Battle of Forli

[PZ]

Well, I bit the bullet and downloaded the first DLC for AC2 last night ($3.99 US) from the Playstation store.  At 702 mb, it took a long time to download; I hope that the file was not corrupted along the way  ;)

I managed to play a short while last night, and first impressions are good for my playing style.  Here are a couple of snippets SPOILERS:

• Lots of fighting that taxes your skills.  You meet Catarina Sforza outside of Forli, and you need to escort her and her companion past legions of guards to her stronghold within the city.  An interesting departure from the original game is that you have guards on your side (including brutes) so fighting can be a challenge due to the fact that friend and foe all look alike.
• A major challenge was to open the city gate and let Catarina and her entourage in - you need to find a way over the walls and then battle your way to the top of the battlement to find the gate switch - guards are everywhere trying to block your ascent.
• Subsequent to opening the gate, another task is to escort Catarina through the city past large numbers of guards - tough to battle it out, but she, her companion, and the accompanying guards all fight well.
• Once inside, Catarina discovers that two of her children were kidnapped by the Orli brothers who have them captive in the countryside - your job is to get them back for her.  After you complete that task, you discover it was all a ruse to get you out of the city - the Orli brothers just wanted to get the apple of Eden (which you gave to Catarina for safe keeping).
• You now need to go back into the countryside to find and kill one the Orli brother that has the apple, which you do - but he stabs you in the side and you fall to the ground.  While semi unconscious, a monk with 9 fingers in a black robe takes the apple from you.  You faint and awaken in Catarina's castle.
• It is important for you to find the monk and retrieve the apple (simpler said than done) and you go on fact finding missions.
  
• Leonardo's flying machine is located on top of the lighthouse northeast of the Forli docks - flying the machine is lots of fun.  There are fires automatically set up throughout Forli so you can fly just about everywhere, and stay a loft as long as you like.  It is quite fun looking at the city from this vantage point, and kick a few guards off the roof tops - you actually get a trophy for that.

I have run into a problem however - I talked with a monk in Forli who told me to possibly look in Florence for 9-fingers - as the next segment was loading, Rebecca (controls the Animus) comes online to say "uh-oh... the data has been corrupted.  I awoke in the countryside outside of Florence and no new memory start icons appeared on my map.  Now I have no idea where to go or what to do.  Oh well, maybe I'll discover something when I next play.

The interesting thing is that the Forli memory sequence is number 12 in the list, and the first game ended after sequence 14.  Sequence 13 is still undiscovered.

[spaceboy]

sequence 13 will be the next DLC, Bonfire of the Vanities.  I think that's it for the Forli DLC.  I've read that many people think it is too short.  The price isn't to bad though - I'm more concerned about giving up nearly a gig of space  ::)

Two questions, can you access the flying machine now anytime you go to Forli?  Also, can you replay the sequence 12 at any time or do you have to play through to it?

[PZ]

I just checked a few sites, and indeed it is over.  It kind of reminds me of the Lord of the Rings series of movies - I recall watching the first one at the theater and it just ended in the middle of the story line.  That's not necessarily bad, but I recall thinking "that's it?" - the same thought now with the Battle of forli  ;D

I have to agree that it is awfully large for so short a game play, but flying Leonardo's machine makes the $3.99 worth it - sure would have been nice for Ubi to have included the three Templar lairs though.

I've flown the machine several times now - you can fly as often as you wish, and it is great fun piloting across Forli kicking guards off the roof.  There are plenty of fires spread throughout the city to gain the lift that you need.  There was a funny moment - when I crash landed on a group of citizens, they responded with fright and horror - all except one who said "that looks like fun!"

It is like any other sequence however; while listed in the DNA, you cannot replay it.  I'm wondering if when you start a new game, will it fit into the sequence immediately after 11 or will you need to complete the game again (skip sequences 12 and 13) before you can do the Forli battle again.

[Art Blade]

when I crash landed on a group of citizens, they responded with fright and horror - all except one who said "that looks like fun!"

LOL  :-X

Pity, really, that you can't access those (and that) missions whenever you like.

[PZ]

This was actually on free roam, not the main story mission, so something like this you can experience as much as you like.  In fact, I'm beginning to think that the flying machine alone is worth the price of the DLC as I think of it in retrospect.  I can imagine spending quite a bit of time perfecting flying techniques and landing on groups of citizens.  Interestingly, I did not receive the warning message that Ezio did not kill civilians  ;D

Also interestingly, the flying machine in the DLC works better, and is much easier to fly than the one time you get to fly it in the main game.

[PZ]

Continued impressions:

I played the battle of Forli again this morning using the second of my 3 saves (also a completed game) and it took about an hour to complete.  One of the reasons is that you can (and need) to go at the missions Rambo-style with little to no finesse.  There are typically hordes of opponents to defeat, and more often than not, you start the mission fully notorious.

Because that went so fast, I started my third and last game (at a point just before sequence 14 - unlocking the codex map), and went into the menu system - sequence 12 is there (Battle of Forli), but I cannot access anything other than the title.  I don't know it it is because I am already past sequence 11, but one thing for sure, is that if you're headed into the Roma parts of the game, you cannot go back to do the Forli action - it will become available after sequence 14 is completed.

One last factoid - no additional content is added (any side missions)

[PZ]

Playing with a saved game that was only partially complete gave me interesting results.  In this save, I was deciphering the map embedded in the codex pages, and when complete, will open the next sequence (14) which takes me to Rome to kill Rodrigo Borgia.  However, with the DLC installed, I end up on the Forli dock ready to start the battle of Forli instead.  Evidently you go back to sequence 12.  I wonder what happens if you are completing sequence 11 - do you go to 12 or skip to 14 and then back to 12.  I know that you need the apple of Eden to start the Forli sequence, so I suspect that you need to get the apple in sequence 14 first.

[Art Blade]

The PC game comes with all sequences in place, and you play just through in its proper order.

[PZ]

Thanks, I just discovered that  :)

[Art Blade]

<smirk>  :)