It is hard to understate the great influence that theAssassin’s Creedfranchise has had on the gaming industry over the course of its 15-year existence. Doing most of the serious leg work to pioneer the peak of the Ubisoft open-world formula, the franchise built and sustained an identity that would be refined over many years.
However, as many long-term fans ofAssassin’s Creedknow, the identity that has been present for most of the franchise’s life-cycle has changed drastically in recent years. In a kind of unspoken reboot of the franchise, the more recent releases under the IP have core gameplay focuses that are wildly different from their predecessors.
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How the Original Assassin’s Creed Laid the Foundations
The original title that launched the franchise,Assassin’s Creedreleased all the way back in 2007and is considered one of the most influential titles of recent times. Now seen as relatively barebones and repetitive via the lens of hindsight, the firstAssassin’s Creedstill remains invaluable in terms of sowing the seeds of theACidentity. It first introduced players to a densely populated open-world that was more intimate and close-knit in size. The maps that made up thisAssassin’s Creedexperience were very urban in nature, with dedicated and obvious pathways that fostered a desire for parkour-based map traversal, an unequivocal facet of the earlyAssassin’s Creedidentity.
A rather obvious part of the originalAssassin’s Creedidentity was the major gameplay focus on assassinations, which doubled as a driving force for the plot. The original game was perhaps more directly involved in showcasing the inner-workings of theintegral Assassin’s Brotherhoodthan any other game in the series. The Assassin Brotherhood in this game was outlined as a historic global peacekeeping organization dedicated to protecting humanity from abuses of power.
To carry out missions under the name of the Brotherhood,Assassin’s Creedwas initially built upon stealth gameplay in which a player would work covertly as a lethal operator, gathering information and carrying out the calculated assassinations of influential figures. These assassinations were usually carried out againstmembers of the Templar Order, the arch-nemesis antithesis organization to the Assassin Brotherhood.
How Subsequent Assassin’s Creed Titles Compounded This Identity
All the way toAssassin’s Creed Unity, the aforementioned pillars of the classicACidentity were compounded and built upon significantly with the subsequent titles. Starting directly fromAssassin’s Creed 2,the core identity that was established from the original game was constantly evolving while maintaining an obvious direction and framework.
The only significant difference that subsequent titles introduced in comparison to the firstAssassin’s Creedwas the implementation of more fleshed out and charismatic protagonists, as well as logical improvements to the franchise’s combat system.Assassin’s Creed 2saw the introduction oficonic protagonist Ezio Auditore, who endeared himself to fans via his depth and maturation over a three-game storyline.
SubsequentAssassin’s Creedtitles stuck by this framework, with a serious focus on telling the stories of the Assassin Brotherhood via diverse and unique protagonists. The adversarial force in the majority of these titles continued to be the aforementioned Templar Order, with the conflict between the two factions being the defining battle that was the pertinent driving-force for the plots of these titles.
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The New Identity of Assassin’s Creed
Since theintroduction ofAssassin’s Creed Origins, the core gameplay and identity of the entire franchise has changed significantly, in a way that has been sustained in allACtitles that have released since. With the significant changes these newer titles have brought, the newer releases have predictably been met with a mixture of positive and negative responses from veteranACfans.
The newerAssassin’s Creedtitles, namelyOrigins, Odyssey,andValhalla, play completely different to previous games. While a bit divisive, this was a bold move that some fans considered necessary to maintain interest and variety within the long-standing franchise. The newerAssassin’s Creedidentity is typified by much more expansive and open-ended open world experiences, with a serious penchant for RPG elements that were not present within the earlier games.
Within thesenewerAssassin’s Creedtitles, players have the ability to equip a wide variety of lootable gear ranging from bracers to helmets, each boasting different rarities and levels of efficacy that are typically found within RPG titles. In addition to this, the newer titles have their own skill trees in which players can earn and spend skill points to improve a variety of gameplay elements, ranging from stealth abilities to more overt combat.
Further, there is no real requirement within the newAssassin’s Creedidentity to feature the long-standing conflict between the Assassin Brotherhood andthe Templar Order, or even showcase the Assassin Brotherhood whatsoever. While maintaining elements of stealth combat in a more minor and reserved role, the newerAssassin’s Creedidentity takes the creative liberty to move beyond the previous mainstay elements of a hooded assassin protagonist bound by the tenants of the creed.
NewerACtitles instead seem to opt for a showcase of a specific time period and geographical location, with a focus on the relevant mythology and fantastical elements that previous games were not able to showcase to the same extent. ThenewAssassin’s Creedidentityalso seems focused on creating microcosms of past cultures and societies with a loose association to somewhat stealthy RPG combat. This is directly opposed to the previousAssassin’s Creedidentity of a sustained story regarding a conflict between two ancient organizations, with a more linear yet character-driven focus.
