I don’t mind yellow paint. It’s a little jarring when every single crate, barrel, and ladder ina rustic European villageis splattered with the stuff. But I get why developers do it.
Games are so detailed now and have such hyperrealistic lighting that it’s often hard to make out what can be interacted with and where the path is. It’s not like the oldTomb Raidergames where a corridor in a dark dungeon is miraculously lit up, screaming ‘OVER HERE’ at you in all caps, orFinal Fantasy 9, where loot sticks out like a sore thumb over the painterly pre-rendered backgrounds.
But the one series I don’t understand using yellow paint isAssassin’s Creed. In the newest game,Shadows, ledges are covered in it, and speaking toGamesRadar, creative director Jonathan Dumont gave the usual explanation: “We didn’t have it until players were really struggling in playtests”. I get that. Fair enough. Yellow paint is such a boring way to handle it though, especially in the context of Assassin’s Creed.
The Animus Is Right There
Like every game in the series, Assassin’s Creed Shadows doesn’t take placeinFeudal Japan, it takes place in an Animus reconstruction of the memories of someone’s ancestor who lived in Feudal Japan. This has led to a few inventive tricks over the years, like pigeonholing you into a linear path by having the memory ‘desync’ when you stray too far. Or collectibles, like paper scrolls, being marked by a distinct jingle.
The series immerses you in the Abstergo matrix as much as it does the historical setting, which gives Ubisoft ample ways to guide players to points of interest without relying on tropes. Yellow paint is a huge cliché, however, and seeing it mercilessly thrown across Japan rips me out of the experience because it’s so video-game-y. I’d much rather see those striking glitch effects that are intrinsically Assassin’s Creed, using the same sound effects that have been seared into our brains since the first game.
Just imagine Ezio making his way through the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, with every ledge covered in yellow paint. How’d it get there? Did the construction workers leave a handy trail for would-be treasure hunters breaking in?
Granted, yellow paint only appears onthe hidden trailssince these are seamlessly integrated into the world and would be much harder to make out without some indication. But these paths could’ve been marked by any number of inventive Animus tricks, just like the Lairs of Romulus were in Assassin’s Creed 2: Brotherhood or the tombs beneath the Egyptian pyramids in Origins. I’m sure Ubisoft could’ve found any number of more fitting ways to make it feel AC, but instead, the hidden trails are indistinguishable from the parkour segments in FinalFantasy 7 RebirthandHorizon Zero Dawnand countless others.
Assassin’s Creed used to stand out, its unique matrix setting giving it an edge over other historical games of its ilk, but using yellow paint feels painfully generic. I know Ubisoft can do better; every other game in the series shows as much, and giving into tropes when AC pushed the boundaries for parkour games all those years ago is a shame. If anyone could find an answer to the yellow paint problem, it should be them.
