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Assassin’s Creed is a series known for its fascinating lore and twists on real-life historical events such as the American Revolution or the Golden Age of Piracy. One thing that the franchise has rarely failed at is its characters and stories.
From a story standpoint, those are the key points, but the new Assassin’s Creed games, more importantly, the RPG trilogy, get many things wrong. Every bit of story element, ranging from character lore, voice acting, and cutscenes, has been downgraded considerably in newer games.
This removes all the depth from the characters, and no matter how well their stories have been written, they aren’t translated well enough.
Why it matters: For a series with such high standards, the degradation of these elements makes a substantial difference in the overall quality.
Past Games Were Much Better
Following the recent release of Skull and Bones, a game I was incredibly let down by, I was inclined to revisit Assassin’s Creed 4, the best pirate game to date and the perfect blueprint for Skull and Bones.
While playing the game, I noticed how the quality of the new Assassin’s Creed titles has declined. I’m not even talking about classics, which are always better. Ubisoft’s pen game has taken a severe hit.
The character arcs for Edward Kenway, James Kidd, and Blackbeard were all amazing. Despite most pirate stories portraying them as ruthless and dumbfounded monsters, Assassin’s Creed 4 didn’t fail to add complexities and unique backstories to these characters.
This was done while balancing every aspect, including gameplay, combat, and the open world. Aside from the first entry, every mainline Assassin’s Creed before the RPG trilogy did this well.
In general, the Kenway storyline was a masterpiece, and how it affected the overarching conflict between the Assassins and the Templars was top-notch writing. Similarly, Ezio’s journey was fascinating.
Where Ubisoft Goes Wrong
I have no complaints about the franchise’s transition to the RPG genre; my biggest concern is Ubisoft’s swaying from motion capture for the games.
Despite using an updated engine since 2017 and promising to deliver better cutscenes, Ubisoft has offered titles where cutscenes often look like Bethesda sequences, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Assassin’s Creed Origins was a bit better in this regard. I still consider it the best of the RPG trilogy. It had a cinematic touch, the writing was top-notch, and Bayek’s voice actor delivered one of the best performances in the series overall.
The biggest letdowns were Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Valhalla, and Mirage. Mirage was especially heart-wrenching to play, mainly because of the promises Ubisoft made that Mirage would “take the series back to its roots.” Basim is, to date, one of the worst protagonists ever.
I understand that motion-capturing sequences for RPG titles would be time-consuming if you count the side quests, but Ubisoft could at least have them in the main quests. Asasssin’s Creed Origins did something similar.
Maybe going back to the roots would be the right thing to do. The new releases also lack a well-built narrative structure. Instead, they rely on spawning characters out of nowhere with stories that aren’t even important to the overarching narrative.
The constant cycle of repetitive quests to kill someone and get paid detracts from the overall experience. Useless plot threads, forced inclusivity, and uninspiring protagonists disappointed me when I played the newer Assassin’s Creed titles.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which is said to use an updated version of the engine, seems to have the same problem. Despite initially criticising the game for not staying true to its Japanese roots, I have decided to ignore all the controversies, hoping the actual game will be great.
I really want to see Ubisoft learning from its mistakes and focusing on the core problems. Addressing this part won’t fix every problem with the franchise right now, but it would be a good place to start.
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[News Reporter]
Shaheer is currently pursuing a Business degree while also working as a part-time Content Writer. With his deep passion for both writing and video games, he has seamlessly transitioned into a role as a Journalist. Over the past two years, Shaheer has contributed as a freelancer to various websites and landed positions on acclaimed platforms like Gamerant. Currently, his role at Tech4gamers is as a Features Writer, but he also covers News occasionally. Shaheer’s favorite gaming franchises are Assassin’s Creed and the God of War series.
Get In Touch: shaheer@tech4gamers.com
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