Assassin’s Creed Shadows Will Set up the Series’ New Modern-Day Storyline
Assassin’s Creed’s overarching modern-day storylines have become an increasingly divisive part of the franchise. From the early days of the series starring Desmond Miles, to the instalments that saw players playing as faceless and nameless personalities in first-person modern-day segments, to the stories surrounding Layla Hassan in the Origins trilogy, Assassin’s Creed has tried to tackle its modern-day plotlines in many different ways, but more often than not, it has failed to do it with any meaningful success (with the exception of its earliest games, perhaps).
With the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, however, Ubisoft is looking to reset the series’ modern-day stories and set things up for a new direction going forward. That’s as per franchise director Marc-Alexis Coté, who, while speaking at a recent BAFTA event in London, touched on the Assassin’s Creed series’ struggle to maintain interest in its modern-day stories.
“When the Assassin’s Creed franchise was created, it introduced a bold and innovative narrative structure, a modern day story arc centred around Desmond that was intertwined with historical adventures,” he said (via Eurogamer). “Desmond’s journey was at the heart of the modern day conflict driving the search for powerful Isu artefacts – Pieces of Eden – that could change the course of history. However, with his death at the end of Assassin’s Creed 3, we faced a creative crossroads.
“Ending Desmond’s arc was a difficult decision, and afterward, the modern storyline struggled to find its footing.”
Speaking about the Assassin’s Creed games that followed and their attempts at picking up the pieces of the Desmond storyline, Coté added, “The continued focus on characters hunting for Isu artefacts made the narrative more predictable, and reduced the conflict between Templars and Assassins to a straightforward pursuit of control over – let’s be honest – magical relics. This shift pulled focus away from what had always been at the heart of the franchise:
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