I’ve got it purchased on Steam already, which will weird having played the franchise exclusively on Sony platforms prior. Just weathering the agonizing month until release. I am a pretty big fan of the older games, though, I think I stopped playing after either 4 or 4A. My favorites are definitely 2nd gen and 3.5 gen, with it being very difficult to nail down a particular game in that lineup.

The thing about AC which makes my love it is how layered it is and how much it can challenge you. You have a mission (or arena opponent) and need to come up with your plan to tackle it’s objectives. This is in addition to strategizing and tinkering in the garage to fine tune the perfect setup. Then within the actual mission/arena you have the execution component - not just reacting and adapting to unfolding circumstances and opponent strategies but also the executing your inputs well, as AC has always been fairly demanding from an input stress perspective.

I’m mostly excited to have a return to the classic AC formula. Play a ruthless mercenary scraping by to get credits in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi dystopia. Go through missions with kitschy Metal Gear style dialogue in pursuit of more credits and better parts. Replay missions and NG+ to get access to even more parts. All while constantly honing, adapting, and super fine tuning builds.

There’s really nothing like it, honestly. Probably will be my GotY.