In ACU, if you read about Arno's biography, he is mentionned three times in Napoleon's diary :
- 1792 (when they meet in ACU)
- 1795 (beginning of Napoleon's campaigns in Bordeaux)
- 1808 (invasion of Spain by Napoleon)
We can see when Arno and Napoleon meet that Napoleon gets an Apple of Eden from the King's office. We can also see in the end that Arno comes back many years later to hide Germain's body with Napoleon so he certainly saw something (like an artefact that indicated him that he had to hide his body).
We can notice that Napoleon went to Egypt between 1798 and 1801. Egypt... where the next "big" production (AC Origins, because Syndicate is more like a derivative episode of Unity) stands.
And don't you think it's strange that Ubisoft have put so much energy to develop (ACU's development was 4 year long) a new graphic engine, a new gameplay design for only 2 games ?
Here is my theory : I think Arno was planned to be the hero of a trilogy. The first game would have been ACU. The second one would have stand in Egypt around 1800 searching for an artefact, and the third one around Europe with Arno trying to stop a Napoleon out of control who got an artefact in Egypt.
But as Unity didn't work as they planned and as Arno was very unpopular, they thrown away the idea of sequels. They though fans were mad about the ancient Gameplay system but people were just mad about how unfinished was this game.
They kept the idea of making an AC in Egypt but during a more bankable period : Antiquity. And then they turned the game Osiris which was supposed to be a new franchise as an AC (not the first time they do that, AC1 was supposed to be a PoP for example).
It's too bad because even if a lot of people (even me) disliked Arno's behavior during the game, he became interesting in the end of the game. He reached a maturity and becomes darker and less naive than before (it was the same for Connor that became interesting at the end of AC3 but didn't get a decent conclusion). In the DLC Dead Kings we can even see that he becomes suspicious about Napoleon.
I'm still upset by AC moving away from the storyline set up between AC3, AC4, Rogue, and Unity. Why was there almost no crossover between the main characters (Connor, Shay, and Arno) seeing as they were all active around the same time.
As many of you know, I've been in Florence for the past three months learning how to make shoes at Stefano Bemer. I have made a lot of practice half shoes, and single shoes, but this was my first pair of real shoes and I am quite proud of how they turned out. It was a mad dash to make them in the final two weeks I was there, and I finished with just enough time to get back to my place, grab my luggage, and get to the train station with 5 minutes to spare.
Here is the debut of the Arno shoe! It is a captoe derby in Plum Museum Calf with a hybrid Norvegese and Goodyear construction.
A bit of backstory on the name. The classroom is in an old building right by the Arno, the river running through Florence. The running joke we had throughout the course was that all the shoes we made were only worth chucking into the Arno, followed by a dunk yourself.
It took me roughly 80 hours of work to make these. This doesn't include the time spent modifying the last, making the pattern, or making fitting shoes to test the last and pattern. Gratifying as hell, but not very efficient or cost effective. Of course, it would be faster if I knew what I was doing and had certain tools and machines to speed up the process.
This is the first time I combined Norwegian construction with a goodyear fiddleback waist, although I had done both individually on practice shoes. I think it came out quite well all things considered. Of course, I know where I screwed up and what I could improve upon for the next pair.
The course, and Florence over all was a fantastic experience. However, my classmates and the master shoemakers Masako and Kumiko that taught the course were what made it truly special. Everyone just clicked really well, and we had a blast learning how to make shoes. Its a bit of a bummer coming back to Oklahoma, but I've already started gathering up tools and materials and I am excited to start making shoes again. At this stage, and for the foreseeable future, its going to be purely as a hobby and a creative outlet for me. Who knows though, someday maybe I will make a career change.
Arno seemed very bland to me, at first he is kind of a poor man's Ezio and then he is just running after Elise and using the Assassins to kill some people for her. He didn't offer anything new and personality wise just left me bored.
Elise seemed to have easily the more interesting story, she was more invested in actual revenge and would have been a more refreshing protagonist imho.
I just finished the story for AC:U again and something struck me as I was nearing the end of it. On many occasions Arno corrected people believing he was an assassin telling them he wasn’t anymore. In his last fight with Germain, Germain acknowledges the fact that Arno is facing him head on rather than a more traditional stealth approach by regular assassins. Also, Arno seems to be the only protagonist in any of these games to wield and keep and piece of Eden (excluding kassandra/alexios) since the brotherhood usually keeps these items under wrap as they’re really dangerous. It makes me believe that Arno is representative of the “gray Jedi” situation where he believes in order and balance, and will use any means necessary to keep that, but will not take it so far as to harm innocents for his own personal gain. Just a thought as I was finishing up, there’s still a lot of things that don’t add up if he has left the brotherhood such as: how does he still have the sword, how did he obtain his master assassin outfit, and how how can still access the brotherhood sanctum below the café. I’d love to hear anyone else’s theories if they’ve thought of this too.
As much as I loved Connor as a character, there is something so poetic about Shay potentially being the one who kills him. Arno killing Shay would be just as satisfying as well. What do you think?
Can you name any other Assassin who can pick locks backward? http://imgur.com/TEqMmu3
I find Unity so much more captivating than Syndicate. I love Arno so far!!! Anyone else feel this way?
