The Far Cry, Tom Clancy, and Prince of Persia series have gone too long without new mainline entries, leaving Assassin's Creed to be the sole brand under Ubisoft that looks to be alive and kicking. The series has lasted almost two decades, spawning 13 blockbusters as well as numerous spin-offs, remasters, and remakes during that time. But comparing the games in the first half of that journey to the second half shows a dramatic shift. It's high time that the company steers things back.
Ever since Assassin's Creed Origins released in 2017, Ubisoft has injected three massive RPGs into the series. What started and evolved as a tightly paced, stealth-action series has slowly morphed into 100-hour, checklist-heavy games that are obsessed with loot tiers and skill trees.
It genuinely feels like the days of delivering historical action-adventures with tightly directed narratives, which the original games were kings at, are long gone.
Games starring Altair or Ezio had dense cities to navigate through. Assassinations were puzzles to be solved using parkour and social stealth, not ten-minute boss fights where you chip away at a health bar while flailing every weapon under the sun. Sure, they were still open-world games, but it was all about the fantasy of being a blade in the crowd rather than an ancient superhero.
Playing the recently launched Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced is a stark reminder of how good this franchise's action-adventure roots used to feel. You don't have to worry about level-gated regions, grinding side quests just so your hidden blade actually does fatal damage to a guard, or defeating mythological gods.
Sure, the ships and environments look spectacular, and the character models finally look like they are from the current decade. But visuals are not the only reason fans jumped on the title. The focus was entirely on a solo, character-driven experience. The lack of modern RPG mechanics was something to be touted, not a missing feature in the Edward Kenway adventure.
There are so many eras and historical cities the series could explore. Ubisoft has more than a few studios and teams spread across the world. It could keep the RPGs coming at its current glacial pace, but also drop adventure games to break up the formula in between them. Add in some more quality remakes (Ezio trilogy anyone?) and you've got a plan on your hands.
Black Flag Resynced sold millions of copies in its first week alone, helping stabilize a company that has been struggling lately with games and launch timelines. That success might pave the way for it not being a one-off retro victory.
