Long-winded and slow-paced story & gameplay bring down what could've been a really great game.
There are plenty of things that are good about this game. There was so much detail put into it; tidbits of history, letters to read, large areas to explore...the platforming is fun (though frustrating at times), the graphics (if you look past the amazing amount of pop-up), sound and overall ambiance are amazing, the voice acting is wonderful, the story is intriguing, there are plenty of side missions to partake in that can add hours (and I mean HOURS) of extra gameplay, the stealth aspect of it is quite fun...But ultimately, the pacing of the gameplay and the story was too broken up and didn't flow well for me.
Just when I felt like the either was going to finally take off, they would fall flat. I don't think I ever really felt like there was a satisfying progression to the story, and because of that, it just felt long-winded, even though it was intriguing and had plenty of likeable characters. Many aspects of the gameplay seemed too easy and I never really felt a sense of accomplishment. It felt like there were a lot of things to do, but not many of them very gratifying. There were some other annoyances, such as the lock-on system and some bad camera angles, but they worked well enough. And for God's sake Ubisoft, why did you have to put those annoying street lutists in there! Nobody liked the beggars in the first game and even though the lutists are less annoying with their cheeriness and tights, after awhile I still wanted to stick ever single one that approached me! GOD!!!
Other than that though, this is solid game. If you really want to enjoy this game, be prepared to slow yourself down, take in the ambiance and realize that it is more of an easy-going game than a challenging one, or else you'll find yourself like me and getting "antsy" from the pace of it all. Definitely good to play if you're looking to pass some time!