Ubisoft Can’t Walk Back Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s Best…

Summary

Assassin's Creed Mirage brings the series back to its roots, focusing on the Creed and the Hidden Ones, which was missing from the previous two titles.
The franchise had lost its identity by straying too far from the original concept, with Assassin's Creed Odyssey feeling more like an RPG set in Ancient Greece.
Fans have been yearning for a return to form, and Assassin's Creed Mirage seems to be answering their wishes by telling the classic Assassin vs Templar story that the series is known for.

Over the past decade, Ubisoft has been trying to reinvent its acclaimed Assassin's Creed franchise. Not only did it bring the Assassin's Creed franchise further back than it ever did before, but the games also shifted from action-adventure titles to fully-fledged RPGs. While all of these experiences were very successful for the studio, this change lost a bit of the franchise's identity along the way. However, Assassin's Creed Mirage is bringing the series back to its roots, and so far, it seems to be paying off.

Assassin's Creed Mirage has delivered a much smaller-scale adventure compared to its RPG predecessors, and it does not seem to be held back by that size. It may not be perfect, yet fans should find a lot to love within. Specifically, its main story has put the Creed and The Hidden Ones, actual Assassins, front and center once more. While it would make sense for an Assassin's Creed game to follow the assassins, the past two titles have strayed extremely far from that concept. And now that the series has returned to it, future titles need to stick with it.

Assassin's Creed Cannot Forget About the Creed Again

The Assassin's Creed franchise was built on the concept of two mysterious orders fighting across history. That was the entire focus of the narrative, or at least it was before the launch of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. After Origins showed players the beginnings of the Hidden Ones through a brand-new RPG lens, players were excited to see where the franchise would go next. And that next chapter may have been a great time, but it seemed to have forgotten what the point of Assassin's Creed was to begin with.

Instead of following the Creed, Assassin's Creed Odyssey felt more like an RPG set in Ancient Greece. Neither of the playable characters were actually Assassins, players spent their time taking out the Cult of Kosmos instead of a form of the Templars, and the story had almost nothing to do with the franchise's narrative outside of the modern-day setting. While the game may have been a great exploration of history, it felt like an Assassin's Creed game in name only.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla would end up involving the Hidden Ones again, but it also put players in control of someone who was not an Assassin. Instead, players controlled the Viking Eivor during their quest to establish a new Viking clan in England. Even though the story involved elements of the franchise's core conflict, Vikings are not often known for their subtlety, so the core gameplay hardly felt like an AC game.

While AC Valhalla may have brought some of the series' staples back, it only went so far, and fans yearned for a return to form. Luckily, Ubisoft seems to have listened as Assassin's Creed Mirage is once again telling that classic Assassin vs Templar story that the series is known for. Players control an assassin, work alongside other assassins, and attempt to rid a city of Templar influence like they did in many of the older titles. It may be a bit rough in some places, yet it also seems to be answering many of the fanbase's wishes, which is great to see.

Now that Assassin's Creed Mirage brought the franchise back to its core, Ubisoft should continue down this path. Many players got annoyed by two games that barely involved the Creed, and now that they got that again, it would be a shame if it was stripped away. Not only would that be a confusing decision, but it would likely anger diehard fans as well. Instead, future titles should stick with the Creed.