Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has finally been extensively shown off at the Ubisoft Forward Event. This marks the 12th major entry in the long-running stealth franchise. It’s been over 13 years since the series first debuted on the 7th generation of consoles back in 2007.
It has evolved a lot through the years and I thought it would be a good time to reflect upon the series as a whole and talk about my views on the future of series.
Assassin’s Creed’s Backstory
Before discussing my views on the future of the series, I think I should talk about the series from the very beginning. This may help you understand my point of view and my criticisms a little better.
I’ve played every major installment in the series except Odyssey because of some personal reasons. It just feels like yesterday when I played the first Assassin’s Creed. The game just felt something new and magical.
The visuals were mind-blowing, the environments huge and the interactivity with the game world was on another level when compared to anything in the open-world genre.
Being able to climb just about everything you see was a technical achievement back in the day. The game had a major focus on social stealth and you had to plan out everything and get information about your target before making the kill. The hidden blade was also iconic.
The Sequels of That Followed
Assassin’s Creed would then go on to make more games. The second game in the series was a great improvement. It resolved almost all of the gripes everyone had with the first game. The characters were more charismatic, the world was bigger and dense and there was a lot more to do. The next games also improved the visuals and continued forward the tale of Ezio Auditore.
Assassin’s Creed 3 shook things up real good by having a more robust and fleshed out combat system and better movement. The game didn’t have great reviews due to a plethora of framerate issues and a really slow start. The next game in the series is unanimously considered as the highest point in the series. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag has lovable characters and the vast Caribbean Sea to explore and things to do.
The next two games were also solid entries in the entries but aren’t considered good because of the series fatigue that started to kick in during this time.
Related, Ubisoft Forward Event: Our Thoughts on Ubisoft’s Newly Announced Games
The Next Evolution in Assassin’s Creed
After disastrous sales of Assassin’s Creed Unity and Syndicate, Ubisoft decided to take a year off from the annual release schedule to reinvent the game. The result is Assassin’s Creed Origins. The game takes place in Ancient Egypt and tries to incorporate RPG elements into the mix. The game was received pretty well overall garnering positive reviews.
Long time fans of the series however did not mostly like the addition of RPG elements. I liked it as it gave more depth to the combat. The side quests were also meaningful and Egypt also looks gorgeous. The major gripe I had with the game was it focused more on combat and less on stealth.
You couldn’t even one-shot an enemy with the hidden blade if the enemy was a higher level. I think the game should’ve allowed players to instantly kill enemies even of a higher level when using stealth. Imagine being at level 8 and clearing a level 30 bandit camp by being a ghost assassin. It would be freaking awesome.
Also read, Sony is Doubling The Production of PlayStation 5 This Could Result in Low Pricing
What I Think About The Future Of The Assassin’s Creed Franchise
I thought the next installment would solve most of these minor issues but the games have started leaning more and more towards the RPG style which isn’t why we play Assassin’s Creed.
Whatever we’ve seen about Valhalla does show that they may bring back social stealth and hidden blades. But it’s obvious the game again focuses on action. I don’t expect them to change their approach towards the series since the sales have been better lately. However, we may see a new approach shortly when the fatigue starts to kick again.
It’s possible that some of you may not agree with my point of view. The point of these articles is just to express our thoughts about things. Ultimately it’s your choice to play the game. Play the games you like by all means regardless of review scores and stuff. Games are for fun. Have fun.
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