tedious and am still undecided on the value of trying to raise my reputation with him.  Raising your reputation with the various side characters in the game does unlock new items or schematics, so it's definitely worthwhile.

I still have many more hours of adventuring in 19th century London ahead of me and I'm mostly having a good time.  Next week, I hope to write my full review of Syndicate.  Have a happy gaming weekend!