7 Ways Assassin’s Creed Can Save Itself from Disaster

Title’s Assassin’s Creed: Shadows received generally positive feedback, yet it remains a controversial addition. Some applauded its portrayal of Feudal Japan, while others criticized it as an unoriginal and outdated rehash. Despite the mixed reviews, it continues to adhere to many familiar Ubisoft patterns. Given the caliber of this series, it should aim for greater excellence. Here are seven potential strategies Ubisoft could employ to elevate Assassin’s Creed to new levels.

Embrace Actual Exploration

The game Shadows aligns with other contemporary open-world Ubisoft titles in its apparent misunderstanding of what exploration truly entails. Instead of providing clear directions, it offers vague clues about objectives and enhances the visibility of question marks on the map when you reach a vantage point, which only serves to increase tedious tasks within this game that fundamentally aims to be little more than an extensive inventory filled with content. This method of designing open-world games is becoming outdated in light of the non-guided approach found in titles like Outer Wilds, Elden Ring, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which have significantly raised the bar for the genre.

Assassin’s Creed would benefit by shedding some constraints and allowing for more exploration within the game world. Instead of making players rely on a map to locate the northern port near a city, it could make landmarks distinctive enough that players engage in detective work naturally within the game environment. Additionally, instead of marking everything of interest with a question mark, Ubisoft could design these structures to be intriguing on their own, encouraging players to investigate them without the need for additional indicators.

FromSoftware skillfully crafts Elden Ring such that large structures entice explorers to delve into them; they don’t rely on flashing HUD icons to stimulate exploration artificially. Allowing players to navigate independently might seem daunting, but the appeal of these games demonstrates a desire for this type of immersive experience – one that could rejuvenate a flagging series.

Fill the Open World With Meaning and Surprises

Ubisoft could encourage players to delve deeper into the game environment by making these areas seem more vibrant and dynamic. Riding through the open landscapes in Shadows, such as plains or mountains, often lacks intrigue. Similarly, towns appear lifeless, resembling a themed amusement park ride rather than an engaging, living world.

Assassin’s Creed could learn from Red Dead Redemption by regularly incorporating small, unexpected events into its open world. For instance, bandits might appear unpredictably while attempting to seize an enemy outpost, or a chaotic scene involving agitated chickens running through town could disrupt the local guards. Such minor incidents would help break the monotony of exploration in Assassin’s Creed and add a touch of excitement.

Scale Down and Focus

A significant portion of this overwhelming feeling arises from the sheer vastness of these video games. The scale of maps has become commonplace, and yet Assassin’s Creed persists in going large, which often proves problematic. Games like Odyssey, Valhalla, and Shadows are filled with countless miles of unoccupied land that seemingly exist solely to inflate the game world without any clear purpose. It can be truly tiresome.

A personalized map, combined with spontaneous occurrences and open-ended exploration zones, creates a richer gaming experience. Dense environments filled with engaging activities are much more appealing than aimless roaming for extended periods.

Focus on the Protagonists and Villains

In a nod to Assassin’s Creed storytelling style, Shadows endeavors to unfold the tale of its main characters Naoe and Yasuke. However, it struggles to reconcile this personal narrative with the broader storyline, frequently switching between groups of characters who appear briefly before abruptly moving on to another set of unmemorable figures. The narrative seems to prioritize quantity over quality and strays from the minimalistic approach that many successful video game stories rely upon. Moreover, its attempts to connect this tale to a larger universe are somewhat hindering, as demonstrated by the excessive focus on “the box” in Shadows. Frankly, what’s inside the box isn’t all that important; it’s the mystery itself that feels tiresome and detracts from the overall experience.

In the games like “Assassin’s Creed 3,” “Origins,” and “Odyssey,” the creators effectively balance the focus on their main characters while still maintaining an expansive narrative. For instance, “Origins” follows Bayek as he seeks vengeance for his child’s death, which drives every action he takes; it just so happens that a secret organization is involved. The strongest Assassin’s Creed games build their storylines around the protagonists and use them to guide the primary missions. The lesser Assassin’s Creed games, such as “Shadows,” tend to weaken when they stray too far from their main characters and get tangled up in other people’s affairs.

This “protagonist-centric” style could benefit from a counterpart that adequately develops the antagonists as well. Unfortunately, several Assassin’s Creed games, including Shadows, tend to overdo it by offering numerous targets for players to engage with, many of whom are dispatched swiftly without much character development. To improve player engagement, it might be more effective to reduce the number of targets to five and devote more time to fleshing out their individual stories, making them stand out rather than being forgettable.

Tone Down the RPG Mechanics

The transition to RPG style with Origins didn’t exactly revitalize the series; in fact, many adjustments made didn’t improve it. The abundance of unnecessary loot, intricate skill trees, tough-as-nails enemies, and seemingly insignificant stat enhancements have diminished the action, making certain aspects less captivating. Sifting through and selling gear constantly feels tiresome, especially since a large portion of them offer trivial buffs. A 6% damage increase from successive armor hits is barely noticeable, to put it mildly.

Navigating menus to select weapons with numerous green stat indicators can be exhausting in itself, but the intrusion of RPG elements into assassinations is a prime example of where they need significant reduction. It’s frustrating that assassinations don’t always result in the target’s death, which weakens the incentive for stealthily hunting down prey. This issue is especially problematic in Shadows and Valhalla, as characters like Naoe are built around stealthy assassination, and the inability to instantly kill everyone reduces her effectiveness. The fact that both games offer a guaranteed assassination option suggests that restricting one-hit kills based on level was not an effective approach.

Overhaul the Parkour

In the series, the game Shadows boasts some exceptional parkour moves. Naoe is incredibly nimble, capable of speeds that Kassandra and Ezio could only imagine. However, it’s not satisfactory yet. There are still too many instances where she seizes onto the wrong item, scales an invisible barrier, or performs other seemingly foolish actions unintentionally. It’s high time for the series to invest genuine effort in refining movement mechanics.

Struggling with maintaining a smooth rhythm while performing actions like jumping, scaling walls, and traversing ledges can be equally annoying because the frequent changes in speed make it challenging to establish a consistent movement pattern. This continuous flow is crucial in games like Mirror’s Edge, so it would be wise for Assassin’s Creed to aim for such impressive athletic performance.

Completely Break Away From the Modern Elements

The plotline in Assassin’s Creed has struggled since the conclusion of Assassin’s Creed 3. Layla’s storyline in the latest trilogy, although intended to reinvigorate the significance of the modern elements, was disappointingly dull.

Many of the stories, such as “Shadows,” appear to contradict this aspect of the franchise and seem satisfied with merely acknowledging, but not truly exploring, the segment that arguably should have ended with Desmond. This approach has resulted in narratives that are confusing, even absurd, without a clear resolution, resembling low-budget cartoons from a Saturday morning television schedule. The contemporary storylines serve as a narrative burden and an outdated element that could benefit from being completely removed.

2025-03-26 22:15