Nobody will read my review so I will eat 1 tablespoon of ketchup for every like this gets.

I’ve stuck with the assassin’s creed franchise for a while now, assassin’s creed unity remains my unequivocal favorite from the franchise. this preference is not swayed by the recent upheaval of positive reassessment. I stumbled upon unity a few months post-release, bypassing the widespread discontent that tarnished its launch. unfortunately, the initial release state has cast a long shadow over unity. though there are a few ardent defenders, the game’s legacy remains marred.

it’s disheartening to witness how an initial impression can permanently tarnish a game's reputation. this has been the case with several other titles as well. when one disregards the popular opinions, they might discover that unity represents ubisoft’s finest work in the assassin’s creed series. the game's engine has remained unchanged, and graphically, unity reached a pinnacle that hasn't seen significant advancements even a decade later. the gameplay elements were perfected, with the parkour mechanics remaining unparalleled to this day, and the stealth elements finely honed.

subsequent assassin’s creed titles have often taken one step forward and three steps back. unity is where the franchise truly peaked. more assassin’s creed games should follow the classic direction of the series, a path unity expertly charted before the shift to the warrior’s creed. this game stands as my favorite of the series, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Summary: Maybe the best AC to date -- DESPITE its NUMEROUS bugs and rougher edges. (Si tu comprends le francais, mets la langue francaise dans les parametres.)

AC1 had the best feeling parkour (slow, but methodical climbing), and was a fantastic idea (that rightfully spawned this monster franchise).
AC2 trilogy perfected the "vanilla" AC idea -- to many, it IS Assassin's Creed, and I agree that it's fantastic.
AC3 for me is forgettable -- AC in the wilderness isn't what I was hoping for.
AC4 is probably the best implementation of a pirate game, and WAS my former favourite. (AC Rogue was kind of a reskin of this).

Here comes AC Unity, with a new engine, and honestly, it's fantastic. The French Revolution is a fantastic setting -- but the game, while mostly fixed now from its horrible launch, is still marred by many bugs ranging from annoying to soft-locks. And EVEN STILL, it rises to the top (?? disclaimer: I've only played the games in order of release).

Story: A bit muddled, but ultimately Arno won me over and his search for redemption mixed with trying to keep his relationship with his paramour worked for me. The lines between Assassin/Templar are VERY blurred in this game. It's not perfect (no resolution from AC Rogue), but there are a lot of key high points that intersect with real French history (with artistic license taken).

Movement: It's the best in the series, but also the worst... When the movement works, climbing again "feels" good, parkour feels and looks good. However, there are MANY times where the game AI bugs out and you get stuck on weird areas, cant jump down, cant move sideways, etc... it's rough, but when it works, it's great.

World: JUST WOW --> The new engine populates the world with DENSE crowds, I'm talking 100s of NPC's on the screen at once allowing for extremely crowded and alive feeling streets. The game MOSTLY takes place in Paris -- no more large in between nature spaces. Just a big city, and I like that. Also, Paris is beautiful and full of historic points of interest, especially at this point in time. Way more indoor locations too. The game is beautiful. The map is again full of collectables -- it is AC after all.
There are some other aspects too (high score runs through different eras of Paris: Belle Epoque, WW2, 14th century), along with other things that add to the experience.

Combat: You now have a parry system, and combat feels more rewarding (no more "push to win" sequences -- at least, not as easy). It's not Sekiro, but it's good. Using weaker weapons can be frustrating since enemies will tank too much damage, but the game feels better once you unlock some of the later ones.

Puzzles: The game has a lot of detective missions (ala Sherlock) which make you actually think about who's guilty, and a series of "Riddle" challenges that may be very difficult if you don't know points of interest in Paris.

Multiplayer: I was very surprised to try and actually love it. Having 3 other real life teammates taking on a large challenge with multiple targets lets you split up, or work together to take down more difficult areas -- it's a ton of fun.

Animus:
The real-world Abstergo base navigation was scrapped and instead you have a minimal nod to that. They make it work to work with the story, rather than kicking you out when you just want to get back to the good stuff. I'm a big fan of that change.

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Overall, I loved it, and if you were hoping for a return to historical dense urban centres, you will love this one too (the bugs aren't that bad).