History YMMV / AssassinsCreedBrotherhood

* GameBreaker: ''All'' of the Game Breakers from ''[=AC2=]'' can still be used in ''Brotherhood''. In addition, the new executions/kill streak and Assassin recruit mechanics can make combat significantly easier. %%Okay, to avoid natter, please keep opinions on the Apple of Eden's utility on the Discussion Page until some consensus appears.
** Somewhat mitigated as enemies being able to end the kill streak (by hitting Ezio during his execution animation against someone else, grabbing him, dodging, or just being far enough away), and even an Assassino can be (theoretically) killed in combat, if they fall off of a high-enough ledge/rooftop, or if they're sent out on a max-difficulty mission without enough support (100% success probability is only confirmed with three or more Assassini).
*** Actually with the enemies attacking you in a kill streak, you can quickly tap right trigger and X (Or square on [=PS3=]) and counter their attacks and keep going with your kill streaks. Leading to some absolutely ridiculous one man army moments.
*** However, even that can fail against Bruisers and Seekers, who are immune to normal counters (except for the hidden blade), forcing you to prioritize them in your kill streaks and kill them before they attack. A mounted opponent will ruin your day, too, as you won't be able to counter his attacks with anything except a medium weapon or pause to shoot him.

** The timing for the counter-kills with the Hidden Blades has been made noticeably easier (perhaps representing Ezio's ''decades'' of experience wielding them). Combine that with kill streaks and still being able to counter any melee attack from any guard, the longsword and short blade are virtually useless.
*** On the other hand, the longsword/bludgeon ("Medium Weapon") seems to have an even more generous window of opportunity for counters, and both the Medium Weapons and Short Blades can integrate the Pistol and Throwing Knives respectively into their kill streaks. Moreover, Borgia Captains and Papal Guards [[spoiler:and Cesare Borgia]] ''are'' immune to counter kill attempts, though only [[spoiler:Cesare]] is immune to kill streaks.

** '''[[OneHitKill ARROW FREAKIN' STORM]]'''. Have a full Assassin Signal bar and hold down the signal button for a few seconds and then ''[[KillEmAll every guard who has the misfortune of being in the area DROPS DEAD]]''.
*** On the other hand, this can be ''incredibly'' satisfying. Been frustrated by a previous mission, and facing a ton of guards? You could kill-streak through them all, sure. Or you could just go "oh, I so don't have time for this," and hammer that Arrow Storm button.

** How about Leonardo's 'assistant' Salai in the DLC? As part of his introduction he asks Ezio, "Outside the church of God lies the realm of men. Do you worship there, ''Messere''?" Also, Ezio at one point declares to Leonardo, "Salai fits you. I approve." Though this probably doesn't belong under HoYay anymore considering [[spoiler: they ''are'' lovers.]]

* LesYay: The "Seduce a Noble" Assassin contract involves sending one of your Assassins to court and seduce a noble lady associated with the Templars to get information. You can send either male ''or'' female Assassins on the mission.
** You can do that or you can send until 5 Assassins for the job. No wonder why they only give as an answer a laconic "The mission has been a success" when they come back.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The Animus voice when trying to load a multiplayer game. "Searching for a programmed session... Searching for other Abstergo agents... Searching for a programmed session... Searching for other Abstergo agents... Searching for a programmed session..."

* ParanoiaFuel: A big part of the Multiplayer, since all the players are potentially hiding in plain sight and ''visually'' indistinguishable from [=NPCs=]. Somewhat mitigated in Alliance and Manhunt modes where the pursuer and target teams are clearly defined, but in full effect during Wanted mode, and possibly more so in the Advanced Wanted mode (which unlike regular Wanted has a less accurate Compass indicator). A major strategy/tactic is to get as close to this ideal as possible, as the player gets more points when they don't use High Profile much or at all while within line of sight of a target.

** Oh, you think that is bad. Try going out with Desmond while he free runs Monteriggioni. Play around with the Eagle vision. Its not like you will see any--wait, are those red footprints? They weren't there before. Holy shit, they lead to the only accessible entrance of the Villa. The Templars are here! Oh shit!
*** It gets worse; those footprints came from the sewers and lead directly to where Lucy stands after talking to her once in that segment.

*** … Or it could just be Ezio's bloody footprints, from when he [[spoiler:got injuried during the Siege of Monteriggioni.]] And the footprints are there the whole time.

*** Shrunken heads (and Aconite, which is otherwise only randomly dropped by Borgia messengers) can be obtained if you invest enough gold in certain shops. Given that it takes 100,000 florins to get a shrunken head, and you can only invest in 1 shop every 20 minutes for some reason, it will take a while.
*** It takes ''one million florins'' in investments to get a shrunken head - not a mere hundred thousand.

*** Guards are also much more likely to grab you in those missions and making you an easier target if you don´t expect it, which you won´t because in the main story it can occur that the only person that grabs you isthe occaisonal Papal Guard, never a regular one.
** Any Lair of Romulus and/or Templar Lair that requires you to complete it in a certain amount of time for 100% Synchronization. Which, let's face, it, is pretty much all of them. In order to make it under the time limit, you have to know 100% where you're going (which is especially troublesome since a lot of them require you carefully gauge your surroundings), not miss ANY jumps or platforms AT ALL, avoid pretty much all combat, and add to this the occasional dose of CameraScrew just to piss you off even more.

* EvenBetterSequel: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' is a good game, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' is a great game. ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Brotherhood]]'' is ''awesome''.

*** As of ''AssassinsCreedIII'', a new FridgeHorror is in session: [[spoiler:The Apples are sentient and under Juno's control, so they influence everyone holding them and everyone around them subconsciously a la [[Literature/LordOfTheRings the One Ring]], and the commands linger on even if one is away from the P.O.Es. [[ParanoiaFuel EVERYTHING YOU SEE AND HEAR AROUND OR AFTER COMING IN CONTACT A PIECE OF EDEN CAN BE JUST ILLUSION MADE BY JUNO]]. So yeah, high are the chances you just killed a innocent LoveInterest under control of an AbusivePrecursor and her ArtifactOfDoom, and it keeps inducing illusions to make sure you believe you did the right thing. Oh, and that also means lots of Templars you killed could have just been Brainwashed due to having been in the presence of a Piece of Eden, for years perhaps. That's right, Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia were justk mind-controlled slaves of Juno, and that also applies to Al Mualim.]]

** How about Leonardo's 'assistant' Salai in the DLC? As part of his introduction he asks Ezio, "Outside the church of God lies the realm of men. Do you worship there, ''Messere''?" Also, Ezio at one point declares to Leonardo, "Salai fits you. I approve."

* {{Narm}}: Cesare in general, but especially his so called BadassBoast when he [[spoiler:kills his father.]]
* When [[LetsPlay/StephenPlays Stephen Georg]] played the game and had [[http://youtu.be/YHRsVIPocPY beaten all the Subject 16]] missions, the game glitched. So the characters asked Desmond if he was okay, and he calmly answered he's fine. But actually was he shaking like crazy bouncing back and fourth, until he got stuck inside the animus chair. So even everyone in-game was calm, was it just weird and their "thank goodness you're fine, now back to work" was just funny for Desmond was definitly NOT OKAY.

** Taken to new heights with Ercole Massimo, BigBad of ''The Da Vinci Disappearance'' DLC and leader of the Hermeticists. [[spoiler: You don't even have a proper swordfight with him. You kill a bunch of his disciples, and then he cowers on the floor in front of you offering weak excuses for his actions before you kill him.]] To add insult to insult, he's not even the final encounter of the DLC, as there's an extensive platforming section afterward.

* CreatorsPet: Salai, Leonardo's lover in the [=DLC=]. He's lazy, spoiled, spends Leonardo's money, can't keep his mouth shut, isn't helpful in a fight or for finding Leonardo. But at the end Ezio tells Leonardo that he thinks [[AccidentalInnuendo Salai fits Leonardo]].
** On the other hand, however, he WAS the one to think of [[spoiler: Leonardo's possible use of Invisible Ink and suggesting that Ezio use his Eagle Vision to find hints of it in the recovered paintings (which earns a funny "he told you about that, too?" from Ezio).]]. Salai can be just as smart as Leonardo when he chooses to apply himself. The problem is that most of the time he chooses not to.

** The first Cristina mission. After Cristina rebuffs Ezio's clumsy advances, he follows her to her house. Coincidentally, Vieri is waiting for her there in order to rape her. Ezio beats him up, and Cristina rewards him with "a second chance" and a SmoochOfVictory. What have we learned? That if a beautiful girl ignores you, you are justified in stalking her; that this is for her own good anyway, since her beauty will naturally attract [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality possessive creeps]] from whom she will need defending; that intervening when someone is about to be sexually assaulted is "very kind" (as opposed to "the least anyone should do for any fellow human"); that in your crush's eyes, this act will completely cancel out the fact that you followed her without her knowledge or consent; and finally, that instead of being freaked out by these events (and by men in general) for a while, she will instead [[RescueRomance suddenly desire you]] and invite you to court her favour. [[TakeThat Kinda like]] ''Literature/{{Twilight}}.''
* FoeYay: A little more than subtext between Ezio and Lucrezia. In the [=DLC=] ''The da Vinci Disappearance'', [[spoiler:you are trying to locate five of Leonardo's paintings that were looted by the Borgias from the villa after the Monterrigioni attack. A lead brings you to Lucrezia's bedroom, where you seduce her into giving you the one in her possession, and the locations of the other four]]. [[ShipTease You then tie her up and leave.]]

*** However, even that can fail against Bruisers and Seekers, who are immune to normal counters (except for the hidden blade), forcing you to prioritize them in your kill streaks and kill them before they attack. A mounted opponent will ruin your day too, as you won't be able to counter his attacks with anything except a medium weapon or pause to shoot him.

--> '''Ezio:''' No man can heal your pain. You must do so on your own.
** Lanz could count as well, since his reason to being a thief of Cento Occhi was losing his child at birth. And according to Project Legacy, Gaspar de la Croix seems to be one to, albeit the reason for such is unrevealed, but also seems related to the death of a loved one. By the time he faces Ezio, he's become a wild shooter, firing at anyone who passed by his aim.

* {{Narm}}: Cesare in general, but especially his so called {{Badass Boast}} when he [[spoiler: kills his father.]]

*** One puzzle leads to a phone conversation between a man calling his cable company and a female rep for said company. [[spoiler: The man accidentally stumbled across a monitoring system keeping track of him and his son through the channels. It keeps track of their interests, credit card purchases, and even their heart rates. The woman transfers him over and another man says a technician is on their way and will be there shortly. The sound of banging against a door is heard as the son wonders what's going on. The call ends with an eerie "Have a nice day, Mr. Jameson,"]].

** Oh you think that is bad. Try going out with Desmond while he free runs Monteriggioni. Play around with the Eagle vision. Its not like you will see any--wait, are those red footprints? They weren't there before. Holy shit, they lead to the only accessible entrance of the Villa. The Templars are here! Oh shit!
*** It gets worse; those footprints came from the sewers, and lead directly to where Lucy stands after talking to her once in that segment.
*** And then it gets even worse [[spoiler:at the end when Juno claims, "The cross is obstructing our path," then forces Desmond to kill Lucy. Considering the cross is the symbol for the Templars, and Juno knew everything down to the exact moment when Desmond would resist... can you really rely on Eagle Vision any more? [[TomatoInTheMirror That includes the allegiance of Desmond and Ezio.]] [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII What. The.]] ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Fuck?]]'']]
*** ... Or it could just be Ezio's bloody footprints, from when he [[spoiler:got injuried during the Siege of Monteriggioni.]] And the footprints are there the whole time.
*** Still, if you're paranoid enough, there's a lot of what could be subtle hints that [[spoiler:Lucy is a double agent. She was able to transfer Abstergo data even though it's not supposed to be possible because "she has her ways", and can still access some of the Abstergo files because "some old passwords still work"? Yeah, that doesn't seem to fit the type of security that, according to [=AC1=], would go into lockdown if Vidic misplaced his password pen. Additionally, during one of the modern day sequences when you leave the Animus, you just can't find Lucy. At all. Where did she go?]]
*** Even the story set-up for the multiplayer option in the games lends some credence to the possible theory that [[spoiler: Lucy was a Templar double agent. What is that set-up? That Abstergo have been using Animus to give Templar agents the abilities of Assassins]].
*** Averted: [[WordOfGod Word Of God]] says that the red footprints have nothing to do with Templars, and are just there to help players find their way back to the Villa. The red color is merely an oversight.
** As of Revelations, [[spoiler: Lucy is revealed to have switched sides, after feeling abandoned by William Miles and the Assassin Order. The only reason she still shows up as blue is because she DOES care about Desmond, and didn't intend for Clay/Subject 16 to die. [[FridgeHorror That's right, ladies and gentlemen]]. As long as [[spoiler: [[FriendlyEnemy the enemy cares about you]], [[FridgeHorror Eagle Vision CAN'T detect him/her]]]].
*** As of AssassinsCreedIII, a new FridgeHorror is in session: [[spoiler: The Apples are sentient and under Juno's control, so they influence everyone holding them and everyone around them subconsciously a la [[Literature/LordOfTheRings the One Ring]], and the commands linger on even if one is away from the P.O.Es. [[ParanoiaFuel EVERYTHING YOU SEE AND HEAR AROUND OR AFTER COMING IN CONTACT A PIECE OF EDEN CAN BE JUST ILLUSION MADE BY JUNO]]. So yeah, high are the chances you just killed a innocent LoveInterest under control of an AbusivePrecursor and her ArtifactOfDoom, and it keeps inducing illusions to make sure you believe you did the right thing. Oh, and that also means lots of Templars you killed could have just been Brainwashed due to having been in the presence of a Piece of Eden, for years perhaps. That's right, Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia were justk mind-controlled slaves of Juno, and that also applies to Al Mualim.]]

--> ''GO!'' '''''[[WhamLine ALONE!]]'''''

** [[spoiler: The final Cristina mission.]] You know what's coming, [[TearJerker but still...]]

* TearJerker: "Requiescat in pace... [[spoiler:[[UnluckyChildhoodFriend my]] [[StarCrossedLovers love.]]]]"

*** To make it worse, you can't hide from the guards to lose your notoriety while en-route. If you manage to hide from them, the instant you lose them, more will suddenly spawn, knowing exactly where you are. You can't actually shake off the guards until you've made it to the courtyard, where you have to be anonymous, meaning you may have ''then'' backtrack and make the guards lose sight of you before you can go back...all within that damn time limit.
** The following mission requires you to complete it without losing any health. You start with dozens of guards closing in, and you're armed with the Apple... which prevents you from using other weapons and '''depletes your health when used!''' Meaning that running is your only option. Just hope that you're able to avoid the archers on the rooftops and the agile guards that can just catch you no matter how fast you run.

*** Subverted by the fact that there are only four things that can give you damage: The static cannons (which are fairly inaccurate especially if you don't stay in one place too long, plus they have a 3 second wind up time and a line to tell you where they'll shoot)), running into explosive barrels (which is your own fault), splash damage and/or ramming (shooting an enemy tank while you're right next to him.) And the other tank's weapons, and of the four the real threat is the tanks (and only because they're harder to dodge and take longer to kill, they're only slightly more accurate than the static cannons and have the same 3 second wind up time per shot while you only have 1) even then only because Anything else (IE the soldiers trying fruitlessly to shoot you with their guns) doesn't count.

*** Shrunken heads (And Aconite, which is otherwise only randomly dropped by Borgia messengers) can be obtained if you invest enough gold in certain shops. Given that it takes 100,000 florins to get a shrunken head, and you can only invest in 1 shop every 20 minutes for some reason, it will take a while.

** Any Lair of Romulus and/or Templar Lair that requires you to complete it in a certain amount of time for 100% Synchronization. Which, let's face, it, is pretty much all of them. In order to make it under the time limit, you have to know 100% where you're going (which is especially troublesome since a lot of them require you carefully gauge your surroundings), not miss ANY jumps or platforms AT ALL, avoid pretty much all combat, and add to this the occasional dose of [[CameraScrew Camera Screw]] just to piss you off even more.

* TheUntwist: Machiavelli turning out not to be a traitor can be this to some as there was never a real motivation for him to switch sides in the games. It can still be pulled off for the history knowing players as Machiavelli's personality in reality fell more in line with the Templars and his book "The Prince" is considered to be about Cesare Borgia.

*** Whether satirical or just plain pragmatic, Il Principe is only one part of Machiavelli's canon and certainly not the most emblematic of his beliefs. Discourses details the difficulties of trying to run a free republic, and by all accounts both is closer to his actual ideology and disqualifies him from being closer to the Templars ideologically.

*** Actually with the enemies attacking you in a kill streak, you can quickly tap right trigger and X (Or square on PS3) and counter their attacks and keep going with your kill streaks. Leading to some absolutely ridiculous one man army moments.

** It's even worse if there are cutscenes in the memory. You CAN skip them, but if you do the game has to temporarily exit you back to the "White Void" loading space and load up the stage all over again! (At least in the PS3 version) Sometimes its faster to just watch the cutscene than attempt to skip.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The Animus voice when trying to load a multiplayer game. "Searching for a programmed session... Searching for other Abstergo agents...Searching for a programmed session... Searching for other Abstergo agents... Searching for a programmed session..."

** The first Cristina mission. After Cristina rebuffs Ezio's clumsy advances, he follows her to her house. Coincidentally, Vieri is waiting for her there in order to rape her. Ezio beats him up, and Cristina rewards him with "a second chance" and a SmoochOfVictory. What have we learned? That if a beautiful girl ignores you, you are justified in stalking her; that this is for her own good anyway, since her beauty will naturally attract [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality possessive creeps]] from whom she will need defending; that intervening when someone is about to be sexually assaulted is "very kind" (as opposed to "the least anyone should do for any fellow human"); that in your crush's eyes, this act will completely cancel out the fact that you followed her without her knowledge or consent; and finally, that instead of being freaked out by these events (and by men in general) for a while, she will instead [[RescueRomance suddenly desire you]] and invite you to court her favour. [[TakeThat Kinda like]] Literature/{{Twilight}}.

* MostAnnoyingSound: The Animus voice when trying to load a multiplayer game. "Searching for a programmed session...Searching for other Abstergo agents...Searching for a programmed session...Searching for other Abstergo agents...Searching for a programmed session..."

** The first Cristina mission. After Cristina rebuffs Ezio's clumsy advances, he follows her to her house. Coincidentally, Vieri is waiting for her there in order to rape her. Ezio beats him up, and Cristina rewards him with "a second chance" and a SmoochOfVictory. What have we learned? That if a beautiful girl ignores you, you are justified in stalking her; that this is for her own good anyway, since her beauty will naturally attract [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality possessive creeps]] from whom she will need defending; that intervening when someone is about to be sexually assaulted is "very kind" (as opposed to "the least anyone should do for any fellow human"); that in your crush's eyes, this act will completely cancel out the fact that you followed her without her knowledge or consent; and finally, that instead of being freaked out by these events (and by men in general) for a while, she will instead [[RescueRomance suddenly desire you]] and invite you to court her favour.

** [[spoiler: The final Cristina mission.]] You know what's coming, [[TearJerker but still...]

* TheUntwist: Machiavelli turning out not to be a traitor can be this to some as there was never a real motivation for him to switch sides in the games. It can still be pulled off for the history knowing players as Machiavellis personality in reality fell more in line with the Templars and his book "The Prince" is considered to be about Cesare Borgia.

***** ...Or it could just be Ezio's bloody footprints, from when he [[spoiler:got injuried during the Siege of Monteriggioni.]] And the footprints are there the whole time.

** [[spoiler: The final Cristina mission.]] You know what's coming, [[TearJerker but still......]]

* TearJerker: "Requiescat in pace....[[spoiler:[[UnluckyChildhoodFriend my]] [[StarCrossedLovers love.]]]]"

* ThatOneSidequest: All the {{Collection Sidequest}}s for the shops are pretty annoying, but getting the ''two'' rare Shrunken Heads for the blacksmith beats them all, as one of them is in a Lair of Romulus, and selling either of them will make it impossible to complete that quest, obtain its reward, and thus to 100% complete the main story -- which is required for an achievement/trophy.

*** As of AssassinsCreedIII, a new FridgeHorror is in session: [[spoiler: The Apples are sentient and under Juno's control, so they influence everyone holding them and everyone around them subconsciously a la [[LordOfTheRings the One Ring]], and the commands linger on even if one is away from the P.O.Es. [[ParanoiaFuel EVERYTHING YOU SEE AND HEAR AROUND OR AFTER COMING IN CONTACT A PIECE OF EDEN CAN BE JUST ILLUSION MADE BY JUNO]]. So yeah, high are the chances you just killed a innocent LoveInterest under control of an AbusivePrecursor and her ArtifactOfDoom, and it keeps inducing illusions to make sure you believe you did the right thing. Oh, and that also means lots of Templars you killed could have just been Brainwashed due to having been in the presence of a Piece of Eden, for years perhaps. That's right, Rodrigo and Cesare Borgia were justk mind-controlled slaves of Juno, and that also applies to Al Mualim.]]

** As of Revelations, [[spoiler: Lucy is revealed to have switched sides, after feeling abandoned by William Miles and the Assassin Order. The only reason she still shows up as blue is because she DOES care about Desmond, and didn't intend for Clay/Subject 16 to die. [[Fridge Horror That's right, ladies and gentlemen]]. As long as [[spoiler: [[FriendlyEnemy the enemy cares about you]], [[FridgeHorror Eagle Vision CAN'T detect him/her]]]].

** As of Revelations, [[spoiler: Lucy is revealed to have switched sides, after feeling abandoned by William Miles and the Assassin Order. The only reason she still shows up as blue is because she DOES care about Desmond, and didn't intend for Clay/Subject 16 to die. [[Fridge Horror That's right, ladies and gentlemen. As long as]] [[spoiler: [[FriendlyEnemy the enemy cares about you]], [[FridgeHorror Eagle Vision CAN'T detect him/her]]]].

** As of Revelations, [[spoiler: Lucy is revealed to have switched sides, after feeling abandoned by William Miles and the Assassin Order. The only reason she still shows up as blue is because she DOES care about Desmond, and didn't intend for Clay/Subject 16 to die. [[Fridge Horror That's right, ladies and gentlemen. As long as]] [[spoiler: [[FriendlyEnemy the enemy cares about you]], [[FridgeHorror Eagle Vision CAN'T detect him/her]].

** As of Revelations, [[spoiler: Lucy is revealed to have switched sides, after feeling abandoned by William Miles and the Assassin Order. The only reason she still shows up as blue is because she DOES care about Desmond, and didn't intend for Clay/Subject 16 to die. [[Fridge Horror That's right, ladies and gentlemen. As long as]] [[spoiler: [[FriendlyEnemy the enemy cares about you]], [[FridgeHorror Eagle Vision CAN'T detect him/her.]] ]]