Assassin’s Creed is a franchise that is beloved by many and, until just last year, was a franchise that had yearly installments. Ubisoft at one point came out and publicly said that they would keep making Assassin’s Creed games until we stopped buying them. Assassin’s Creed Unity, the game of the series that released in 2014, was plagued by glitches and bugs and at launch was almost unplayable. It is probably safe to speculate that the rocky launch had an impact on the sales figures of 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, which is more than likely why we experienced the first year since 2009 that we didn’t get an annual title in 2016. However, my take on this is a bit different and goes a little deeper. What if Assassin’s Creed Unity actually had very little impact on sales and that the true reason for the declining sales figures of Assassin’s Creed is something else entirely?
When I first jumped into the Assassin’s Creed franchise it was about six months before the launch of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood in 2010. I bought Assassin’s Creed 1 and 2 together and I was immediately hooked within the first few hours of the first game. A lot of people say that the first Assassin’s Creed was a rocky entry that built the foundation for the rest of the games. However, I argue that outside of some slight gameplay repetitiveness, it is actually one of the better entries in the series. In the first Assassin’s Creed we meet Desmond Miles for the first time. He has been captured by Abstergo and is forced to relive his ancestors’ memories in order to help them achieve their plans. The story of Altair, the protagonist of the first game, is still unrivaled; an assassin told he was the best since birth, cocky, headstrong and no regard for the creed. His arrogance eventually has consequences, as he is stripped of his title and rank and must earn them back. In the conclusion of the first game Desmond Miles gains Eagle Vision, a gift of his ancestors due to the bleeding effect. Upon looking at the floors and the room you are captured in more questions regarding a man referred only to as Subject 16.
The story continues to evolve and grow over the course of the games that followed. However, as Assassin’s Creed’s fan base grew the less the total fan base knew of the previous titles and their story. Consistently a complaint that would come up in the reviews and in online forum posts is that the story was convoluted, and that the present day missions were the worst parts of the game because of the slow pacing and the lack of explanation. While I understand that not everyone has played the games before, and that the story was not easy to follow for newcomers, the story to me was easily the best part. In fact, it became the only thing I cared about.
In Assassin’s Creed 3 the story around the protagonist Desmond Miles came to a close and hasn’t really been touched since. Assassin’s Creed 4, Unity and Syndicate all had very little progression to add to the plot. This is the reason that I personally have jumped off the Assassin’s Creed bandwagon. I have never truly cared about the gameplay mechanics of Assassin’s Creed, as to me it has literally been the tax I have paid to learn the overall story of the series. I waited until after a majority of the glitches were fixed in Assassin’s Creed Unity to play and I was still honestly bored to tears. The retelling of the Illuminati conspiracy in the form of Abstergo is perhaps one of the best stories I have ever heard, and I feel to a lot of fans out there it is for them as well. This is why it is such a shame that Ubisoft seems to have dropped it completely.
I argue that the declining sales numbers of the franchise aren’t because of a glitchy game, but because of a direction that doesn’t entirely resonate with all of the fans. If the next installment in the franchise is simply another person telling you ‘Don’t trust Abstergo, and you’re Assassin so go nuts,’ I will not be going anywhere near it. The very little that Unity and Syndicate did to add to the story was insulting. If an Assassin’s Creed does come out in 2017 I am truly hoping it will feature a new protagonist in the modern day with an actual story that matters, and will have its own evolution. Assassin’s Creed 2 was perfect to me not just because of the reworked gameplay mechanics, but because of the world the characters let you catch a glimpse of and the sudden awareness that you truly haven’t scratched the surface of the corruption in the world.
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