One Forgotten Assassin's Creed Game Could Expand the…

For nearly 18 years, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise has delved into the history and cultures of numerous historical eras and civilizations as it simultaneously expanded its own fictional lore. From the establishment of the millennia-old secret war between the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order in Assassin’s Creed 1 to the origins of the Japanese Assassin Brotherhood in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the Assassin’s Creed franchise has matured into a deep, fully fleshed-out universe of its own. However, recent titles have begun to distance themselves from focusing on Assassins and Templars to leads based more on historical and even mythological beings. To help shed light on the fan-favorite Assassin and Templar lore throughout history amid these recent titles, Ubisoft could develop more games similar to the 10-year-old Assassin’s Creed Chronicles series.

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By Eric Warner

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, India, and Russia Explained

Ahead of Assassin’s Creed’s venture with new mainline titles on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One through the debut of Assassin’s Creed Unity in 2014, Ubisoft announced that an entirely separate side game would be accessible to players who purchased Unity’s season pass. This game was Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China, developed by Climax Studios. Here, players were able to embody the 16th century Chinese Assassin Shao Jun for the first time since her debut in the 2011 animated short film Assassin’s Creed: Embers. In March 2015, Ubisoft announced Chronicles: China would be joined by two future entries in the Chronicles series in the form of the 19th century Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India and the 20th century Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia.

Each game in the Chronicles trilogy is played in 2.5-dimension environments akin to classic Castlevania and Metroid games, featuring more artistic graphics reminiscent of art styles of each game’s era, such as Chronicles: China’s graphics appearing similar to Ming Dynasty ink and wash paintings. Unlike the mainline third-person gameplay featured in the mainline Assassin’s Creed games, each Chronicles game is a side-scrolling platformer that still retains much of the series’ famous stealth and combat, albeit in a more restricted format. While Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China first released on April 21, 2015, Chronicles: India and Russia were both released in early 2016, with the trilogy later releasing in a collection later in 2016 for the PC, PS4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One.

The Assassin Narratives of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China takes place after Shao Jun’s mentorship from Ezio Auditore in Embers and sees the Chinese Assassin return to her homeland to take down the eunuch group of Templars, the Eight Tigers, who influenced the Chinese Emperor. Chronicles: India follows Indian Assassin Arbaaz Mir, father of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Henry Green, as he confronts the Templar-led East India Company to retrieve the Koh-i-Noor Piece of Eden. Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia follows Russian Assassin Nikolai Orelov as he attempts to rescue Anastasia Nikolaevna and a Precursor Box from Red Army-affiliated Templars, the box having been previously lost by Jun and Mir in the previous games.

Arbaaz Mir and Nikolai Orelov first appeared in Assassin’s Creed expanded media, with Mir first debuting in the 2013 graphic novel Assassin's Creed: Brahman and Orelov first debuting in the 2010 comic Assassin's Creed: The Fall.

The Potential Lore Expansion in Future Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Games

Due to Assassin’s Creed Chronicles’ side-scrolling nature and each game’s relatively short runtime (six hours on average), the Chronicles trilogy received mixed reception overall. While the gameplay of Chronicles dissuaded many mainline fans from playing the trilogy, numerous fans enjoyed seeing fan favorite Assassin’s from Assassin’s Creed expanded media finally getting the spotlight in game form, albeit briefly. With recent Assassin’s Creed games such as Odyssey, Valhalla, and Shadows repeatedly distancing themselves from the classic Assassin versus Templar conflict, Ubisoft could develop a Chronicles sequel or successor to focus more on lesser-known Assassins and Templars. This potential sequel could help expand the Assassin and Templar lore while the mainline games continue to focus on RPG elements.

Since Assassin’s Creed Chronicles told three narratives, its successors could similarly highlight three short stories about Assassins and Templars throughout history. One new Chronicles game could focus on Arno Dorian tracking down his father’s killer, Master Templar Shay Cormac, as the nature of both characters’ deaths is currently unknown. Another game could focus on some of Claudia Auditore’s time being an Assassin, possibly during Ezio Auditore’s journey to Constantinople, as Claudia was put in charge of the Italian Brotherhood at that time. To tie into recent games, another Chronicle game could focus on the Hidden Ones, Hytham and Niamh of Argyll, as they attempt to battle the new Templar Order following the events of Valhalla, or it could follow Spanish Assassin Alvaro Catarribera’s excommunication before Shadows.

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