Yeah, that’s pretty close to how I feel about it too. I actually like the idea of making animal encounters more engaging than the old QTEs, but some of them look a bit too tanky right now. Hunting in Black Flag was always more about tracking and finding the animal than having a long fight with it. If they just tone down the health a bit, I think the system would be in a much better place.
And I agree on the cutscenes. That’s probably one of my bigger concerns. The original Black Flag cutscenes still hold up incredibly well, so when the new ones feel stiffer or the expressions don’t quite match the tone of the scene, it really stands out. Hopefully what we’ve seen so far isn’t representative of all the new story content.
I had a great time with Black Flag Resynced, but my 9 biggest concerns right now are:
1. No more disarming enemies and stealing their weapons.
2. Hidden Blade combat has been completely removed.
3. Some animal fights now feel more like mini-boss battles, and a few look way too spongey.
4. Unarmed combat might only exist in a handful of scripted situations.
5. The brand-new cutscenes look noticeably stiffer than the 13-year-old originals.
6. Small details like the shallow-water animation are gone, while other animations feel less immersive.
7. Mission replay may have disappeared alongside the old DNA Sequence system.
8. Tailing missions seem simplified rather than properly redesigned.
9. Cheats appear to be gone entirely.
I'm still really excited for the game, but these are the 9 red flags that have me a bit worried.
Full breakdown below 👇🏻
Some of the coolest new stuff in Black Flag Resynced 🔥
• Legendary Ships are way harder now and can respawn
• Forts have a new morale system instead of the old objective system
• Storms can damage your ship with actual lightning strikes
• You can now dive almost anywhere for hidden loot
• New underwater stealth mechanics with schools of fish
• Captain's Cabin is much more useful
• Kenway's Fleet is fully integrated into the game now
• Every Jackdaw weapon has new abilities and firing modes
• New officers give permanent perks to your ship
• Naval factions fight each other dynamically across the Caribbean
Also added a Q&A section at the end answering a bunch of your questions based on things I saw while playing, so definitely stick around for that 👀
Someone commented on my latest video asking what I wanted them to draw.
A few hours later, they uploaded this.
https://t.co/nICU9S1pwJ
The internet is pretty cool sometimes.
11 Surprising Details… That I Only Found After Playing It Myself 👀
Some stuff genuinely caught me off guard while playing:
• Less grind & better exploration rewards
• Bigger cities?!
• Seamless sailing in and out of ports
• Dive anywhere underwater
• Bigger underwater areas
• Dynamic stealth (storms and shadows actually help)
• Change time anytime
• New wind system
• Rogue winds
• More manual ship combat
• Brutal gun finishers
Video ↓
@LuunieTuunie It’s still basically like the original. You can’t freely dive deep enough to reach those diving bell locations anyway. The proper shipwreck and deep underwater areas are still separate levels that you access through diving bell activities, just like before.
Don’t worry, it’s not an RPG. No level gating, no dialogue choices, and enemies don’t feel spongey. It feels much closer to the original Black Flag and plays like an action-adventure game. Like, I took down a brute with a single headshot, so it’s definitely not going for that RPG damage scaling style.
The islands are actually one of the biggest improvements from what I've seen. A lot of the smaller islands that felt pretty copy-pasted before have been expanded quite a bit with new enemy encounters, rare loot, and more areas to explore. Some islands even have elevated sections you can climb up to for rewards, and the underwater areas around them can also hide loot and secrets. Overall, exploration feels way more rewarding than in the original.
@_eciravA_ Faster? Not sure honestly.
But it’s definitely more involved. The manual swivel guns, new attacks, and tougher naval battles keep you a lot busier during encounters.
@YooHoodY yes they're back, and honestly that's one of my favorite parts too. There's something about getting that final conversation with the target after the assassination that I've always loved.