As a longtime player and analyst of franchises like Thief, Splinter Cell, Dishonored, Metal Gear, Deus Ex, you name it, I will always always ALWAYS disagree with the sentiment that "harder difficulty makes the Stealth better." I understand that it's ATTRACTIVE to think that way, but it's not as powerful a statement as it seems at first glance.
I don't think I specifically say that a harder game means better stealth. The harder difficulty merely incentivizes the player to use stealth some more,since direct combat wouldn't be the best solution.
Better Stealth makes the Stealth better. That's it. Higher difficulty is just flavoring and makes the tension of Stealth higher. High difficulty with terrible Stealth does not suddenly make the Stealth more enjoyable. This is what does: Can you Manipulate the AI effectively and consistently, both Lethally and Non-Lethally? (Kill/Distract/Stun) Does the game control well? Is the AI dynamic enough to the point where Sneaking by them is genuinely enjoyable? Are the levels designed properly for Stealth? Is Guard/Enemy placement properly thought-out? Does the player have a strong arsenal of Stealth tools and options with different functions and decent depth? Assassin's Creed has absolutely never, in all of its renditions (I have played all the ACs since 2007, even the shoddy spin-offs) provided such an experience.
Couldn't agree more. While I very much want to see the things you mention happen in an AC game,I just don't see it happening or at least not to the extent you and I might want it. Ubisoft,as a major gaming publisher,want to make a lot of money. Assassin's Creed is their biggest franchise and obviously that means they'll want as many people as possible to play their games. And sadly Ubisoft often tries to appeal to everyone by having both stealth and action approaches in their games(just look at Far Cry,Splinter Cell,Watch Dogs,Ghost Recon,AC etc) and in the end one(or both) of said approaches always feels either very basic or undercooked. Sadly,AC was never a pure stealth game and as such combat has always been and will be prioritized over stealth. But the things you say are all very doable(and also much needed) in my opinion if Ubisoft really decides to invest time and resources into providing a better stealth experience.
Except for maybe Black Flag/Rogue, and the Chronicles games, and most people I talk to hate those because they're just not what they're used to, they're not used to that level of challenge and demand that those games ask of the player. I love 'em for obvious reasons. (See my flair.) Besides, Chronicles aren't mainline ACs, not to mention they're not even developed by Ubisoft. Black Flag/Rogue did okay with it, giving the player Sleep Darts (Non-Lethal AI Manipulation) but making them too plentiful, and by how useful SSI Trick was once you learned about it.
ACC China(the only Chronicles game I've played) offered some great stealth moments,too bad that I didn't find the story engaging enough to make myself finish the game. They do however play completely different to your average AC game and actually resemble a game like Mark Of The Ninja a lot more. Due to their 2.5D perspective the gameplay relies a lot more on line of sight,light and shadow and manipulation of the perspective. They also do exactly the type of incentive I talk about in my OP - enemies are hard and can kill you in a few hits,especially when they surround you,which makes the stealthy playstyle optimal. Not only that,but you also get a bigger reward for playing stealthy - leaving enemies unharmed and unawaware of you nets you a pretty big score,compared to getting in fights and being spotted. They also have different difficulty levels,although they are locked at the beginning. All in all,they're much better stealth games than the main ones,but they were planned as such and either due to the difficulty,different developer or the different playstyle/perspective people don't really see what those games could offer to the franchise.
Unity controlled leagues worse than Syndicate did, not to mention Syndicate gives you better Stealth tools, (Whistling, Better Free Aim, Rope Launcher, Better Crouch Button, Better Cover) and that's why Syndicate is objectively a better Stealth game. (I mean, both of them are still pretty bad, but yeah.)
Unity is a lot clunkier than Syndicate,no argument there. It felt like you had to fight with the game's broken AI or broken cover mechanic. But in the end I just found Unity more fulfilling to stealth through than Syndicate. The harder difficulty of the enemies,along with their ridiculously large numbers(especially in enclosed areas) felt challenging and fullfilling when you actually stealthed through. I also felt that it had better level design,compared to Syndicate. Syndicate improved most of the Unity's gameplay faults and it's mechanically better as I mention in the OP,but it was also less fullfilling to stealth through. I didn't really face any challenge to stealth all missions,even when I was playing as Jacob.
Black Flag also controls dramatically less awfully than BOTH Unity and Syndicate. You simply cannot be a slouch when it comes to how smoothly your game controls, and Unity and Syndicate are absolutely terrible and sluggish in the player's hands in comparison to any of the games that came before them, both when it comes to Movement and anything else.
That's more or less what I'm trying to say about the fluidity in terms of stealth. Black Flag/Rogue are simply the most fun to stealth through,due to their level design and fluidity. Sneaking is fast and fluid,you have plenty of places to hide and a varied enough arsenal of gadgets to outsmart your foes. They also allowed you to knock out enemies if you played unarmed. Simply put,everything was fluid and fast,while also giving you gameplay options.
+100 Internets for loving Stealth, though. I really don't see it often, and it's great to have someone else who seems to enjoy it and want it more.
Thanks!
AC1's Assassinations / Syndicate+Unity's Blackboxes: These are what Assassinations are meant to be. A pity Syndicate and Unity's controls and game-feel are horrific.
I liked those as well. Setting up those unique kills and eventually pulling them off felt very satisfying. I still think that they could be expanded even further though,I want more improvisation and making the assassination look like an accident,much like in the Hitman games.
Black Flag/Rogue's Controls, Stealth Tools, SSI Trick: Definitely the most polished games in the entire franchise, offering the most AI Manipulation mainline AC games have ever had. It got a bit excessive, but too much is better than none. These games empowered and facilitated Stealth gameplay, and it had absolutely nothing to do with how easy or hard they were. It had everything to do with putting agency and tools in the player's hands.
Agreed.
Social Stealth: This was refreshing as hell. AC took the basic idea that Hitman had but jacked up the badass levels about four or five notches. However, the Assassin's Creed franchise stopped caring about Social Stealth so much past a certain point, or it took a backseat to Traditional, Line-of-Sight Stealth (which is also not well-executed in AC, WELP~ ¯(ツ)/¯) I think it was around Revelations that this occurred. I'm certain both Social Stealth and Traditional Stealth can exist side-by-side in these games, so long as some genuine time, thought, and effort were injected into developing their systems.
Actually I though Unity had the best social stealth in the franchise. And the large crowds contributed a lot to that. You could easily disappear into a crowd,as long as you weren't crouched and didn't pull any of your weapons. It literally gave me a "blade in the crowd"-feel that I never felt during the previous games. You could fluidly move through the crowd,make your strike and disappear without a trace,which really made me feel like a true assassin. Although the social stealth was underused. And yes,social and traditional stealth do co-exist in the series,albeit it's implementation isn't always the best. In the open areas you can have large crowds to blend in and in the restricted areas more recent games use,you can switch to more traditional sneaking around.