Altaïr’s Chronicles is a smaller game, so the guide doesn’t need to be bigger than the game itself. The things worth understanding are the orbs, the combat, the movement and wha…

Altaïr’s Chronicles is a smaller game, so the guide doesn’t need to be bigger than the game itself. The things worth understanding are the orbs, the combat, the movement and what opens up as you go. Orbs and upgrades Red orbs restore health. Blue orbs are for improving your health and sword damage. They aren’t a set of flags you need to track down one by one, and there isn’t a giant skill tree hiding behind them. On the DS version, the first sword upgrade costs 100 blue orbs and the second costs 200. Each health increase costs 100. Those upgrades improve your health or damage. They don’t unlock new moves. My advice would be to spend according to what’s slowing you down. If you’re surviving fights but they’re taking forever, put the orbs toward damage. If you keep getting killed before you can get through a section, give yourself more health. There isn’t any reason to pretend everyone needs the exact same order. Combat and tools Y gives you the quick sword attacks. X gives you the heavier ones. Get comfortable with both instead of just hitting whichever button you started with and hoping for the best. The other weapons and tools arrive through the story. You aren’t supposed to be searching every corner for an ability you somehow missed. Watch the prompts when something new appears, then actually use it. A new tool can be there to solve the next situation, not just fill out a menu. Movement Wall climbing, wall-to-wall jumps and the triple jump are the main movement skills to get comfortable with. The grapple hook is another part of crossing gaps. With the triple jump, you’re chaining jumps as you land, not just holding the button and expecting a longer leap. Later, blending and disguises help you get through particular sections. That’s another reason not to approach the entire game as one long sword fight. Finishing it Work through the story, collect blue orbs along the way and keep your upgrades moving. The DS touch-screen sections also matter: picking pockets and interrogating people are part of progressing, not optional side activities to skip past. Finishing the story unlocks Hard difficulty. That’s your extra challenge if you want another run. The original DS release doesn’t have an official trophy or achievement list to work through.