I won't claim that the old Assassin's Creed games have "good" movement or "good" combat. It's been too long for me to make a qualitative judgment. All I know is that this feels considerably worse than I remember of either of the other two AC models.

Every direct action has felt unbearably weightless since Origins, and I genuinely can't imagine someone liking the way these games play. It's floaty, inelegant, devoid of exciting kineticism. From Bayek on, every frame of animation in these characters is simply boring. That's an unnecessary exaggeration. The kills are alright.

Bayek's characterization and his actor's performance, Egypt itself, and the fact that it was so divergent all kept me invested to the point that I ended up having a great time with Origins. The series has lost more of my interest for each new game. As much as I liked Kassandra.

Basim is kinda bland, mostly in writing and direction. Baghdad is gorgeous, but since I don't like the movement, joyless to explore. And I do think the metered dance of old AC combat is preferable to this. I could see animation polish and general tuning make it more engaging, but as it is I think it feels terrible.

Really does look striking in places, though. The late title card drop overlooking Baghdad with a clear sky and HDR-infused bright sun is one of the more stunning scenes I've seen in video games lately. Only wish I wanted to play it.