A big change is coming to Assassin's Creed: Origins, and it's been long overdue. For the first time in franchise history, a target you assassinate won't just sit around and wait in the same location while you work to kill them, and instead operate like a normal human being. This means they'll walk, attend appointments, fulfill their duties, and even go to the restroom while you learn their schedule and try to find the best way to execute them. Ubisoft's Ashraf Ismail gives a specific example in the quote below:
“He’s a target. You have to go after him. Through the quest you find pieces of info about his life. During the day he’s out scouring the land on his chariot. At night, he goes home to his fort and sleeps in his cabin. The idea is: ‘There you go: you have that info, he’s your target. Do what you want.’ Do you want to go in through the stealth approach to fight him? Do you want to go out in the open world where he is on a chariot and is an awesome vehicle combat situation? But it’s a completely different situation. We play around with this a lot.”
That also means that a different playthrough will allow you a chance to eliminate your target in another way than you did previously, which adds some replayability beyond item collecting that this franchise has always lacked. Ismail also noted that players will be able to easily skip portions of the day with a day and night cycle activated by pressing in R3. The mechanic can be seen below:
Sounds like things are looking positive for the latest Assassin's Creed, but is it enough to rope you back in? What would the series have to do to win you back? Assassin's Creed Origins release October 27th.
